He led the way between the tables to the far side of the room where Fayette, flanked by Faith and Grace in high chairs, sat chatting with a small, wiry woman with auburn hair and piercing brown eyes.
“Here they are. Can I go now?” Matthew set Elizabeth’s plate down and unfolded both chairs Fayette had leaning against the table with a single snap.
“Sure, go eat with your friends, but I’ll need you to get these high chairs back to the nursery for me, so don’t run off when you’re done.”
Elizabeth scooted her chair up to the table and leaned past Fayette to speak to her companion. “Good to see you back, Rita. How was the conference? Don’t believe you’ve met Lainie Davis. Lainie, this is our mayor, Rita Sandoval.”
Rita flashed a smile showing gold-rimmed teeth and stuck out her hand. Her grip was surprisingly strong for such a small woman. “Always good to see a new face in Last Chance.” She turned back to Elizabeth, her voice growing even more animated. “The conference was absolutely tremendous! I got some great ideas about how to put this place on the map.”
She sat back and took a sip of her iced tea, looking from one face to the other with a mysterious half smile.
“Well, what? Tell us about it.”
“I’m afraid you’re just going to have to wait a while. Good ideas have to incubate. If you break an egg open before it’s ready to hatch on its own, all you’ve got is a mess. But I’ll tell you right now, it’s a winner.”
Emphasizing the finality of her decision to remain mum, Rita turned to Lainie. “So, Miss Lainie Davis, tell me all about yourself. Where’d you come from? What brought you to Last Chance? Are you planning on settling down here?”
Lainie was poking something that had noodles and hamburger with her fork. She looked up and shrugged. “I’m from California. My car broke down. I don’t know how long I’ll stay.”
Rita narrowed her gaze. “Yes, but why here? Last Chance isn’t exactly on the beaten path. How’d you find us?”
“There were some signs on the interstate, I guess. Last Chance for gas, Last Chance for rest, stuff like that.”
Rita slapped the table with her hand and sat back. “I knew it. I just knew it. Where’s Russ?” She craned her neck and looked around until she spotted him at another table forking in chocolate cake and coconut pie. “Russ! Russ Sheppard!”
Russ looked up and Lainie would have sworn he rolled his eyes. But he put down his fork, pushed back his chair and ambled over to their table. “Afternoon, ladies. What can I do for you, Rita?”
“Lainie, tell him why you’re in Last Chance.”
Lainie looked from one to the other in confusion. “He already knows. My car . . .”
“No, no.” Rita brushed Lainie’s explanation aside as if it were a pesky fly. “Not why you’re in this area, tell him why you are here in Last Chance and not, say, in San Ramon.”
Lainie finally got it. “Oh. The signs on the interstate.”
Rita smacked the table again. “There. Didn’t I tell you those signs were what we needed to bring folks into town? And you fought me ever’ step of the way. Now I want you to tell me that I was right and you were wrong.”
Russ sighed. “Rita, those signs have been out there for two and a half years, and as far as I know, this is the only time they ever brought anyone to town. You know full well that if it weren’t for me and a couple others on the town council, you’d likely drive this town into bankruptcy with all your schemes.”
“I know no such thing!” Rita’s brown eyes shot sparks, and she looked as if she had plenty more to say, but Elizabeth broke in.
“All right, you two. This isn’t the council room. It’s the Lord’s house. You can save this for the town council when you’re ready to share your new ideas, Rita.”
Russ looked like he couldn’t take much more good news. “Ideas? Good night, what are you up to now, Rita?”
“Never you mind. You just sit on that chile farm of yours and watch the town crumble to dust if you want to, but some of us believe in the future. You can help us grow, or you can just stay home. In fact, I’d rather you stayed home.”
Russ heaved another sigh and turned back to his table. “Oh, I’ll be there all right. Count on it.”
Rita’s eyes glistened with tears. “That man makes me so mad! I declare he’d audit a Sunday school picnic. ‘How much did that watermelon cost? Were those the cheapest paper cups you could find?’ Well, would someone tell me just exactly what’s wrong with believing in the future?”
Elizabeth patted Rita’s hand. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Russ is who he is. And when you get down to it, that’s probably exactly why he was elected to the town council. And why he’s the church treasurer, for that matter. We need both types, I think—visionaries like yourself and the more practical types like Russ.”
“I, for one, would not mind one bit if Last Chance got a little bigger.” Fayette rummaged around in a diaper bag and pulled out some wipes. “I could use the customers, and I could use the help. Thanks to Carlos’s big family, I can usually get help in the summer, but Tina goes back to college next week, and then I don’t know what I’ll do.”
“What kind of hours are you talking about?”
All three ladies stopped talking and looked at Lainie.
“Why?” Fayette stopped scrubbing, and the twin she was working on took the baby wipe out of her hand and dropped it on the floor. “Are you looking for work?”
Lainie shrugged. “Maybe.”
Fayette sat back in her chair and looked at Lainie. “Have you ever done waitressing?”
“I’ve done all kinds of things, including waitressing.” Lainie waited while Fayette looked thoughtful. “So?”
“You know, Fayette, this could be just the thing,” Elizabeth said. “You know you need the help. And here’s Lainie needing a job. I call this more than coincidence.”
“If it weren’t for Matthew, I could keep on going just like I always have.” Fayette still sounded like she was thinking about it. “But I just worry about him so. School’s going to be starting soon, and it would make such a difference if I could be home after school.”
“Worry about Matthew? Why, that’s just silly. Not that you shouldn’t lighten your load, but Matthew is one of the finest boys in this town. Always has been.”
“He is a good boy, but he’s getting awfully restless, Rita. Being tied to the diner like I am, I don’t know where he is half the time. Up until this summer, he was in and out of the diner all day, mostly coming in for something to eat, bringing his friends with him. But I don’t see him now till I get home. And when he does come in with friends, half the time I don’t even know who they are. They’re not from around here. I know that much.”
“Well then, it looks like you’ve got your problem solved.” Elizabeth began gathering the empty paper plates around her into a stack. “You want to be home more. Lainie needs a job. And there you have it. By the way, I agree with Rita. You’ve done a fine job with Matthew. He’s just feeling his oats.”
Lainie had been just sitting and waiting. She was becoming accustomed to conversation concerning her circling around a bit before it came back to rest. Fayette still looked concerned, but she smiled at Lainie.
“All right, then. Let’s give it a try. Why don’t you come in at around eleven and help me through the afternoon for a while till you learn your way around. Then when school starts in a couple weeks, I’ll go home after the lunch rush and come back later to close it down.”
“Sounds good.”
“I’ll bring a uniform for you. I’ve worn about every size. I should have one small enough for you.” Fayette looked around. The room had nearly emptied and Matthew was nowhere in sight. “Well, I guess my boy forgot about these high chairs.”
Rita stood up. “Don’t worry about it. Lainie and I can get them back.”
“And I can hear my pillow calling me.” Elizabeth brushed the crumbs from her pale blue slacks. “Nothing says Sunday afternoon li
ke a nap.”
Ray Braden threw his pencil down on the papers in front of him and pushed away from the table. The air conditioner lodged in the window of his tiny trailer did a good job of staving off the Sunday afternoon heat, but its drone was putting him to sleep. He stretched and picked up the paper plate holding the remnants of the potluck dinner Matthew had run in while Fayette waited in the car with the Baca girls. He headed outside for the dumpster but stopped and grinned when he spotted Lainie Davis walking across the parking lot.
“Hey, Lainie! Still wearing your Sunday-go-to-meeting best, I see.”
“Oh, shut up. Who broke their neck getting over here to tell you what I wore to church?”
Ray shrugged. “No secrets in Last Chance. Sneeze at one end of town, and someone at the other end will bless you before you get your hankie out. What are you up to?”
Lainie gestured at the Closed sign propped in the window. “Elizabeth is napping and I thought maybe I could get a beer, or at least some air-conditioning. And you’re not even open.”
“Nope, always closed on Sundays. But come on back. I can get you a cold drink.”
Ray led the way back to the small travel trailer behind the bar. Lainie ducked to enter the low door and looked around. Except for a fan of papers spread across the tiny Formica table, the one-room space was immaculate. A neatly made bed took up one end of the room and a kitchenette stretched along one side. Ray was already squatting in front of the little refrigerator.
“It’s pretty well stocked. What’ll it be? Got a cola, coupl’a lemon-limes, some orange, and some grape.”
“No beer?”
“No, I lost what little taste I had for it working in the bar. Don’t keep it around. You ever have a grape soda?”
“No. It sounds awful.”
Ray popped the tab. “You gotta try it. You’ll never go back to beer.”
Lainie took a cautious sip and made a face. “Well, it’s cold. I can say that for it. And sweet.”
Ray popped open another can and dropped in the chair across the table from Lainie. He scooped the papers into a single pile and pushed them to the side.
“I always put this stuff off too long. I’d rather do anything other than paperwork. That’s why I’m still here instead of out at my place. It was either do the paperwork or shut down the bar for good.”
“Don’t you live here?”
“No, this is where I stay during the week. I go home after I close up Saturday night. I don’t get there until after three, but I have all day Sunday and a good part of Monday morning to spend there.”
“And where’s home?”
Ray went to the door and opened it. “Come here. See that mountain way over there? Right where the land begins to rise, there’s a pretty little box canyon that opens onto the valley. It’s on my uncle’s ranch, and I decided when I was about fourteen that I’d live there one day. I built a cabin during my summers home from college—just a couple of rooms, but it’s mine. You can see the valley and everything in it clear across to the mountains on the other side from there.”
“Wow. That’s a long way to go for one day a week.”
Ray’s grin was a little sheepish. “Yeah. Well, it’s where I live, and I always know it’s up there waiting for me. I’ll take you up to see it someday. You’ll see what I mean.”
“Sounds good, but it’ll have to be on my day off. I suppose you also heard I was going to start work for Fayette tomorrow?”
“No, I hadn’t heard. Well, good for you. Fayette needs a break. Sounds like you’re thinking about sticking around a while.”
Lainie shrugged. “I don’t know. At least long enough to get enough money to leave.” She stood up and tugged at her shorts. “Well, I guess I better be getting back. You’ve got work to do. Thanks for the soda.”
“Let me drive you. Truck’s got air-conditioning too.”
When they pulled up in front of Elizabeth’s gate, Ray smiled at the sound of squealing tires and gunshots from the television. “Sounds like nothing’s changed.”
“I guess she’s up from her nap. Want to come in and say hi?”
Ray shook his head. “Better not this time. If I’m going to give up a Sunday at my place to do paperwork, I’m dang sure going to get it done. Give her a hug for me and tell her I’ll try to stop by to see her one morning this week.”
“Okay.” Lainie had turned to go into the house when Ray realized he wasn’t ready to say good-bye.
“Do you want to do something some Sunday afternoon? It’s about the only time both the High Lonesome and the Dip ’n’ Dine are closed.”
She stopped with one hand on the gate and looked at him. Man, she had long legs. “Don’t you usually leave town on Sunday?”
Ray grinned and shrugged. “Usually, but not always.”
A slow smile crossed Lainie’s face. “Sure. Why not?”
After he pulled away from the curb, Ray waited till he got to the corner before looking into the rearview mirror to see if she was still standing by the gate. She was.
8
Oh, my. That uniform just swallows you whole. Just tie the apron real tight around your waist.” The air was still thick with the aroma of bacon and biscuits, but the diner had emptied of breakfast customers and Fayette had launched into her orientation lecture. Lainie only half listened. She let her gaze wander out the window. The High Lonesome Saloon was still closed. No sign of life anywhere.
“Come on in the kitchen. I want you to meet Carlos.” Fayette slapped the swinging door open and led the way. Lainie followed. “Now, Carlos here is the reason the Dip ’n’ Dine can open its doors each and every day. He is flat-out the best cook in this county, if not the whole state, and I’ll defy anyone to say different. Personally, I think the title ‘chef’ suits him better, but he won’t have it.”
Carlos glanced up from the huge pot he was stirring. “Nothing wrong with being a cook. Fancy names don’t change nothin’. Unless you want to throw a big raise in with it.”
“Well, he’s the king of this kitchen, and we try to keep him happy. He’s got a special for every day of the week. Mondays it’s green chile stew. We post it on the whiteboard by the door, but everyone in town has the schedule memorized. They won’t let him change a thing. He usually has one of his nephews in here helping him.” She gestured toward a kid of about twenty who was chopping onions. “This is Pete. He’s studying engineering at State. And as I say, we just try to stay out of their way.”
She glanced back into the dining room. “Customers. Lainie, you go take them some glasses of ice water and menus, and I’ll be right out.”
Fayette took all the orders and served the food as the lunch crowd came and went, but she had Lainie running right behind her filling iced tea glasses, busing tables, and fetching menus. Lainie could barely get a table bused and wiped down before another group of two or three turned up to claim it. And to her increasing discomfort, everyone seemed to know her and to call her by name.
“Well, Miss Lainie, you sure look busy. How do you like working for Fayette? I imagine she runs a tight ship.”
Lainie picked up the plastic tub of dirty bowls and glasses and turned to face a tall, thin man with white hair and a warm smile. It took her a minute to recognize him as the preacher from yesterday. He slid into one side of a booth and Russ Sheppard slid into the other side. Lainie had never said more than hello to a preacher before and was trying to figure out what to say when Fayette came up behind her carrying menus.
“Well, hi there, Pastor, Russ. I wondered if you two were going to get in here today. Y’all having the chile stew?”
“What else? And bring a few extra tortillas, would you?”
“You got it.” Fayette handed the menus to Lainie “Don’t know why I even bothered to bring these over. Lainie, honey, take these over to table two.”
Lainie left Fayette chatting with the men and took the menus to two middle-aged women who beamed at her like she was their long-lost daughter. Then she fled to
the kitchen. Carlos was hanging up the phone.
“That was Ray. Wonders if we can run a pint of stew over to him. He’s all tied up. Lainie, you got a break coming?”
Pete was untying his apron before Lainie could speak. “No reason for her to spend her break working. I can do it. Be back in five minutes.”
“No problem.” Lainie spoke with studied indifference. “I’ve got a couple of seconds. I’ll go.”
“Nah. Don’t worry about it. There’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to Ray about anyway.” Pete finished ladling the green chile stew into a carton, fitted the lid over the top, bagged it, and headed for the back door. As he reached for the knob, he glanced at Lainie’s expression, and a knowing grin spread over his face. He held the white paper bag out to her. “Unless you got some reason of your own for wanting to go.”
“Yeah, right. I love running around in all this heat. Go ahead, knock yourself out.” Lainie pushed the kitchen door open and walked back into the dining room, furious that she could still hear Pete laughing as he let himself out the back door.
By 1:30, just a few tables held diners, and just before 2:00, the last two customers, ladies Lainie remembered from church the day before, had paid their check, gathered their purses, discussed the Bacas’ new baby with Fayette, called their compliments to Carlos, and finally walked out into the heat of the afternoon.
Fayette brushed her hair from her face with the back of her hand and smiled at Lainie. “You had a real good first day, but I’ll bet you’re dead on your feet. I think that things have calmed down enough so that you can go on home. When we have a real busy lunch like we did, it’s usually a pretty quiet afternoon.”
Lainie took a quick look out the window. The High Lonesome was open, but the parking lot was empty. Maybe if she left now, she could stop in and see Ray for a bit before she went home. But as she watched, the old pickup that had been in the parking lot the night she arrived pulled in, and Les got out and made his way inside. No point in going now.
Welcome to Last Chance Page 6
