back.
“You won’t call.”
“I had my fingers crossed,” I protested.
“Georgie! What are you, ten?” Sue rolled her eyes. “You shouldn’t lie to your mother.”
“I wasn’t lying, exactly. I will call her. Eventually.”
I bit into my sandwich. The toast crunched and I tasted salty bacon. It tasted exactly the way it had when I was a teenager. The ripe tomato dripped juice and seeds onto the plate. I wondered where Dee got tomatoes this good.
Sue dunked the corner of her patty melt in the pool of ketchup on her plate, and took a bite. I could smell the grilled onions that oozed out the sides of her sandwich.
“I know that. No, I meant the other lie,” she said around a mouthful of beef and rye toast. “The one about being fine.”
Once again, Sue’s conversation had swooped around and landed exactly where I didn’t want it to go.
No, that wasn’t true. I was here because I did want to go there. I wanted to tell someone about Blake. I wanted to let Sue in to a little corner of my old life.
Maybe.
“Okay, I’m not fine. Not entirely.”
Sue stopped, a French fry halfway to her mouth.
“Did I hear that right? The original tough girl admitting she isn’t okay?”
I nodded. “This situation actually has me kind of spooked.”
Sue washed the fry down with a gulp of tea. Her voice turned serious. “Georgie, nothing spooks you. Ever. You nearly got caught breaking into Martha Tepper’s house, you got shot at and ended up in the hospital and you just shrugged it off. Now some stranger gets hurt on a construction site, and you’re spooked?”
I picked up an onion ring and broke it into little pieces, building a mound of golden breading in the middle of my plate, hemmed in by the remaining pieces of sandwich. It was pretty much how I felt.
“He’s dead, Sue.” I looked up at her shocked face, and hurried on. “Looks like he drowned in the moat—is that a stupid way to go, or what?—and Sean found him there when he got to the site this morning.”
“Okay,” she said slowly. “That’s creepy. Is that what’s bothering you, that he died in the place you were working?”
“Yeah.” I pushed the food around on my plate. My appetite had disappeared. Sue reached over and snagged a ring without asking—another thing that hadn’t changed since high school.
“Thanks,” she said, waving the ring. “But it sounds like there’s more. Is there?”
Dee hobbled over and refilled our tea. She dropped the separate checks—like always—on the table. She walked to the front and turned the “Open” sign over, then went back behind the counter and turned off the grill.
I glanced at my wrist. I was still wearing the battered plastic watch I wore for work, and it said two o’clock, straight up. I looked at Sue.
“Gotta go.”
We each grabbed a check and dug in our pockets for cash. Dee didn’t like to mess with plastic, a fact the occasional tourist had to learn the hard way. Locals knew to carry cash if they wanted lunch at Dee’s.
We carried our plates to the counter, as though we were back in the high school cafeteria. Somehow, it had always seemed like the right thing to do.
I started to cross to Katie’s when we walked out, but Sue grabbed my arm and pulled me toward her shop.
“You were telling me about the accident,” she said, “and there was something more you were going to say. You can get your bread fix later.”
Daisy and Buddha greeted us with happy barks when we unlocked the shop. They knew Sue was a soft touch and she didn’t disappoint them, slipping them each a green treat.
She didn’t get them ready for a bath, though. Instead, she sat down on her stool behind the counter and motioned me to the other stool.
“Now, make like Paul Harvey,” she said. “I want the rest of the story.”
“I knew the guy.”
“But you said it wasn’t anyone on the crew, Georgie. And if it wasn’t anyone from Pine Ridge, who was it?”
“Someone I used to work
“You won’t call.”
“I had my fingers crossed,” I protested.
“Georgie! What are you, ten?” Sue rolled her eyes. “You shouldn’t lie to your mother.”
“I wasn’t lying, exactly. I will call her. Eventually.”
I bit into my sandwich. The toast crunched and I tasted salty bacon. It tasted exactly the way it had when I was a teenager. The ripe tomato dripped juice and seeds onto the plate. I wondered where Dee got tomatoes this good.
Sue dunked the corner of her patty melt in the pool of ketchup on her plate, and took a bite. I could smell the grilled onions that oozed out the sides of her sandwich.
“I know that. No, I meant the other lie,” she said around a mouthful of beef and rye toast. “The one about being fine.”
Once again, Sue’s conversation had swooped around and landed exactly where I didn’t want it to go.
No, that wasn’t true. I was here because I did want to go there. I wanted to tell someone about Blake. I wanted to let Sue in to a little corner of my old life.
Maybe.
“Okay, I’m not fine. Not entirely.”
Sue stopped, a French fry halfway to her mouth.
“Did I hear that right? The original tough girl admitting she isn’t okay?”
I nodded. “This situation actually has me kind of spooked.”
Sue washed the fry down with a gulp of tea. Her voice turned serious. “Georgie, nothing spooks you. Ever. You nearly got caught breaking into Martha Tepper’s house, you got shot at and ended up in the hospital and you just shrugged it off. Now some stranger gets hurt on a construction site, and you’re spooked?”
I picked up an onion ring and broke it into little pieces, building a mound of golden breading in the middle of my plate, hemmed in by the remaining pieces of sandwich. It was pretty much how I felt.
“He’s dead, Sue.” I looked up at her shocked face, and hurried on. “Looks like he drowned in the moat—is that a stupid way to go, or what?—and Sean found him there when he got to the site this morning.”
“Okay,” she said slowly. “That’s creepy. Is that what’s bothering you, that he died in the place you were working?”
“Yeah.” I pushed the food around on my plate. My appetite had disappeared. Sue reached over and snagged a ring without asking—another thing that hadn’t changed since high school.
“Thanks,” she said, waving the ring. “But it sounds like there’s more. Is there?”
Dee hobbled over and refilled our tea. She dropped the separate checks—like always—on the table. She walked to the front and turned the “Open” sign over, then went back behind the counter and turned off the grill.
I glanced at my wrist. I was still wearing the battered plastic watch I wore for work, and it said two o’clock, straight up. I looked at Sue.
“Gotta go.”
We each grabbed a check and dug in our pockets for cash. Dee didn’t like to mess with plastic, a fact the occasional tourist had to learn the hard way. Locals knew to carry cash if they wanted lunch at Dee’s.
We carried our plates to the counter, as though we were back in the high school cafeteria. Somehow, it had always seemed like the right thing to do.
I started to cross to Katie’s when we walked out, but Sue grabbed my arm and pulled me toward her shop.
“You were telling me about the accident,” she said, “and there was something more you were going to say. You can get your bread fix later.”
Daisy and Buddha greeted us with happy barks when we unlocked the shop. They knew Sue was a soft touch and she didn’t disappoint them, slipping them each a green treat.
She didn’t get them ready for a bath, though. Instead, she sat down on her stool behind the counter and motioned me to the other stool.
“Now, make like Paul Harvey,” she said. “I want the rest of the story.”
“I knew the guy.”
“But you said it wasn’t anyone on the crew, Georgie. And if it wasn’t anyone from Pine Ridge, who was it?”
“Someone I used to work
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