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With a sassy grin, Jazz said, “I’o spend your money” With that, she sauntered off into the back of the diner where she and Toni’s offices were located
For what had to be the twentieth ti No calls or texts unless she counted the one fro her he loved her On a normal day, his customary text lifted her spirits no et out of her own head no matter what
Where was Lindsey?
Was she hurt? Scared? Cold? Alone? Hungry? Being abused? The questions went on fro in severity until she could barely stand herself Over the last year, since she’d started hiring at-risk youth for part-time weekend work, Toni had encountered dozens of kids in situations as bad or worse than Lindsey’s For soly, redheaded, freckled teen had worirl off herabout her called to Toni A sadness representative of a difficult, possibly even trau bitterness so often found in these teens Lindsey eet, respectful, hardworking, and even funny when she let her guard down
Bottoive her everything a thirteen-year-old girl should have, starting with a safe and warreed to the idea of opening their home to the lost soul, Toni had been floored Not that she hadn’t thought Zach would do soenerous, but she’d dropped the boe undertaking at first
But not her ol’ ht into her soul to how important Lindsey had becohts of fancy So he’d listened, let her lay her heart on the table, then he’d wrapped it in silk and agreed to keep it safe
Too bad nothing could keep it protected froo
“Bye, Miss Toni Thank you for the holiday ood Christmas, ya hear?”
Toni glanced up, forcing herself to sentleman as in her diner at least three hundred days of the year She’d taken care of his bill today as a little holiday treat “Thanks, Earl You too See you the day after Christmas?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he quipped as he used his cane to slowly shuffle toward the door Shell beat hi the door open for him to exit
That was Toni’s staff Willing to do ss that went above and beyond for their custo to earn roup of individuals who cared about the people in their community Toni was so proud of her little diner fa, loud, crazy biker family as well
All right, tira with little to no supervision necessary froer As often as possible, Toni ju on the role of hostess But she’d done it all Waitress, bus tables, wash dishes Only thing she didn’t venture into was cooking Her one atte their chef Ernesto nearly had him in tears Martha Stewart, she was not
But Tex, well that guy apparently loved to cook He’d asked a few tio if he could hang in her kitchen with Ernesto Toni was more than happy to feed his desire to learn Hell, maybe she could even employ him as a cook someday
To keep her mind occupied, she wandered over to Tex’s booth with a fresh pot of coffee Poor guy looked bored out of hison his phone “Refill?” She asked the baby-faced blond who couldn’t be ht look like a boy, but frouy had life experiences that would turn her hair gray
“No, ood, thanks”
Thepolite “Hey, there’s absolutely nothing going on today, and no one has had so much as a whiff of the Chroo on back to the kitchen and ith Ernesto He’ll have plenty of time to show you some tricks”
The prospect’s face lit up then fell “I should probably stay out here”
“You’ll be twenty feet away If soood And if Zach or Copper get on your ass, I’ll take the blame”