Pie Town - Lynne Hinton [27]
Trina shook her head. “Don’t know a soul here but the priest,” she replied, grinning at Father George, who immediately blushed.
“You got a place to stay?” Francine asked.
“Not yet,” Trina replied. “Hey, do you know a place I could crash for a while?” she asked. She was not shy about her requests.
Francine considered the question. She picked up the balled-up napkin from the table and stuck it in her apron pocket. “Let me ask around,” she replied.
“Cool,” Trina said again.
“Order up” came the call from the kitchen.
Francine turned in that direction and then back to her customers. “Looks like lunch is ready.” She walked over to the kitchen, picked up the two plates, and carried them back to the table. “Two specials,” she noted as she placed them in front of the priest and Trina. “You need anything else?” she asked.
“I think I’m fine,” Father George responded.
“You got chile?” Trina asked.
“Red or green?” Francine replied.
Trina shrugged. “Red, I guess.”
“Coming right up,” Francine said and turned to go back to the kitchen.
“Hey, Little Man, what’s up?” Trina spoke to Alex who had been watching the pair since they arrived.
“You should get the green,” he answered, referring to the chile. “The red is super hot.”
“Thanks,” she noted. “Hey, Miss,” she yelled out to Francine. “My buddy here says I should go with the green chile. Is it okay if I change my mind?” She winked over to Alex.
Francine nodded in her direction and then spoke to Fred.
Trina turned to her companion, who was bowed over his plate of chicken and dumplings. It was obvious that he was praying, and Trina glanced over at Alex and shrugged. Then she grinned and bowed her head as well. When the priest said, “Amen,” she snapped up her head. “Amen,” she repeated, rubbing her hands together. “Now, let’s eat!”
By the time Francine had brought over the small bowl of green chile, the young woman had practically devoured everything on her plate. She took the chile and put it on the chicken and dumplings she had left and kept eating. Even Father George seemed surprised that his young companion appeared to be so hungry.
“When’s the last time you ate?” he asked her.
She swallowed the mouthful of food. “I don’t know.” She thought for a minute. “A couple of days. At least it feels like it.” She slid more food on her fork. “This is really good. Thanks for the chile tip,” she called to Alex across the diner. “Good move on my part. I can’t remember being so hungry,” she said to George, who was still just watching her eat. “I’m not usually such a big eater.”
Alex smiled. He looked at Roger. He had overheard the conversation between Francine and the young woman. “Granddad, I know where she can stay,” he said.
Roger studied his grandson. “What are you talking about?” he asked, not understanding. He hadn’t heard the conversation.
“She needs a place to stay. I heard her tell Francine. So why don’t you let her move into the apartment?” Alex knew that his grandfather had a garage apartment in the back of his house. It was the place where his mother had stayed when she was pregnant and when she had just delivered Alex. Roger had spoken about it on lots of occasions. Because of his disability, Alex had never gone up to see it.
“Alex, I don’t know. That seems kind of sudden, don’t you think?”
Alex shrugged. “The priest must think she’s okay or he would never have let her in his car, right?” he asked. “And she needs a place.”
Roger turned around and peered at the odd couple sitting in the booth next to the window. The priest was eating slowly, and the young woman had practically finished. She smiled when she noticed him glancing in her direction.
“You said that you needed somebody to stay there because the cobwebs are taking over,” Alex said, reminding his grandfather of something he had mentioned a few weeks earlier. “It would be perfect for her.”
Roger turned back and shook his head. “It hasn’t been cleaned in years,” he responded. And as soon as Alex understood that his grandfather was considering letting this young