Fury's Fire Read Online Free Page B

order?” Angel snarled as Gretchen slipped behind the counter. “This isn’t the public library. Tell him to order something or get out. He can’t just sit here drinking a Coke for five hours every day.”
    Gretchen frowned. “He did order something, actually.” She scribbled on her pad and handed it over. “Medium-well.”
    Angel lifted an eyebrow at her. “Lucky for him,” he grumbled as he slung a hamburger patty onto the grill.
    Gretchen didn’t flinch. “Yeah. I guess he’s hungry tonight.”
    It’s worth it
, Gretchen told herself as she thought of the cost of the burger, which would have to come out of her tips.
Kirk isn’t hurting anybody. He should be allowed to just sit and work in peace
. After all, it wasn’t his fault that his parents were screwups and that he had to live with his sister. It wasn’t his fault they were broke.
    “Gretchen, sweetheart, I need you.” Lisette pushed her purple bangs out of her eyes. “Would you be a doll and bus table nineteen? We’ve got people waiting.”
    “No problem.” Gretchen cleared the table and wiped it down, then smiled at the mom and two young sons who took the booth. “Your waitress will be right with you,” she said as she set paper placemats and silverware in front of them.
    “Thanks, hon,” Lisette called as she made her way over to the table.
    Gretchen smiled. Lisette’s cheerful demeanor was such a contrast to Angel’s grouchy simplicity. And yet they were engaged. Despite a twenty-year age difference, despite completely contrasting sensibilities, they had fallen for each other.
    “Order up!” Angel called.
    Gretchen took the plate loaded with fries and punctuated with a hamburger, then reached for a glass and filled it with ice and Coke. She placed the order in front of a surprised-looking Kirk and announced, “On the house.”
    “Why?”
    “Why not?”
    Kirk thought this over. He took a fry and nibbled the end. Then he looked over Gretchen’s shoulder, as if someone might be on his way over to snatch the food away. He took a bite of the burger and smiled up at Gretchen. He looked like an eight-year-old, a giddy kid.
    “Order up, Lisette!” Angel shouted.
    Lisette touched Gretchen’s shoulder. “Would you take that for me, hon? I’m overloaded.”
    “Sure.” Gretchen delivered the dessert to the booth by the door, then took care of her own tables. Nowthat Kirk had a plate of food in front of him, she could ignore him for a while. She didn’t need to check in with him to make sure everything was all right. He was one customer who wouldn’t complain.
    Gretchen wrote out a few checks and started clearing tables. Then she filled up the dishwasher and started a load.
    “Hey, hey, what do you say?” Angus McFarlan asked as he burst through the door. He grinned at Gretchen and perched on a stool and let his long arms flop across the counter. Everything about Angus was casual and graceless, which often served to hide his keen intelligence.
    Gretchen smiled at her friend. “Hey, Angus. What brings you here?”
    “Pie,” Angus admitted. “And I had to clear my stuff out of my cubicle at the
Gazette
.” Angus had been working at the local newspaper all summer.
    “Internship’s over?”
    “Sadly, yes. But I’m going to see if I can still do a little newspaperating in my spare time. If anything interesting comes across my path. Like, maybe I’ll do an article on pie.”
    “Cherry, strawberry-rhubarb, blueberry, or lemon meringue.”
    “No apple?”
    “Sold out.”
    “Strawberry-rhubarb, then.”
    “Whipped cream?”
    “Double dose.”
    Gretchen served up a thick wedge of the pie,heaped a small mountain of white cream on top, and handed it over.
    “This is insane,” Lisette griped as she staggered back toward the counter, her tray loaded down with dirty platters and cups. “Angel, we need another waitress.”
    “Not during the off season.”
    “Angel! Do you see anything off about this diner?” Lisette put down