Page 91 of Edge

Byte grinned. “Give it some thought. You’ve got plenty of time before you need to make any decisions.”

We watched a few more episodes before I was ready to call it a night. It was just as well; my mind had been reeling the entire time.

Edge turned to his side, facing me. “You’ve been pretty quiet tonight. What have you been thinking about?”

“Everything. What’s going to happen with the diner? Is Irene going to reopen or stay closed? Will I have a job? Will I have to move? I don’t like the uncertainty of it all.”

“No matter what happens with the diner, Irene isn’t going to kick you out. And now that you don’t have to hide from the Mad Dogs anymore, you could get a job as a phlebotomist at a hospital or doctor’s office or find a job doing something completely different.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“You don’t sound so sure.”

“I really enjoyed working at the diner with Irene. I guess I’m not ready for things to change.”

“I know it’s easier said than done, but try not to worry about it too much right now. Irene may decide to rebuild, and then things will go back to the way they were. If she decides not to, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

“You’re full of old people sayings tonight,” I teased.

“They’re called idioms.”

“What?”

“Phrases like that. They’re called idioms.”

“How do you know that?”

He chuckled. “We do the Dirty Santa gift exchange at the clubhouse every year for Christmas. Last year, I ended up with a word of the day calendar.”

“I love that you actually use it.”

“While I find some words newfangled, my propensity for learning has made my vocabulary quite copious.”

“If you keep talking like that, I might be forced to find your calendar and hide it from you.”

He grinned. “Go ahead. I’m sure there’s a word of the day app I can download.”

“Who are you?”

“Your man, and I’m full of surprises.”

26

EDGE

The next morning, I woke up before Evie and went to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee and get a muffin for her. I really wanted to bring her breakfast in bed, but with my limitations, coffee and a muffin were the best I could do.

When I returned to our room, she was awake and sitting up in bed. She smiled when she saw me. “Morning. What are you doing?”

“I brought you coffee and a muffin. You like the blueberry ones, right?”

“I do, and thank you, but you didn’t have to do that.”

“I know, but I was hoping we could talk about something.”

“We can,” she said slowly, “but judging by the look on your face, I’m not sure I want to.”

I sat down beside her and made myself comfortable. “It’s about Randall.”

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