Chapter 35
35
Noah was starving. He dug into the Western omelet Lyla had just delivered. His left elbow banged into Matt’s right elbow as they both attempted to lift a forkful of food to their mouths. “Tell me again why we’re all sitting on the same side of the booth.”
Abe, smashed between Noah’s right shoulder and the wall, spoke around a mouthful of biscuits and gravy as The Everly Brothers belted out “Wake Up Little Susie” from a speaker system above their booth. “Yeah, kind of wondering that too.”
“Because I don’t want anyone overhearing what I say,” Matt whispered.
“What did he say?” Abe said.
“He doesn’t want anyone overhearing,” Noah repeated.
“Shhh. Keep your voice down,” Matt whispered. “Plus sitting like this keeps our backs to the entrance.”
“What did he say?” Abe said.
“Oh shoot, I meant to ask for ketchup,” Noah said.
“He wants ketchup?” Abe said. “I thought he ordered pancakes.”
Noah lifted a finger to grab Lyla’s attention. “Ketchup,” he mouthed to her across the diner. “Okay, but why did we have to wait until our food arrived to talk about whatever it is you need to talk about?”
“Because I wanted to act natural,” Matt said. “Like we had nothing more important to talk about than the weather.”
“What? Weather? I already told you it’s supposed to be sunny all week.” A glob of gravy slid off Abe’s fork and landed on his tie. “Aw, nuts. I promised Lizzy I’d keep this one clean.”
“So what’s this top secret conversation then?” Noah thanked Lyla for the ketchup and squeezed the bottle over his hash browns.
“Do you think water will get the stain out or just make it worse?” Abe dabbed a wet napkin at his tie.
“I’m scared Rachel’s sister’s ex-boyfriend is going to come after her.”
“I should’ve worn a bib.”
“Why?” Noah dug back into his omelet.
“She dumped a glass of beer over his head.”
Abe leaned over his plate to look at Matt. “What’s that about beer? Does it get rid of gravy stains?”
“Okay. Enough.” Noah shooed Matt out of the booth. “I don’t think anybody’s going to hear us over The Everly Brothers, and I’ll take my chances against any assassins attacking my back at Lyla’s Diner.”
Noah slid into the other side of the booth and tugged his plate in front of him. “There. Much better. Now what’s going on with Rachel? Why’d she dump beer on some guy’s head?”
“Because he stole money from her, and she was mad.”
Noah shrugged. “As good a reason as any.”
“I kind of wish Lizzy would just dump beer on my head whenever she was mad,” Abe said, scrubbing his tie. “That way I’d know, you know? No guesswork. No silent treatment. Just lick the beer off my chin, say sorry, and try again with a clean tie.”
“I don’t think Ace is the type to just move on.” Matt pushed away his plate of pancakes. “I’m worried about her. I’m really worried about her.”
“Remind me again who Rachel is,” Abe said.
“An old friend from high school. She moved back a few weeks ago. Now she’s a temporary nurse on my grandpa’s dialysis unit.”
Abe stopped scrubbing his tie. Lifted his gaze to Matt. “Oh, wait. Yeah. I heard about her. The dunk tank incident. Lizzy was telling me how she was the one Aimee caught you fooling around with on the shelter floor.”
“It wasn’t what it looked like,” Matt said.
“Where have I heard that one before?” Abe’s glance slid to Noah.
“It wasn’t,” both Noah and Matt said at the same time.
“Hey, what the two of you do behind closed doors is your own business. Think that looks clean?” Abe lifted his tie.
“Sure,” Noah said. “Other than the giant gravy stain in the middle.”
Abe scowled and jerked off his tie. Shoved it in his pocket. “Who wears ties anymore anyway?”
“Can we get back to Rachel?” Matt said. “I want to keep her safe. But I don’t know what to do.”
“Have you thought about asking Luke for help?” Abe asked. “Aw c’mon man,” he said after Noah picked up a chunk of hash browns covered in ketchup and threw it on his white button-down shirt. “Was that really necessary?”
“Sometimes I wonder who has a bigger crush on that man, Lizzy or you?”
Abe dunked his napkin in his water glass and started dabbing his shirt. “I’m just saying he seems like the type of guy who knows how to handle beer and scary men. What’s wrong with that?”
“Is this because you’ve gotten to know Luke or are you still basing everything you know about him off whatever Western series you’re watching this week?”
“Definitely the latter. Now I’m picturing Luke more like Tommy Lee Jones’s character from Lonesome Dove .”
“Woodrow F. Call? You know, I can kind of see that,” Matt said. “Commanding presence. Tight-lipped about his past.”
“Oh, would you two knock it off?” Noah growled. “You guys can’t see anything.” Especially when it came to Luke. “Listen, Matt, you want some advice about what to do with Rachel? Tell her you love her, ask her to marry you, then promise to do whatever it takes to keep her safe and cherished for the rest of her life. That’s what you do. Now let’s finish our breakfast so I can get back to doing what I need to do.”
Mainly, keeping Gracie’s thoughts far away from the likes of anybody resembling Woodrow Call. Besides, he probably resembled this Woodrow Call character more than Luke did. Especially if the tight-lipped part was true.
He set his fork down, his appetite suddenly gone. Maybe he should’ve thought through this whole memoir idea a little better.