"So shedidlike it, but she stopped liking it when you were five months old?"
"Exactly," I said.
"That's too bad. I love that name. How do you spell it?"
"The normal way," I said.
"Which is how?"
"Not like the movie. Mine's J-O-S-I-E-W-E-L-L-S," I said, without looking at him.
"Well, for what it's worth, I absolutely love meeting a real-life Josie Wells. That movie's amazing. I studied it because of what I'm doing—making a Western of my own, a short series. That's what my meeting's about tomorrow."
"That's great," I said, dropping two more eggs each into their pot and remembering to focus. "I'm not the regular chef back here, so I have to concentrate. I'm sorry. It's cool that you're in a movie."
"Thanks, Josie. I'll show myself out, and I'll see you tomorrow morning."
"Sounds good," I replied, cracking another egg.
***
My life was so full that every day seemed twice as long as it used to. The days also seemed to blur together, which made for some surreal moments, both in dreams and in my waking hours. I used to be a full-time student with a part-time job.
I used to live on campus in a small apartment with a roommate, sleeping and studying in a tiny bedroom that my parents paid for. My life as I knew it had been put on pause when I dropped everythingand ran to Montana to be by my sister's side. A month ago, I left Colorado and came to Montana to help my sister through a tragedy in her life.
I thought I would be back at school after a week or so, but instead, I had to finish the school year via Zoom, videos, and lots of help from my classmates and friends. My professors were kind about working with me, and I finished the term with good grades even though I couldn't physically be there.
Since I had been in Montana, I had been working my sister's two jobs and one of my own. The third job had been a recent addition, and honestly, I didn't need it financially. I only took it to be out of the house at night and force my sister back into some of her old responsibilities. I knew we couldn't continue this lifestyle forever, and she had to start getting out of bed and getting better so that she could take back her life. In the meantime, I was working long hours and learning a hundred new things a day, and it all seemed like a big blur most of the time.
I was normally never this brave or adventurous, but Audrey had forced my hand. I knew my sister needed me, but I was naturally timid and thoughtful, and selfishly, I could not wait to get back to my life in Colorado.
"Hey, Josie, that guy's here," Carly said, coming around the corner to stand at my plating area with him the following morning.
"Thank you," I said. "These are done for table three, if you want to take them."
"Gotcha. And I'll send those men back. He already ordered. I just told them to wait up there for a second so I could make sure you're… oh, it looks nice back here. You got it ready for them. Where'd you put Luna's toys?"
I pointed to my left, and I saw her look down and notice where I had stashed Luna's toys.
"Are there just two of them?" I asked.
"Yeah, it's the guy from yesterday and an older gentleman."
"Luna's being dropped off at eleven, so I hope they're done by then."
"Yeah, of course, it's only nine, and you told them an hour. That guy's nice. He's really thankful you're letting him come back here. He already tipped us twenty dollars on his breakfast."
"That was nice," I said out loud, even though what crossed my mind was hoping he didn't take that twenty out of the hundred he had promised me. I had gotten to work early to clean and prepare that area.
"I'm sending them back," she said.
I turned up my music a little and braced myself, knowing they would be coming back to my area any second.
I turned and smiled at the guy when I heard him coming my way. I had seven eggs on the stovetop at the moment, and a smile and a nudge of the head was the best I could do.
Just then, I saw the ticket for that gentleman's order come through. Carly had marked it with a note about the table, so I knew it was their ticket.
I was aware of them in the space next to me. I couldn't see them, but I could hear them talking. The wall was enough to keep us out of each other's sight, but the room was small, and there was just no way I would turn my music up loud enough to drown them out.
