They followed her as the door to the diner opened with the first miners who would want to eat their lunch.
“Are you the only waitress today?” Chuck asked.
“For a bit. The other girl went home sick, but the owner is headed this way to help me out.” She turned to the stream of customers coming in the door. “Sit anywhere you like. I’ll be with you in a moment.”
“Looks like you could use some help.” Lance had a playful charm that drew her in. “Let us hand out the menus and get the drinks set up.”
She gave him and Chuck each a dry towel. “That’s okay. I’ve got this.”
Chuck scanned the room. “Every table is full.” He grabbed her hand gently. “Let us help you out. It’s the least we can do. This is how we worked our way through college.”
Had they come from meager beginnings, too?
“You waited tables before?”
“Yes.” Chuck’s smile made her tingle. “And we also were bartenders.”
Michael had been born rich. She’d heard about his upbringing from Jessie Wilde, who had known him since they were children. Danielle had incorrectly thought that Lance and Chuck, being his friends, must have come from the same kind of family.
“Just give us the pad and pencils, Danielle.” Lance’s smile melted her heart. “We’ve got this under control.”
Her first impression had been wrong about him and Chuck. They weren’t spoiled trust-fund boys. “You have a deal, but only until Carlotta shows, okay? Then your lunch is on me.”
“Perfect.”
“Here, put these on.” She handed them aprons. “They will cover up the tea stains. I would suggest you put your watches in your pockets for safe keeping.”
“Pretty and smart. Quite the combo,” Lance said.
She smiled. “Don’t start that again.”
He held up both his hands in mock surrender. “You win.”
“Good. Now, let’s get these people fed.”
Lance and Chuck went to work. They hadn’t been lying about their experience. Norma’s was packed, but everyone was being taken care of. They even had the cook laughing. Lance started calling him Little Chuck, which seemed to suit him fine.
Halfway through the rush, Michael walked over to her. “Danielle, I’ve got to leave and meet with Austin. Looks like Lance and Chuck are enjoying themselves.”
It did to her, too.
“When you get finished, please tell them my driver will be waiting to take them to my place.”
Finished with them? She had sworn off men long ago.
“Sure thing, Michael. I’ll let them know where it is.”
For years, she’d been moving from place to place. Not the best situation, but one she had lived with in order to remain hidden from her family. Having to leave a place at a moment’s notice didn’t allow her to have attachments.
Danielle was so impressed by Lance and Chuck. They worked like fiends. But it didn’t matter. Once this shift was over, she would send them on their way. That would be the end of it. Had to be.
Carlotta ran in, arriving at the end of the rush. “Danielle, I’m so…Oh my God. How in da vorld did you handle da lunch run by yourself?” In her mid-sixties, the woman had more fire than most. Today, she wore a long red
skirt and a white top. Her black, wavy hair, obviously dyed, hung to her shoulders. She was a character, through and through. Carlotta had been so good to Danielle, giving her a job the first day of her arrival in town. “And how did you get every table cleaned? I’ve never seen da diner looking so nice. Did da customers no show?”
Danielle loved her Eastern European accent, though everyone in town had learned it was only an act. She actually spoke quite well whenever the love of her life was around, cowboy champion Deuce.
“I didn’t.” Carlotta was like a mother to Danielle, unlike her own biological mother had been. “I had help. Those two over there walked in, saw I was overwhelmed, and took up the slack.”