Chapter Seventy
“What? What are you talking about? I paid this month, didn’t I?” Salzy was screaming into his phone outside. He looked at all the people gathered around the outside tables.
Jamie went stiff. “Oh... this isn’t good,” he whispered to Mike, who was sitting next to him.
“Why? What’s wrong?” Mike asked in his soft rumbly voice.
“I have a feeling that Salzy just got fired from his trucking job.” Jamie stood up, using Mike to balance himself as he stepped over the bench seat. He slowly approached his new friend and now adopted brother.
“But you can’t do that. I’ve paid a lot of money for that truck. You can’t just fire me.” Salzy’s hand was tangled in his hair. He listened for a moment and then pulled the phone away from his ear.
“That didn’t sound good,” Jamie said, now standing close. “What’s happened?”
Salzy slowly looked up, letting his arm drop, phone still in hand. “They just fired me. Can you fucking believe that?”
“I know you made your truck payment this month. What gives?”
“They say they no longer require my services. That’s what they said verbatim.”
“What about all the money you paid towards your rig?”
“That bastard said that it would be forfeited. Can you believe that crap?” Salzy pushed his phone into his jeans pocket, then rubbed his face with both hands. “What am I supposed to do now?” He looked at Jamie. “What?”
“For now, just calm down and take a breath. We’ll get it figured out.” Jamie pulled his friend into a hug. “Dig up any paperwork you may have, and we can try and see what we can do.”
Salzy nodded. “This is a nightmare.”
“Hey,” Jamie said, giving him a gentle shake. “If need be, we’ll get Glenn Brown involved.”
“What? I can’t afford a lawyer? Are you kidding me?”
“Let me worry about that. For now, you need a shower, as do I, and a good night’s sleep.
I’ll need you in the diner tomorrow, so it’s not like you’re unemployed.
You have a job.” Jamie gave Salzy a grin.
“Finish your beer and say good night.” He nodded over his shoulder.
“You have a big family there, so you’re not alone. ”
Salzy returned the smile. “You’re right.” He looked over Jamie’s shoulder. “Yeah. Family.”
Jamie let Salzy tell everyone what had just happened. He leaned closer to Mike. “I had a gut feeling this was going to happen. I just need to get him through this.”
Mike nudged Jamie’s shoulder. “You mean we need to get him through this.”
Jamie looked at Mike and smiled. “I guess that’s something I’m going to have to get used to saying.”
“Yep.” Mike tipped his glass of ice water, draining it. “It sure is.”
The staff hung around a little longer after Salzy dropped the bomb about his former employer.
Florence, of course, had plenty to say about it.
It came out that she knew the whole family that ran the business and didn’t trust a one of them.
That news failed to make Salzy happier, but it made him feel supported.
And he gave Florence one of his award-winning smiles, which Jamie was glad to see.
“’Night,” Salzy finally said, having finished his beer and another one before he finally called it a night.
Joesph was next. “Good night.” He glared and Mike and Jamie. “And if the two of you rabbits even think about starting anything tonight, I will skin you and have myself a nice fur collar for my jacket!”
Mike laughed, and Jamie gave Joesph a deadpan stare. “As if you’d know how,” Jamie answered.
Joesph tilted his head. “I know how to use Google!”
When Jamie had finally crawled into bed, having had a shower, Mike pulled him into his arms. “You’ve got to be exhausted,” Mike said, whispering into Jamie’s ear.
“I can’t remember ever being this tired.” Jamie rolled towards his nightstand. “Speaking of which”—he set his alarm—“I’m going to have to get up in seven hours and go to work.”
“Ouch.” Mike pulled Jamie close to his chest, wrapping his arm around him. “Best get some sleep then.”
* * * * *
When Jamie’s alarm clock went off, he slowly rolled forward to slap at the clock radio.
“What?” Mike said groggily.
“Go back to sleep,” Jamie said as he pushed Mike’s heavy arm away.
Mike rolled over to his other side, pulling the sheet with him.
Jamie sat up and rubbed his eyes. When he stood up and looked at the sleeping hulk of a man.
I’m looking forward to waking up with this man.
He looked around his childhood bedroom and smiled.
Home. This is my home. He looked at Mike already back to sleep.
I don’t know when it happened, but I’ve gone and fallen for the big guy.
I never thought I’d have my own restaurant, home, and a man to share my bed with, before I was even thirty years old!
The first thing Jamie did was start a pot of coffee.
As it spit and sputtered, he looked around the dining room.
The sun wasn’t even on the horizon yet, but the diner had a warm, rosy glow to it.
He looked at the wall of photos and remembered his life here.
Some good, some not so good, and some even bad, but. .. he thought. That’s the way life is.
Jamie heard the back door screen close and went into the kitchen with a mug of coffee. He saw Ian come in. “Morning, Ian. You’re early.”
“Yeah, I thought after yesterday, I might be needed.”
“Thanks for that. However, from now on, ask first. I don’t mind paying anyone overtime, but I do need to be practical about doing that.”
“Oh, yeah. I understand. Do you... like, want me to leave?”
“No, no. Grab a cup of coffee if you want. I just made it.”
Jamie started his routine of making biscuits. “I didn’t mean to overstep,” Ian said as he watched Jamie.
“Don’t worry about it,” Jamie said, looking at the young man. He was a cute guy. Dark, sandy-blond hair, bright blue eyes, and a handsome face. Jamie figured he would fill out as he matured. “What made you want to be a cook?”
Ian shrugged. “I’ve always cooked. My mother and I live with my grandma. She’s a good cook, but Mom is even better. More towards gourmet, I’d say.”
Jamie smiled. “That’s how I started. I’d watch my Mamaw cook, and then I started. I was working here in the diner long before I was legal to do it.” Jamie snickered. “And I didn’t get paid either.”
“I uh... wanted to work, here, for you.”
Jamie stopped for a moment. “Why’s that?”
Ian looked down into his coffee and then back at Jamie. “Well, one, you’re a well-known chef and can teach me a lot. Two... you’re gay.” The last part came out, just barely above a whisper. “I’m gay.”
That made Jamie stop and face the young man. “Did you get bullied at school?”
It took Ian a moment before he nodded. “Yeah.”
“It gets better.” Jamie went back to rolling out his biscuit dough. “Even one of the guys who bullied me in school recently apologized, and now he supplies us with fish and seafood.”
“Really?” Ian raised his eyebrows. “That’s kinda... cool.”
“Yeah, it is.” Jamie glanced over at Ian. “If there’s anything you want to learn or see something, don’t be afraid to ask.”
“Thanks.” Ian watched Jamie for a moment. “You’re doing a laminated dough. I’ve never seen it done with lard, though.”
That stopped Jamie. “You know about laminated dough?”
Ian shrugged again. “I learned how to do it on YouTube. I can do a decent puff pastry.”
“Well, I’ll be damned.” He stood there a minute. “Have you thought about going to culinary school?”
“Oh, yeah. Lots. But it’s expensive, and I was told by one of those school reps that I should look for a good chef and work with them first anyway. Learn as much as I could and then apply for school.”
“Not a bad idea.” Jamie went back to cutting out his biscuits. He got them on the sheet tray and handed it to Ian. “Mind sticking those into the oven?”
Ian took the tray and set it in the oven. “What should I put on the timer?” he asked.
“Twelve, please. Come on over and I’ll teach you how to do the corn bread.”
“Morning,” Walter said as he came in. He stopped with he saw Ian. “Early bird, I see.” He got his cook’s shirt on and an apron. Pulling on his ball cap, as he approached the two men. “If you teach this young’un here how to make your biscuits, you and I are going to have a problem.”
Jamie laughed. “No, just the corn bread for now.”
“Um... I think I could make those biscuits.” Ian said.
“What?” Walter asked, clearly shocked.
“Yeah, well... I did watch him do it.”
Jamie frowned. “You got all that in one go?”
“I think so.”
Jamie looked from Ian to Walter. “Okay, then... next batch I want to see.”
“Well, here we go again.” Walter turned to get himself a cup of coffee. “I ain’t never going to get that recipe.”
When the corn bread was in the oven and Jamie cleaned off his biscuit bench, he looked at Ian. “Okay, show me what you got.”
By this time, Ian had put on a cook’s shirt and apron. He had an Atlanta Braves cap on since there wasn’t a diner hat for him yet, something else on Jamie’s to-do list. Ian went into the walk-in with a tray, came out with the exact amount of butter, lard, and buttermilk.
“Okay, then,” Jamie said, standing in front of Ian as he worked.
Ian went through the process of making the biscuits, with Jamie only correcting him once about the amount of salt. Ian got the batch of biscuits on the baking tray and looked at Jamie. “Did I get it right?”
Jamie shook his head, then looked at Ian. “I swear, if you ever give out that recipe, I’ll personally blister your backside.” He scratched his head. “I can’t believe you got that from watching just the one time.”
Ian shrugged. “I paid attention, is all.”
“Morning, all. It’s another beautiful day, isn’t it?” Dexter came in, a happy smile plastered to his face. “How is everyone today?”
“That one there”—Walter pointed with his elbow as he stirred the sausage gravy—“he’s another Jamie personified.”
“Huh?” Dexter asked, pulling on his ball cap. The kitchen was heating up, the smell of the gravy wafting over towards Jamie.
“He can make the biscuits. Ian watched Jamie do it one time and nailed it.”
Dexter looked at Ian. “Good for you,” he said. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” Ian said, shyly.
“Howdy,” Florence said as she came in, followed by Timmy, and the rest of the staff, Robbie being last.
“Robbie, you’re with Dexter,” Jamie said. “Make him write down a checklist.” Jamie turned to Ian. “You’re with Walter, same thing.”
Christine came in, smiling. “Good morning, everyone.”
“No baby, I see,” Jamie said.
“Nope.” Christine put her handbag under the bench table along the back wall. “Thanks to you and Minnie. Her cousin is a jewel. It was a perfect fit.”
“Glad to hear it.” Jamie walked towards her. “I’m expecting a delivery at any minute now. That should stock you up enough to get some of the other desserts made up, I hope. Is there a way you can stay a little longer if needed?”
“I think so. I’ll have to call the sitter first to make sure.”
“Can you do that, please? I’d like to get a little bit ahead if possible. I’m not sure what it’s going to be like today. Yesterday just about killed all of us, I think. Not sure what to expect from here on in, to be honest.”
“We got customers in the parking lot,” Florence announced as she came into the kitchen. “Jamie?”
“Coming.” Jamie went into the dining room, where the five waitresses were standing in a line, just like always. He looked around the dining room and saw that everything was in place as he expected. The ladies in their new uniforms looking pristine. “Ya’ll look as good as the dining room.”
Jamie walked over to the window into the kitchen. “Everyone ready?”
“Yeah, we’re ready,” Walter said, giving his customary thumbs up.
“Okay. Let ’em in, Flo.”
“You got it, boss,” she said as he went and flipped the sign over and unlocked the door.