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Demetrius smiled and put an arm around Margie’s shoulders to give her a side-armed hug. “I love you, Margie.”
“Well, good, because I love you boys as well.” She reached across to take Cody’s hand. “Both of you.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know I play second fiddle to Demmy.”
“Oh, you.” Margie released his hand and gave it a smack before she slid out of the booth. “All right, I won’t intrude on your time any longer. Do you need menus?”
“Nope,” Cody said. “I’ll have pancakes with bacon cooked just a little past crispy.”
“What are you drinking?”
“I’m going all out and have a Coke.”
Margie raised her eyebrows the same time as Demetrius, and then she said, “A sugary soda on top of syrup?”
“I’m aiming for a big sugar high followed by an hours-long sugar crash.”
She laughed then looked at Demetrius. “Looks like you’ll get a bit of peace and quiet, after he spends a couple hours talking your ear off.”
“Story of my life,” Demetrius said. He ordered a Cobb salad and an unsweetened iced tea. Margie nodded and strode off to the kitchen, and Demetrius looked across at Cody.
“Cobb salad and unsweetened iced tea?” Cody said, making a face.
“One of us has to be able to make decisions.”
“What are we, the president and vice president of the United States?”
“Feels that way sometimes,” Demetrius said.
Cody snorted. “Amen to that.”
The bell over the door jingled, catching their attention. Zenona Baldwin, one of Cody’s ex-girlfriends who was now a doctor at the hospital, entered the diner. Always beautiful with long dark hair and dark brown eyes, today Zenona looked pale and more tired than usual. Not that they had seen much of her since the Fourth of July following the chemical-awakened zombie outbreak, but Demetrius figured she’d been busy giving statements for all those affected and managing any fallout.
She looked around the diner, her tired gaze passing right over them without a flicker of recognition. With what looked like great effort, she started walking toward a booth somewhere past where they sat. As she approached, Cody waved to get her attention.
“Hey, Zee,” he said.
Zenona blinked and gave him a long, blank look before recognition struck.
“Oh hi, Cody. Hi, Demetrius.” She gave a tired smile. “Sorry, I’m a little out of it.”
“We can see that,” Demetrius said. “Everything okay?”
“Working a ton of hours. A lot of our medical staff left shortly after the zombies.” She pressed her lips tight and looked around with a guilty expression, then said in a near whisper, “We’re not supposed to use the zee word when we talk about the incident.” At a more normal volume, she said, “Anyway, most of the staff left shortly after Fourth of July. More than a few of them said they were done with this monster-cursed small town.”
“Ouch,” Cody said. “But, yeah, I get that.”
“Yeah, me too,” Demetrius said.
Margie bumped the kitchen door open with her butt and backed out with a plate in either hand. She turned and smiled at the sight of Zenona.
“Hiya, Doc. You going to join these two handsome fellas?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Zenona said, and bit her lower lip as she looked back at them. “I don’t want to intrude.”
Cody said, “Nonsense. It’s always good to see you.”
“And even better to share a meal with you,” Demetrius added as he slid over to make room for her on his side of the booth. “Sit by me. You know how Cody likes to man spread.”
