The time spent at the diner wasn’t a total waste, however. Ruth and Al enjoyed regaling her with tales of small town life. Mel was actually writing some of the amusing anecdotes down, toying with the idea of composing a series of articles about the place.
Lucy was all for the idea when she heard about it. She’d lean against the counter, a pot of coffee in one hand to give the impression that she was working, while conspiratorially whispering tidbits of scandalous yet amusing information on the various patrons of Ruth’s Diner andThe Broken Antler. Mel was surprised that for a town where nothing seemed to happen, so much actually took place. It was amazing, the activities that occurred at the bar and behind closed doors.
Despite her enjoyment of the coffee, company, and conversation, Mel was fed up waiting for Ryne. It was already Friday and she’d made absolutely no progress with regards to her real ‘mission,’ which was learning about Ryne Taylor.
“If he doesn’t come over and talk to me today, I’m going to march across the street and strangle him,” Mel confided to Lucy.
“I’ll cheer while you do it.” Lucy agreed.
“You two have a spat or something?” Mel looked at her new friend with concern.
“Nah, we don’t have that type of relationship—nothing to really argue over when it’s just about good sex, you know?” She poured more coffee into Mel’s cup. “Nope, the problem is he hasn’t been around to see me since his birthday and he promised me a month ago, he’d stop by and fix the leaky faucet in my kitchen.”
“Not the reliable sort, is he?”
“What man is?” Philosophically, Lucy shrugged and then pointed out the window. “Hey, there goes Harley. I just love watching him cross the street.” The two women paused their conversation to watch the dog wait and cross at the light. Once he was on the other side, he turned and walked up to the diner, and pawed at the door.
“What’s he doing?” Mel queried.
“Beats me, this is a new one.” Lucy walked to the door and opened it. “What do you want, Harley?”
Harley walked inside as if it was part of his daily routine, came right up to Mel, and dropped a piece of paper in her lap. The paper was rather wrinkled and sticky with drool.
Gingerly, Mel picked it up, avoiding the worst of the slobber. There was a message addressed to her and despite the ink smearing a bit from the dog’s saliva, it was still quite readable. “It’s from Ryne! He says he wants to talk to me about terms. I should be at his house at noon tomorrow. The gate will be open and he’ll provide lunch.” She happily clenched the soggy note in her hand. Finally something was happening. “This is great news. Thanks, Harley!”
The dog woofed and sauntered out of the diner, heading back towards the traffic light. Mel glanced across the street. Ryne was standing by the door of the Service Station, his arms folded. Despite the distance, they managed to make eye-contact. He nodded and went back inside, ruffling Harley’s fur as the dog returned from his mission.
“Well, that’s good news for you, isn’t it Mel?” Lucy grinned at her. “And when you see him, remind him about my leaking faucet, will you?”
Mel nodded, rereading the note and wondering what the ‘terms’ might entail. It was going to be just a straightforward interview about his life, nothing that special. Did he want a cut if she sold it to a magazine? That could be tricky, since Mr. Greyson was paying her. She’d have to ask Aldrich about that.
Finishing her coffee, she thanked her friends and headed back towards the Gazette. She was going to e-mail Aldrich about this latest development and ask his advice about Ryne’s possible terms. Mel knew that Aldrich would be peeved about the e-mail, having made it plain that he preferred phone conversations, probably so he could ‘read’ the speaker’s tone of voice. Oh, well. Too bad for him. She’d suffered through talking to him once today. He’d have to make some concessions to modern technology.
*****
Noon the next day found Mel driving down the road that led to Ryne’s house. She’d stopped in town to call Aldrich. He’d emailed her back yesterday, his message terse and simple; call me. And so she did. While he’d tried to hide it, she was sure Aldrich hadn’t been expecting her to get an interview with Ryne and it pleased her no end to prove the man wrong. When she’d mentioned Ryne setting terms, Aldrich was adamant that no mention of his client should occur.
Aldrich was a clever sort, she had to admit. He suggested that if Ryne questioned what publication she was submitting the article to, she could claim it was a school assignment that she was completing for extra marks and that only a professor would be reading it. Mel agreed the story was a good one, but felt a bit guilty about the fact that she couldn’t be upfront with the photographer.