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“Aw, Marlowe, I’m so sorry.” I looked into her eyes, and could see how her brown eyes were almost black. There was a shine to them, as if she were getting ready to cry. Then she took a deep breath, and as if by magic, her eyes were their normal warm brown, and no sign of tears.

“Yeah, it was rough, but I’ve mostly moved past it.” She gave me a smile.

I shook my head. “You never get over something like that. It haunts you, and then something will trigger you and it will come up and hit you in the heart.”

“Have you lost someone?” I saw an imperceptible tremble of her lower lip, but then she pushed them tightly together.

I thought about Sully, and I nodded. “It was nothing compared to you. But one of our teammates suffered a stroke while we were on leave. We were in Hawaii for a couple of days before heading to Japan to go skiing on Mt. Fuji. Sully had a massive stroke and he never woke up.”

Marlowe bent her head, then looked up. “That’s rough.”

I nodded. She must have noticed my fist clenched on the table, because she put her hand over mine. It felt strange having someone trying to comfort me. Strange and good. But how could it be possible when what happened to her was ten times worse? I turned my hand over and tangled my fingers with hers. She let me. This felt even better.

“Here’s your iced tea, Honey.” Lettie placed our brimming glasses down on the table without spilling a drop and Marlowe took that moment to pull back her hand.

I wanted her hand back. I wanted her touch.

I was beginning to like this woman.

“So have you decided what you want to order?”

“Do you have fried chicken?” Marlowe asked.

Lettie grinned. “Haven’t had time to look at the menu, have you? Your best bet is to go with the buttermilk brined fried chicken with our spicy maple syrup, served up with the fluffiest waffles you can imagine.”

“She’s not lying,” a man’s voice shouted out.

I looked over to see Harvey sitting two tables over.

“After watching you eat at Lettie’s potluck, I know you know your food. So, I trust you, Harvey.” Marlowe grinned.

“Actually, you can’t trust him. If I served him pig slop, he’d eat it, as long as I covered it up with enough gravy.”

“You wound me, Lettie. I might have to take my business elsewhere,” Harvey complained.

“Don’t lie to me, Harvey Sadowski. Pearl cut you off for two days, seeing as how you told her the eggs were too runny and the bacon was burnt.”

Marlowe and I were doing our best not to laugh. She was having better luck. Harvey was reminding me of one of my old Sergeants, and I was about to lose it.

“Lettie, what could I do? Sam’s been off his game, I had to bring it to Pearl’s attention. She didn’t want her customers to be upset.”

“You yelled it across the restaurant so everybody could hear. Including Sam. He’s going through a lot, and there you were poking at him. It wasn’t just rude, it was mean.”

Lettie’s voice had lowered at the last sentence. Apparently, what she had to say was relatively private. I took in Harvey’s face. He was beginning to look upset. He got out of his chair and stood next to our table so he could talk to Lettie privately.

“Lettie, what’s wrong with Sam? Now that you’ve said this much, you’ve got to tell me the rest. You know it will go no further than me and Missy.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of. I know Missy and she’ll be over at his house offering him meals and her help an hour after you hang up the phone with her. You and I know Sam won’t want that.”

This entire conversation was fascinating. Missy had to be Harvey’s wife, and she knew who Sam was and where he lived. Sam had to be sick and she would be going over to his house to help him, just based on one conversation. This place really was something special.

“Lettie, cut it out and just tell me. I’ll make sure that Missy stays put until you, Pearl or Little Grandma gives me the go-ahead. How ‘bout that?”

Lettie sighed, then nodded. “Sam had a stroke four weeks ago. That’s why he wasn’t in the kitchen for a couple of weeks. He insisted on coming back, but he’s struggling. Pearl wanted him to only come back part time, but he wouldn’t hear of it.”

“Pearl’s scary,” Harvey muttered. “All she needed to do was put her foot down.”

“She’s set up like we are,” Lettie said. “We have insurance for the few full-time folks we have, but our sick leave and vacation is minimal. Pearl was paying over and above for Sam. Hell, he’d been working for Pearl since damn near day one. That’s why he insisted on coming back. He knew she was paying him out of her own pocket, while paying someone to come in and cook.”