Their enthusiastic, affirmative chorus sent a wave of guilt through her. If she was going to be their only parental figure, she needed to step up and do a better job of it. Feeding them was important. Mothering Rule Number One: Don’t starve the children, Jules. Swallowing a punchy laugh, she closed the SUV hatch door and waved toward the diner. “Let’s eat, then!”
The bell on the diner door sounded harsh and loud to Jules, and she tried to hide her flinch. A quick look around the crowded diner showed that no one was paying any attention to them, though, and she allowed her shoulders to drop from their current position around her ears.
“Sit anywhere!” a woman hollered from the far side of the dining area, where she was setting plates in front of a family with a couple of kids in booster seats and one in a high chair. “Anywhere you can find, at least.”
A scan of the diner showed no empty tables, except for a couple of spots at the high counter facing the kitchen. The bell clanged again, and Jules turned to see more people file in behind them. Just as Jules resigned herself to waiting and watching her siblings’ hungry expressions every time a tray of food passed by, a group of guys stood and shuffled out of a booth toward the back.
“There!” she whispered. From the corner of her eye, she saw the group of newcomers behind her shift in the direction of the vacated table.
“We’re on it,” Ty said, and he and Tio hurried toward the booth, sliding into the seat just before the other group reached it.
“Nice save.” Jules slid into the booth, holding her hand toward Tio and then Ty for a discreet slap of congratulations. “Lunch is apparently a competitive sport in Monroe. Good to know.”
“I’m glad we don’t have to wait,” Dez said from where she’d wedged herself between Sam and Jules. “I’m starving.”
Glancing around the table, Jules frowned. “Y’all need to tell me things. If you need something, let me know. If you’re hungry, speak up, and I’ll feed you.”
“Y-you’ve sp-p-pent a lot of m-money on us already,” Sam said, glaring at the carousel of jams on the table.
Jules eyed his profile, trying to figure out the direction of his thoughts. “It’s all stuff we need. Getting set up will be the most expensive part, and then things will get better. I’ll get a job, too.” She wasn’t quite sure what job she’d be able to get, though. Although Dennis had provided her with a shiny new social security number, Jules didn’t really want to test it out on a W-3 form. Also, she wouldn’t be able to put down any references, or a job history, or her schooling, or anything. Who’d want to hire someone without a past?
“M-m-me too.”
Jules, pulled out of her worried job-seeking thoughts, glanced at Sam, surprised. “You don’t need to work. School’s your job right now.”
He set his jaw in the way he did when he’d decided on something. Once she saw his expression, Jules threw up her hands. Sam’s stubborn streak rivaled her own.
“Fine. Get a job.” She put on her most determined face. “But no more than ten hours a week.”
After a long moment, he dipped his chin slightly.
“We’ll work, too,” Ty declared, and Jules turned her stern expression toward the twins.
“Not until you’re sixteen.”
Instead of responding, Ty and Tio looked at each other, speaking silently in that way they’d done since they’d been toddlers.
Jules narrowed her eyes at them. “No jobs for you.”
After a moment, Ty met her gaze and smiled innocently. “Okay. We won’t get jobs.”
She didn’t trust that for a minute. Before she could dig deeper into the twins’ plan, though, Dez piped up. “I want to work, too.”
“Dezzy, no.” Jules resisted the urge to bang her head against the table. “You’re a kid. Kids don’t work. They play, and have fun, and go to school. I want that for you.”
“I’ll do something fun, then.” Her thoughtful frown turned into a smile. “I’ll walk people’s dogs. That’ll be fun.”
Before Jules could respond, the server was at their table. Her curly red hair was poking out in all directions, and her heavily tanned face looked harassed as she handed them each a menu. “Sorry for the wait. It’s a zoo in here today, and one of my servers ran off with one of the dishwashers a couple of days ago. Anyway, you don’t care about that. Did you want anything to drink?”
A sudden idea popped into Jules’s head. “I’m actually looking for a job.”
The server gave her a sharp look. “Any experience waitressing?”