Last Diner Standing by Terri L. Austin Read Free Book Online

would prefer to do it with a lap dance, but…”
    “You’re the best. What are we watching tonight?”
    “ Assignment: Outer Space. It’s Italian.”

    When I walked into the kitchen the next morning, Ray glowered over his biscuit dough.
    “I see Ma told you about staying open for lunch,” I said.
    “Unh.”
    “Maybe it won’t be so bad.”
    He shrugged.
    “Glad we had this conversation, Ray.”
    I grabbed an apron and stepped through the swinging door. That delicious, sharp smell of coffee hit me and I poured myself a cup.
    I turned and stopped cold when I saw a kid about nineteen or twenty, sitting at the counter, texting. He wore a blue hoodie, baggy jeans, and long brown bangs hid his eyes.
    “Who’re you?” I asked.
    He didn’t glance up from his phone.
    Roxy, dressed in a short, blue sailor dress, stood with her hands on her hips and stared out the front window. “That’s the new busboy and dishwasher. Since we’re serving lunch now, Jorge got bumped up to assistant cook.”
    The new kid didn’t acknowledge me. In fact, he hadn’t lifted his head or stopped moving his thumbs since I first spotted him.
    “Who texts this early in the morning? And what are you watching?” I asked Roxy.
    “Ma.”
    I advanced toward the window. Although it was still dark outside, the restaurant lights illuminated Ma as she wrote on one of those A-frame chalkboards you see outside cafes. LUNCH SPECIAL in hot pink.
    Roxy glanced over at me. “What do you think?”
    I sighed. “This reminds me of the time she decided we should have cartoon character pancakes. Remember how backed up we got?”
    “This will be much worse.”
    Ma tucked her chalk into a bucket and dusted off her hands. Taking a few steps backward, she stared at the board and nodded. When she opened the front door, all of the cold December wind blew in with her.
    “What do you think about my new sign, toots? Snazzy, huh?” She walked over to the counter. “And I got lunch menus printed up. They’re not laminated or anything yet, but we can start handing them out.”
    I took a blue sheet and read it over. “We’re serving Pulled Puck?”
    “What?” She grabbed the paper from me. “Those damn printers.” She wadded it up into a ball. “I’m going to give them a piece of my mind. We’ll just have to tell the customers what we’re serving.” She gathered up her stack of menus and stomped into the kitchen.
    “Yeah, this is way worse than cartoon pancakes,” I said.
    By the time the early crowd started rolling in, I forgot all about the new menu. Ma fluttered from table to table, telling everyone to come back for lunch. The regulars got into lengthy discussions about the change.
    New Kid was nowhere to be found, so Roxy and I bussed the tables ourselves. Finally at ten, things slowed down a bit. They’d pick up again once the church crowd descended, but in the meantime, Jorge placed an omelet on the counter and set a cinnamon roll in front of Roxy.
    “Ma’s going nuts in there.” He waved his tattoo-covered arm toward the kitchen. “She made enough pork to serve two hundred people. We only seat forty-five. I don’t mind the extra hours though.”
    “Me, too,” I said. I could always use the extra money. And now that I didn’t have a freaking car, I needed it more than ever. It still pissed me off someone stole it right across from the police station. That had a certain brass balls quality to it I didn’t appreciate. “By the way, congrats on the promotion.”
    Jorge lifted a shoulder. “It’s not much different. That kid hid in the pantry and texted all morning.”
    Ma hit the swinging door and the tangy smell of barbeque poured out of the kitchen. “Ma’s Diner is about to serve lunch for the first time ever, people. Get ready.”
    My stomach growled and I gobbled up my omelet.
    By eleven, people were still ordering breakfast, just like always, but Ma kept pushing the pork. She handed out free samples and even had a few takers.