“Into my office please,” Marjorie said, gesturing.

  Stacy — on her way past, holding two heaped plates aloft — stared at Alex with wide eyes. Alex wondered whether Stacy knew what was about to happen in this meeting. The idea that she might made it feel worse somehow.

  Marjorie shut the door and sat down, gesturing to a chair. Alex took it.

  “I’m not going to mince words with you, Alex,” Marjorie said. “This week hasn’t gone well.”

  “I know.” Alex said, thinking it was probably best to just own up to it. “I know I’m off to a rocky start. I can do better. I promise.”

  Marjorie held up a bunch of slips of paper. They looked like receipts. “Do you know what these are?”

  “No,” Alex admitted.

  “Customer complaints,” Marjorie said. “Complaints about you.”

  Alex felt sick. “I’ve gotten that many complaints?” She knew things had been rough, and customers could be very harsh, but she had no idea it had been this bad.

  Marjorie plucked one from the pile and read it out. “Our waitress was Alex. She seemed very disorganized and acted as if she had no idea what was on the menu. She took the menu from my wife’s hands to read it when my wife asked about the French toast.” Marjorie looked up at Alex. “Is that true?”

  “I didn’t— he makes it sound like I snatched the menu away from her.” Alex tried to clarify. “I asked her if I could look. I didn’t take it from her.”

  “But you didn’t know the menu.”

  “I—” Alex didn’t want to seem as if she was making excuses, but surely this would be considered relevant. “I didn’t know there was a different menu on Tuesdays. No one mentioned that to me.”

  Marjorie looked skeptical. “Everyone finds that out in training.”

  “I really didn’t know.” She wasn’t sure how the oversight had happened, only that it had.

  Marjorie picked up another piece of paper. “This one says that you poured their coffee and didn’t come back to take their order for almost twenty minutes.”

  “That must be from my first day, when I was here on my own during the lunch rush. I did my best, but I don’t know how anyone could have handled all those tables in a timely manner.”

  Marjorie sighed. “Be that as it may, no one should have to wait twenty minutes to order. That’s not how we do things at Sunny Side Up. We pride ourselves on treating people like family here — would you make your family wait twenty minutes to eat if they were hungry?”

  “Well, no, I wouldn’t, but—” What could she say? It wasn’t as if she could bring up what had happened to her family. Marjorie wouldn’t have made that comment if she had known, but she couldn’t have been expected to know. And besides, Alex really didn’t want to talk about it.

  Marjorie held the papers up. “Shall I continue?”

  “Please don’t.” She couldn’t stand to sit here and listen to a documented list of all the ways she had fallen short. She knew she had done her best, and she wasn’t to blame for the circumstances, but even so, she hated hearing it.

  “So you agree, then, that this isn’t working out,” Marjorie said.

  “What?”

  “When I hired you, I expected something better,” Marjorie said. “You’ve got diner experience, and I thought that meant I would be hiring someone who knew what she was doing. I thought you’d adjust easily to the pace and the routine here, but now I think I was wrong about that.”

  “Are you firing me?” This was a record. Alex had been fired a few times before, but never after only one week.

  “I think it’s for the best that we part ways,” Marjorie said. “It hasn’t been a good fit. I’m sure you’ll be successful somewhere else, but a place like this depends on people knowing how to be where they’re needed at all times. Too many balls have been dropped since you got here.”

  “But it’s only been a few days,” Alex said desperately. “I’ll get better, Marjorie. I just need a little more time, a little more experience. I’m just getting started.”

  “You have plenty of diner experience,” Marjorie reminded her. “If that hasn’t prepared you adequately for this job, I’m not sure there’s anything that will. And I’m not willing to gamble the success of my restaurant and the satisfaction of my customers on the hope that you’ll figure out what you’re doing soon enough not to drive them all away. I’m sorry, Alex. We gave it a shot, but I have to let you go.”

  Alex looked down at her feet. Even though this was always meant to be a temporary thing, even though she had felt no real attachment to this job, it was always humiliating to be fired.

  “I’ll need you out of the apartment in two days,” Marjorie added.

  Alex’s head jerked up. She hadn’t thought of this. “Out of the apartment?”

  “I need to rent it out to someone who works at the restaurant,” Marjorie said, only the barest hint of sympathy in her voice. “You knew when you moved in that the apartment went hand in hand with your employment here. Now that you no longer work for me, I need you to vacate it for my next hire.”

  Alex swallowed hard. She had no idea where she was going to go — but it was a fair request on Marjorie’s part. She had known that the apartment was part of her employment package. But she’d never expected to lose it so soon. “I’ll be out by morning,” she told Marjorie, knowing it wouldn’t take that long to pack the few things she owned.

  Marjorie nodded. “All right,” she agreed. “And I do wish you luck in your future endeavors, Alex.”

  “Thank you,” Alex whispered.

  She kept her head lowered as she left the office and walked through the restaurant. Her car was parked in a public lot half a mile away, and she would need it if she was going to be moving out today. She would go get it, she decided, and then bring it back and pack up her things. She didn’t want to linger here any longer than was absolutely necessary. It was humiliating, and she wanted to get away from this place and everyone who had known her here as quickly as she could.

  She hurried through the restaurant and out the front door, feeling the sting of tears as they started to form in her eyes.

  She would have thought, after all this time, that she would be used to bad luck. And she knew she would land on her feet, as she always did. But this had been an embarrassing failure, and Alex couldn’t wait to put it behind her.

  CHAPTER 3

  ELIJAH

  “Dad,” Jack said. “Dad!”

  Elijah looked up from his phone. He’d been scrolling through the reports from one of his livestock managers, but now he turned his attention to his son, who was staring out the window.

  “What is it?” Elijah asked. “Everything okay out there?”

  “That’s the lady who got me the chocolate chip pancakes,” Jack said. “Why is she leaving?”

  “Well, maybe she doesn’t work today,” Elijah said. “We’re not going to see the same waitresses every time we come here.”

  The truth was that he’d rather been hoping they’d see Alex again. He’d taken note of her name on her name tag the last time they’d been in because she had done such a good job serving them. He’d really appreciated the way she’d reached out when she had seen that Jack was about to have a meltdown. He’d meant to tell the manager how helpful she had been, but he had gotten distracted with other things, as he so often did. But he’d thought he might mention it to her today.

  “I’m sure someone else can make you chocolate chip pancakes, buddy,” he told his son. “We’ll let whoever our waitress is today know about it, okay?”

  But Jack was still staring out the window. “I think she’s crying,” he said.

  “What?”

  “She’s wiping her eyes. It looks like she’s crying.”

  “Well, that’s not any of our business.” Elijah felt awkward. He didn’t like seeing people in vulnerable moments.

  A server arrived at their table with menus. “What can I get y’all today?”

  “Why isn’t that lady being our waitress?” Jack demanded of the server, pointing out the window.

  “Jack, be quiet,” Elijah said. “I’m sorry, ma’am. It’s just that my son had a good experience the last time Alex was our server. Do you know when she might be working next?”

  “Oh, I’m afraid she doesn’t work here anymore,” the server said with a sympathetic smile. “But I’m sure we can take care of whatever you need, young man!”

  “Did she quit?” Elijah asked, frowning.

  “Well, not exactly.” The server blushed. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I should be talking about this.”

  Of course she shouldn’t. It had been unfair of Elijah to ask about it. But he looked across the table at his son, who was still staring out at the parking lot, and he found he couldn’t think about anything but what might be going on with Alex.

  “I think we’re going to need just a minute,” he told the server.

  “Of course,” she beamed. As she walked away, Elijah realized he hadn’t even noticed what her name was.

  “I’m going to go see if she’s all right,” Jack announced and jumped up from his seat.

  He was halfway to the door before Elijah registered what he had done. “Wait, hang on!” He hurried after his son, who was already pulling the door open and heading out into the parking lot. By the time he caught up, Jack was halfway across the lot to where Alex was standing, and she was watching him approach with curiosity in her eyes.

  For the first time, it occurred to Elijah how attractive she was. Why hadn’t he noticed that before? He supposed he hadn’t been paying that much attention to her the first time they’d met, but he was now, and he found himself intensely aware of her long, lean limbs, her supple curves, the line of her collarbone — it had been years since he had noticed a woman the way he was noticing her, and he had very nearly forgotten he could feel this way at all. It was fascinating and intoxicating, but it also came with some feelings of guilt and shame. He shouldn’t be looking at her like that. It was irresponsible and out of line and disloyal…

  He was jerked from his shame spiral by the realization that Jack had spoken.

  “What are you doing out here?” he asked Alex. “When Dad said we were coming back to the diner, I thought that meant we’d get to see you. But the lady inside said you don’t work there anymore.”

  “Jack, that’s enough,” Elijah said firmly. “We don’t ask strangers questions like that.”

  “Why not?” Jack demanded.

  Elijah shook his head. This pushy, demanding, moody version of his son was definitely an improvement over the silent, withdrawn toddler he had become following the death of his mother, but Elijah still didn’t think much of the way his son had taken to acting out. He had become harder and harder to control in recent years. Elijah knew that it was his own fault. He tried to be the best parent he could be, but managing his ranches was a full-time job, and Jack needed more than he knew how to provide.

  He was going to have to hire additional help. Everyone had been telling him that for years. He’d resisted it as long as he could, depending on the help of Jack’s school and day-care programs, but they couldn’t give him the kind of personal one-on-one attention that he really needed. And Elijah had to admit that he didn’t think he could do it either. Today was a wake-up call. The way Jack had taken off running into the parking lot after Alex — he could have been seriously hurt. And now here he was asking all these blunt questions, because no one had taken the time to teach him how to interact politely with strangers. It was something Elijah should have done.

  Then again, his own social skills had never been anything to write home about. Even if he’d had all the free time in the world, he would have considered himself the wrong person to teach his son social graces. That should have been Stephanie’s job, but she wasn’t here to do it. And because Elijah knew he was doing such a bad job with the task, it was time to allow someone else to step in and help him with it.

  “I’m so sorry,” he said to Alex, aware of just how often he was having to apologize for his son today. “He wanted to see you, and he came running out here before I could stop him. I think you really made an impression on him the other day.”

  “It’s all right,” she assured him. “I’m happy to see you again, Jack. But you should stick close to your dad! Running around in parking lots can be very dangerous. I’m sure you know that. What if a car had been coming?”

  “There wasn’t one,” Jack said. “I looked both ways.”

  “That’s good,” Alex said. “But I think you scared your dad. You should stay with him next time. I bet he would have brought you out to say hi if you had asked him to.”

  “We came for more pancakes, but they said you don’t work there anymore,” Jack said, clearly not ready to let the matter drop. “Why not?”

  “You don’t need to answer that,” Elijah hastened to assure her.

  “Yes she does,” Jack objected. “I want to know. She’s the best waitress we ever had!”

  Alex pressed a hand to her mouth for a moment, and it looked to Elijah as though she was genuinely emotional. “Thank you, Jack,” she said. “That honestly means a lot to me to hear. I’ve had kind of a hard day. A lot of people don’t seem to think I was a very good waitress.”

  “They sound silly,” Jack said.

  “Well, maybe so,” Alex said. “I guess this world is full of some pretty silly people. But I’m glad you guys had a good time when I was your server. I was happy to meet you both.”

  “We should let you go,” Elijah said.

  “Go where?” Jack asked. “Where is she going to go?”

  “She’s got her own life to live, Jack,” Elijah said. “It’s not for us to ask about.”

  “But I want to know,” Jack insisted.

  “It’s all right,” Alex interjected. “I’m like you, Jack. I always want to know everything. It’s frustrating when people don’t want to tell you, isn’t it?”

  “Very frustrating,” Jack agreed rather imperiously.

  “The truth is that I don’t know where I’ll go,” Alex admitted. “I haven’t been in Hope’s Creek very long, and I don’t think I’ll try to stay here. It’s not my home. I’ll look for work somewhere else.”

  “You mean we’ll never see you again?” Jack asked.

  “Never say never.” Alex smiled. “The future is full of mysterious things! If you and I are meant to see each other again one day, we will. Until then, we can be happy that we got the chance to know one another at all. I’m glad we met. Aren’t you?”

  “Yes,” Jack said solemnly.

  Elijah was deeply impressed. That was now the second time she had managed to talk his son down from an emotional outburst. It was something he always struggled with himself.

  She’s good for Jack, he thought.

  The idea took shape in his head so quickly that it was as if it had always been there. “If you’re not committed to leaving town,” he said, “I’m looking to hire a nanny for Jack here.”

  “What’s a nanny?” Jack demanded. Elijah ignored him for the moment.

  Alex looked dubious. “Nanny? I’ve never done that before.”

  “I think you’d be great for it,” he said. “You and Jack have a great rapport already. He likes you.”

  “How long are you hoping to hire for?” she asked. “I don’t intend to stay in Hope’s Creek for that long. If you’re looking for someone to, I don’t know, see him into his teenage years or something—”

  “No, no, nothing like that,” he assured her. “I’m looking for someone for a few months, for right now. Someone to ease the transition as he starts first grade. We can see how it goes from there. Right now it’s just important to me to get someone into the position quickly, because as you can see, Jack can be a little bit of a handful.”

  “I’m not a handful,” Jack glowered.

  “It’s okay, Jack,” Alex assured him. “I’m a handful too. All the most interesting people are.”

  The boy brightened considerably. “Is that true?”

  “Of course it is. I wouldn’t tell you something that wasn’t true.”

  “Do you see what I mean,” Elijah said. “You’re good with him. You seem to know what to say to him, and sometimes I just… don’t. I think it would be a great fit, if you would be willing to give it a try.”

  “Well, I’m willing to try anything,” Alex admitted. “I can’t promise you I’ll be great at this, but I do like Jack a lot already. I’ll give it my best.”

  “So you’ll take the job?”

  She chuckled. “Why not? I don’t have anything else lined up, and it sounds like it could be an adventure. If you’re willing to take a chance on me, I’m willing to take a chance on the two of you.”

  Elijah took her outstretched hand and shook it to seal the deal, wondering whether he had any idea what he was doing. She did seem like she would be good for Jack. But at the same time, he hardly knew her.

  Had he jumped the gun on this because he found her so attractive? He had to hope he knew better than that.

  But it had been a long time since any woman had made him feel this way.

  CHAPTER 4

  ALEX

  Oh my God, what am I doing?

  Alex looked down at the address Elijah had given her and then back up at the huge ranch house in front of her. She’d been expecting big, of course — knowing that he was a wealthy ranch manager, she would have been a fool not to expect that. But there was big and then there was this.

  I’m completely out of my league here. I never should have agreed to take this job.

  Alex closed her eyes and forced herself to breathe in and out slowly. She knew she was good with children. She would be able to handle this.

  She pulled the car into the little port on the side of the turnaround and got out slowly, looking around. Elijah had told her this would be a live-in job — this was going to be her home for the next little while. That was hard to believe. In all her years of wandering, she had never lived somewhere so nice before.