Chapter 13 - The Woman in Booth Six
I put the coffee down before my hand could shake.
“What do you want, Dana?”
“To have an adult conversation.”
“At my job?”
“You won’t answer my calls.”
“That was an answer.”
Her smile disappeared.
Around us, plates clattered.
Someone asked for extra ketchup.
My manager, Rosa, glanced over from the register.
Dana leaned forward.
“Your dad is selling the boat.
He’s cutting expenses.
Owen might lose his summer training.”
“Owen doesn’t need to hear that it’s because of me.”
“It is because of you.”
“No.
It’s because you spent money you knew was meant for college.”
“Your mother is gone, Emma.
Life didn’t stop.”
The words hit hard enough that I forgot to breathe.
Dana saw it.
For a moment, she looked satisfied.
Then I straightened.
“You’re right.
Life didn’t stop.
I graduated.
I got into college.
And you both treated every step I took like something in your way.”
“You have no idea what it’s like raising a child.”
“Then stop asking me to be responsible for yours.”
Rosa came beside me.
“Everything okay?”
Dana leaned back.
“We’re family.”
Rosa looked at me.
I shook my head.
“This conversation is over.”
Dana’s face flushed.
“You think you’ve won.”
I picked up the coffee.
“I think you should leave.”
Rosa stayed beside the booth until Dana stood.
At the door, Dana turned.
“He’ll get tired of this.
He always does.”
I finished my shift.
I dropped a fork.
I entered one order wrong.
Rosa corrected it without making a speech.
Then she handed me a grilled cheese wrapped in foil.
“Eat before you go.”
Outside, Dad was waiting beside his truck.
My stomach tightened.
“Rosa called Julie,” he said.
“Julie called me.”
I waited for him to explain Dana.
Her stress.
Her fear.
How I needed to understand.
Instead, he said, “She had no right to come here.”
“And when she tells you a different version?”
“I’ll still know she had no right.”
It wasn’t enough to erase years.
It was enough to make me look at him.
He handed me an envelope.
The first repayment receipt.
That night, I received two messages.
May you like
One from Dad: I’m staying at a motel tonight.
The other from Briar State: A room has become available.
