Homeless Heart

She watched Kurt fade into the kitchen, passing another trapped guy wearing an apron and giving Kurt a look of sympathy. Fighting down a flash of exasperation, Linda turned and looked at the tables laid out for the Valentine’s Day breakfast. The table decorations looked a little chintzy, but they did the best they could with what they had. She smoothed down her skirt and did a little tug on the T-shirt they’d given all of the volunteers to wear—so they’d all look essentially the same and could be easily identified as staff. She was a bit too curvy for either of these styles. She didn’t often wear a T-shirt and thought she was too full-breasted to be wearing this one, but it was what she was given. Kurt had refused to wear his at first. She’d only gotten him to agree to by telling him he could wear it over the jersey Henley shirt he thought he looked so sexy in. Well, he did look sexy in it. But they weren’t here to be sexy.

Just a few more minutes and the doors would open and they’d be busy.

Twenty minutes later they were so busy she was having trouble prioritizing what needed doing next. She was resetting places as soon as they were vacated, and still the line waiting for food—and a place to sit—was growing. They’d had no idea how many homeless there were who needed a solid meal on Valentine’s Day morning.

They’d needed to go to the warehouse and bring in more supplies. Kurt had been asked to go with someone else on that run, because all he was doing was sitting next to the dishwashing machine while practicing his moves on a young blonde, who didn’t need the provocative banter she was getting from a big hunk when dishes needing to be washed and back out on the line were coming at her like machinegun fire. He’d refused, though, saying he was needed here, and the sorority sister who had been helping Linda set places was pulled off to make the run with her boyfriend.