7

You know, you really should think about joining the choir.” The first of the Monday morning breakfast crowd had turned their attention to the plates of eggs, biscuits, and green chile in front of them, and Juanita took a minute to join Chris in the kitchen.

Chris, hunched in front of his computer, just grunted his response.

“Seriously.” Once Juanita had a good idea, she didn’t waste it by just letting it drop. “In the first place, you have a really good voice, and since Ed Preston went to live with his daughter, we are short in the men department. And in the second place, it would do you a world of good, PR-wise. Folks would start seeing you as someone who wanted to be a part of Last Chance, not just some big-city outsider come in to make a fast buck.”

Chris closed his account page and sighed. The only word of Juanita’s description that seemed to fit him at all was “outsider.” He didn’t feel like a big-city boy at all, and no way was anyone ever going to make a fast buck off the Dip ’n’ Dine.

“So what do you think? Choir practice Wednesday? 8:00?”

Chris leaned back in his chair so he could look up at Juanita. “I already had this conversation with Lurlene. Maybe someday, but not right now. But if and when I do, it sure won’t be to promote the restaurant.”

“Well, that’s not what I meant at all, and I should hope you’d know that.” Juanita’s mouth had pinched up and she blinked a few times for emphasis. “Russ and I both have devoted ourselves to that choir for more than thirty years, and I’d be the last to suggest using it for anything but praise and worship. I only meant to suggest it wouldn’t hurt for people to see that you care about some of the same things they do. And that’s all I meant.”

Juanita tapped her finger with a sharp rap on his desk as she said “only” and “all I meant,” and Chris realized he had really blundered this time. But, come on, she was the one who’d used the word PR. He really wanted to let the whole thing drop and get back to his books, but Juanita stood in front of his desk, arms crossed over her chest and sucking in air through her nose. This was not going away. He stood up and perched on the edge of his desk so she’d stop looking down on him and making him feel like she was going to send him to his room.

“Look, Juanita, I apologize. I really do. If I’d been listening a little closer, I wouldn’t have misunderstood.” He flapped a halfhearted hand toward his computer. “I’m just, I don’t know, frustrated, I guess.”

Juanita deflated to normal size, and concern replaced her war mask. As she often confessed, concern for others always took precedence over any personal affront she might feel.

“What’s wrong, Chris? Everything’s okay with the Dip ’n’ Dine, isn’t it?”

Chris shrugged. “Yeah, everything’s okay—barely. Pretty much what Fayette had led me to believe, anyway. I just want to take things beyond ‘okay.’”

“By changing up the menu and all?”

“Well, yeah, for starters. And I still don’t think that’s a bad idea.”

“Not happening.” Carlos chimed in from the prep table where he was already at work on lunch. “It’s all I can do to keep up with the things that are already on the menu. Adding a bunch of new stuff would just shut the kitchen down.”

“I’m not talking about a bunch of new stuff. Just a dish or two.”

“Nope.”

“What if we brought in more help?”

“Nope. I got all the help I can work with now. Things are going fine. Just don’t mess it up and we’ll be okay.”

“But we won’t be okay.” Chris took a deep breath and tried again. “The number of customers hasn’t changed much, up or down, in twenty years.”

“Well, Last Chance is only so big, Chris.” Juanita, still in the kitchen, had to put in her two cents’ worth. “There may not be a ton of customers, but they’re faithful to this place. You should be grateful.”

“And I am.” Chris always felt way out of his depth when he got into a discussion with Juanita. “But if you have the same customers wanting to pay the same price for the same food year after year while the cost of running this place is going through the roof, sooner or later we’re going under, and we’re getting closer to that every month. Something’s got to give.” He sighed. He would not let it go down the drain without a fight.

“Been thinking, boss.” Carlos, still at his prep table, broke the stillness a few minutes later. “I’ve been here at the Dip ’n’ Dine for a good many years now, and I’d like to keep on. I’m getting too old to break in another owner. I’d forgotten till you got here how much work that was.”

Chris looked over. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. So what if we worked with what we had?”

Chris waited.

“I mean, some things just aren’t going to change. The menu, for one thing.” Carlos glanced up to make sure Chris got his point. “And Juanita’s right about the prices not changing. You can take the prices up a few cents every now and then. The customers will think that’s only fair. But you can’t raise ’em enough to do you any good. Folks won’t have it.”

“Yeah, we covered that.” If Carlos had a point to make, he was sure taking his time about it.

“So what I was thinking is the only thing to do is get more customers in here.”

“Okay. Any ideas?”

“What if we kept the diner open late, maybe once a month or so, and did something special? Had us a big fiesta.”

Chris straightened up. He could almost feel the gears whirring. “I like that idea, Carlos. We could do something completely different each time. Maybe bring in live music.”

Carlos grinned. “Yeah, I have a big old smoker I could bring if we wanted to do a barbecue.”

“We could sell tickets in advance to build up the buzz, and then sell them at the door too.”

“And, of course, the beauty of it is that you could charge a little more for the tickets too. Folks’d be buying a ticket for a party, not ordering off a menu.”

Chris stared. Carlos had just said more in five minutes than he usually said in the course of a full day.

Chris could feel his excitement building. This could be what he was looking for. “It would take a ton of planning, though. How soon do you think we could pull this off?”

“Ask her.” Carlos jutted his chin at the front door where Rita had just breezed in, clipboard in hand. “Now, I gotta get back to work.”

Chris grinned and pushed through the door to the dining room. Rita’s eyes lit up when she saw him, but she had just opened her mouth to say her signature phrase when Chris beat her to it.

“Rita! Just the one I’ve been wanting to see.”

Chris drove into the carport of his mobile home and sat in the front seat of his Jeep gathering strength to get out and go inside. It had been another long day, but he felt more encouraged at the end of this one than he had in a long time. Rita, as he had known she would, took the fiesta idea and ran with it. And after he had been assured that the event would take place at the Dip ’n’ Dine, inside or out, and that he would provide all the food, he was good with letting her do the planning. She had promised regular meetings to update him, and he had no doubt those meetings would take place. He shook his head and headed inside.

His phone rang just as he settled himself in his big rocker in front of the television. He scowled at the screen. Mom never called just to chat. Something had to be up, and he just didn’t want to deal with it.

“Hello, dear. You haven’t heard from Kaitlyn, have you?”

Chris’s head rolled forward and rested with his chin on his chest. What now? “Not for a few days. Why?”

“I am so exasperated with her I could just shake her. I just got home from work, and there’s her cat and a note saying she’s taking Olivia off on some adventure before school starts. I thought maybe you knew about it.”

Chris tried to ignore the feeling of apprehension that always accompanied thoughts of Kaitlyn. “Well, I wouldn’t worry too much right now. School will be starting soon, and she can’t have that much vacation time built up. She only started working at that beauty shop a little while ago, didn’t she?”

“She quit! I can’t believe her! I called Chez Guillaume—a job I got for her, by the way—and they said she quit last Friday.”

Chris sat up. This was not sounding good. “What about her apartment? Are her things still there?”

“I don’t know. I’ll go over and check. But let me know when you hear from her, okay? If she calls anyone, it’ll be you. Bye.”

Chris hung up and tried to call his sister. As usual, it went to voice mail. “Hey, Kaitlyn. What’s up? Mom’s really upset and you need to call her. I mean that. And hey, call me too. I need to know what’s going on with you and Olivia. Stay safe. I love you.”

He put his phone on the end table and paced the living room before stopping to look out the front window. The west, where Kaitlyn and Olivia ought to be, still glowed red, but darkness was fast overtaking the sky. Kaitlyn would do what she wanted to do. She’d been in and out of more scrapes than he could count, even though he did his best to keep her on the straight and narrow. But Olivia was so little, and it was so dark out there.

Chris checked his watch for the fiftieth time since his mom had phoned. Why hadn’t she called back with more information? Kaitlyn lived across town from their parents, but even so, she’d had plenty of time to go check Kaitlyn’s apartment and get back to him. Finally he called his mom. She answered in a flurry of apology.

“Oh, hi, hon. Sorry I forgot to call, but everything’s fine. Her apartment is just as she left it. The manager said she didn’t say anything about moving out, so I guess she’ll be back in a week or so. She’d better. The rent’s only paid through the first of the month. Although without a job, I don’t see how she’s going to pay it. And she’s not getting it from me. I am done bailing her out of her messes.”

Chris took a deep breath. “I’ve been sitting here waiting for you to call me.”

“I know, and I should have. But on the way over, I got a call from a client who was ready to make an offer on a property, so after I made a real quick stop at Kaitlyn’s, I swung by the office to write it up. I guess I just forgot to call. Sorry, dear.”

Chris had no words, but his mother didn’t seem to notice.

“But I’m excited about this offer. It’s a good one on some very prime real estate, and I have a real good feeling about it being accepted. So, congratulate me! Fingers crossed, but I think I made a very lucrative sale tonight.”

“Congratulations, Mom.” Chris tried to put some enthusiasm in his voice. “But be sure to let me know if you hear anything, okay?”

“I certainly will. I’m submitting first thing in the morning, but it’s such a good offer, they shouldn’t take long to accept.”

Chris shook his head as he hit End Call. Kaitlyn, Mom. Let me know when you hear about Kaitlyn.

Sarah felt pretty good when she walked through the door of the Dip ’n’ Dine early the next afternoon. She had spent the morning at school laminating all the name cards she had made for her students’ desks. One of the things she loved most about living in such a small town was that she not only knew who her students would be, but she knew them, or at least their parents.

“Don’t tell me.” Juanita brought over a menu but didn’t put it down. “You want the special, right? Chile rellenos today. My mouth’s been watering all morning just smelling them.”

“Better just bring me the chef’s salad, dressing on the side, and some iced tea.” Sarah grinned up at her. “Something’s been shrinking my jeans, and I think it’s all those daily specials.”

“If you say so, but you’re missing a bet on those rellenos.” Juanita headed back to the kitchen. “Well worth an extra notch on your belt, if you ask me.”

Sarah took a deep breath. The rellenos did smell amazing, and they had tasted amazing too when she was working her way through the specials her first week back in town. But it was time to get serious. School would be starting soon, and vacation, any way you defined it, would be over.

Through the window in the kitchen, she could see Chris talking on the phone. He had his back to her, and when he hung up and turned around, she was surprised at how stern he looked. She had seen him happy, nervous, and embarrassed, but he looked almost scary serious. When he saw her, though, his face lit up and he came out into the dining room. With the casual nonchalance he so diligently tried to assume around her, Chris stopped at each table to offer a word of greeting or to ask how the diner was enjoying his meal before finally stopping at Sarah’s table.

“Hey there. Nice to see you. It’s been a few days.”

“Not since you took the scenic tour of my neighborhood Sunday evening. What was that all about, anyway?” Sarah couldn’t help it. The cooler Chris tried to act, the more she had to needle him.

“Yeah, I bet that looked funny. I, uh, thought there might be a shortcut back to the main road.”

Sarah grinned. “An easy mistake. Head the opposite direction of where you want to go, and you’ll find a shortcut every time.”

Chris’s smile began to look pasted on, and Sarah laughed out loud. People across the room looked over to see what was going on. “I’m sorry. I’m just teasing you. Being the youngest, I had to learn early to hold my own. And Gran would be the first to tell you that I may have overcompensated just a little.”

Chris visibly relaxed and his smile softened. “I don’t know about that, but I know backing anyone you took on would be a sucker’s bet.”

Sarah closed her eyes and bowed her head in a graceful nod. “And I thank you, kind sir.”

Juanita appeared with the chef’s salad, and Chris smiled again, a warm natural smile this time, before moving away. “Enjoy that salad. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Oh, Chris, wait a minute. I wanted to ask you something.” Chris and Juanita both stopped and looked expectantly at Sarah. She smiled at Juanita until Juanita took the hint and, with a bit of a huff, went back to the kitchen.

Sarah watched her go before turning to Chris. “I just wondered if you might want to come over some evening, just to hang out. I know it’s kind of hard when you don’t know anyone.”

Chris’s face immediately took on the expression of a Labrador puppy being offered a treat, and Sarah wondered if she should have followed her first instincts and given Chris a wide berth. “Nothing serious, just as friends. Maybe we can heat up that chicken you brought.”

“Yeah.” Chris nodded and kept nodding. “Sounds good. Love to.”

“Great.” Sarah picked up her fork so Chris would know he could leave. “Saturday? About 7:30?”

“See you then.” Chris smiled and walked away. In a second he was back. “Maybe I should get your number, in case something comes up. And I’ll give you mine too.”

Sarah sighed as she rummaged through her purse for pen and paper. Oh brother, what have I done? I sure hope I don’t wind up regretting this.