Page 22 of Midsummer Phoenixes
I’m really looking forward to it.
And because Rae hummed their way back to the counter, I put my phone away again.
For the next hour, it was busy, but slow enough to fall back into the easy rhythm I knew and loved about the night shift. Dwayne looked out a few times, checking how many people there were. The triplet left after his meal, but around midnight, new people came in, a slow trickle a lot like you’d see on Saturdays.
Several of them seemed familiar from that time when pawns had come in here to get a look at me, when I’d first met Elias. There were the two women who’d sat at the counter and asked about my flowers that day as well as the man who’d inadvertently sat at Soyer’s table and had been made to leave when Soyer got here.
The man sat at table one now, eyes glued to the screen of his phone, though he took his time perusing the menu.
When I put dishes in the dishwasher by about one, Dwayne was still in the middle of frying things.
“Should I tell everyone the kitchen is closing?” I asked.
Dwayne looked over his shoulder. “No. We only just reopened. This is good. The new kid handling things out there?”
I gave him a thumbs-up. “Yeah, Rae is great. They really don’t need me to show them anything.”
Dwayne gave a satisfied grunt which told me the conversation was over.
I heard the bells twinkle from back there and walked out to the front. When I came through the swing doors, my breath caught just a tiny little bit.
Soyer had just come in, but he’d not yet taken his seat at his table. He just stood there, eyes on me. He looked as if he was waiting for something.
I walked over to him. My heart was thumping in my chest. I wanted to hug him, kiss him, but this was work.
Before I could speak, Soyer said, “I have not been greeted.” A cheeky little smile played around his lips.
I said, “Welcome to the Moonlight Diner.”
His smile stretched. He walked toward me, put his hand on my cheek.
“Glad to be back here.”
He held my gaze for long seconds before he broke both it and the touch and sat at his table. Once comfortable, he looked up, lifting his left eyebrow.
“Right. Your pie.”
“All mine, I believe you said.”
“Yup.”
I turned on my heel before I could grow too embarrassed. On my way, I noticed Ben, who sat there, sort of slumped down as if he wanted to make himself small.
“Relax. He’s all bark and no bite,” I said.
I thought that was going to be funny, given Soyer’s Black Shuck nickname, but Ben looked at me in wide-eyed shock, and I reflexively apologized.
The coffee was fresh. I poured Soyer a cup at the counter, putting it and the pie on a tray, then got him a Pride brownie from the kitchen as well.
Of course he watched me closely as I picked up the tray and walked toward him.
“Coffee, your pie, and a Pride brownie.”
“You spoil me.”
I shrugged. “Everyone gets a Pride brownie. I did plate yours with love though.”
Soyer chuckled. “I just realized a terrible truth.”
