The Fate of Destiny (Fates #1) (13 page)

“
Jeez, you're relentless, Devon.
All right.
All right. I'll do it.” Rowley flipped his palms up in a sign of surrender.

Devon flashed him a bad-girl grin. “Excellent. You won't regret it.”

“
I better not. Because if I do,
you
will. Now tell me again where I need to go.”

Devon did better than tell him. She wrote out explicit instructions on a scrap of paper.

Ten minutes later she was back at Chaos manor, ready to reap her just rewards.

Chapter Nine

“
I
promise
O'ma, Bee and I aren't going out on my birthday,” Farris reassured her grandmother for the tenth time.

Ada Landry, ensconced in her wheelchair with a blanket over her lap, patted Farris' cheek fondly. “Very good, dear. Just remember the danger.”

“
I know. Bee and I will be safe. We'll stop by and see you, how's that--”

“
Not on your birthday! Not that day. The next day.” Ada grasped Farris' hand and squeezed.

“
The next day then. We'll stop by November first.” Farris, distraught over the visit with her grandmother, gave the old woman's hand a squeeze and bent to kiss her cheek.

After a final round of goodbyes, Farris left the home with Beelah.

“
She's not going to let it go, is she?” Bee asked. Frowning, she pushed her glasses up on her nose and clutched her organizer closer to her body.

“
Doesn't look like it. Hey, Bee—you don't have to come over if you don't want to on my birthday.” Farris paused at the back of the Chevy. Keys in hand, she faced her best friend. “It's Halloween. I'm sure someone will host the party this year and you can't miss it because of this.”

Beelah scoffed. “Don't be silly, Farris. It's just dress up. Just a party. Besides, if I go without you, no one will talk to me anyway. I'll just stand in a corner eating caramel popcorn balls and be miserable.”

“
Don't underestimate yourself, Beelah Bosley. Look at you, in jeans and a sweater with your hair all pretty.” She reached out to pluck at a loose, auburn curl.

Beelah laughed and lifted a shoulder. She had always been self conscious about her looks. “Doesn't matter. I'll be with you on your birthday.”

Farris smiled and headed for the driver's door. Once she and Bee were in and they were on the road, she glanced across the truck.

“
So, I've been thinking. Maybe I'm gonna go see my Mom tomorrow.”

Beelah gasped. She laid her hands flat over the Hello Kitty organizer sitting on her lap. “What? Farris, you haven't seen her in--”

“
I know. A year. Last time, she didn't even recognize me.” After the day she'd already had, Farris was unsure that visiting her mother was a wise idea. But Ada's words kept echoing in the back of her mind.

The warnings.

The insistence that something bad would happen if she didn't stay home.

Farris and Bee had made a pact before going into the nursing home that they wouldn't tell Ada about the fire at the loft.

She'd
been
home, and something bad had almost happened.

“
Your grandma, she's just...upset, you know Farris? She's getting old and she's probably starting to imagine things,” Beelah reasoned.

“
Maybe. But it bothers me. Plus...I don't know. I feel bad for not visiting her more often.”

“
No one can blame you, Farris. Not...with how things are.”

“
But she's still my Mom.”

“
Yeah. And look how long it takes you to recover when you
do
go see her.”

Bee had a point. Last year, after the visit, Farris had grown increasingly melancholy and depressed. It took more than six weeks for her to shake herself out of it. There was nothing she could do about the fact her Mother was crazy. About the fact that Charlotte Landry would never be a part of her life in the way other people's mothers were.

“
I don't know. I guess we'll see tomorrow,” Farris said.

Pulling into the driveway of the diner, Farris parked at the rear of the lot. She grabbed the duffel bag from the back seat and walked with Beelah toward the back door.

Betty's Diner
was a traditional style diner. It had black-topped stools parked along an eleven foot bar and booths lining the walls. Tall windows spanned the entire front of the building. Late afternoon sunshine poured in through the slats of venetian blinds and the linoleum floor, black and white checkerboard, was polished to a high shine.

Stepping into the kitchen, Farris diverted toward the employee bathroom with Beelah right on her heels. Within minutes, both girls had changed into their uniform. White with red lapels and a zipper all the way up the front, they were also traditional. Farris added her red waist apron and pulled her hair back into a free swinging ponytail. Removing the cream scarf, she replaced it with a red one.

She wanted to work like she wanted another hole in her head.

Distracted with thoughts of her mother, Ada's warnings, and her old house being auctioned, she clocked in and began her shift. The diner, almost always busy for lunch and dinner, didn't disappoint today. Many citizens of the town had been displaced by the tornado, causing the dinner rush to be busier than usual.

After knowing each other all their life, and working together at the diner for half a year, she and Beelah had their job down to a fine science. When one girl got caught at a table with a customer asking a lot of questions, the other ran food or took orders. Their timing was seamless.

The bells on the door alerted Farris to another customer just as the sun sank below the horizon. She glanced over to see a young man enter, hands folded in front of his mouth while he blew heat over the skin. A black derby hat sat low on his head, making it difficult to see all his features. A square jaw defined his face and a ponytail caught his hair at the nape. Not pale blonde, but golden.

“
Welcome to Betty's Diner. Just have a seat and I'll be right over with a menu,” Farris said.

“
Thanks. Take your time.” His eyes were hidden but his smile was easily seen.
He
cut away to a booth at the far end and sank into the seat, facing the window instead of the door.

Farris dropped off two dinner specials and two cups of coffee before snagging a menu from the holder and walking it over to the newcomer's table. She set it down.

“
There you go. Do you want anything to drink before you order?”

“
Yeah, uh. Just water for now.” He slid the menu in front of him and opened it.

“
Sure thing.” Farris went behind the counter, filled a glass with ice and water from a filter, before delivering it. “I'll be back in five.”

He nodded. The water remained untouched.

The bells on the door chimed again.

Farris glanced over.

Larissa Miller and two of her cronies, Renee Prentice and Cait Jackson, stepped in. Already they wore smirks and knowing looks.

Grinding her teeth, Farris greeted them. “Welcome to Betty's Diner. Sit any place you like.”

“
Oh look, it's Farris Landry and Beelah Bosley,” Larissa crooned, as if she didn't know both girls worked there.

Farris turned around, rolled her eyes, and had a quick talk with herself to hold back any snarky comments. Grabbing three menus, she pivoted to face the girls again. “Yeah, hi. You want something to drink before you order?”

She held the menu in her hands since the three girls, all former cheerleaders, looked the diner over with critical, disapproving eyes.

“
Well, it isn't the
Rocket,”
Larissa said. “But I guess it'll do in an emergency.
We'll have Sprite, tea and Coke for me.” She pointed out which drink went to what girl, before all three saddled up on three vacant stools at the counter.

Fantastic.
Now they could see every move she made back here. Farris slapped down the menus before each. “Coming right up.”

Beelah mimed sticking her finger in her mouth and made a gagging sound on the way by, hiding the action behind Farris.

“
Amen,” Farris agreed with a mutter. She filled three glasses with the chosen drink and set them down on coasters in front of the girls. None had so much as touched their menu.

They weren't here to eat, they were here to antagonize.

“
Let me know when you're ready to order,” Farris said to the girls, before she exited from behind the counter and walked down to the man at the far booth.

“
Ready?” she asked, taking her order pad and a pen from her waist apron.

Slouched in the seat, the young man hadn't taken his coat off or removed his hat. He shut the menu and handed it over. “I'll just have a BLT and fries.”

“
Coming right up.” She wrote it down, smiled, and took the menu.

“
Thanks.” He picked up his water and took a sip.

Farris turned in his order, put the menu away and braced herself for more interaction with Larissa and her crew.

“
Know what you want yet?” she asked, taking out her pad and pen again.

Larissa, who had finally opened her menu, perused it in the way people did when they were going to be difficult about their food.

Farris knew all the signs.

“
How about...hm. The Dinner Special, with a salad instead of the fries—no wait. Make that the Number Five with fruit and a salad on the side—mm, hold on...”

Farris started writing each time Larissa spoke, then drew a line through each order when she changed it.

Renee and Cait snickered. Neither had bothered to pick up a menu.

Farris waited Larissa out.

“
You know, that was really cool of that guy—what's his name again? The one
who bought your
hope
chest,” Larissa said.

“
Emerson. Are you ready to order?” Farris' temper flared. She held it in check while Larissa continued.

“
Emerson. Oh, nice name, too. Who is he, anyway? We saw him the other night at the Rocket. Didn't he like—help you and Beelah or something?” Larissa upturned her palm, elbow planted on the counter.

“
I don't know who he is. Yes, he helped us escape the tornado. Are you ordering?”

“
Just a minute. Don't get hasty,” Larissa chided.

Renee and Cait shared knowing grins and stared at Farris again.

“
Look, Larissa, I'm busy--”

Larissa cocked a blonde brow. “Excuse me? Am I not a customer?”

“
Yes.”

“
Well, then treat me like one or I'll complain to the management.”

Gritting her teeth, Farris stood there with the pad and pen in hand, and waited. Bless Beelah's heart, she covered the other tables for the moment.

“
What would you like?” Farris asked in the nicest tone of voice she could muster.

“
I'm not done talking about Emerson yet.” Larissa flashed a broad smile and removed her gloves.

“
I don't have a lot to say about him, I barely know him.”

“
Well, tell me what you
do
know. He's pretty cute, huh?” Larissa glanced at
Renee and Cait as if for confirmation. Both girls nodded on cue.

“
I guess,” Farris said, forcing her tone to go bland.

The bells chimed on the door.

Speak of the devil, Emerson and Theron stepped in from outside.

. . .

Her day just couldn't get any worse. Farris excused herself from the girls while they were distracted looking over their shoulder.

“
Welcome to Betty's Diner. Pick a seat and I'll be right with you,” Farris said to Emerson and Theron. She smiled, a faint curve of her lips, to hopefully distract the men away from the wild blush that colored her cheeks.

For one reason or another, she was embarrassed at Emerson seeing her in her
uniform.

“
Hey, Farris.” Emerson ticked his chin her way in greeting.

Theron saluted from his brow.

She turned away to get the order the cook set on the back counter after dinging the bell. Picking up the plate, she walked it over to the man in the far booth and slid it onto the table.

“
There you go. Anything else I can get you? More water?” she asked, setting his bill upside down within reach.

“
No, that'll do it.” He dug into a pocket for money, checked the bill, and set a ten down. “Keep the change.”

“
Thanks.” Farris plucked the ten off the table and walked it back to the register. She made change and tucked her tip into a pocket on her apron.