style="font-size:15px;"> Annie tapped her pen on the table in feigned anger. “I’m never gonna retire if you only order coffee, Joe.”
He took a sip and peered at her over the top of his cup. “But it’s such good coffee.”
“I brew it myself.” She winked before turning to the others. “How about you, Earl? Do you want the Early Riser breakfast, like usual?”
Earl flipped the corner of his newspaper down to contemplate her suggestion. He’d ordered the same breakfast every day for three years. He purchased The Chinoodin Chronicle newspaper and read it cover to cover at the table every morning. And even if the temperature reached eighty degrees, he’d worn the same red Kromer hat with fleece-lined flannel and earflaps. His eyes darted around the room before he flipped the corner of his paper back up, shielding his face. “Yah,” he answered in his usual gruff way.
The Old Timers had been coming into the diner occasionally long before Annie had started working there. But when Dennis passed away and Annie began full-time, as Karrin told it, the Old Timers quickly took notice. They had begun arriving every morning since like clockwork.
Annie hustled to grab the coffeepot, aware that William’s eyes were following her.
“Good morning, Annie,” he said, his voice soft and easy like a swaying oak. She nodded curtly before returning to the Old Timers. The ones without coffee flipped over their cups, but kept right on talking about the newcomer.
“What’s his story?” Joe asked. Annie caught William’s eye. His look deepened from over the top of his coffee mug, making her nerves tingle.
“I couldn’t tell you,” she said, turning back to Joe. “He’s Joyce’s son.”
“Is he single?”
“Why, Joe? Are you interested?”
“You’re really in a mood today, ain’t ya, Annie?” Joe said. “He’s a good-lookin’ kid is all.”
“Kid? He’s my age.” She scoffed.
“You’re still a kid, you know.”
“Joe, I haven’t been a kid in ages.”
“Bah, I’d snap you up if I were forty years younger.”
Danny piped up. “If only I were thirty years younger, Annie. Do you like older men?”
She huffed. “Men are more trouble than they’re worth.”
“I take offense to that,” Joe added playfully.
“You would!” Annie didn’t feel young enough to even consider dating again. She had had her fair share of worries over recent years to zap her youthful glow and energy for any kind of social life. Maybe someday, when she was older and wiser, she’d meet someone sweet like Danny or Joe. They were good guys, although she’d had three years of daily interaction to vet them.
“So, like I said,” Joe continued. “He’s a good-lookin’ kid, Annie.”
“He’s not my type.”
Danny howled. “Ya? You go for the ugly fellows, eh?”
She grinned. “Really ugly is more like it.”
William was still handsome, though she’d never admit it to anyone other than herself. He’d traded his boyish looks for the mature face of a man. His voice had deepened to a husky bravado, except for the other night, when it had drawn her in with its warm gentleness. But it was his gaze that sent her heart skipping. Those eyes had remained unchanged. They’d studied her the other night in the parking lot, admired her with such a fierceness, her knees had nearly buckled. She’d forgotten what it felt like to have a man see her, truly see her, and want to know her. She’d had no choice but to hurry off. It took every ounce of her being to glue herself together every day and get by for the sake of her children. But the way he had looked at her that night and the way his eyes followed her now...
Annie took down an order for another pair of customers before whisking behind the counter to fill two sodas. She angled her chin, aware William had been waiting for her to make eye contact.
“How’s Betsy?” he asked.
“Fine.”
“She’s a great kid. You should be really proud.”
“I am.”
William searched her face. “I got a kick out of talking to her. She’s spunky.”
“Spunky?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay.”
“She is. She reminds me of you when we were in high school.”
Annie paused, waiting for more explanation. “Is that how you remember me, William? Spunky?”
“I remember a lot, actually,” William said, stifling a grin as he sipped his coffee.
“Well, I don’t.” She turned for the kitchen. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was flirting with her. She slapped the bell at the pass-through window and rattled off an order for Miles.
“Cluck and grunt and a dry stack! Times two!”
Mia bustled in behind her. “Scrape two, burn the British, Miles!” Miles nodded, cracking eggs in a fury. “Karrin and I are going out tonight if you want to join, Annie?”
“Thanks, sweetie, but I can’t.”
“You need some fun, girl. I know you’ve got your troubles, but if you don’t blow off a little steam, you’re gonna lose it.”
“I can’t afford to lose it, Mia. I have Betsy and James to think about.”
“I know, I know. You’re a good mama, but an hour of gossiping can’t hurt.”
Annie knew she was right, but when she got off work all she wanted to do was get home to James and Betsy. Perhaps she just wasn’t as spunky as she used to be.
As she faced the dining room, she noticed Joyce and realized she wasn’t the only one who’d spotted her boss.
“Mornin’, Joyce,” Earl said gruffly, tucking away his newspaper and tipping his Kromer hat. Joyce fluttered her fingers in a delicate wave. “Beautiful day, isn’t it?” Earl asked.
“Yes, it certainly is. How’s your coffee today, Earl?”
“Very good, very good,” he said as Danny and Joe nodded in agreement. “Yous have the best coffee in town, Joyce.”
“Do we now?”
“Didn’t ya know that, Joyce?”
Her peachy cheeks rounded with amusement. “Yes, Earl, you tell me all the time.”
After seating new customers,
