Savior by Rhys Ford

Author:Rhys Ford [Ford, Rhys]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: gay romance
ISBN: 978-1-64080-861-4
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2018-09-17T16:00:00+00:00

Twelve

FRANKIE’S DINER was a throwback slop house tucked away in a corner of the city where only locals roamed. It was built in the early days of mass transportation, nestled up against what had once been an old bus yard and a set of train tracks that now went nowhere. It was within walking distance of the trolley station and a city parking lot where transit drivers and city employees left their cars for the day and rode BART into work. The original Frankie was a steel-jawed woman rumored to be the granddaughter of an aging New York prostitute who’d come out to try her luck in the last days of California’s Gold Rush. A photograph of Frankie and her grandmother standing in front of the diner held a place of prominence behind the cash register—a black-and-white snapshot of hard living and gritty determination.

A couple of generations later, another Frankie worked the kitchen—a sharp-tongued, brassy-haired woman with a jawline much like her grandmother’s and armed with the attitude of a badger with a sore tooth.

There were too many years on the diner’s red vinyl booths and seats for its retro feel to be anything but authentic. Set in a lower quadrant of a brick building, the diner’s exterior was deceptive and hid much of its roomy interior. Its outer walls were lined with banquettes, and its kitchen was hidden behind a pass-through window set into a wall behind its L-shaped lunch counter.

Delivering the last of the burgers to the shop’s buffet table, Mace pulled Rey aside and told him to cover for him. He didn’t wait for Rob to shoot a few quick words to Lilith while he slipped out the back door to wait. A few seconds later, Rob stumbled out to tell Mace Lilith hadn’t even blinked an eye when Rob told her he was leaving.

“She’s got musicians to talk to. Pretty ones,” he chuckled. “I’m the last thing on her mind right now.”

They’d arrived in the middle of the dinner rush and waded through a small cluster of people to get to the counter. The clang of utensils scraping across thick, heavy white plates battled for dominance against the stream of chatter that poured out from the full dining room. The air was thick with the smell of burgers and gravy and punctuated by the crackle of fries hitting hot oil. The servers did a fierce dance around their tables, refilling coffee cups, dropping off checks, and then stopping at the next gathering of diners to see if they needed anything else.

The diner was loud, fragrant with common, hearty food, and ripe with the promise of leftovers and possibly heartburn.

It was also one of Mace’s favorite places to eat.

A slender Chinese man whose name Mace never caught was working the cash register. He chirruped a sweet hello when they walked through the door, and there was a quick spit of shouting until a corner table set aside for the staff was hastily cleared for them to sit at.

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