True North

Chapter 38

Stormy arrived at the diner at 9:30 Wednesday morning, just as the breakfast crowd was thinning out. She pushed through the glass door and stepped inside, pausing to consider her options of escape before reluctantly letting the door close behind her. She sank heavily onto an empty stool at the counter just as Peggy rounded the corner and breezed behind the counter.

"Oh, good, you're early!" Peggy said breathlessly. "Come on around here and we'll get you started."

"Peggy, I don't know if this is such a good idea..." Stormy said doubtfully.

"Pssh! Don't worry, you'll be fine!" Peggy assured her. "Wednesday is usually our slowest day, and I'll be right out back if you have any trouble. Plus, my niece is coming in to help out, too, although between you and me she's not the sharpest crayon in the box, if you know what I mean. But you'll both be fine—trust me!"

Stormy looked skeptical but hauled herself up off the stool just the same and stepped reluctantly behind the counter. She tied on an apron and spent the next half hour as Peggy's shadow, trying her best to absorb all the information being tossed at her. Peggy's niece showed up at half-past ten; she was a bubbly, friendly girl, but Stormy was inclined to agree with Peggy's assessment of the girl's intelligence. Shortly thereafter, Joe left for his appointment, Peggy disappeared into the kitchen, and Stormy found herself flitting about nervously behind the counter as the early birds of the lunch hour began trickling in.

Over two hours later, the diner was filled nearly to capacity and Stormy was bustling nonstop from table to table, taking and delivering orders, pouring drink refills, and clearing and replenishing place settings. If this was a slow day, she'd hate to see what busy was like! The kitchen bell dinged twice in quick succession, the signal that she had an order up. Balancing the bus tray on her hip, Stormy gave the table a final swipe with the cleaning cloth before hurrying back behind the counter. She slid the bus tray into a temporary spot below the counter and squirted a splotch of hand sanitizer into her palm, massaging it in as she turned to the pick-up window to collect the next round of plates, but the sill was empty.

"Did you ding me, Peggy?" Stormy called into the kitchen.

"Yep, here you go," Peggy said, appearing in the window and setting a Styrofoam container on the sill. "Take out order."

"Take out order?" Stormy repeated. "I didn't have an order for take-out."

"No, but he did," Peggy said, motioning over Stormy's shoulder.

Stormy turned around just as Brian pushed open the door and stepped inside. Matching grins spread across both their faces as they came together on opposite sides of the counter.

"Hey, Brian," Stormy said by way of greeting.

"My God, it's true!" Brian laughed, shaking his head. "I heard you were here, but I had to come see for myself."

"You heard?" Stormy repeated. "You mean people are complaining already?"

"No, no complaints," Brian assured her. "Besides, you're an old hand at this waitressing thing, right?"

"Could've fooled me!" Walter chimed in from his stool at the end of the counter, jiggling the ice in his empty glass.

"Nobody asked you!" Stormy snapped, pointing a warning finger at her father before turning her attention back to Brian as she punched in the numbers on the cash register. "How've you been? I haven't seen you around lately."

"Yeah, I've been right out straight," Brian said. "Looks like you're pretty busy yourself—I didn't realize you were in the job market."

"I'm not. This is strictly a one-day gig, as a favor to Peggy."

"Ahh, I see. Well, make sure you spread that around; otherwise, people might think you plan on staying a while," Brian winked, passing her a fold of bills. He started to say something else, but was cut short when the kitchen bell ding-dinged again. "Never mind, get back to work." He grinned as he picked up his order and then headed for the door.

"You forgot your change," Stormy called.

"Keep it," he said, smiling back at her again before disappearing out the door.

Stormy shook her head and smiled to herself as she stuffed his change into the pocket of her apron. Rubbing more sanitizer into her hands, she turned to pick up the next order from the kitchen and found Peggy grinning out at her from the kitchen.

"What?" Stormy said self-consciously as she began gathering up the plates.

"Nothing," Peggy said innocently. "I think it's sweet. You two would be good for each other."

"Peg-gy," Stormy warned. "We're just friends, nothing more." She grabbed the last plate and glided away.

"Uhh-huh," Peggy said under her breath as she turned back to her cooking. "You keep telling yourself that."