The Strawberry Hearts Diner(3)

Jancy shook her head slowly. “Nobody to call, and I don’t think anyone can help me. Y’all still get truckers coming through every day? I’ll hitch a ride with one of them.”

“Jancy Wilson?” Nettie frowned.

“That’s me, Miz Nettie.” She nodded.

“We haven’t seen you around here in, what? Five years?” Nettie asked.

“Six,” she answered and pointed toward the diner. “Are y’all really hiring? Where’s Emily?”

“Finishing up her last week of the year in college,” Nettie answered. “She’ll be home on Friday. And yes, we are hiring. You want to apply for the job?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Jancy swallowed hard and nodded. It seemed like a lifetime ago that she’d lived in Pick—an eternity since she’d been that young, naive girl who’d wanted so badly to fit in and never did.

That Emily got to go to college didn’t surprise her. She’d been the most popular girl in school—a cheerleader, smart enough to win all kinds of awards, pretty and actually kind of sweet even if her group of friends could be downright bitchy. And Jancy would be long gone by Friday. She just needed enough money for a bus ticket to New Iberia. Minnette would drive down and get her from there. With good tips and minimum wage, she should have that much in a few days.

“Got any waitress experience?” Nettie asked.

“Started working in fast food when I was sixteen. Moved up to the better places when I graduated high school. It’s all I’ve ever done.”

“Can you start right now?” Vicky asked.

Jancy nodded again. “Got a place I can store my stuff? And would you mind if I throw a pillow in a booth and sleep in the diner a few nights—just until Emily gets here and takes my place?”

“Come on inside where it’s cool. We can talk over a cup of coffee,” Vicky answered.

“My stuff?” Jancy looked around her as she stood up.

“It’s okay right where it is for now.” Vicky extended a hand. “Where have you been the past six years?”

“Louisiana and Texas, mainly. A few months in Oklahoma. These last few months, I worked as a waitress at a steak house in Amarillo.” She put her hand in Vicky’s and let her haul her to a standing position.

“You’re Emily’s age, aren’t you? I remember when y’all moved back here and were in school together for a year or two. How is Elaine these days?” Vicky dropped her hand and led the way to the diner.

“She and my father are both dead. Mama passed right after I graduated from high school, and Daddy died a couple of years later.” Jancy opened the door to allow Vicky and Nettie to go inside before her.

Nettie headed straight back to the kitchen. “I’m sorry to hear about her passing. Sounds like you picked up some of that deep southern accent, girl.”

“Been a long time since anyone called me a girl.” Jancy managed a weak smile.

“Honey, I’m seventy years old. That makes you a kid in my eyes. I was your grandma’s friend, and even if you hadn’t worked as a waitress, I’d be willin’ to train you to get some help in this place,” Nettie said.

Jancy took the whole place in with one glance. The last time she’d been inside the place, she and her mother had sat over there in the back booth. That’s when she learned they were moving again. Right after her sophomore year in high school.

Her dad had gone down to the other end of town to fill up the gas tank with fuel, and when he pulled up in front of the diner, her mother paid the bill. Ten minutes later Pick wasn’t anything but a dot in the rearview. She wouldn’t have come back today, but she only had to make a slight detour from the interstate to visit her grandmother’s grave. Look where that had gotten her.

“Coffee, tea, breakfast, or maybe a soft drink?” Vicky asked.

Her stomach grumbled again, and hunger overrode pride. “Breakfast, please. I haven’t eaten since yesterday morning. I have the cash to pay for it, but if you’d put it on a tab and then take it out of my check, which would really help.”

“Come on back to the kitchen and tell me what you want to eat before you put on an apron and get busy,” Nettie told her.

“Um, I kind of need an answer about a place to sleep. I’ll work hard as many hours as you’ll let me, but . . .” Jancy swallowed what was left of her dignity.

“Okay, business first,” Nettie said. “Job comes with three squares on the house, but you’re limited to one strawberry tart a day. We’ve got a room up at the house that you can stay in. You can consider that a benefit, since we don’t pay insurance or give vacation time.”

“Thank you, but you don’t have to make my breakfast. I can do that,” Jancy said.

Two weeks tops with those benefits. She’d have enough tips to get her cell phone service turned back on and buy a bus ticket to Louisiana. When she grew tired of that place, she might move on to Florida. She’d always wanted to live close to the beach.

“How about we let Nettie fix you up with the breakfast special and you and I go take care of your things? I think it’s bothering you that it’s all out there, isn’t it?” Vicky asked and then went on talking before Jancy could answer. “Until we close up this evening, you can stow it in the little storage shed where we keep extra supplies. It’s around back. Another rule is that we don’t allow smokin’ in here or in our house, so if . . .”