After a minute or so of wallowing in despair, she lifted her head. The older lady who’d waved to her was standing in front of her car. She had a nice smile with sparkling green eyes, and if she looked only at her eyes and not at the wrinkles, Christy would’ve sworn the sweet old girl was as young as her own twenty-seven years.
She lifted her hand and called out in a strong voice in case the woman was hard of hearing. “Hello. How are you?”
The lady lifted her hands and wiggled her fingers in an almost childish wave. “Hi, sweetie. You comin’ inside?”
Yet the woman didn’t wait for an answer. Instead, she pivoted around, and moving faster than Christy would’ve guessed anyone her age could move, darted inside Milly’s Coffee Spot.
“Okay, Sally. I’m going in. Let’s just hope I can find someone who can help me get you running again.” She grabbed her purse, slid out of the car, and slung the purse over her shoulder.
She turned around, taking in the town again. “Okay, then. Forever it is for the night. Who knows? Maybe it’s more interesting here than it looks.”
She was halfway inside the diner when she realized that everyone inside was already aware of her presence. Coming to a stop, she put on a smile. “Uh, hi, everyone.”
They look like they want to either eat me alive or hug me to death.
A couple of older gentlemen seated at a table in the back of the place gave her toothy grins.
Wow. Some dentist sure went wild with their dentures. They even have eye teeth. Big eye teeth. Almost like…fangs.
She’d already started backing out of the place when a pretty blonde woman took her by the arm and stopped her.
“Don’t let these folks scare you. They’re just curious, is all. We don’t get many visitors.” Her smile widened as she tugged Christy toward the bar and urged her to take a seat at one of the many stools lining the counter from one end to the other. The blonde hurried back behind the counter. “What’ll it be, honey?”
She was already there so she might as well eat. But the menu didn’t help her much. Like many of the small town diners she’d eaten at over the past few months, vegetarian options were few. She’d had to make adjustments to her diet, eating foods she didn’t like. Still, the diner’s menu was heavily laden with meat and she wasn’t about to go that far off the vegetarian diet. “I guess I’ll have the salad. And maybe the peanut butter sandwich.”
“Okay, but are you sure you wouldn’t rather have a hamburger? We make the best ones around.”
“Thanks, but no.” It was sometimes a sticky subject, especially in Texas, but she was sticking to her guns. “I’m not much of a meat eater.”
She would’ve thought she’d just announced that she had a bomb in her purse. Chatter broke out around her, all of which was about her. And not necessarily in a good way.
“Did I say something wrong?”
The two old men who’d given her smiles scowled at her. A couple of teenagers at a nearby table shot her dirty looks.
She jumped when the blonde put her hand on top of hers. Trying not to be obvious, she slid her hand out from underneath.
“Again, don’t let them bother you. We’re in the middle of cattle country, so they tend to think anyone who doesn’t eat meat is strange.” She glared at her patrons, then spoke again in a louder voice. “It’s perfectly okay to not eat meat. Even if it is a little odd.”
Christy wasn’t sure if she was helping her or not. “Thanks.” I guess.
“Anyway, my name’s Milly and I own this place. You can have anything you want as long as we have it to offer. No judgment. One salad and peanut butter sandwich coming up.”
“Thanks again.”
When Milly appeared to be waiting for her, she took the hint. “Oh, I’m Christy Smith. And yes, my last name really is Smith. We Smiths really do exist.”
Milly’s laugh was infectious. “Of course Smiths exist. A lot of things people don’t think are real actually exist.”
What’d she mean by that?
“What brings you to Forever, Christy?” Milly turned and placed the order ticket on top of the pass-through into the kitchen. A big, burly man snatched it up, then took one look at it before snorting his disgust.
“My car just died out front. I hope that’s not going to cause you a problem as far as parking goes.”
“Naw, don’t worry about it.”
“Would you know a good garage? Or maybe a mechanic who could take a look at it?”
Milly pulled a phone out of her back pocket. “He’s not a mechanic by trade, but folks around here call Brigham Scollow whenever their vehicles need fixing. I’ll give him a holler for you.” Her eyes shifted to the others then back. “After all, we wouldn’t want you staying.”