Page 6 of The Party Line

“I understand, but her wishes were that only me and you and Mama attend the service.” I kept my voice low. “Now, what’s good in here these days besides their burgers?”

“Everything ... But they still could have brought a covered dish to the house for you and Sarah.” Jasper frowned, but his expression quickly changed to a more pleasant one. “All me and Granny could afford was the hamburgers back in the day, so I’ll be ordering one of those, with french fries and a big old glass of sweet tea. And then some chocolate pie. I see a whole one up there under the dome on the counter, so I’m in luck.”

I didn’t even look at the second menu. “Then that’s what I’ll have, too, and dinner is on me today.”

“I invited you to go to church and Sunday dinner, so I should pay,” he argued.

I laid my hand on his and shook my head. “Let’s just say that Aunt Gracie is paying for it. She left me well fixed, and she would love to know that we are having Sunday dinner together.”

“In that case, I won’t argue,” Jasper agreed. “Reckon that we could make it a weekly thing?”

“I would love that.”

“Then it’s a done deal. I miss her the most on Sundays,” he said with a long sigh. “Listen ...” He cocked his head to one side.

“What?” I whispered and strained my ears to hear whatever it was that had gotten his attention.

“That’s the sound of rain on the metal roof of this place. Our old house—the one where I grew up—had this kind of roof, and a good rain was like a lullaby that put me to sleep at night,” he said.

I was surprised when I looked out the window to see that dark clouds had pushed their way past the pretty white ones.

“Mama’s house has a metal roof, and I loved the sound of rain, too,” I told him.

“Hello, Jasper,” the waitress said. “Been a while since I’ve seen you.”

“Yep, it sure has. You’ll remember Annie, Lila. She’s the great-granddaughter of the folks who built this place.”

“Of course I do,” I said. “She’s Mama’s friend.”

She was about Mama’s height but had a stockier frame and build. Her brown hair had a few gray hairs starting to show, but her smile was genuine and reached her hazel eyes.

“You haven’t changed since you were in high school.” She pulled out an order pad.

“I can’t believe you talked Jasper into actually coming into the café. He and Gracie usually order takeout,” Annie said.

“It was my idea,” Jasper admitted.

“Well, good for you,” Annie said, then turned to me. “While y’all are eating, you should get him to tell you all about what’s happened in Poteet and Ditto since you’ve been gone.”

“He’s pretty stingy with his stories,” I said.

Annie air-slapped him on his thin shoulder. “Shame on you.”

“Ouch!” He grabbed his shoulder. “I’m old and fragile.”

“That’s a load of BS.” Annie chuckled and pointed at him with her pencil. “What’ll it be today?”

“Burger with everything on it, fries, and a large sweet tea,” Jasper answered.

“The special today is chicken and dressing and all the trimmings,” she suggested.

“I’ll take two of those to go,” Jasper told her, “but today I want a big old greasy burger and fries.”

“I’ll have the same as Jasper, and I’ll take a couple of those specials to go also,” I told her.

“I’ll put this order in and get it out to you real soon,” Annie said. Her expression became serious as she turned to go. “I was real sorry to hear about Miz Gracie. I would have come to the funeral, but Sarah told me that Gracie left orders to only have y’all there.”

“So willshetell me more stories?” I whispered when she had disappeared through swinging doors into the kitchen.

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