Vicious Valentine by Patti Benning (best ereader for comics .txt) 📕

“Hey, you,” a male voice said from by her shoulder. She turned and found Ben standing there. She’d been so invested in watching parents at a table try to wrangle a handful of kids into their seats that she hadn’t even noticed him approach.

“Hey,” she said, giving him a quick, one armed hug. “I didn’t know you were working here today.”

“I just stopped in to grab some food,” he said. “I called in a little while ago, so my order should be done pretty soon.”

“Caroline’s finishing up in the kitchen – I can chat for another few minutes, but I’ll have to take over soon.”

“No problem,” he said, leaning against the wall next to her. “Do you know yet what day would be good for dinner this week?”

“I completely forgot,” she admitted, watching as Shayne dropped off a drink order at a nearby table. “I meant to call you earlier, but I was busy. Vanessa’s boyfriend was killed last night.” She told the entire story to Ben, keeping her voice low in hopes no one nearby would be able to hear.

“How is she holding up?” he asked when she was done. “I can’t even imagine – she’s got to be a mess.”

“She’s staying with me for the next couple of days, and I think she took some time off work. She’s doing well, though. You know her – she’s tough.”

“Yeah, she is,” Ben agreed. “But no one is prepared to deal with something like this.”

He fell silent as Shayne approached, waving at them as he went by. “My shift’s over,” he called out. “I’ll see you later, Ms. Cooper.”

“Bye, Shayne,” she said, grateful that he was feeling better. Once he was passed, she lowered her voice and turned back to her conversation with Ben. “I know. I don’t know how to help her, though. I’m hoping Caroline will go over and spend some time with her after work. Speaking of, if Shayne’s shift is over, that means Caroline’s is too and I’d better go take over in the kitchen. I’ll check out the schedule and give you a call sometime today, okay?”

“Sure. No hurry. It sounds like you will be dealing with a lot. I can wait; your friend needs you now.”

She gave him a quick smile, pressed a kiss to his cheek, and then made a beeline for the kitchen. It was time for work; everything else could wait.

Chapter Six

Monday nights weren’t particularly busy at Hawk’s Place, so Brian and Tony both had the evening off, leaving Hannah to handle all of the cooking herself. Even though Hawk’s Place had been growing in popularity, it was still a rather small restaurant, so even at their max capacity they weren’t as busy as some weekday nights were at the restaurant she worked at before moving to Shale.

That didn’t mean that it was always easy to juggle multiple orders at once. She had to be completely focused on cooking while she was on the job, and she found it surprisingly easy to push everything else to the side. She was a few hours into her shift, in the middle of peeling apples for a sweet and savory pork and onion dish, when she realized that she hadn’t even checked her phone for the past hour. As soon as the dish was simmering, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and looked for messages. There was only one from Vanessa, who mentioned that Caroline had left to do some chores at her own house. She reassured Hannah that she was fine and would be watching TV for the rest of the evening, and Hannah didn’t need to worry about her.

Rolling her eyes with a fond smile, Hannah took the time to send a message back. You know I’m going to worry, no matter what you say. If you feel like you need company, call Caroline and tell her to get her butt back there. Chores can wait.

She sent the message and was about to slide the phone back into her pocket when the device buzzed, signaling an incoming call. She looked down at it, spotted Vanessa’s name on the caller ID, raised an eyebrow, and answered it.

“Hey,” she said.

“Sorry, I know you’re working,” Vanessa said through the phone in a hushed voice. “I just wanted to ask – do your outdoor lights normally come on and go off on their own?”

“The ones along the side of the house and by the front windows are motion sensing lights,” Hannah said. “Why? Have you been having problems with them?”

“I was sitting in the living room watching television when they went on. At first, I thought it was just because it was getting dark out, and you must have them on a timer or something, but then they went off again a minute later. They just came on again, and it was starting to freak me out. But it’s probably just a raccoon or something.”

“Probably,” Hannah said. “Look, I’m in the kitchen by myself tonight so I can’t get off work early. You should call Caroline, ask her to come back over.”

“No, no, I’m fine,” Vanessa said. “It’s probably just a raccoon. I can deal with a raccoon.” She took a deep breath. “Sorry, I’m not usually this jumpy. Good luck with work.”

She hung up before Hannah could say anything else. Hannah frowned at her phone, wondering if she should call her back, but the smell of something burning forced her attention away from the call and back to the stove.

It was with relief that Hannah tossed the last dirty rag in the laundry bin and shut off the kitchen lights. She could admit to herself that she preferred the days when Brian was there to act as sous chef, even on the nights it wasn’t particularly busy. She was tired to her bones, but she knew her evening wasn’t over yet. Vanessa was still waiting at her house. She would never begrudge the woman for it, but the