Walking Straight (The Walking Together Series Book 1) Read online

  Before she could gain the woman’s attention, she was back in the kitchen. Now what? She sure was hungry. Finally, the older woman came back out with more plates.

  But this time when the woman headed back to the kitchen, Betty Sue spoke up. “Ma’am.”

  The woman stopped and turned back toward Betty Sue. “Sorry, I didn’t see you back there in that corner.”

  Then, as the short, heavyset woman approached Betty Sue from the other side of the counter. She shook her head. “Are you standing Dear?”

  If she hadn’t been so hungry, Betty Sue would have gotten up and stomped out of the place. She’d had to endure jokes about her height all her life and now had zero tolerance for them.

  The waitress leaned back to look up at Betty Sue and must have seen the anger on her face. The woman quickly said, “Oh Sweetie, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. Please sit back down and I’ll take your order right now.”

  Betty Sue hadn’t realized that she was actually standing and was now looking down at the woman who was about a foot shorter than her.

  She sat back down. “I’ll have the biggest breakfast you have here as long as it has lots of eggs, meat, and pancakes.”

  The other woman grinned back at her and stuck out her hand. “I’m Trish, and I run this place. I hope you’ll let me make up for my lack of manners before.”

  When Betty Sue nodded and tried to smile back at Trish, the woman just grinned at her. “Biggest Breakfast huh? Well, that would be our Lumberjack Special. It has three eggs, two sausage links, two slices of bacon, a thick slice of ham, hash browns, and three pancakes.”

  This time Betty Sue was able to smile back at Trish. “That’s just what I want.”

  With that, Trish went back into the kitchen, leaving Betty Sue to her thoughts. The place was beginning to fill up now and she was getting more than her share of stares from the locals. She knew that if she’d been normal height she’d still have been stared at since she was a stranger in a small town. But the second and third looks had to be due to her height. Oh well, she could handle it. After all, she’d been doing just that for most of her twenty-nine years now.

  As she was eating her breakfast, Betty Sue couldn’t help but notice that Trish was the only person waiting on tables and the poor woman was moving as fast as she could but was continuing to fall further behind by the minute.

  That gave Betty Sue an idea. She quickly finished her breakfast. Just as she finished, Trish came by and said, “My, my, you sure do have a healthy appetite. If I ate like that, I’d weigh three-hundred pounds.”

  Betty Sue ignored the comment and screwed up her courage to say, “I couldn’t help but notice that you’re the only waitress today. Could you use some help?”

  Trish stood across the counter from Betty Sue and even though Betty Sue was sitting, Trish still had to lean back to look up into her eyes.

  After a long moment of staring into Betty Sue’s eyes, she said, “You planning on staying here in Strawberry, Sweetie?”

  Betty Sue could only nod.

  “Do you have any experience waiting tables?”

  “Yes, but it’s been a few years.”

  Trish chuckled, “Well, I always say that waitressing is kinda like riding a bicycle. Once you learn it good enough, it’s always there for you to fall back on.”

  Betty Sue was holding her breath now.

  “Well, being as my other daytime waitress just quit on me, I’m hurting as you can see. Come on back here and let’s see if we can find something you can put on that’ll make you look like a waitress. I know none of my things will do, that’s for sure.”

  With that, Betty Sue followed Trish back into the kitchen where she was greeted with another surprise. There, turning eggs on the griddle was the rude little guy from the motel last night. And he was giving her a dirty look too.

  Trish ignored the cook and continued on through the kitchen to an office with the door open. She turned around so quickly that Betty Sue bumped into her. Now she just knew that she was going to lose this job even before she started it. Trish’s nose hit Betty Sue’s stomach and the top of her head was several inches shy of Betty Sue’s chin.

  Trish stepped back and looked up. “No offense, Sugar, but just exactly how tall are you?”

  Now she knew she was lost for sure. “I’m six feet two inches tall.”

  Betty Sue was already turning around to leave but Trish reached out a hand and grabbed her by the arm to stop her.

  “Hey.” Trish now had a puzzled look on her face. “Don’t leave now that we’re just getting to know each other. But I don’t even know your name yet.”

  Well, maybe all wasn’t lost just yet. She quickly said, “Betty Sue Farris.”

  Well Betty Sue Farris, this will be the last time you ever hear me talking about how tall you are. Okay?”

  Betty Sue couldn’t help it. Trish had such a serious look on her face that she broke out in a grin. “Okay.”

  “Now, let’s see. Hey Mike can I take one of the cook’s aprons and just tie it around her waist for today?”

  The short round man didn’t answer at first. He made some unintelligible sounds for a few seconds, glared at Betty Sue, then back at Trish and finally said, “Why not.”

  Betty Sue slowly let out the breath she’d been holding. Did that mean that she now had a job, at least for today? Oh, she had momentarily forgotten about her room. No problem, she had enough money to cover one more night. Then, hopefully she’d be able to find another place to live.

  Betty Sue found that even though it had been almost ten years since she’d waitressed, back before she’d married Dave. But she was able to pick it back up fairly quickly. Trish seemed to be amazed at how many plates Betty Sue could carry at one time.

  The morning rush was over and Trish came up to Betty Sue and said, “Let’s sit a spell and talk. I need to get you to fill out all the employment forms.”

  Betty Sue sat on a stool on the kitchen side of the counter while Trish went to the office for the proper forms.

  That was when Mike came up to her and said, “If we hadn’t been a hurting so bad this morning, I never would of let Trish hire you.”

  At her look of surprise, he laughed. “Yeah, I own the motel and this place too. So if you don’t work out, I won’t have any qualms about tossing you out on your ear. Understood?”

  All she could do was nod and then Trish was back. Mike went back into the kitchen then.

  “What was that all about, Sweetie? Did Mike harass you?”

  Betty Sue never could keep anything from showing on her face no matter how hard she tried.

  Trish patted her hand. “Don’t you worry about Mike Dear. I’ll take care of him. I run this place and he runs the motel. He’s just filling in for a sick cook today. Besides, his bark’s worse than his bite anyway.”

  After she’d filled out all the necessary forms, Betty Sue was about to take the coffee pot out to make a refill run when the front door opened and a giant of a man walked in. He was not only extremely tall but he was as big around as the oak tree that had been in the back yard of her Granny’s house. Wow!

  She barely noticed the long hair and beard.

  * * *

  Matt continued to stare at the woman as she took a coffee pot out to several old geezers who looked like they were camped out for the day.

  When she came back toward the kitchen, she looked at him as he sat on his stool. Something changed in her eyes. No, it wasn’t the same thing that most people had in their eyes when they first saw him. Yes, there was a little shock, but he was sure there was a little bit of something else and he could only hope that it was admiration.

  Now, there was a woman for him if there ever was one. With her, he wouldn’t have to bend over so far just to talk to her.

  She held up the coffee pot with a questioning look and he nodded. So she came over and filled the coffee cup he’d just turned right side up.

  “Do you need a menu?”

  H
e was caught. He’d been staring at her. And he of all people should know how bad it felt to be stared at because of his size.

  “No, I don’t need a menu. My name’s Matt, what’s yours Honey.”

  As soon as he said that, he knew he’d made a mistake. Her face clouded up and she stomped back into the kitchen without saying another word to him. Well, that had gone really well.

  He looked toward the door where several people had just entered. They didn’t appear to pose a threat to him and he was about to turn back around when someone grabbed his left ear.

  “Matthew Wayne Livingston. You ain’t so big that I still can’t take a broom after you.”

  He turned to see Trish Howard glaring up at him with her hand still holding his ear and it was really beginning to hurt now.

  “Don’t you ever let me catch you being rude to that poor girl ever again. Do you hear me?”

  “Okay, okay, Trish, I won’t okay?”

  She finally let go but continued to glare at him. “She’s a decent girl that she is. And you’d better treat her that way or you’ll answer to me and Smith.”

  He almost laughed at that one. That was Trish’s way of reminding him that she had a Concealed Carry Gun Permit and she always had her Smith & Wesson .357 magnum in her purse. Most women carried a small gun like a .38 or a .22, but no not Trish.

  He threw his hands in the air over his head in an act of surrender and said, “Yes ma’am. I’ll surely remember that.”

  With that, she stomped back into the kitchen and shortly the new waitress came back out with her order pad at the ready. But she was standing a little farther away from him this time. He almost laughed. That was when he noticed the temporary nametag on her blouse that had ‘Betty Sue’ written on it.

  He figured he’d have to drop back and regroup with this one. She was obviously under the watchful eye and definitely the protection of Trish Howard and he’d better be careful how he approached the girl from now on.

  She wouldn’t meet his eye so he knew he had better do something. “I’m sorry Betty Sue. I had a hard week driving several thousand miles then I partied a little too much last night. Will you forgive me?”

  She did look up at him then and he wasn’t sure but he thought there might be just the beginning of a smile on her face.

  He was shocked when she spoke, especially at what she actually said.

  “I’m sure you get this just as much as I do so why don’t we just get it out of the way right now.”

  Now she surly had him stumped this time. When he gave her what he hoped was a puzzled look, she said, “I’m six two how tall are you?”

  It was all he could do to keep from laughing then. But he succeeded, barely. “I’m six seven.”

  With that, she did smile. “Okay, what do you want this morning?”

  Matt tried to get Betty Sue to stop and talk with him several more times while he was eating his breakfast, but she always just smiled and told him she was too busy to stop and talk. But he knew better. He could see Mike Stockwell back there cooking. And he knew the jerk was probably back there watching her every move just to be able to hassle her about every little indiscretion. So, he didn’t really blame the girl for not stopping.

  He was even more disappointed when he paid his bill that Trish took his money instead of Betty Sue. Oh well, better luck next time. And you could bet your bottom dollar that there would be a next time. Matt would make double sure of that. He wanted to get to know this Amazon of a woman, a woman who was just his size. How about that? He’d never even seen a woman that tall before.

  When Matt left the diner, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do next. He was fairly sure that he was down enough now not to have to worry if he ran into Hal, but he didn’t want to go back to his apartment.

  He looked at his watch and realized it was almost time for the high school to let out for the day. He decided to stop in there and talk to his mom. It was just about the only time he could talk to her without his dad around. So he jumped on his Harley and headed out to the high school.

  When he walked into the high school office, his mom was at the counter apparently helping a student with something. Linda Livingston was the school secretary and more or less ran things around there. She’d been there since before Matt had even been in high school and he’d graduated ten years ago.

  When the kid walked off, Linda Livingston took one look at her son and said, “Oh Matt, you look like you’ve been out partying again.”

  He should have known he’d never be able to keep anything from her, never had, never would. So the best thing for him to do would be to admit it and try to do damage control from there.

  “Yeah, Mom, Jerry threw a party for me last night after than long trip I just made.”

  He knew she wasn’t buying any of it, so he just leaned over the counter and kissed her on the cheek. She swung at him playfully and he ducked out of reach of her hand.

  He suddenly realized that this was a scene that the two of them had played out dozens of times before. That made him stop and think. Where was his life going? In the toilet that’s where.

  But, as he thought about it, how could he do anything about it? And for that matter, did he even want to?

  His mom was talking and he’d missed it. “What did you say Mom?”

  She gave him a searching look but said, “I said, will you be in town this weekend? Grace and Brianna are coming home Friday.”

  Matt banged his fist on the counter. “No Mom I won’t. I gotta take a load down to Dallas, leaving Friday morning and I’m not sure yet where they’ll send me after that.”

  If he’d been in a bad mood before, he was even worse after he left the high school. He missed his little sister.

  Chapter Two

  By three o’clock, Betty Sue was so tired she wasn’t sure she’d even be able to muster up enough energy to walk next door to her room. She took off her apron just as Trish came out of the office. She could tell that the older woman wanted to talk to her so she waited.

  “Betty Sue, you are a very good worker and I would like to keep you on here fulltime if you want to.”

  Betty Sue had been dreading this conversation fearing that Trish might already have somebody else lined up for the job full time. She didn’t even hesitate.

  “Oh yes Trish, I would love to work here fulltime.” Then she had a bad thought. “But what about Mike? He told me he owns this place.”

  Trish laughed, waved her hand in the air. “Don’t you worry about Mike. He usually stays out of here and sticks to running the motel and lets me run this place. He was just filling in for a sick cook today.”

  Betty Sue released the breath she’d been holding and smiled back at this wonderful woman she was beginning to like more every minute.

  Trish stretched up in an attempt to look Betty Sue in the eyes. “I know you just came into town, Dear. Where are you staying right now?”

  Betty Sue swallowed hard. Here it was. “A . . . next door until I can find a place to rent.”

  Trish was shaking her head before Betty Sue finished. “Let’s go get your things. You can stay with me until then. That motel will break you if you stay there much longer.”

  Oh how Betty Sue knew that for certain.

  She had already observed a wedding ring on Trish’s hand so she said, “But, what will your husband think?”

  Trish frowned. “My husband died five years ago.” She held up her left hand. “But I still wear this because I feel like I’m still married to him.”

  Wow! What could she say to that? She couldn’t. She did the only thing she could think of. She reached out and started to give Trish a loose hug but Trish wrapped her arms around Betty Sue’s hips and hugged her tight.

  “It would make me very happy if you would stay with me for a while Betty Sue. If I’d ever had a daughter, I think I would have wanted her to be just like you.” She added under her breath, “But just a little bit shorter.”

  They both laughed at that and it fe
lt good to Betty Sue just to be able to laugh again.

  Trish walked next door with Betty Sue. All she had to do was pick up her suitcase since she’d already packed it in anticipation of having to go somewhere else. She just hadn’t expected to be going to someone’s home like this. It startled her when her eyes became a little moist. She rubbed them, picked up the suitcase, and turned for the door where Trish stood watching her a little too closely.

  “You haven’t had anyone be nice to you for a while have you Sugar?”

  Betty Sue started to deny it but shrugged her shoulders. “Does it show that much?”

  Trish’s smile was so warm and motherly that Betty Sue almost did cry then. “Yes Dear, it shows. Even as big as you are, you act like a frightened little rabbit, especially around men.”

  As they walked into the motel office, Betty Sue dreaded the confrontation she knew was about to happen if Mike was at the desk. He was, and she was right.

  He looked up at them when they came through the door and then down at Betty Sue’s suitcase in her hand.

  “That’ll be another fifty bucks since you stayed past the checkout time.”

  Betty Sue knew she had to pay it so she started to dig her wallet out of her large shoulder bag. But Trish placed a hand on her arm and turned the full force of her fury on Mike.

  “You listen to me Mike Stockwell. You are not going to charge this girl for another night. When she should have checked out, she was over there running herself ragged keeping your customers from getting mad and leaving because I was the only waitress and couldn’t keep up with all their orders. She saved you at least fifty bucks today and you know it.”

  Betty Sue just knew Mike was going to argue some more but he glared back at Trish for a long moment then picked up a paper from the counter, tore it in half, and tossed it into the trash can.

  Betty Sue almost sagged in relief. Fifty dollars would have almost wiped out all she had left.

  Then Betty Sue had a discomforting thought. How could she ever repay this wonderful woman who was being so good to her? Not only had Trish given her a job and was going to open up her home to Betty Sue, but the sweet woman had just saved her fifty dollars on top of it all.