aisles filled with items to purchase on the right, and a small diner on the left with booths and tables.
Sliding into the last red vinyl-covered booth, he barely had a chance to look at the menu before a matronly server in a pink uniform popped by. She was already pouring coffee before he had a chance to speak. Her gray hair was teased and sprayed into a bouffant, barely moving as her head bobbed when she greeted him warmly.
“Hey, sugar, I’m Doneeta, and I’ll be serving you today. Well, today and any other day you come in for breakfast. I don’t even ask anyone if they want coffee anymore. Been doing this job for over twenty years and never met somebody who didn’t want coffee in the morning! Course, some people prefer tea, but I figure a big boy like you would want his strong coffee.”
Startled at her greeting, he nodded his thanks. “I’ll take your breakfast special. Extra-large.”
“I’m not surprised. A boy your size has gotta fill up in the morning. My Harvey, God rest his soul, was a big man. He liked a breakfast that would get him going in the morning.” She leaned down and winked. “Marlene ended up ordering too much bacon along with the sausage this week. Since you’re getting a breakfast special, we’ll throw them both onto the plate!”
He nodded his thanks again, and she bustled off to pour more coffee. He’d barely taken a sip of the hot, strong brew when his seat was jostled. Jerking his head around, his gaze landed on Jason, followed closely by Zac. He jumped to his feet, greeting Zac the same way he was greeted by Jason the previous evening. After hugs and back slaps, the two men slid into the booth across from him.
Jason yelled out, “Doneeta, make that two more of whatever this guy is having!”
“You got it, sugar! Lordy, Lordy, Marlene! We’re going to get rid of all that extra bacon!”
Grinning, Joseph shook his head and focused his attention on his friends. Zac’s dark hair was still trimmed short, swept to the side. The familiar, easy-going smile was on his face, and Joseph wondered if it was due to being out of the Navy, having a job he enjoyed, or being married. Hell, probably all three.
“I can’t believe you’re actually here, man,” Zac enthused, his smile wide and eyes roaming over Joseph’s face. “What have you been up to?”
“Traveling. Working. I’d stay awhile somewhere and then get the urge to move on.”
“And home?” Zac prodded.
Snorting, he shook his head. “What home?” The last thing he wanted to do was talk about the place where he grew up. If the look on his face wasn’t enough to let someone know that was a conversation he wasn’t going to have, he felt sure the tone of his voice certainly gave evidence. But he didn’t have to worry about these two.
That was probably why they’d become friends in the first place. He and Zac met when they worked on the same ship as Navy firefighters. Jason came around soon after as a mechanic. Somehow, the three of them bonded one night in a port after getting rip-roaring drunk. Zac talked about his mother’s death and his father’s alcoholism. Jason’s parents had been killed while he was in the middle of the ocean on a Navy vessel. Joseph spilled his guts about his relationship with his parents. It might have seemed fucked up, but the three of them had been friends ever since.
“Well, you won’t find a better place to call home than Baytown,” Zac said, leaning back in his seat, drumming his fingers on the tabletop.
“Not looking for a place to call home, guys. Just looking for a chance to reconnect with old friends and a place to put my head at night for a while until I feel the urge to move on.”
Jason held his gaze. “I’m telling you, Joseph, this place will get into your blood. You think it’s just one of your many stopping points on your travels? It’ll be hard to say goodbye.”
He looked up in gratitude as Doneeta interrupted by placing their plates onto the table. He was starving, but he also wanted to halt the conversation that he knew wouldn’t come true for him. Fuckin’ happy endings were for others.
For several minutes, the three shoveled in the supersized breakfast special. Eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits and gravy, grits, hash brown potatoes, and Doneeta kept the coffee coming. When their plates were finally