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Nick
“Should I lock it?” I call out, over my shoulder.
Maddison, back behind the counter, hollers yes. I twist the metal lock closed. Outside, the night’s ink black, faded in places because of the glow of the few street lights that dapple Main.
The inside of the diner is dimly lit now, too.
After the club meeting wrapped up, Maddison’s grandparents left the place to us “younger generations” to tidy up. Barb and Bertie headed home, too, and when Roxie saw that it was only her and Maddison and me left, she wasted no time grabbing her things and departing. She headed out only a moment ago.
Maddison is fiddling with a radio setup, over by the cash register. “Music okay?” she asks. “I like to listen to it when I’m cleaning.”
“Of course. What’s on the playlist… heavy metal?”
“As if.” She laughs as I head around the counter to join her, and tosses me a rag. “You start on that end, I’ll start on this end. Aim for spotless. My grandfather runs a tight ship, and I knowfor sure he’s going to get down close to this thing the minute he walks in here tomorrow morning at six, with an eye for coffee rings.”
“Spotless. No rings. Got it.” I swipe the rag across the Formica. Acoustic guitar music drifts down from the speakers. She hums along to the song.
She used to do that back in college, too. She’d hum along to melodies, always the same range of notes.
It sort of throws me back in time, listening to the sound of her humming mingle with the song.
And actually, being here alone with her, now that everyone else has gone home, reminds me of the night we kissed.
Why can’t I get that out of my mind?
I know better than to let my thoughts stray to it while I’m around her.
It makes things awkward between us.
But sometimes, trying to control my thoughts feels like a losing battle.
That’s definitely the case right now.
Her lips.
The energy that coursed through me that night, the minute we connected.
Maddison sidesteps my way. “Are you being quiet because you’re wondering why we never played our big tiebreaker game, or are you lost in thoughts about Hana?”
“I—uh—I’m lost in thoughts…”But not about Hana.
Hana and I did play three or four games tonight, before the club meeting wrapped up at ten. It wasn’t fun, though, like playing with Maddison is.
“You think it was a success?” Maddison asks, as she works her rag in big rainbow-like arcs.
“I mean, awesome turnout. Everyone seemed to have a good time. Did you?”
“It got a little family intensive there for a minute, but… yeah, for the most part, I had fun. And even the family stuff wasn’t so bad. It makes me feel really… I don’t know…loved, I guess. How they’ve taken me in without blinking an eye. I was gone for a long time.”
“You’re family. They love you.”
“Yeah… I guess they do. And I can’t get upset if they try to give me advice.”
“Is that what they were up to, over in your family booth? Looked like some kind of war room over there. Generals talking tactics. Studying Machiavelli’sThe Art of War.”
“Ha. Yeah, pretty much.” Her eyes flick toward me. “Actually, they were giving me advice aboutyou. They hold you in high regard, Doctor Nicholas Landry.”
“They do?”
