She made a sympathetic sound. “Ooh, that bites hard. Was everyone giving you their I’m-pretending-that-I’m-not-looking-at-you-but-we-all-know-that-I-am-and-that-I-totally-pity-you faces?”
I laughed and could finally take a breath. “Yeah. That was it exactly.”
“Been there. At least you didn’t have someone gleefully cut up your credit card while a line of people stared at you because you couldn’t pay for your groceries” She paused; her voice was barely a whisper. “And then try to figure out how to pay for food for your boy—who is not in this truck, are you, baby?—with the cash in your wallet, knowing that’s all you have to your name. Then having to call your mom to ask for a loan at the age of thirty because you’re such a loser.”
My chest hurt. I leaned my head against the side of the truck and whispered, “Fuck ’em.”
“Yeah, fuck ’em.”
After a few moments of silence, I straightened up. “So, what are you doing in there, Katie?”
“Working. It’s my first day.” Her voice was teary. “And I don’t know what to do. He told me to figure it out. I’m supposed to clean up in here and then cook and sell hot dogs for the lunch crowd. But there are no lights in here and I’m not strong enough to open that panel. There isn’t enough light coming through the windshield to see anything back here. I couldn’t leave Chaucer at home—something in there scares him. I can’t lock him up with a scary monster for five hours, so I had to bring him with me, but now you’re going to give me a ticket, and then he’s going to?—”
I pushed up the side panel and secured the rod to keep it open.
“Oh!” She looked back and forth. “That helps a ton. Thanks!” She turned around, looking at everything.
“Would you like a hand?”
Her smile could melt glaciers. “Yes, please.”
I walked around to the back door. Locked. I knocked.
“Just a minute, please,” she sing-songed. I heard scraping. “Hmm, no idea how to open this door. I don’t think it opens.”
“Safety violation.”
“Damn it, are you going to help me or get me fired?” Shuffling and grunting. “Yo, Aiden. Over here.”
I walked back around the side of the truck to find Katie kneeling on the counter, leaning out the window. “I’ll give you a hand and pull you in.”
I stared at her for a beat as she reached out a hand. “Really?” I asked.
She reassessed the situation. “Good point. You could probably just climb up.”
“Or I could go through the driver’s door like I assume you did.”
She brightened and clapped. “Yes, do that.” She looked at her watch. “Hurry up. Lots to do!”
Rolling my eyes, I rounded the front of the truck and then crawled over the seat into the kitchen in back. The area was too small for the three of us. Chaucer nudged my hand so his head was directly under it, helping me to more easily pet him. I scratched his head. “Smart dog.”
Katie beamed.
“He can’t stay here.” I watched her face fall. “Seriously, you cannot have an animal in a food truck.”
Sliding off the counter, she began, “But I can’t take him back?—”
I held up my hand. “Let me think.” Shit. “Is he as well-behaved with other people as he is with you?”
Wariness had taken the place of disappointment. “Yeeees,” she drew out.
“How about if he comes to the station with me while you work here?”
She looked between the two of us, her brow clearing. “Really? You’d take him with you today?”
Crouching down, I took the dog’s head in my hands. He stepped forward, pressing the top of his head into my chest. “Do you promise to be a good boy and mind me?”
“Yes!” Katie was grinning from ear to ear, bouncing on her toes.
