20

Well, I have to say, ‘Hot Chile and Cool Jazz’ was a huge hit. Beyond my wildest dreams. Everybody’s talking about it.” Rita bustled through the door of the Dip ’n’ Dine midmorning Monday. “Congratulations, everybody!”

“Thanks.” Chris smiled. Now that Olivia was home and his heart rate had returned to normal, he could take the time to think about how the night had gone, and he had to admit it had gone well. He doubted that it had exceeded Rita’s wildest dreams, though. The woman could dream, especially when it came to Last Chance.

“Now.” Rita plopped her clipboard on an empty table and took her pencil from behind her ear. “Do you have a minute? I have some thoughts I want to run by you.”

“Rita, I really don’t. We had to put the day-to-day business of the place on the back burner while we got ready for Saturday, and I need to spend the day getting things back on track. Could we set a time for later in the week?”

“Not even five minutes?” When Rita was on a mission, she was hard to put off. The problem was, she was always on a mission.

Chris gave up and sat down across from her. “Okay, five minutes, but that really is all the time I have today.”

“Fine.” Rita had already gone to her clipboard. “First, it’s getting a little cool now, but I’d love to see us do this once a month once it warms up again—maybe May through September. What do you think?”

What Chris thought must have been evident on his face, because Rita just flapped a hand at him and went right on. “The first one’s always the hardest. Once you get going, it flows like cream. Trust me on this. It’s going to be great. Now, if this takes off like I think it will, you might have to go to two seatings, so be thinking about how we’re going to do that.”

Truthfully, Chris had come into the diner that morning just glad “Hot Chile and Cool Jazz” was behind him. Jumping right into planning a whole season of such events was a little more than he wanted to deal with at the moment.

“Rita, that’s just more than I can get my head around right now. As I said, we’re just trying to get back to normal around here this morning.” He got to his feet and extended his hand. “But it does sound interesting, I’ll give you that. We need to schedule that meeting and go over this a little more carefully.”

Rita ignored the hand and swept in for a quick hug. “Don’t worry about a thing. We’ve got more than six months before the next one, and as I said, it’ll be a piece of cake. Just leave it to me.”

She was almost out the door and Chris was just drawing a deep breath when she paused. “I just thought of our next theme. I don’t know how these things come to me, but what do you think of ‘Red Chile and Blues’?”

She was gone before Chris could respond, but he had to admit to himself that it did sound pretty good. He had no idea where Rita got her ideas either, but she surely had no shortage of them.

It was a slow morning, and for once, that was just fine with Chris. Juanita, when she came in, didn’t have a lot to say once she asked how Olivia was. And in the kitchen, Carlos just seemed pleased to have his domain back under his control.

Just before noon, a car parked just outside the front door, and a man Chris didn’t recognize got out and came in. He let Juanita show him to a booth by the window and accepted a menu before asking to speak to the owner. Chris, sitting at his desk in the kitchen, heard him and met Juanita on his way into the dining room.

“I have no idea who he is,” she said in her distinctive whisper. “I’ve never seen him before. But he does drive a nice car.”

Chris had noticed. Most of the vehicles that parked at the Dip ’n’ Dine were pickups or SUVs, and the few sedans tended to be a bit worse for the wear. But you didn’t see many hybrids.

“Chris Reed.” He smiled as he crossed the room and extended his hand. “What can I do for you?”

“Nate Silverman.” The man handed Chris a card as he shook his hand. “I’m the food editor for Western Home and Garden magazine. I didn’t get to talk to you Saturday night and took a chance on swinging by on my way back to El Paso to catch my plane. Can you give me a few minutes?” He gestured at the seat across the table.

“Sure, glad to.” Chris slid into the opposite side of the booth. “I hope you enjoyed yourself Saturday. It was the first time we’d done anything like it, so there were probably some rough patches.”

“Everyone really seemed to be having a good time. That band was something else. Local boys?”

“No, they came down from Albuquerque. Everything else was local, though. Carlos, our cook, makes his red and green chile sauces from scratch from chile grown in this area.” Juanita edged closer to the table, and Chris smiled up at her. “In fact, Juanita Sheppard here and her husband own the chile farm just outside of town that supplies most of it.”

Nate smiled, nodded, shook Juanita’s hand, and returned to his menu. “What do you recommend?”

“The special today is green chile stew, and you can’t go wrong with that. We serve it with either homemade tortillas or sopaipillas. But I’ll stand by anything on the menu.”

Chris fought the temptation to fill the silence with babbling while Nate took his time with the menu. So what did you think of the chicken with mole verde, Mr. Food Editor? I’m glad you liked the band, but what about the food? Finally, Nate handed his menu to Juanita.

“I’ll have a bowl of the stew, and I’ll have the same combination plate you served Saturday if you don’t mind my just taking a taste or two and leaving the rest. If I ate everything I wanted to, I’d be as big as a house.”

Chris sat with Nate Silverman while he ate, telling him about the history of the Dip ’n’ Dine, his part in it, and what he hoped its future was. And while Mr. Silverman ate every bite of his green chile stew and a good deal more than just a taste or two of the combination plate, he said not a word about how he liked it. Finally, after stopping in the kitchen to meet Carlos and asking for a menu to take with him, he took his leave.

“You’ve got a nice little place here.” He shook Chris’s hand at the door. “One of the things I like best about my job is discovering these little gems off the interstate. As soon as you get the schedule worked out for those food and music nights you’re going to be having next summer, you let me know, okay?”

He waved as he got in his car, and they all watched him drive away.

“Well, what do you know? He called us a gem, and we’ve been discovered.” Juanita brought a bin of dirty dishes into the kitchen where Chris had returned to his desk.

“Yeah, like Columbus discovered America.” Carlos turned back to his stove. “How long have we been here? I know I’ve been here twenty years.”

“What did he say, Chris? Is he going to put us in his magazine?”

“I have no idea what he’s going to do. He didn’t say. He just ate, asked a ton of questions, and left.” Truth be told, Chris was a little annoyed with Nate Silverman. He could have at least mentioned the chicken mole he ate at the “Hot Chile and Cool Jazz” night. He didn’t have to say he loved it, or even that he liked it, but he could have said something.

Sarah checked her watch as she climbed in her car after school. Now that the school year was well under way, it was next to impossible to meet Megan for lunch on Mikey’s afternoons with his grandma, so they had settled on after-school coffee—with Mikey in tow. And she was about ten minutes late.

Megan was already in the booth at the Dip ’n’ Dine when Sarah drove up, and Mikey was in a high chair eating Cheerios.

“I’m so sorry I’m late. I had a parent want to talk a few minutes when she picked her daughter up.” Sarah slid in the booth across from Megan.

“Don’t think a thing about it. Mikey’s just up from his nap, so he’s in a good mood, and I was talking Juanita’s ear off.”

“So what can I get you?” Juanita, who was indeed standing right by the table, took out her order pad.

“Just some decaf coffee, thanks.” Sarah smiled at her and turned to Megan.

“Oh, aren’t you going to have any pie or anything?” Megan’s face fell. “I was going to have just a tiny little piece, but if you don’t have anything . . .”

“You go ahead. I’m just not real hungry.”

Megan sighed. “Okay, I guess I’ll just have coffee too.”

She looked so sad that Sarah changed her mind. “What if we split something? You choose.”

“Perfect!” This was all Megan was waiting for. “Let’s have pecan, warmed up with a scoop of ice cream.”

“Got it.” Juanita put pencil to pad. “And two cups of decaf.”

“Not mine.” Megan sprinkled a few more Cheerios on Mikey’s tray. “Full strength for me.”

“Don’t you have trouble sleeping if you drink caffeinated coffee this late in the day?” Truthfully, after her long day, Sarah could have used the little pick-me-up caffeine offered too. But she knew she’d be regretting it long after midnight.

“Are you kidding me? Nothing keeps me awake but this guy, but if he’s asleep, I’m out too.”

Sarah smiled at Mikey, opened her hand for the Cheerio offered her, and held her palm flat as he took it back again and put it in his mouth. “How is he doing? He’s growing like a weed.”

That was all Sarah had to say, and Megan was off and running. She didn’t pause for breath, even when Juanita brought the pie and coffee, finally finishing up a half hour later with, “And that’s why I give him a jar of prunes every day.”

She sat back, and it took Sarah a moment to realize she had finished and was waiting for Sarah to say something. Sarah reached for the first thing that came to mind. “Well, he certainly must keep you busy.”

Megan rolled her eyes. “That’s the understatement of the year.” She took another bite of pecan pie. “So, what’s going on with you? Are you dating anyone?”

A little wave of irritation rippled through Sarah. There was so much going on in her life. Why would whether or not she was dating be the first thing Megan would want to hear about? “No, I’m not, as it happens. My class keeps me totally busy, and then there’s Gran. I like to kind of keep an eye on her, but don’t tell her I said so.”

“That sounds like you.” Megan scooped up the last bite of ice cream and smiled at her. “Always looking after someone else. But don’t forget about you. You need some good times in your life too. What about . . . ?” She lowered her voice and jerked her head toward the kitchen.

“Carlos? He’s married, and for a long time too. I thought you knew that.” Sarah grinned at her friend.

“No, I do not mean Carlos.” Megan bit off each word in an exasperated whisper. “I mean Chris. He’s good-looking. He’s single. He’s a strong Christian. And he owns his own business. What’s not to like? Well, I guess there is the little girl, but she won’t be here forever.”

Chris had come out of the kitchen and was doing something behind the counter. When he looked up and saw both women looking at him, he smiled. “Everything okay? Need anything?”

“Everything’s great. That pie is out of this world.” Megan smiled back.

“Good.” He went back to whatever he was doing.

“See? And he’s tall too.” Megan went back to her whisper.

“And I’m not. What’s your point? Chris and I are just friends. And as for the little girl, I love Olivia. I’ll miss her like crazy if she has to go back with her mom. So let’s talk about something else. Tell me more about Mikey.”

“Nice try, but it’s not going to work this time. You get to do the talking now. If not Chris, what about that guy you used to be engaged to? Is he completely out of the picture?”

“I was never engaged.” Sarah was about ready to plead papers to grade and head for the door. “But to answer your question, Miss Nosy, he’s not completely out of the picture. He’s working in Chicago, but we talk on the phone.”

“Really? Oh, Chicago is so far away. Do you think you’ll move there?”

“Megan. No. And I don’t have anything more to say about this. Can we change the subject? Please?”

Megan must have realized that the topic had played itself out, and Mikey must have become bored with the whole discussion, because he started fussing. She sighed. “Okay. Don’t be mad. I just worry about you, that’s all.”

“You don’t need to. I’m okay, promise. In fact, I really like my life.”

Sarah smiled and reached across the table to put her hand on her friend’s arm, and Megan smiled back at her. Mikey, however, went from fussy to crying in earnest.

“I need to get this boy home.” Megan dipped her paper napkin in her water glass and tried to wipe his face. That just made Mikey madder, and he howled his protest. In a moment, Megan had extracted him from his chair, gathered the paraphernalia that accompanied them everywhere, and left with promises to call soon. Sarah just sat a minute listening to the quiet Megan had left in her wake.

“How about another cup of coffee?” Chris appeared at the table with the carafe. He smiled down at her, and she noticed the fine lines at the corner of his eyes.

“If you have one with me. You look like you could use a break too.”

Chris looked around the room. There was only one other table with diners, and they were almost finished. “I think I can take a few minutes. Let me go get another cup and I’ll be right with you.”

“Watch out for the Cheerios,” Sarah called after him. “They’re everywhere.”

When he got back, Sarah noticed two things. One, he seemed to fill the whole other side of the booth, and two, he really did look tired. Whether it was the stress of putting on “Hot Chile and Cool Jazz” or the worry Olivia seemed intent on putting him through on a daily basis, he looked beat.

“I haven’t had a chance to tell you, but Saturday night was really amazing. The mole verde was incredible.” She smiled at him and couldn’t help noticing the way he brightened when she did.

“Thanks. I’m glad you liked it. I didn’t see your friend, though, the one who was coming in from Chicago. Did I just miss him or what?”

“No, he didn’t make it.” Sarah shook her head and shrugged. “Something came up at work. His loss, though. It was a great evening—at least until our little traveler took off.”

“Yeah, Livvy. She keeps things exciting.” He paused for a long moment, and when he did speak, he almost blurted his question. “I know it’s none of my business, but this guy Brandon, is anything going on between you two?”

Sarah leaned back and laughed. “That is a really good question. And if I knew, I’d tell you.”

Chris just raised his eyebrows and waited.

“Well, we were together most of the time we were in college. Then we weren’t. And now, I don’t know. We’re just seeing how things go.”

“So if I asked you out to dinner, I wouldn’t be stepping out of line?”

That came out of left field, and Sarah had to take a minute to process it. It wasn’t that the idea of going out with Chris had never come up. In fact, nearly everyone in Last Chance seemed to think it was a brilliant idea. It was just that until now the idea had never come from either of the two people most involved.

“I’m just talking about dinner. We eat. We talk. We come home. You never know, you might even have a good time.” He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows.

Sarah laughed again. She’d forgotten what fun it was to be with someone who made her laugh. “Sure. Why not? In fact, I’d love to—as long as we’re clear that it’s just dinner.”

“Great! Just dinner it is. Next Sunday evening?”

“Sounds good.”

“There’s one more thing.” He leaned forward, and Sarah had never seen him look more serious. “I need to ask you a question I never thought I’d ask, at least not for a long, long time.”

Uh oh.

“Could you recommend a good babysitter?”