Pie Town - Lynne Hinton [54]
Malene leaned her head back against the seat. “All this time I just thought your buying a new car so often was because of vanity.” She closed her eyes. “I should have known it was love.”
Oris glanced over at his daughter. He could see how much she had grown to look like her mother. The thought of his dead wife and how much he still grieved over her made his chest start to tighten, and tears filled his eyes. He wiped them away and pressed on. They were still miles away from the hospital.
Chapter Twenty
He seemed so good at his birthday party.” Bea was chatting with Danny, the deputy, who had stopped by for a cup of coffee and a biscuit. He had been the one to break the news about Alex to everybody in town.
He shook his head. “Pneumonia again,” he said, taking a sip of coffee. “Roger said he was pretty bad off last night.”
“I heard the ambulance and wondered who had called,” Bea noted. She slid a pitcher of cream over toward the young deputy sitting at the counter. “I thought maybe it was somebody over at Carebridge,” she said, referring to the nursing home.
“I know. We’ve gone a long time without Alex being rushed down to Albuquerque.” Danny poured some of the cream on his plate, dipped his biscuit in it, and took a bite.
“I was just so hopeful those bad days were over.” Bea stuck her small pad of paper in the front pocket of her apron. “Poor Malene. She must be exhausted by now.”
“Roger said that she and Oris rode together and he took the ambulance with Alex.”
Bea nodded. She looked up and smiled at the couple entering the diner. She pointed them to a booth by the window.
Danny ate another bite of biscuit and suddenly noticed the girl in the back washing dishes. “You lose Hector?” He was referring to the dishwasher who usually worked during the breakfast shift.
Bea followed his eyes to Trina, who was having trouble loading dishes in the washer. “He went to visit his grandmother in Phoenix. She was having hip surgery. Francine decided she would drive him over because she wanted to visit some friends. I needed some help, and I knew she was available.” She watched the girl and grabbed a couple of menus to take to her customers. “Let’s hope she can take orders better than she can wash dishes.” She turned back to Danny. “What did Roger tell you about Alex when you talked to him?”
The deputy chewed his bite of biscuit. “Just said it was pneumonia and that he was in intensive care and that he was staying up there until he hears more. I don’t know if he plans to come back with Oris or stay up there with Malene. I guess he’ll call and let me know if he wants a ride home.”
“So, since Roger’s away, does that put you in charge?” Bea asked, smiling.
Danny grinned. “Does it give me a discount if I am?”
Bea refilled his coffee cup before walking away. “Not here,” she replied. “No discounts of any kind at the diner.” She moved away from behind the counter and headed in the direction of her newly arrived customers.
Danny finished his breakfast and kept watching Trina. He had heard about the new girl staying in the apartment behind Roger’s place, but he hadn’t met her. He saw her at the birthday party, but he had spent most of the night trying to talk to Christine and hadn’t introduced himself to her. He had, however, watched her as she drove away from the Catholic church with Rob Chavez later that night.
Christine had finally agreed to let him drive her home, and he was pulling out of her driveway when he decided to patrol the area a bit. Christine’s house was at the end of the same road as the church and rectory, and he saw the two young people as they