The Alpha's Reluctant Mate (wattpadprize14)

Chapter ELEVEN

The sticky floor on the server's line at Poncho's was almost more than Tara Weathers could bear. It made a ripping sound every time she moved her feet, which made her crazy. Two months and she still wasn't used to it. Tara told herself that her shift was ending in 15 and she could hang on that long. She would probably spend the evening spraying the bottom of her work shoes with disinfectant.

It was a slow night at the restaurant. In her section she only had three tables still occupied. One was a father trying to entertain two sullen looking teenage girls. Tara figured he was probably a divorced dad who had his kids for the weekend and brought them out to dinner because he couldn't cook. He looked too eager and they looked like they would rather be texting with friends. Another table was clearly a couple on a date. That was good news - guys on dates always tipped better. The third table was an older man by himself. He looked to be in his sixties - around Tara's grandfather's age. Something about his serious, pensive expression made him seem un-grandfatherly to Tara. He didn't look like the kind of man who would bounce kids on his knee and pull quarters out of your ear. He had been there a while and only ordered coffee even though it was already almost 9:00 in the evening. Tara figured she'd be lucky to get a 50 cent tip from this guy.

Tara scrubbed down all her empty tables and prepared to close up for the evening. She put on her happy friendly face when she dropped off the checks at her tables. Weekend Dad thanked her, handed her five bucks and asked for three doggy bags, which drew eye rolls from both girls. Dude on a Date tipped 25%, just as Tara expected. Grandpa Frowny Face didn't look up when Tara dropped off the check and didn't leave a tip. No big surprise.

Tara grabbed her stuff and headed out to make the short walk back to campus. She made it a few yards away from the restaurant when she heard someone calling.

"Excuse me, young lady." Tara turned and saw Grandpa Frowny Face approaching her. His walk was swift and sure for a man in his sixties. Tara thought to herself, maybe he's not as old as I thought. Maybe he's prematurely gray. When he reached Tara he extended his hand to her.

"I forgot to leave your tip with the check." When she reached for the folded money he dropped it. The combination of dollars and coins dispersed on the sidewalk. "I'm sorry about that." Tara knelt to pick up the money and Frowny Face joined her. Tara dropped her bags on the sidewalk and quickly retrieved all the money she could find. She counted as she worked. It was about twenty bucks in dollars and coins. When she rose Frowny Face added to her hands the coins he picked up as well. Tara wondered who tips twenty bucks on a cup of coffee. But she didn't focus on the question for long because in the next moment she realized that her hands were full of money that had been all over the dirty sidewalk. Tara quickly slipped the cash into her jacket pocket.

"Thank you sir." He nodded at her curtly and turned and left.

Maybe she had misjudged him. Grandpa Frowny Face left her her biggest tip of the night. He would be paying for tonight's beer run. Tara would need to call her new roommate Jen to let her know that she wouldn't need to stop at the store - Tara would go there on her way home. Tara reached into her bag for her cell phone. Her hands fished around all the way to the bottom of her oversized patchwork bag and there was no phone. Tara froze and then knelt on the ground and started pulling things out of her bag. She looked around on the ground in case she had dropped it when she bent down to pick up Frowny Face's tip, but her cell phone was nowhere in sight. The wind picked up and suddenly Tara felt a shock of cold. She became instantly more aware of the fact that she was alone on a quiet road late at night. She gave up her efforts to find her phone, said a silent prayer that someone would turn it in at Poncho's and walked double time back to campus.