I headed into the diner. The steps leading up to it had a fresh layer of salt on them, and the smell of an apple pie baking hit me as soon as I opened the door.
“I see how it is,” I said to Dinah as I stamped the snow off my boots onto her mat then hung up my jacket on the rack. “Us regulars have to suffer through cold pie, while fancy newcomers get the special stuff.”
“You don’t have to suffer through any of my pie if you don’t want to,” Dinah huffed. “Where’s the guy?”
“He’s in my car calling Hal.”
Her eyes lit up. “It’s Maxfield, then?”
I shook my head. “Don’t call him that, Dinah. You know he always hated it.”
“Don’t teach your grandma to suck eggs.” She looked outside again. “Ah, here he is!” The door jingled, and before it had a chance to stop, Dinah was on Max like white on snow. “Well, look who the storm’s blown in!” she crowed, opening her arms.
Max, to his credit, went from startled to smiles in the blink of an eye. “Dinah!”
They embraced, and she pounded his back hard enough that my own ribs hurt from watching it. “Whoa, easy,” Max said, breaking away with an apologetic wince. “I’m still a little tender from the seat belt.”
“Oh, you—of course! Damn it.” She looked at me. “Why didn’t you stop me from hugging him if you knew he was hurt?”
I opened my mouth to defend myself—because honestly, what—but Max was already all over it. “No, don’t blame Dominic. I only just realized that I’m a little sore there.”
She looked at him, holding him at arms’ length and staring him up and down. “Good lord, you’re skinny. Is food so expensive in the city that you can’t afford to eat more than one meal a day?”
“It’s more that everything tastes like disappointment compared to your cooking.”
Dinah chortled and smacked his arm. “Still charming, I see. Just like your—” She paused, caught herself, but Max clearly knew what she’d been about to say, if the way his smile dropped off his face was any indication. “Just like you used to be,” she finished gamely. “Go on, you two, go sit down. I’ll get you some food. Do you still like meat burgers, Max?”
“Who doesn’t like burgers?” Max asked as he hung his coat up next to mine.
She shook her head sadly. “Vegans, that’s who. Always asking for veggie burgers and tofu patties. I’ve got a whole vegan section on the menu now, just in case.”
I bit back a chuckle at Dinah’s tirade. I heard it at least once a day.
“Well, I’m not a vegan, and I’d love a good old-fashioned burger, thanks.”
“I’m still full from the meatloaf earlier,” I said when she looked at me.
“Nonsense, you didn’t even finish it. How do you take yours these days, Max?” she asked as he settled into one of the diner’s gold-vinyl booths.
Max tilted his head slightly, and—yeah, shit. That plus the smile was pretty charming. “Cooked medium, with lettuce and tomato, please.”
“Cheese? Cheddar, pepper jack, American, swiss, Monterey Jack, feta, goat cheese?”
“Pepper jack, please.”
“Good choice. Fries? Salad?” Her tone of voice said you better pick the fries, buddy.
“Fries are good.”
“Great!” She turned toward the kitchen. “Troy! Walk a couple of cows through a garden and put one in a pepper patch! Frog sticks for both!”
“What?” Troy yelled from the back.
“I said—lord.” She shook her head. “He’s taken his damn hearing aids out already. I’ll be back with some coffee and water in a minute, boys.” She headed back for the kitchen.
Max caught my eye and grinned. “I don’t remember her being so…colorful with her orders.”
“It’s totally a schtick,” I confided. “One of the mayor’s marketing schemes involves really playing up the ‘small town charm’ of Edgewood, or so she says. Dinah has interpreted that in her own special way.”
“I like it.” He unrolled his set of silverware from the napkin and smoothed it out in front of him, like his hands couldn’t quite stand being still. “And how has the police department pumped up their ‘small town charm?’”
“We make sure to rescue a cat stuck up a tree at least once a day in the summer,” I replied, doing my best to keep a straight face. “We really make a big deal out of it. Why should the fire department get all the good press, after all?”
“Solid effort. What else?”
“Officers and other city workers take turns dressing up in the town mascot’s uniform for holidays