one of few people who knew about Olivia’s learning disability. Patrice, Darin and Naem were the others, but that was it. If anyone else found out—especially Jack—she’d be mortified.
She’d squirmed under the scrutiny of his gorgeous, gunmetal grays assessing her appearance at the hospital. His obvious shock at her style dinged her dignity and dented the armor of her hard-sought self-esteem. He was so strong and good-looking, his opinion mattered to Olivia more than it should. She didn’t like having to work so hard to not care what he thought of her.
“Naem told me this morning before the breakfast rush that Jack told him and Darin that he’s officially here on an extended military leave.”
“Until when?”
“I don’t know.” Patrice’s phone bleeped with another notification. Olivia blew on the card’s paint to get it to dry faster as Patrice read her text. “Oh, wow. He called the mandatory emergency staff meeting for tomorrow morning at seven.”
“Seven?” Olivia chirped. That would cut into her best sleep time. She worked the day shift at the diner, did evening EMT classes alternating every other day with clinical at EPTC and spent half the night studying until around two in the morning. She then slept until seven thirty, which was just enough time to roll out of bed, shower and dress before starting breakfast prep at the diner at eight. She’d been able to survive on so little sleep simply because she’d known she wouldn’t have to pull this schedule forever. Now Jack wanted to shake things up? Great.
He’d already upset her by sending her away from Sully. It still smarted that he’d made her leave and didn’t seem inclined to let her visit anytime soon. But that wedge was Jack’s doing and Olivia was struggling to have a right heart about it.
A band of tension tightened across Olivia’s shoulders, making it hard to breathe. She was already stretched to the max. Jack’s plans were bound to increase stress and decrease rest. How would she ever manage to comprehend past her dyslexia while running on fumes for sleep?
Olivia liked things at the diner just as they were. Sully was great about working around her school hours. She doubted, considering everything he was contending with, that Jack had the patience or presence of mind to do the same.
“You okay, Liv? You don’t look so good.”
Olivia didn’t have the energy to correct Patrice about the nickname she hated. “Feeling a little light-headed and wheezy.”
Patrice reached for Olivia’s asthma inhaler and popped the cap off. She rarely had a stress-induced attack, but this felt like one of those times. Desperately short of breath now, Olivia placed the oval in her mouth and pumped the prime twice, inhaling deeply each time. Once she could breathe unobstructedly and speak again, instead of clawing her collar away from her neck in air-hunger panic, she thanked Patrice, who asked what triggered her attack.
“Change. I don’t like the sound of it. Not at all.” Never had. And for good reason. In Olivia’s experience, change equaled something awful. It always meant moving from a bad situation to a worse one.
* * *
“Miss Abbott, you’re late.” Jack watched Olivia’s cheeks flush as she rushed around the table to the empty seat at the diner employee meeting the next morning.
Her face awash in a strong emotion he couldn’t decipher, he stared her down. Her scowl loosened and she promptly sat. “My apologies.”
“No explanation?”
She swallowed. Bit her tongue. Then she said, “None that you’d understand.” Her scowl tried its best to return but she fought it.
Wait. What did she mean he wouldn’t understand?
“That means?”
Now her scowl did return. She peered at the clock. “Please, if you don’t mind, we all have other places to be.”
He guessed she was right. And to credit her defense, he hadn’t given them much notice. He relented on ripping on her for being fifteen minutes late to what he’d hoped would only be a half hour meeting. He moved to stand at the head of the table in the staff break room and studied the group of a dozen or so employees. He met each gaze, finding himself irritated when Olivia intentionally looked away. As angry and flustered as she appeared, he half expected her to get up and walk out. Then he noticed something else. Dark, sunken eyes and drawn features. As if she hadn’t slept well, or maybe not at all.
He tore his gaze, and his compassion, away from her and faced the group. After all, if he got soft, they’d continue to run all over his dad...if he was ever able to take over again.
Until then, Jack would handle it. “Some things are going to change around here, now that I’m in charge.”
Jack watched Olivia stiffen at his mention of change. A pallor flushed the scorch out of her cheeks from when she’d sprinted in, windblown and breathless.
He knew the feeling. This was a big turning point for him, too—choosing to stay for an extended period of time in the town he’d avoided for so long.
“First order of business is—”
“Like, what kind of changes?” Perry, the dishwasher, interrupted Jack for the third time since he’d started the meeting.
Tired of the disrespect, Jack placed his palms flat on the table and leaned in, face-to-face with the young man. “For starters, you get fired if you pull a no-show again without calling in.”
Perry’s mouth dropped open. “Dude, that’s harsh.”
“Asking that you call if you’re not planning on showing up is not an unreasonable request. Furthermore, if you’re late more than three times in a pay period, you’re fired.” Jack didn’t give Perry a chance to launch another argument before pulling out the schedule.
Olivia visibly tensed. He peered at her, making sure she didn’t have something to say before he continued. “Miss Abbott? Did you have something to add?”
Her eyes scanned the schedule, then lowered. “No, sir.”
“Yet your body language states that you do.”
Hands formerly folded in her lap flew up past her shoulders. “Fine, I just know how Sully would want things done. He doesn’t believe in fixing something that isn’t broken and with the exception of a few glitches, the schedule works fine the way it is.”
Jack shook his head. “That may be the case, but we have lost too much revenue.”
She looked as though she didn’t know what that had to do with the schedule, but she’d find out soon enough.
Jack actually admired her pluck. Unlike Perry, she didn’t present as rude. Just strong in her conviction to stand up to him to defend what she thought his dad would want. A measure of admiration rose up in him but he quelled it in order to keep the meeting on track and be able to get them out of here. Their time was as valuable as his.
Several exchanges later, it became apparent to Jack that Olivia was not one to back down easily from something she believed in. Change was apparently not something she believed in.
However, she did apparently believe in trying his
