The Keeping the Keeping by Nicky Charles

Author:Nicky Charles [Charles, Nicky]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Google: 8twmBAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Feedbooks
Published: 2010-07-23T10:59:15+00:00

Chapter 23

Mel sat in the diner, only providing absentminded answers when Ruth and Al spoke to her. Thankfully, the two were in a heated debate about possible changes to the diner’s menu and only looked to her for an occasional grunt or nod that she was still listening.

“We need to diversify, Al! We’ve been serving the same thing for the last ten years. Tastes change. People want fancier food with sauces and exotic names; isn’t that right, Mel?”

“Uh-huh.” She nodded while wondering why Ryne would want to pretend that there wasn’t a wolf, or at least a wild dog present, when there really was. It made no sense.

“Our customers are the same ones we’ve always had, Ruth. They like the food, they know what we have to offer, and that’s why they keep coming back. You like what we serve, don’t you, Mel?”

“Yep.” Mel gave Al a smile and then returned to her musings. Was Ryne hiding something, beyond his ‘I didn’t exist before photography’ background? Or had he somehow arranged something that looked a bit like a wolf and set it there to scare her? But why would he do that? And what had he used? And where had he hidden it afterwards because there hadn’t been anything there when she got up out of the water. Maybe he was some type of witch and had conjured up a wolf. Mel snorted at the idea. There was no such thing a magic. She rubbed her forehead, trying to massage away the beginnings of a headache, while ignoring the great menu debate that was going on around her.

Thankfully, Ruth and Al finally moved their argument into the kitchen and she no longer had to feign interest in what they were saying. Unfortunately, Lucy arrived to take their place. Apparently, the waitress was more observant than her employers for she plunked down beside Mel and looked at her earnestly.

“So what’s wrong with you, hon? You look like you’re miles away. Not still brooding over me and Ryne, are you? ‘Cause if you are, there’s really no need.”

“No. It’s not that, at least not much.” Mel glanced up at Lucy. “Even though you say you don’t care, I still feel sort of weird about it.”

Lucy scrunched her forehead as if thinking hard for a moment. Then her face cleared and she smiled. “Have you ever found pair of jeans or shoes that you really liked?”

“Yes.” Mel answered slowly, not at all sure where this was going.

“Well, you like them and try them on, only they’re a bit tight, but you like them so much you buy them anyways. Then, when you get home, what do you do with them?”

“Um...I put them in the closet.”

“And?”

“Well, sometimes I try them on at home, just to see if, by some miracle, they finally fit.” Mel gave a self-deprecating laugh. “Of course, they never do, so I just stick them in the back of the closet.”

“So, what happens eventually?”

Mel thought of her jam-packed closet at home and the annual spring purge that she always performed.

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