Rescue

and the waitress was back immediately with a large decanter of hot water and two bags.
    When she left, I said, “Great service.“
    “Most of the people who come in here need to take on fuel for a long day ahead. She was kind of relaxed for Pedro’s.“
    “You plan to live on the Keys forever, Dawna?“
    A shrug during a gulp of coffee. “Probably. The two years my mom and I were in Virginia, there was just enough change of the seasons for me to like it, the way I said last night. But the Keys are where I want to be. The reef offshore for snorkeling and scuba, the sunsets...“
    “That what brought you back?“
    “No, my mom brought me back. My dad was kind of... well, today I guess the word would be ‘abusive,’ and it wasn’t till after he died—he went out drunk into a storm, stupid— that my mom felt comfortable coming back. And by then, my grandpa was sick, so we kind of moved into that house. When she—my mom—died, I got it, mortgage-free.“
    “So you can live here relatively cheaply, but do you really want to stay?“
    “How do you mean?“
    “If the prospects are all…“
    “Guys like Jay, you mean?“
    “Yes.“
    “Oh, there’re others, and pretty soon I’ll be at the age where my best ‘prospects’ are older men looking for a well-conditioned girl who isn’t so young she doesn’t know anything.“
    “That’s not the most optimistic outlook I’ve ever heard.“
    “No, but it’s realistic. And most of the people are pretty nice, even if“—Adair lowered her voice—“they are kind of misfits, like I said last night.“ Keeping her voice low, but putting the purr into it, she said, “Speaking of last night, you have some second thoughts after I went back upstairs?“
    “And third and fourth thoughts. They still stopped at the same point, though.“
    Looking at the menu, Dawna said in a normal voice, “Too bad.“
    The waitress came back for our orders. Adair went for one of just about everything. I said to the waitress, “French toast, please.“
    “ Bacon or sausage?“
    “You have a recommendation?“
    “ Don’t matter. They’re both terrible for you.“
    “The sausage, then.“
    “Good choice. Drink?“
    “Orange juice, big glass.“
    “Only kind we have.“
    She gathered the menus and left us. Dawna said, “Service is fast, but...“
    “Reminds me of a place back home called Durgin Park. It’s in the old North Market Building by Fanueil Hall.“ —
    “I’ve never been to Boston.“
    “Well, Durgin Park is big, and popular, especially with the tourists, who’ll wait in line for an hour to sit at long communal tables with people they don’t know, sharing bowls of vegetables family-style while their waitress serves them the way a drill sergeant treats recruits at boot camp.“
    “Why do you suppose people get off on being treated poorly?“
    “I don’t know. Given what you tolerate from Jay, though, I’d guess you might have some thoughts on the subject.“
    Adair smiled. “I guess the word is ‘touché,’ huh?“
    “Just because your dad was abusive doesn’t mean you have to put up with somebody like that.“
    “Maybe I just hope he’ll go away.“
    “You contacted the authorities about it?“
    “Why?“
    “To get, I don’t know, a restraining order or something against him.“
    “Not how it works down here, John.“
    Dawna opened her paper, which I took for a “case-closed“ sign. The waitress brought our orders, and we ate pretty much in silence for five minutes or so.
    Then Adair folded over the paper and sighed. “I’m sorry. You’re just trying to be helpful, and I want you to be more than that, and I’m not being fair.“
    “Forget it.“ I took another bite of French toast. “You thought of anything else about the Church since last night?
    “Not that—uh-oh.“
    When I looked up from my plate, Dawna was looking over my shoulder. As I turned in the chair, she said, “I didn’t think he’d come over here. I’m sorry.“
    Jay was standing in the doorway to the patio, a soft cast on his left elbow, a husky guy to one side and a fat guy the other, all three dressed in work jeans and T-shirts. No weapons in sight, more like they just stumbled on us rather than came hunting.
    I looked back to Adair. “Probably recognized your Jeep in the lot.“
    “What are we gonna do?“
    “Borrow your paper?“
    “What?“
    “Can I have your Herald?“
    A confused expression. “Sure.“
    Taking the paper, I began to roll it