April Arrington - Twins For The Bull Rider

“N-no, not at all,” he stammered, easing away with an uncomfortable laugh. “Just making polite conversation is all.” He nodded. “Was nice meetin’ you.”

“You, too,” she called out with a saccharine smile.

“I’m starving.” Jayden, the eldest twin, disentangled from her clutch and clamored up into a nearby booth.

Kayden tore away and settled beside his brother. They bent over a menu, leaning into each other.

Cissy frowned and thumbed through the bills at the edge of her pocket to calculate for the third time. Seventeen dollars and sixty-two cents. Unfortunately, her count had been correct the first time and remained so ever since. She slipped the bills back into her shorts, making sure all the coins were settled underneath, then plopped into the booth across from the boys.

“Aunt Cissy, they have triple-decker cheeseburgers.” Kayden shoved a greasy menu in her face. His eyes sparkled as he pointed to the colorful close-up of a burger meal.

Mmm. Her mouth watered. She smashed it shut so she wouldn’t drool on the table.

Seventeen dollars and sixty-two cents. She had to stretch that as far as it would go.

“And onion rings.” Jayden bounced in his seat. He scooted to his brother’s ear and shielded a conspiratorial whisper behind his hand.

Snatching up the mug in front of her, she forced a mouthful of coffee past the lump in her throat and winced as the bitter brew seized her taste buds. Her stomach churned and rumbled. She rubbed a hand over her belly. Even the leftover gummy bears from twelve hours ago would be a blessing right about now.

“They got hot-fudge sundaes,” the boys sang in unison. “With whipped cream,” they taunted.

A groan emerged as she imagined a cool dollop of sweet cream melting on her tongue. Seventeen dollars and sixty-two cents! a voice screamed inside her head.

“That’s they have hot-fudge sundaes,” she corrected. She held out a hand, unable to still the tremor running through it. “Boys, hand me the menu, please.”

They grumbled but passed it over. She located the items they requested and forced her fingers to trail across the sticky laminate to the price. A quick estimate of the total informed her the purchase would leave two dollars and eleven cents in her pocket.

“So can we? Can we?” Jayden pleaded, tapping the table with the heel of his hand. “We’ve been good all day, Aunt Cissy.”

Good was an understatement. They hadn’t uttered a peep when she’d been evicted that afternoon. Evicted. Cissy scoffed, turning to peer into the darkness outside the window.

So what? That seedy apartment wasn’t fit to live in anyway. And she’d told the landlord so. The sleazy pig. She’d stabbed her finger two inches from his filthy mouth and advised him not to proposition the next female tenant. She might have the money to sue him.

Throwing her hands over her eyes, she groaned and slumped into her elbows on the table. Why did she have to do that? Her temper tended to cost her a lot of things, but a bed for the boys was too high a price.

After she’d unloaded on the landlord, there had been no choice but to stuff the boys, herself and the entirety of their possessions into her beat-up Toyota and leave. A quick pit stop for gas and they’d undertaken the journey from the busy interstates of Atlanta to the isolated stretches of Deep South Georgia roads.

Cissy rolled her eyes and dropped back against the thin padding of the booth. Things would’ve been okay if her cousin wasn’t so dang irresponsible. Kip had promised them a place to stay. But when she’d banged on his door with a hungry twin on each arm and in desperate need of a restroom, there’d been no answer.

It wasn’t until ten minutes later that he’d cracked the door open, drunk and disheveled. He was so sorry. He’d forgotten they were coming. He just needed a minute to get the room ready.

She’d been okay with that. Really. She had to be. Kip was the last bit of family she had left. And the boys needed a bed for the night. She had almost talked herself into it. Or she had, until a busty brunette had slumped in the doorway to coo at the boys, her curves barely concealed by the grimy sheet gripped against her.

One look at the woman’s makeup-smeared face and slack expression had her clamping a hand over the boys’ eyes and hauling them away again. No way was she exposing them to that! She’d find something else. She’d cut corners somewhere and they’d splurge on a motel room for a few nights.

But after driving six counties down, she had yet to find a motel. The drive had sucked away most of her money. And dinner would take almost every penny she had left. Her last emergency stash remained in the glove compartment. And it was tiny. Forget being able to pay for a motel room for more than one night.

“Please, Aunt Cissy.” Kayden scowled.

“Mama woulda got us the triple burger if she was here,” Jayden added, laying his cheek on the table. His eyelids sagged beneath the weight of the day.

A shaft of pain knifed her gut. She would have. Crystal would have moved heaven and earth for them. She always had. That was until cancer had taken over and she’d been unable to do anything for them. Or for herself.

Cissy’s vision blurred. She’d lost half her soul the day they’d lowered her twin sister’s coffin into the ground.

Oh, Crystal, how could you ever think I was up to this?

“Y’all ready to order?” A perky waitress smiled and propped a hand on her curvy hip.

Blinking hard, Cissy snapped the menu shut and nodded. “A triple-decker cheeseburger, onion rings and a hot fudge sundae.” The boys squealed. “And could you cut the burger in half and bring an extra plate, too, please?”

Ms. Perky’s smile widened. She winked as the boys bounced with excitement. “Of course. And for you?”

Cissy glanced down at the dregs lining her white mug. “Coffee refills are free, right?”

The smile wavered. “Well, yes, honey.”

Forcing a bright smile of her own, Cissy passed her the metal condiment holder. “Then I’ll take a refill and as many sugars as that’ll hold. Thanks.”

The smile slipped. “Sure thing, honey,” the waitress murmured, lowering her eyes and carting the small container away.

Cissy lifted her chin. Lord, she really hated that look. That sad, woeful tilt of the lips. That sappy expression of pity. She should be used to it by now. But each time she found it stung even more than the time before.

“Aunt Cissy, look over there.” Kayden pointed at a row of candy machines by the entrance. “They got—I mean, they have—jawbreakers.”

“No, Kayden,” she returned, rubbing a hand over her brow. “You’re about to eat supper.”

“But they’re only twenty-five cents and you get two.” His voice continued to rise. “Me and Jayden could save ’em for tomorrow.”

Cissy’s head throbbed, her patience thin. Oh, for goodness’ sakes. What did a quarter matter now? Digging deep into her pocket, she dragged out a quarter between pinched fingers. Kayden plucked it from her almost before air hit it.

Moments later, the slap and bang of hands and feet on glass sounded.

“Boys.” Cissy crouched around the side of the booth, shooting glances at the stares leveled on them. “Stop it.”

“But it’s stuck, Aunt Cissy,” Jayden said, clenching his hands into small fists. “And it’s got our quarter.”

Cissy sucked her teeth and slid out of the booth. She grabbed the silver knob on the candy machine and gave it a few good turns.

“See. Told you,” Jayden stated.

“Yeah, it’s ripping you off, Aunt Cissy.” Kayden stamped his foot.

“It’s not ripping me off. And I’m not the one that had to have a jawbreaker anyway.”