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Olivia pushed open the front door of The Kitchen Sink The diner was packed, extinguishing her last flicker of hope that aliens had kidnapped every single citizen of Salvation and thus explaining why no one had showed for the volunteer

Ruby Sue looked up froood, you brought s”

“Are you sure you don’t rowler down by the register, next to the sign warning those with bad attitudes would be charged a pain-in-the-butt fee

“What fool would have a probleood cause?”

“Every other person in Salvation” What had she been thinking, trying to throw a fundraiser that would get the town to stop crossing the street to avoid rubbing elboith the Sweets? Maybe Mateo was right Maybe this was more than she could do

“Volunteer o so well, huh?” Ruby Sue asked, but the sympathetic look on her face said she knew the answer to that

“It didn’t go at all No one showed up” Failure forht in her stomach

Ruby Sue shook her head “Idiots”

“That’s one word for theave the dozen or so other words that would fit the close- people in her hometown

It would be one thing if she or her sisters had ever actually done anything to raise the town’s hackles, but it had been like this for as long as Olivia could remember She and her sisters had been born in the backseat of her parents’ Chevrolet parked in front of the Stop and Sip Salvation’s citizens had taken that as proof that this generation of Sweets was just as trashy as the moonshine runners, naked protestors and possible DMV arsonists who’d come before The whole situation sucked

A couple approached the register, bill in hand, and Olivia made her way over to the pie case Two pieces of pecan pie were left Finally, soht One for her and one to bribe soner stilettos that he kneho the head of the snake was, and just how she could chop off its head

“Hey, Ellen” She set these two to go?”

“Sure,” she said “Just let me take a couple of sweet teas out to table four and then I’ll get them wrapped up for you”

“Thanks” She settled down on the stool and took out her wallet Her last ten dollar bill until her first Sweet Salvation Brewery paycheck came in tomorrow, but the pie was a necessary expense

“Hope you’re not planning to snarf down both of those,” an all too familiar voice said from behind her “You kno the camera puts on ten pounds”