Burgers and Bodies

by Gretchen Allen

  Burgers and Bodies

  Day and Night Diner, Book 2

  Gretchen Allen

  Summer Prescott Books Publishing

  Copyright 2019 Summer Prescott Books

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication nor any of the information herein may be quoted from, nor reproduced, in any form, including but not limited to: printing, scanning, photocopying, or any other printed, digital, or audio formats, without prior express written consent of the copyright holder.

  **This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to persons, living or dead, places of business, or situations past or present, is completely unintentional.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Also by Gretchen Allen

  Author’s Note

  Contact Summer Prescott Books Publishing

  Chapter One

  Josslyn Rockwell was a career waitress. She’d been working the same job waiting tables for the last fifteen years, and before that, she worked at a truck stop in a nearby town. Many people in her life, including her family, thought it was a strange career choice, but for Joss, she couldn’t be happier. She loved everything about the Day and Night Diner, especially her crazy customers and even crazier coworkers.

  Layering slices of tomato and red onion on the top half of a sesame seed bun, Joss made sure the presentation of the food looked perfect before carrying it out to her table.

  “What did you say this was called again?” the older man asked.

  “A Juicy Lucy, dear. She called it a Juicy Lucy.” The woman across from him, likely his wife, rolled her eyes.

  “Well, that’s quite the name.” The man chortled.

  Joss stifled a laugh. Every time the diner had a Juicy Lucy as a lunch special, someone had jokes. It wasn’t as though they’d created the name themselves or anything. Juicy Lucy burgers had been around for years. The burger, stuffed with cheese, rather than having it melted on top, was a favorite of many, despite the somewhat comical name.

  “It certainly is,” Joss agreed. “Can I get the two of you anything else?”

  “How about something for us to dip our burgers in? Not ketchup or anything; something that would go well with whatever is stuffed inside,” the man requested.

  “Hmm. Well, since they are stuffed with bacon and bleu cheese tossed in buffalo sauce, what about ranch dressing? That might tame the heat factor a little,” Joss suggested.

  “Sounds great. Thank you.”

  Joss made her way to the kitchen, stopping at a few tables on her way by. Thankfully, things weren’t as busy as they could be. Luke, her boss, and the owner of the Day and Night Diner, was outside in the parking lot. He was having one of his obligatory meetings with his best friend that were held in his vehicle, so he’d left Joss to her own devices. She’d spent the late morning working in the kitchen and waiting tables. It was the time between breakfast and lunch rush, so things were relatively slow and tolerable on her own.

  Once she’d dropped off the ranch dressing to her table, Joss did her best to tidy things up for when Dina arrived. While it wasn’t necessary, she always tried to make sure that everything was just how Dina liked it. Sometimes her coworker liked to fancy herself the manager of the diner. That couldn’t be farther from the truth, but no one ever seemed to have anything to say about it. As if on cue, Dina burst through the front door of the diner, stopping in her tracks the moment she crossed the threshold.

  “Hello, Joss,” Dina spoke, seemingly out of breath.

  “Is everything okay?” Joss asked, eyeing Dina. “Why are you covered in feathers?”

  “If you must know,” she said, pulling a feather from her forearm, “I got caught in the rain and had to put on this embarrassing dress my mother sent me. I’ve had it in my car sitting in the same box it came in for months. I’m mortified to even be seen in something so preposterous.”

  Joss looked Dina over. She had on red platform wedges, and a solid black sundress, both of which looked completely normal to Joss. In fact, she thought Dina looked great, and for once, completely reasonably dressed.

  “Yes. That dress. I’m so sorry you have to be seen wearing something so hideous.” Joss nodded her head furiously. “But what about the feathers?”

  “My boa got soaked, and when I tried taking it off, the feathers were stuck all over me, and it was a huge to-do. I ended up snapping one of my favorite suspenders and had to put this monstrosity on in the meantime. I don’t even match a bit. Thankfully, I accidentally left my work clothes here the other day, so I won’t have to run home to change.”

  The funny thing about Dina was that she never accidentally left a change of clothes at work. Joss didn’t think Dina ever did anything accidentally. Her outfits were by far some of the strangest she’d ever seen, but Dina didn’t seem to recognize that. Joss was determined to figure out what the story behind Dina was, but until then, she’d just go with the flow and humor her coworker.

  “Mmhhmm, thankfully is right. I’ll cover for you while you change,” Joss offered, trying not to laugh.

  “Do you think you’ll be okay without me?” Dina asked, looking around.

  “I’m sure I’ll be fine.” Joss nodded, not letting the fact that Dina was still standing there, and there were only three customers in the building, go unnoticed.

  A few moments later, Dina was back and in her jeans and t-shirt with the Day and Night Diner logo emblazoned on the back.

  “Thanks for covering for me,” Dina said as though she’d been gone for hours. “Anything interesting happen this morning?”

  “Not really,” Joss said, thinking about how the most interesting thing was Dina coming in looking like Big Bird. “Luke’s outside with Richie and has been for a while, so I’ve just been doing what I gotta do.”

  “Before we get busy, there’s something I wanted to ask you,” Dina said, coming closer.

  “What’s up?” Joss asked, standing over the grill and flipping a burger patty.

  “I’m having a bit of a gathering in a couple of days, and I was wondering if you’d be interested in coming?” Dina rocked back and forth on her heels, not making eye contact.

  “I’d love that,” Joss said, smiling.

  “Really? You mean it?” Dina looked up.

  “Of course. I think it sounds great. Just let me know the time and the place, and I’ll be there.”

  Just as Joss was about to pull out her phone to note the details, Luke and Richie entered the diner through the kitchen door. Both men were belly laughing, Richie stopping the moment he saw Dina.

  “Hi, Dina,” Richie said.

  “Hi,” Dina replied, turning in the other direction, all but jogging into the dining room.

  If Joss didn’t know better, she’d say the two of them had something going on. Every time they were around one another, they both acted much more awkward than usual. Richie was a good guy, a little odd, but that wasn’t any different from Dina. He spent most of his time hunting for antiques. Joss wasn’t entirely sure, but she thought that was Richie’s only means of income. He was constantly traveling around Lemon Bay and the surrounding towns. Sometimes he’d be gone for weeks at a time while he left the state in search for the next best thing. Joss could always tell when Richie wasn’t around because Luke always spent more time at the dine
r.

  “Hi, Richie,” Joss said. “Nice to see you.”

  “Oh, yeah. Joss. How’s it going?” Richie answered absentmindedly, still watching Dina through the doorway.

  “Good.” She chuckled.

  “Can I get you anything to eat?” Luke asked.

  “Bacon-Cheddar Juicy Lucy, medium-well with a side of crispy fries. Add some cheese on the fries, too, please,” Richie said, finally taking his eyes off Dina long enough to take a seat on his favorite stool.

  “Got it,” Luke called from the kitchen.

  Joss let Luke takeover on the grill and went back out to the dining room to check on her customers. Everyone looked happy; everyone except for Dina who looked like she was about to hyperventilate. Richie was trying to engage her in conversation, and it didn’t look like it was going well. Dina could be so bold sometimes, and so hard to get along with, so watching her struggle to make conversation with Richie was more humor than Joss could take.

  “Whatcha guys talking about?” Joss asked, inserting herself into their conversation, hoping she’d eased Dina’s fluttery heart just a little.

  Chapter Two

  “Listen, you two,” Luke said, calling over Joss and Dina. “A lady called yesterday after you both left wanting some information about a last-minute catering gig. She’s gonna call back in a while, and I don’t much care which one of you handles it, but as always, let’s make sure we go above and beyond. It’s good for business and all that jazz.”

  “I’ll do it,” Dina said, raising her hand.

  That didn’t surprise Joss. If there was a catering event and Dina was available, she took it. That was okay with her. Joss did better in tips working at the diner than she did getting paid hourly doing catering jobs, anyway. Plus, she was going to have to cancel her plans with Dina for the following evening, and she didn’t want to make things worse by taking the catering call, too. It wasn’t like Joss wanted to cancel. She just didn’t have much of a choice. Her landlord had called last night and requested a meeting with her, which basically never happened. She only saw him once or twice a year, or if something came up and she needed something repaired. He didn’t live in the area, so when he said he wanted to meet with her, she figured it was something important.

  “Joss, is that okay with you?” Luke asked.

  “Of course. Dina can totally take care of it. I don’t mind at all,” Joss answered.

  “Good. Great.” Luke nodded. “On that note, I have to go do payroll.”

  “I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” Dina said once Luke left the kitchen.

  “About that,” Joss began.

  “Don’t tell me. Don’t even say it,” Dina pleaded.

  “I’m sorry. It’s just that my landlord…”

  “I told you not to say it.” Dina glared at her.

  Joss hadn’t really said anything yet, but Dina knew what she was about to say, and clearly, it wasn’t going over very well.

  “Dina. Let me make it up to you. I know it won’t be the same, but we can go out a different night. You can come to my house or…”

  Once again, Dina didn’t let her finish. “There won’t be a different night. It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. Don’t even let it cross your mind again.”

  Joss stood there watching as Dina stormed off. She knew Dina was upset. Joss wasn’t completely positive, but she didn’t think that Dina had very many friends, so this may have hit her a little harder than Joss had expected. If there was a way to make it up to Dina, she was going to figure it out.

  “Hey, you,” Bridget said, walking in the front door of the diner.

  “Hi!” Joss smiled, taken away from her thoughts of Dina. “What are you doing here? Don’t you usually have the dogs this time of day?”

  Bridget was an old friend of Joss’s that she’d recently reconnected with. She was Lemon Bay’s official dog walker extraordinaire, or at least that’s what Joss liked to call her. Bridget always had someone’s dog with her.

  “I do. They’re outside. I just came in for a quick cup of coffee to go,” Bridget explained. “Actually, make it two.”

  “You left them outside alone? Is that okay to do?” Joss asked.

  “I have someone with me today.” Bridget grinned. “I hired someone! Do you believe it? I hired an employee!”

  “Wow!” Joss said, setting the to-go cups on the counter. “That’s really great. I had no idea that you were busy enough to need an employee.”

  “We’re still working out the kinks, but so far so good. I could probably handle it on my own, but I like the idea of having someone else, just in case, ya know?”

  “Like for the times you want to run in for a coffee?” Joss joked.

  “Exactly.” Bridget laughed, handing her a five-dollar bill. “Keep the change. Oh, and by the way, the shelter is having an adoption event soon, you should really consider making a trip there to check out the animals.”

  Joss wasn’t sure that was a very good idea. She worked a lot and didn’t think it would be fair to the animal if she were to be gone the majority of the day. But she did love animals.

  “Thanks. I’ll give it some thought,” she told her friend.

  “Have a good day!” Bridget called over her shoulder.

  Joss was proud of her friend. Hiring an employee was a big deal, and she hoped it worked out.

  “Joss! Joooosssssss!” Luke bellowed from the office.

  Rolling her eyes, Joss headed toward the booming voice. She never understood why people had to yell across the diner to get someone’s attention. It may be a casual place, but that didn’t mean they had to act as though they were sitting in their own living room watching a football game.

  “Yes?” she asked, looking at Luke, who was surrounded by papers.

  “How many hours did you work last week? I can’t find anything in this mess.”

  “Forty-five at the diner and six catering,” Joss answered after verifying the times she’d saved on her phone.

  “How many of the diner hours were cooking?” Luke asked.

  “Uhhh. I’m not sure. I don’t really keep track of that anymore,” Joss answered.

  “Well, you need to start again. Every time you cover for me, especially when you’re serving too, I want you to keep track of the hours. Make a note on the time card, or if you can figure out how to clock in as a kitchen employee, do that. I’ll be paying you a higher hourly pay for when you’re cooking.” Luke took his eyes away from his desk to look at Joss.

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  “Yes, I do. It’s only fair. You help me out way more than you have to and I appreciate it. It may be a little harder to keep track of, but all of your cooking hours will be paid at a higher rate, even if you are here waiting tables. Got it?” Luke asked.

  “Got it,” Joss said, grinning.

  Waitresses made a meager hourly wage because they relied on their tips as their primary source of income. Joss did well in tips, and that was partially because she knew all of her customers so well and had been doing the job for a long time. She earned a decent living as it was, so finding out that she’d be making more was the icing on the cake. With her luck, though, the meeting with her landlord was because he was raising her rent, and the extra money she’d be earning would go straight to that.

  Chapter Three

  “Thanks for agreeing to this,” Becky said.

  “No problem,” Joss mumbled, pouring herself some coffee.

  Becky, the overnight waitress, had called the diner the day before, minutes before Joss left for the day, asking if she could come in early the following morning. Joss reluctantly agreed since four a.m. wasn’t exactly an ideal time to arrive at work, or anywhere for that matter, but Becky would do it for her, so she saw no other option.

  “Are sure about that?” Becky laughed.

  “I’ll be fine.” Joss blinked, her eyes adjusting to the bright kitchen lights.

  “Do you know what’s up with Dina?” Becky asked.

&nb
sp; “What do you mean?”

  “When I got here last night, she was still here. She had a pad of sticky notes and was frantically writing and sticking them all over. I tried asking what was happening, but she just told me that they weren’t for me,” Becky said, pointing out a few of the notes.

  Joss was speechless. Becky wasn’t kidding. There were no less than a dozen pink sticky notes stuck on the shelf behind the counter. Some of the notes had directions on them, which was odd enough on its own. No one that worked at the diner needed instructions on how to do things. It was the notes that were written specifically to Joss that stood out the most. Don’t forget the lunch reservation at noon. I’m coming in early to help. It’s a large group, and you’ll need it. Another said, Please don’t accept any phone calls about catering. Take a message, and I’ll return the calls.

  “You’ve got to be kidding,” Joss said, shaking her head.

  “Why the notes? Is that how she communicates now?” Becky asked. “Not that I’m complaining. Notes are definitely an easier way to talk to her, but she said they weren’t for me, and she knew you were coming in next. What happened?”

  “I think she’s mad at me,” Joss explained.

  “Ya think?” Becky giggled. “I’m heading out and wishing you luck.”

  The first two hours after Becky left were quiet. There’d only been a handful of customers, and Joss thanked her lucky stars that she didn’t work the overnight shift often. Once six o’clock hit, the diner came to life.

  “Good morning,” Jack said, entering the diner and passing the newspaper to Joss.

  “Morning. I’ve got your coffee on the table, and blueberry bagel going already.” Joss rested the paper on the counter.