Chapter Forty
Mike looked down where Joesph was sitting. “Uh... Everything okay?”
“I don’t know.” Joesph looked up at Mike and his bulging pectorals. “How do you,” he waved a hand up and down Mike’s body, “stay so... fit?”
Mike smiled and sat down across from Joesph. “I hit the gym every morning, except on Sundays.”
“I couldn’t... just could not do that.” Joesph sighed, took a sip of his iced tea. “Jamie had a breakdown on the way back. A mental breakdown.” He looked at Mike. “I don’t know what to do about it either.”
“Why?”
Joesph shook his head. “Everything, I guess. His grandparents—who had pretty much raised him—dying. The diner. It seems that while he was down here, his apartment was broken into. I know it was a big deal for him to leave his job. He was a star in the Atlanta restaurant scene. That couldn’t have been an easy decision. ”
“I see.” Mike scratched his head. “That is a lot and in a very short period of time. That would do just about anyone in. And then taking on this massive renovation on top of all that? Yeah, I can see why he’d lose it.”
“Sal says he thinks Jamie needs a good stiff drink, good food, and sleep.”
“Do you know what he likes to eat?”
Joesph thought for a moment and smiled. “Yeah. Do you know of a good barbecue place?”
Mike grinned. “Indeed, I do. Leave it to me.” He placed his big hands on the top of the table and pushed himself up. “What time do you think they’ll get here?”
“Sal said they were about an hour out.”
Mike nodded. “Okay. I’ll organize a big lunch. What does Jamie like to drink, other than beer and margaritas?”
Joesph laughed. “Jamie’s weakness is good tequila.”
“That’s easy.” Mike raised his eyebrows. “I’d never have taken him for a tequila drinker.”
“The stories I could tell,” Joesph smiled as he stood up.
“I’m all ears.” Mike grinned broadly, a sly look on his face, hands on his hips.
“Oh no. There are some things a bestie never tells.”
Mike put on his best pouty face. “Never?”
Joesph signed a zipper across his lips.
“I’ll keep trying to dig it out of you.” Mike puffed up his chest, spreading his shoulders.
“Oh lord,” Joesph said, stepping around the big man, while shaking his head. “How are they going to get that big beam in?”
Mike followed Joesph into the kitchen, not sure if he had shaken his head at the idea or if he was rattled by the show of his big chest and muscles. “That’s what I was coming out to tell you. They’re going to take out the front glass door and two of the big windows.”
Joesph stopped and turned on Mike. “Do what?”
“Don’t worry, they’ll put them back.” Mike pushed through to the dining room. “If all goes well, you’ll never be able to tell they were taken out at all.”
“Okay.” Joesph took a long deep breath. “If you say so. I’ll trust you. Now how about that lunch?”
Mike pulled out his phone, smiling.
* * * * *
“Need to stop anywhere before we get home?” Salzy asked.
Jamie shook his head. “No. I just want to go home. To be honest, I feel like I need to get drunk and sleep for a week.”
“Um... there’s nothing at home except some beer, and not a whole lot of that. Why don’t I stop by the liquor store?”
“Yeah. Good idea.”
Salzy took the exit before the diner. He navigated to a large liquor store.
“When did this open?” Jamie asked as he opened the door of the truck. “I don’t remember this being here.”
“Just before Christmas,” Salzy answered, leading the way to the double glass doors. “They have a great beer selection.”
“Cool.” Jamie followed Salzy inside. “Wow. This place is huge.” He wandered over to one of the rows of wine. “They have some decent wine.”
Salzy frowned. “I don’t know the first thing about wine.”
“It’s not my go-to, but I enjoy a decent drop with a good meal. I did learn to appreciate it over the course of my career.” He picked up a bottle. “Hm, I’ll have to remember this.”
“Come on. Wait till you see the beer selection.” Salzy smiled over his shoulder at Jamie. “They have it divided up by country.”
“Holy cow,” Jamie exclaimed. “This is unreal.” He walked along the long wall of glass-doored coolers. “You weren’t kidding.”
“See anything you like?” Salzy pointed down the aisle. “Fancy some Japanese beer?”
“That Asahi isn’t too bad,” Jamie pointed out. “Not sure I’m in the mood for that. Let’s look at the German beers.”
They turned back and found the coolers with the German selection. “See anything you like?” Salzy asked. “I have to admit, I’m not familiar with any of these.”
“That one,” Jamie pointed out to a bottle on the top shelf. “Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier. Let’s see if we can get a case of that.” Jamie smiled at Salzy. “I think you’ll like it. I’ve had it a few times. I first had this at Oktoberfest in Northern Georgia.”
“There.” Salzy pointed to a case on the bottom shelf. “Damn, that ain’t cheap.”
Jamie opened the door and got a full case. “And I don’t care. Can you get a cart for this?”
Jamie set the case down on the floor to wait for Salzy. He looked around and saw what he was looking for.
“Here.” Salzy picked up the beer and put it in the cart. “Anything else?”
“Yep.” Jamie headed for the tequila. He pulled down a bottle of Cazcabel Blanco. “This is some good shit.” Jamie smiled at Salzy. “And yes, you are going to try it.”
Salzy dropped his chin to his chest. “I’m in for it now.”
They loaded up the beer in the back of the truck with the boxes while Jamie held the bottle of tequila. “I’m thinking pizza, beer, and tequila.”
“Okay.” Salzy looked at Jamie. “Only for you. I swore I’d never drink tequila in public again. I hope you’re prepared.”
“Oh, I’m looking forward to seeing you with tequila. And it won’t be in public. It’ll just be us.” Jamie smiled a full and genuine smile. “Things are looking up.”
When they pulled up to the diner, a big crane was manoeuvring a huge steel beam through the front of the diner.
“Holy shit!” Jamie was out of the truck before Salzy could bring it to a full stop.
He had to park it along the side of the road along with many other trucks of various sizes, colors, and models.
Jamie ran towards the front of the diner before a man who was working in an orange, fluorescent vest stopped him. “Hold up. You can’t go any further than this right now.”
“But—”
“No buts to it. It’s a safety issue.”
Jame glanced around at the side of the diner and sprinted towards the back. He nearly body-slammed into the back screen door before he managed to get it open.
Mike saw him first. “Stand back, Jamie. Let these guys do their thing. They’re true professionals.”
“What the hell?” Jamie’s eyes were so wide he was afraid they might pop right out of his head. “What happened to all the windows? And the door?” He made to take a step forward before Mike grabbed him by the shoulders, pulling him back.
“Don’t worry. We took them out to get the beam in. We’ll put them right back just the way they were.”
“Hi, Jamie.” Joesph hugged his friend. “You’re just in time to see the steel beam put into place. Isn’t it exciting?”
It took a bit of Joesph and Mike holding him back before he was able to piece together everything that was going on.
There were men with ropes guiding the thick I-beam, all wearing hard hats and the same orange vests, Jamie now noticed had light reflective stripes.
Another man was talking, feeding information to the crane operator.
They were pulling, pushing, and oh so slowly, settling the new beam into place.
To Jamie, it felt like time was all but standing still.
“They’ve almost got it now,” Mike said, his hands still on Jamie’s shoulders, only now standing behind him. “Once it’s in place they’ll weld it all together. That thing won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.”
Jamie noticed that the entire wall that had run the full width of the diner was gone. The kitchen and dining room were now one very large space.
“Uh... what happened to all the kitchen equipment?” Jamie asked, almost whispering as he watched the beam being pushed along with what looked like a forklift.
“Mike got it hauled off. He, well, you donated it to a women’s shelter, who were really happy to have it. And you’re gonna get a big ol’ tax deduction too.” Joesph looked very pleased with himself in imparting that tidbit of information. “That was all Mike’s doing, by the way.”
“Holy moly,” Salzy said, shouting over the noise. “That’s... well, that’s something else.”
Jamie looked around Mike. Salzy was holding the case of beer. Jamie closed his eyes, taking in Mike’s scent, and felt himself calm.
“I’ll stick this in the walk-in,” he said quickly, watching Jamie closely. “We can unload the truck after.”