The Newcomer (Thunder Point #2)(89)

She enjoyed the job of serving and cleaning up at the diner, and she saw lots of familiar faces every day. Friends and neighbors dropped by often and she realized that by being there, she never missed a thing that was happening in town or on the beach.

The new doctor in town, Scott Grant, would finally open his clinic across the street soon and he was holding a grand opening that Carrie would cater. Until he had a full roster of patients he’d only be open three days a week, supplementing his income by being on call at the Bandon emergency room. Deputy Pritkus, a much more efficient gossip than Mac, kept Ashley up-to-date on local trouble, mostly small stuff, but interesting nonetheless. And Frank, who was taking a couple of college level classes even before his senior year, came by when the diner wasn’t busy in the afternoon. He didn’t pester her; he brought his books, had a cola and studied in a booth in the back of the diner.

He always left the diner in time to get home for dinner. He never told her anything about Downy and she never asked.

Ashley assumed that the whole Downy family would be going to Corvallis for any playoff games happening there and that at least one or two of them would travel to out of state games if they could. She could ask Frank, but she wouldn’t. She did ask him why he’d started coming to the diner to study and he said, “I’ve been doing this for a couple of years. It’s always noisy at my house—TV, music, people making noise, sometimes arguing. It’s easier to concentrate here. And it’s even better since you started working here.” And he grinned.

So when she wasn’t busy, she’d grab herself a cola and slide into the booth across from him. “Just tell me if I’m bothering you.”

He looked up from his books and smiled. “You’re not bothering me, Ash.”

“Anything new?”

“As a matter of fact, I got an invitation to meet with an early admissions counselor at MIT.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Was that your plan?”

He shook his head. “Wasn’t even on my wish list. I think they want to look at me, talk to me, just to be sure I’m not some hick from a little fishing village before they process my application. I’m trying to decide if I can afford it. I should try since my focus is on math and computer science. You know, I think they actually looked at the computerized study guide I developed for high school students. I recorded it and loaded it on YouTube.”

She stared at him in wonder. “You did that? I didn’t know about that.”

“I just did it for the people who ask me for help all the time. It’s almost always the same questions. It was efficient. I put a link in my letter to admissions. I didn’t expect anyone to actually look at it.”

“How do you come up with these ideas?”

He just shrugged. “There are several online tutoring programs—some of them have millions of hits. There are a few things I’m good at....”

She laughed at him. “A few, huh? Do you know your IQ?”

“No,” he said with a laugh. “Do I need to? I promise you, it wouldn’t change anything.”

“I think you’re a genius or something. It must be so much fun.”

“To be a geek?” he asked. “To be different from everyone?” He shook his head. “I get bored real easy. My mother calls me high-maintenance. It’s hard to make friends that last after they pass the test they needed help for. I think it would be easier to be good at football or baseball.”

“You think that? Well, don’t. What you have has a longer shelf life.” Then she rolled her eyes and laughed at herself. “Spoken like a waitress, huh? One of my jobs is to check dates on the packaged food! And, as for friends, you better not ditch me for a smarter girl because you made very big promises about my visits to the east coast. Very big. If you get a girlfriend, first thing you tell her is that you have a commitment to me for visiting and you’re the tour guide. She’ll just have to live with it.”

“I’m pretty sure we won’t run into that problem. Have you decided where you’re going to apply? Still looking at State?”

“Funny you should ask—I’m thinking of taking my first year at community college so I can keep my two part-time jobs. They’re good jobs—good tips. And if I ever want to go farther away than State, I’ll need money.”

He grinned at that. “Oregon State is an excellent school.”

“I know. And believe me, I’m not thinking of avoiding it because of you-know-who. I like my jobs. Doing it this way might give me a leg up. You know?”

“I know. Probably a good idea to keep your options open. Listen, do you have any days off? Ever?”

“I can easily get time off, as long as I give Stu and Gram a little notice.”

“I can borrow my friend’s boat. He might insist on coming along, but maybe not. Doesn’t matter, really. We could spend a day sailing.”

“I could bring lunch,” she said. “I get a great deal at the deli. Like free. What’s a good day?”

“I have classes Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Any other day.”

“Next Monday?”

“Make it early. Seven in the morning?”

“It’s usually kind of foggy....”

“I know—it’s very cool to sit in the bay and watch the fog burn off.”