Page 45 of Ghost

“I’ll have the Abby and a glass of water,” Abby said, handing her menu across the table. “I see you’ve got it on the menu now. Thank you for that, by the way.”

“If you didn’t abandon this place, you’d know it was on the menu,” George grumbled.

“You named something after her?” I asked.

“Best sandwich on the menu,” George gloated. “According to her.”

I raised my index finger. “Bring me your specialty and one of those, too. I’d like to try it. Water to drink, please.”

“Isn’t that cute,” Abby said. “Porter’s going to eat an Abby.”

George took a step away from the table and crossed his arms so violently air shot from his lungs. “We don’t allow sexual innuendos in the diner,” he said though clenched teeth. “They’re inappropriate.”

“So’s dropping the f-bomb, and you toss it around like you’re saying hi,” Abby responded.

“Your food will be up in a minute.” He turned away with a huff.

When he was out of sight, I looked at Abby. “Jesus. You’re being rude as hell. Are you trying to piss him off?”

“No, I’m just trying to let him know this is real. That it’s not a fling, or whatever. Throwing it in his face is the best way to get him to accept it, believe me.”

I shrugged. “You know him better than I do.”

“You asked me what George liked to do with his time, and then you said watch this. You didn’t do anything. What was that about?” she asked.

“I was going to say something to him, but I never got a chance,” I explained. “I will, though.”

“What were you going to say?”

“I was going to tell him about my Mustang.” I reached for my phone. “I just finished building it.”

“An old one, or a new one?”

“Old.”

She smiled. “I love old mustangs.”

“I wondered if that was the case,” I said. “Based on a comment you made in one of your videos.”

She squinted. “Which one?”

I had yet to talk to her about it. After getting to know her more, I really didn’t see much value in it.

“The gym rat video.”

“You saw that?” She covered her face with her hands. “You’re not mad?”

“I was. I’m not now.”

She lowered her hands. “I was just…it was parody, or whatever.”

“I figured as much,” I said as I scrolled through the photos on my phone.

“What about that video made you think I liked Mustangs?”

“You mentioned Gone in Sixty Seconds.” I selected a photo from my gallery and handed her my phone. “The star of the show was Eleanor, the sixty-seven Mustang.”

She chuckled as she accepted the phone. “Eleanor wasn’t a Mustang. Eleanor was a sixty-seven Shelby GT500. Eleanor is my all-time favorite--”