Just One Day Part 2

"Just sitting in there, talking to yourself, thought I'd make sure," the man said, as if I'd answered.

"I'm fine," I said, giving him a smile. "Smells good already."

I made to walk around him, but he turned and fell into step with me so I slowed down.

"Air's thick," he said, his scratchy voice giving in to just air at the end. "Sparkly."

I laughed. "Sparkly?"

"You know," he said, nodding toward where the darkness sat up ahead. "That there's an electric storm, for sure. Don't you feel it?"

He was right, and that was the difference I'd sensed. Like all my hairs wanted to sit up just a little.

"Weird, coming from inland like that," I said, letting him shuffle up the old wooden steps before me. "Usually have storms like that coming off the Gulf."

"That where you're coming from?"

"Yes sir," I said. "Baytown."

"I'm Jarvis," he said as I stepped around an old wrought-iron bench to hold open the door. "My wife, May, sent me out here to stare at the weather. Like I can do something about it. But," he continued, scratching his head, "today's a different kind of day. I feel it."

I chuckled at his eccentricity. "You come here often?"

"Oh, most days," he said with an enthusiastic nod. "Love the smell of breakfast in the morning," he said on a husky laugh. "Nothing like it. Especially at this place."

The mixed aromas of the aforementioned bacon and syrup and doughy bready things filled my senses, and I marveled at how rebellious I felt. Over food. I chose not to dwell too much on how pathetic that might be.

An elderly woman with a sweet smile waved from a table to the left, her white hair neatly arranged with barrettes on the sides. I smiled as Jarvis headed her way, and I scanned the room for an obscure spot to blend into.

"Come join us," he said, turning back around. "It's no fun to eat by yourself. Makes you think too much."

I started to protest, thinking that's exactly what I needed, to melt into my decadence and ponder my life. But his sweet saggy eyes were just too much, and reluctantly I followed him, taking in the room as I went. It was old, but quaint and clean, scrubbed s.h.i.+ny with vinyl booths and bright chrome chairs. Black-and-white framed photos hung at random, sharing s.p.a.ce with odd metal advertis.e.m.e.nts that appeared to be the real deal and not there for decor. Like they hadn't been moved in fifty years, and once upon a time there really was a nickel plate dinner. A ma.s.sive bar filled the s.p.a.ce to my right, with stools that appeared to grow right out of the floor.

"Thank you, Jarvis," I said, sliding into a booth across from his wife. I caught the surprised glance she gave him, which he winked away. "I'm Andie."

She flashed a brilliant smile that for a second belied the soft wrinkles of her face and showed a glimpse of what was likely once stunning beauty. "Nice to meet you, Andie," she said. "I'm May."

"I apologize for interrupting your breakfast," I said as Jarvis slid in next to her and she scooted sideways. "Your husband told me I might think too much if I sat alone."

"It's true," he said, setting to work on doctoring up a cup of coffee already in front of him. "Festering is what you get, eating alone. Just makes you want to eat more."

May laughed and lifted a hand to tap on his temple. "He has his own drummer in there."

They were adorable. My thoughts took off on their own, picturing me and Brad sitting like that in thirty years. Not that we'd be in a diner. Or having breakfast anywhere. More like a sus.h.i.+ bar at night. In formal wear. Would I still have to wear heels at that age?

A blonde girl with braces set a gla.s.s of water in front of me. "Coffee?" she asked.

"Please," I said. "Two creams."

"Do you-need a menu?" she asked.

The look on her face and the way she said the word menu told me that most of their clientele had never used one and she wasn't quite sure where they were located.

"What are you in the mood for?" Jarvis asked, his blue eyes looking amused.

I licked my lips. "Waffles with lots of b.u.t.ter. Blueberry topping. Bacon and fried eggs."

The girl's eyebrows raised as she scribbled it on her pad. "Got it."

May laughed as the waitress walked away. I smiled at her, knowing I probably wouldn't finish it but I had to taste it all. Who knew when I'd get another opportunity? Then, I noticed they hadn't ordered anything.

"You aren't ordering?"

May waved a hand at me. "Oh, we've already eaten," she said. "You're fine."

I didn't care if they all thought I was a loony out-of-towner with a trucker's appet.i.te. I might even finish it just on princ.i.p.al. No big plans later other than lying around reading a book in a hotel room somewhere, so if gluttony was the call of the day-so d.a.m.n be it. It was my day. Twenty-four hours. I looked at my watch and felt the inner grimace. Almost ten o'clock, already. Only twenty-one left.

There was something cathartic about the clink of the silverware on the heavy plates. The smell of the syrup, the steaming coffee and the muted chatter of the few other patrons in the diner. It made me want to curl up with it all and take a nap. Brad would blame that on the heavy food.

"I wonder if Jesse is around today?" Jarvis asked his wife. "Seen him?"

May shook her head. "Probably upstairs. He was pretty cranky yesterday."

"That d.a.m.n land deal," Jarvis said under his breath to her. "I hate banks."

"I know, hon," she said.

"He gets yanked around at every curve."

"It'll work out," May said, patting his hand. I noticed she wore a simple wedding band. Lucky her. "Jesse is smart and savvy. He'll pull it through."

I felt like I was eavesdropping, and didn't want to inquire on something that wasn't my business. But then again, they had invited me to the table.

"So I'm guessing Jesse is the owner?" I asked, sipping at my water.

May nodded. "Such a nice man, too."

"Good guy. Lost his wife several years back, and he just buried himself in the business ever since," Jarvis added.

"Trying to buy up some of the adjoining land here," May said, their sentences pinging off each other like a tennis match. "And everything seems to be a ha.s.sle."

"Well, they just don't get it up in big business," Jarvis said, taking a generous swallow of his coffee. "They don't understand expanding little places like this, or wanting to keep the view around here pure."

"Keep it pure?" I asked. Blondie came back laden with the largest plate I'd ever seen, and set it in front of me. "Holy cow," I whispered.

Huge waffles slathered in b.u.t.ter and blueberries sat fat and happy next to two over-easy eggs and thick slabbed bacon. I hadn't even told them how I wanted my eggs and they'd managed perfection. Oh, how my arteries were probably calling Brad to tattle on me. And I was going to enjoy every last bite.

"So tell us, Andie, where are you headed this morning?" May asked.

Canada? "No idea, actually," I said, cutting into the stack of decadence, and taking a large bite. "Oh my G.o.d," I mumbled around the food.

"Really?" May said, leaning in on her arms, looking fascinated. "Just taking a drive?"

I cut into another piece of waffle, thinking of the precious seconds ticking away while I had no plan to speak of. If these people really knew how that made my blood flow backward, they wouldn't be so fascinated.

"Sort of. Getting away for the day."

"Just you?"

I nodded. "Just me," I said. "My daughter's off at college, and my-" My what? Boyfriend? Fiance? No, not yet. "Um, the guy I'm seeing and I had a little disagreement and I'm taking the day to get my thoughts straight." I spit all that out on one breath.

"What'd he do?" Jarvis asked, sitting up straight. "I'll go set him straight if he hurt you."

My heart warmed at this stranger who was willing to do battle for me for absolutely no reason. I chuckled. "No, nothing like that. He just-" I looked from one set of eyes to the other. "Proposed."

Jarvis's head bobbed back a little in surprise, and May bit back a laugh by s.n.a.t.c.hing up her cup.

"Say what?" Jarvis asked, squinting and leaning forward.

I sighed. "I know, it's stupid."

"Well, how long have you dated him?" he asked. Or demanded, really. I had to laugh.

"Two years," I said. "Yesterday."

"Well, honey, what are you waiting for?" he said. "Social security?"

"Jarvis!" May exclaimed, wiping her mouth. "It's not our business."

"No, it's okay," I said, feeling the heat of embarra.s.sment rush up to my scalp. "I know it sounds crazy. I should know by now whether I want to marry him. We basically live together anyway." I blew out a breath. "It's just-I don't know."

"Does he have a job?" May asked, her voice low.

"Oh yeah, he's a bank executive, he's successful," I said, wincing a little as I remembered what Jarvis said about banks. "He's good-looking, driven, cultured, sweet, funny sometimes-"

"You must be a hard sell, girl," Jarvis said.

"Do you love him?" May said.

I looked her in the eye. "What?"

"You've just described a nice, fancy car, honey," she said, leaning in.

"I never had a sweet and funny car," Jarvis interjected.

She rolled her eyes. "Ignore him. What do you talk about? What do you do together? What dreams do you share?"

I stared at her as I realized I'd just done the same thing that Brad had done in his proposal.

"We-" What did we do? "He-hates breakfast," I said on a whisper, almost to myself.

May sat back and regarded me with a studied look. "You know, there's a lake about an hour from here," she said. "I don't know if there's a hotel nearby, but I remember it being so nice."

Yeah, I remembered it being nice, too. For different reasons.

"Oh, here we go," Jarvis said, shaking his head at his coffee cup. May elbowed him in the ribs and he groaned as he winked at me. "Careful, woman, you might break me."

"I'll break you, all right," she said, her voice soft even when she was playing. "I just don't see why we can't still go see the place. I used to love going there."

"Feel free," Jarvis countered. She gave him a look and he laughed. "Nothing to do there now. We have stuff here."

"You used to love going out there, too."

He nodded big. "Yes, I did. When I had my boat. After I sold it to Jesse there wasn't a point."

"We don't need a boat, you old fool," she countered.

"We live in the woods, May," he said, turning his whole body to look at her like elderly people sometimes do when their joints don't work right. "Without a boat, it's just going to see more woods."

"Oh, you and that boat," she said, smiling at me. "It was old, like you. It needed to be retired, not sold."

"Nah," Jarvis said, his mouth set as he toyed with a spoon. "That old boat was something else." He looked up at me. "Been through another owner before me, and still has life left in it."

"Oh, I get it," I said, holding up a hand. "My dad had a boat like that. My mom sold it when he died, but Lord he loved that thing."

"See," Jarvis said, nudging her in return.

"Yep," I said. "Loved it so much, the boat and I had the same nickname."

May laughed. "Oh my goodness, what was that?"

"Beauty," I said. I dabbed bacon in the egg juices and savored the union. When I looked back up, May was smiling at me, and Jarvis took hold of her hand. I was. .h.i.t with the repeated thought that I so wanted to be them one day.

"Say what?" Jarvis said, leaning forward.

"Beauty," I repeated, and he sat back, regarding me.

"How'd that come about?" he asked, more focus in his eyes than before.

"Not sure which was first, really," I said, smiling at the memory. "It was stenciled in italics on the back of his boat since I can remember, so I don't know who was named for whom." I laughed and took a sip of coffee. "Knowing my dad, the boat was probably first."

"That's pretty special," May said.

"Told you," he said to her, almost privately. "I knew there was something special today."

She smiled tolerantly and patted his hand. "I meant having that with her dad."