“I can make tarts sitting on a stool, and it’s no more trouble than taking money,” Nettie argued.
“Baby steps.” Jancy slipped an arm around Nettie’s shoulders. “Little bitty steps, and by this time next week, you’ll be right back in your rut.”
“Y’all are bein’ almighty difficult,” Nettie grumbled.
“It’s for your own good.” Jancy shortened her stride to keep up with Nettie’s as they left the house. “Just like it was for my own good when my car burned up in the diner parking lot. You can’t fight fate, Miz Nettie.”
“You’d do well to remember that,” Nettie said.
Vicky chuckled. They’d come a long way since that first day when things were so awkward. Whether it was bad luck or good settling in for the summer, nothing had been boring.
“Maybe it’s all in how you look at it whether it’s bad or good,” she reflected under her breath.
“What did you say, Mama?” Emily asked.
“Just muttering to myself,” she said and then quickly changed the subject. “Everyone is going to be so glad to see Nettie. Get ready for a busy day.”
“Feels like I’ve been gone a month,” Nettie said.
“Yes, it does.” Vicky opened the back door and switched on the kitchen lights.
Nettie stepped inside and inhaled deeply. “Ahhh, my sweet, sweet diner. I hope I never leave you again. Now let’s get busy.”
Vicky pulled up a stool. “This is as busy as you get until the doors open. Then you can move to the cash register.”
“Run, Jancy! Get out of here in a hurry. You are working for a tyrant,” Nettie joked.
“I’m not going anywhere until you are one hundred percent well,” Jancy said. “I’ll start the sausage gravy, Emily, if you’ll do the cupcakes this morning.”
“Nettie is supposed to start a heart-healthy diet today,” Vicky said. “We’ll make her an egg-white omelet with mushrooms and tomatoes.”
“You will get shot if you do. I will eat what I want and die when I’m supposed to. I want a sausage-and-egg biscuit. And the whole egg, not just the white,” Nettie declared. “I have my family, my church family, and my food. That’s my holy trinity, and I’m not giving up any of it.”
It was going to be an uphill battle.
The aromas of breakfast foods and smoked turkey had filled the diner half an hour later when Vicky went to the front to turn on the lights and unlock the doors.
Nettie was home. There was light at the end of the tunnel. In two weeks, max, things would be totally back to normal. Get up and go to work. Go home to a few hours with her girls, Emily and Jancy, and start all over the next day.
The future looked great right up until she saw Carlton Wolfe coming toward the diner. His toothy smile did not light up the place when he pushed his way inside.
“Coffee, please. No menu.”
The whole time that Vicky filled the cup, she wished she could lace it with arsenic. “What brings you out this mornin’?”
“I came to offer my condolences on your partner. I understand that she’s no longer able to work,” Carlton said.
“You heard bull crap,” Nettie called from the back room. “I’m working today.”
Carlton’s smile faded, and he lowered his voice. “Are you sure her coming back here in her weakened condition is wise? I came to make a final offer for your land and this diner. Someone”—he pointed toward the ceiling—“could be sending you a message.”
“Someone”—Vicky rolled her eyes upward—“would probably tell me to dig a hole six feet down and put you in the bottom before he told me to leave Pick, Texas. I’m not interested in your offers, no matter what they are. You might as well take your business elsewhere.”
“You will be sorry in ten years,” he said. “You’ll never get another offer like I’m making you. My final offer is a quarter of a million dollars. Here’s another of my business cards with my number on it. You have one week to change your mind. Your town can’t go on forever. Take advantage of what is before you. And that offer for dinner is still on the table, Victoria.”
She shot a mean look his way. “My name is—”
He butted in quickly. “I know you like to be called Vicky, but Victoria suits you so much better. It’s regal, like you are.”
The bell above the door let her know that someone had arrived. She’d never been so glad to see Ryder in her entire life. He popped a hip up on a stool right beside Carlton. “Mornin’, Mr. Wolfe. What brings you to Pick at the crack of dawn?”