Angels Fall

think beyond the moment. Elk burger, rare, white bean soup, meatloaf sandwich, chicken sub. Slice, dice, scoop, man the grill.
    She could do it in her sleep. Maybe she was, and maybe that was a good way to block out the fact that Brenda's brother Dean was massacring McGraw while he hammered behind the plastic curtain. It was all routine, the heat, the sizzle, the smoke. Routine was good. There was nothing wrong with clinging to routine between crises.
    She plated the meatloaf san, the burger, their sides, and turned. "Orders up." And saw Debbie Mardson sliding onto a stool at the counter.
    Debbie pursed her lips, touched her own glowing cheek and said, "You poor thing."
    "Probably looks worse than it is."

    "I hope so. I saw Min Hobalt. She said you pack a hell of a punch."
    "I didn't—"
    "She was joking." Debbie held up both hands for peace. "She's taking it okay, now that she's calmed down. She told me her fifteen-year-old boy thinks she's pretty cool now that she's been in a bar fight."
    "Glad I could help raise her status."
    "Soup smells good. Maybe I could get a cup of that and a side salad." She glanced around, conspiratonally. "Your dressing," she said in a stage whisper.
    "Sure." It was, Reece supposed, a kind of olive branch. She could be gracious enough to accept it.
    "Coming right up."
    She made out the ticket herself, put it in line.
    Twenty minutes later when the rush had settled, Debbie was still there.
    "Boy, I thought getting dinner on the table most nights was a challenge. How do you keep it all straight?"
    "It gets to be routine."
    "Feeding three kids and a man is more routine than I can handle some days. Can you take a break? Buy you a cup of coffee?"
    "I don't drink coffee." Which sounded petty and rude, Reece decided. "But I can take a break." She grabbed a bottle of water before she came out to sit at the counter. If nothing else, it felt good to get off her feet. Maybe she felt wilted and sweaty beside Debbie's white linen shirt and pretty pink cardigan, but she was off her feet.
    "The soup was amazing. I don't suppose you'd part with the recipe?"
    "I'm thinking about parting with a lot of them."
    "Really?"
    "Maybe doing a cookbook."
    "  Really ?" Debbie angled on her stool, swinging it a bit so her rose quartz bangles danced. "That's so interesting. We'd have two famous writers in the Fist. We just won't know how to act around here. Seems like you and Brody have an awful lot in common."
    Reece sipped her water. "You think?"
    "Well, you're both from back East, and creative. No wonder you two hooked up so fast."
    "Did we?"

    "A lot of women around here had their eye on him, but he didn't do a lot of eyeing back. Until you. Men outnumber the women in this part of the world, so a woman can afford to be picky." Debbie beamed a smile. "Nice pick."
    "I wasn't looking for a man."
    "Isn't that always the way? Go out hunting for a buck, and you don't see so much as a track, lake an easy morning walk, and one jumps right out at you."
    "Hmmm. You hunt?"
    "Sure. I like being outdoors as much as I can. Anyway, you look good together—you and Brody. It seemed, at first, you were just passing through. We get a lot of that. The way things are now. I guess you're settling in."
    "I like it here. Bar tights notwithstanding."
    "It's a good town. A little sparse on culture maybe, but it's a nice solid base. If you know what I mean. People look after each other." She inclined her head toward the plastic tarp. "Like that. You have trouble, you can count on your neighbors lending a hand." She added a wry smile. "'Course, everybody mostly knows your business, but it's a trade-off. Something like that happened in the cityJoanie'd probably have to shut down for a week."
    "Lucky break."
    "I'm sorry." She patted a hand on Reece's arm. "You probably don't want to think about it. I just meant you shouldn't feel bad about it. It's all getting fixed right up. Be the better for it, too, when it's done."
    "I didn't turn the water on upstairs," Reeee said flatly. "Still, I do feel bad that whoever's messing with me took it out on Joanie. She's been good to me. from the minute I walked in the door."
    "She's got a bigger heart than she lets on. Listen, I didn't mean to make it sound like you did something to cause her trouble. I was just saying it's all going to work out fine. And the other day, I hope you don't think I thought anything about you heading out to do your laundry without your shoes on. Sometimes I've got so much on