Page 6 of No Good Deed

The details made it memorable, in its own bizarre way.

The stools and the booths were covered in blue and green tartan. A huge crest decorated the side wall above the booths. What she thought were griffins surrounded a knight’s headpiece. The name Phail filled the banner at the bottom.

The scents coming from the kitchen were at complete odds with the sights in the diner. Paprika, cumin, peppers. Not your typical Scottish fare.

A woman behind the counter laughed and walked toward them. “I recognize that Did I drop through the looking glass? expression. Welcome to Phail and the No Fail Diner.”

The woman was tall and had similar coloring to Troy, meaning she was likely the cousin he’d mentioned. He confirmed that with his words. “Hey Ginny, this is Piper Keenan. Piper, this is my cousin Ginny. She owns the diner and does all the baking.”

Piper shook hands with her. “I love your place. And it smells like paradise.”

Her eyes twinkled. “Manuel is an amazing cook. Have a seat. Can I bring you coffee or tea?” She indicated the smaller chalkboard with a surprising variety of tea.

“I’ll have the decaf chai, please.”

Ginny nodded, and Troy led Piper to a booth on the side wall where they could see everyone coming and going.

Troy pointed at the menu. “Ginny closes up at three, so we have enough time to order and eat. Everything’s good.”

The only diner in town closed at three o’clock. Looked like she’d have to check out what Phail Phoods had to offer to get her through the night.

They’d need a restaurant or two in town if they wanted to bring in any tourists, but maybe the local economy couldn’t sustain that.

Ginny brought over her tea and Troy’s coffee with a smile. “Manuel will make you up some takeout for later. Carl and Jim let guests use the B&B’s kitchen so you can heat it up. And your meals while you’re here are on the house.”

Piper felt her mouth drop open. Again. Everything about this town was a surprise.

Ginny laughed at her expression. “We’re hoping you can help us figure out how to grow our town. The least we can do is keep you from getting hungry.”

“It sure smells tasty. I kind of want to try everything.”

Ginny laughed again. “Perfect. Let me give free rein to Manuel, and I’ll bring it out when it’s ready.”

Piper grinned at Troy. “Well, everyone in this town excels at the Welcome vibe.”

“We’ve got good people here. Hard-working people who want to raise families and people who belong to families who’ve lived here for generations. But the lure of the big city is hard to combat. We want to know where to invest our money to ensure the town survives and grows.”

Piper nodded. “I’ve done most of my work in urban settings, but there are lots of ideas that should cross over to small towns. Do you get tourists or visitors?”

Ginny brought over a couple of platters for them to share. “Manuel is making you up a takeout box for tonight, too. Enjoy.”

Troy thanked her and nodded at the food. “Why don’t we just enjoy this for now and then get you settled at the B&B. We can talk business later on.”

Piper nodded and grabbed the nearest taco. She would have to do more research tonight on tiny towns because she didn’t have a clue where to start to help a town named Phail.

* * *

Troy kept the topics light as they finished their meal. Piper looked adorably overwhelmed by everything that had happened since she’d found the little dog on the road. He figured she needed a break from thinking about anything heavy.

They found out they shared a love of reading thrillers and country music. She also liked pop, while he preferred rock. Neither of them saw a lot of movies, but both liked anything fun. The fact that she shied away from sad movies didn’t surprise him at all. The way she’d treated the bulldog told him that.

When they finally pushed away their plates, he figured he’d doubled her intake, but she’d held her own, even with the spicier varieties.

“That was amazing. If this place was in Chicago, it would be jam-packed all day long.”

Ginny cleared their plates. “I’ll pass the comment along to Manuel. Or maybe I won’t. I don’t want him to run away to the city.”

From where Troy was sitting, he watched Manuel roll his eyes as he moved about the kitchen, cleaning it up for the end of the day.

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