In truth, Devon was generally hoping to see someone else. It was silly. Brennan didn’t know she was in the city. She had turned him down. She had a boyfriend. But she still walked this stretch to see if he was working the bar, so she could catch a glimpse of him.
No Hadley. No Brennan. Devon kept walking. Reminiscing about her first week in Chicago wouldn’t help her find a job.
Turning the corner, Devon immediately jumped out of the way as someone came barreling directly toward her. She got off a few choice words for the person as he passed her. People in Chicago are so rude! People just didn’t act like that in Nashville.
When the person abruptly skidded to a stop, Devon retreated a few steps. She hadn’t thought her cussing at the person would cause him to stop. She didn’t want to draw attention to herself. She certainly didn’t want to set off some street thug, or worse, tilt the emotional imbalance of some crazed serial killer.
When the person turned around, Devon’s fear dried up. It was immediately replaced with what she could only describe as an oh-fuck face.
“Devon?” Brennan said tentatively, facing her.
Breathing heavily from his run with a sheen of sweat on his forehead, he looked astonished by her presence. She couldn’t blame him.
“Uh…hey, Brennan,” she whispered. She was ashamed that they had to meet like this after what had happened between them. “You looked like you were in a hurry—”
“What are you doing here?” he asked, ignoring her statement.
“I, uh…didn’t leave,” she murmured softly.
“What?” he asked, looking confused. “You were supposed to be gone like three weeks ago. Why would you stay?”
She had clearly shocked him enough for him to speak plainly. Normally, she thought he was so reserved, but his face was giving him away as clear as day. He hadn’t wanted her to leave, and now, he was glad to see her. Could she possibly be reading him correctly?
“I decided to stay and…help Hadley,” she told him. It was the truth…mostly.
Brennan’s eyes narrowed in response. “I’ve seen Hadley almost every day for the past three weeks, and she never mentioned that you’re still in the city.”
Devon shrugged. Well, that looked seriously implicating. It wasn’t that she had told Hadley not to tell Brennan. It was just that Hadley wasn’t talking about Devon at all. Now, it looked like she had been avoiding him. Well, she had.
“I haven’t been succeeding…” she said. That much was also true.
“So, she’s avoiding you like the plague because she wants to keep using,” he said intuitively. “I’ve seen that before. You’re going to have to try harder.” He paused, glancing down and then up, like he wasn’t sure what to say. “Maybe you should swing by Jenn’s. It might help.”
“Oh,” she whispered, looking away from him. Why did he insist on complicating things?
“To see Hadley,” he added.
“Maybe,” she said. “I’m kind of busy looking for a job, so I don’t know when I’ll have a lot of time.”
“You’re looking for a job? You’re staying?” he asked.
She clearly continued to shock him every time she opened her mouth.
“Oh, yeah, I’m staying through the summer.”
She could see the question on his face. He wasn’t on guard like he normally was. He seemed to want to know why she hadn’t come to see him since their last encounter. Still, he should know why. She had given him reason enough when she had broken the kiss in his apartment.
Instead, he said, “Come with me.” Then, he turned on his heel and walked away from her.
Devon stared after his retreating back. What the f**k is he thinking? But he wasn’t waiting for her, and she had to jog to keep up with him. She didn’t even know why she was following him. She knew it wasn’t a good idea to be around him. That had become blatantly obvious after he had kissed her.
She was too messed up. She had too many of her own issues to deal with, and she couldn’t drag anyone else into it.
Brennan walked right into Jenn’s, the place she hadn’t walked into for three weeks straight. She followed on his heels to the back of the mostly deserted restaurant. Some regular customer called out a snide remark to him as he passed, and Brennan flipped the guy off. The guy laughed through his smoker’s cough.
When they reached the door to the kitchen, Brennan said, “Wait here.”
Devon stood around, twiddling her thumbs. She wished she knew why he had brought her here. She didn’t know what had compelled her to follow him, except that it had all been so sudden. She hadn’t expected to see him any more than he was expecting to see her.
Loud strong language from the back broke her out of her thoughts. All she could really grasp from the conversation was that he was late for work. That must have been why he had been running. She didn’t suspect he was the kind of person who was usually late, but she didn’t really know him all that well. Maybe it was a regular thing for him to show up late. Maybe that was why his hair had always been rumpled.
A couple minutes later, Brennan walked back out of the kitchen with a woman in tow. Devon had never seen her before when she had spent time in Jenn’s, but that didn’t surprise her. The woman wasn’t wearing the typical uniform. Instead, she was clad in a form-fitting dress. She looked well-kept, and Devon wondered what she was doing back in the kitchen.
“Devon,” Brennan said, facing her, “this is Jenn Yarrow.”
“Pleasure to meet you,” Devon said, sticking out her hand.
“Brennan said you are looking for a job,” she said with a thick Northern accent. “You have any waitressing experience?”
“Yes, ma’am. I worked as a waitress in Nashville for a few summers,” Devon said, her hopes flaring.
“First off, don’t call me ma’am. That’s my mom or my mother-in-law, God strike her down,” Jenn said, tilting her head to the sky. “Second, we work with test-runs only. You make it through today, and I’ll hire you. Otherwise, you can keep your tips and have a nice day.”
Jenn threw a towel at her, and Devon caught it, feeling shocked.
“So…is this like an interview?”
“What does it look like?” Jenn rolled her eyes and looked at Brennan as if she were asking what kind of person he had brought into the place. “There’s a change of clothes in the back. I’ll check on you at closing time.” With that, she turned and walked away.