The noise and bustle of the café greeted Drew
as his boots hit the wooden flooring of the building. The comforting smell of
cornbread and steak floated through the air, followed by the sound of clanking
silverware. He examined the area of the room, taking in everything.
“Hiya
Jake!” a woman called from the back. “I’ll be with ya in a sec, just sit where
ya usually do an’ gimme a minute.”
“Thanks
Cassie,” Replied Jake with a grin, taking his hat off at the door. He held in
his hands as he led the way to a table next to the window.
“Cassie?”
Drew inquired, wondering about the girl’s name. He sat down at the table,
unfortunately getting the seat next to Brett.
“Yeah,
full name’s Casandra, but no one calls her that.” Jake seated himself across
the table from the two and picked up the paper menu that lay in front of him. “Drew,
pick somethin ya want. I already know what I’m getting.” Jake sent Drew his
friendly grin.
Drew
looked oddly at the menu. He had only sat in a decent restaurant a handful of
times in his life, and to be handed a menu in a little downtown café and to be
told he could get what he wanted was almost unheard of. He glanced at Jake,
then down at the menu.
Special: Steak and fried onions, mashed potatoes
and gravy accompanied with a glass of water. Drew liked the sound of that,
but didn’t really know what fried onions would taste like, having never tried
them. He had bit into a raw one when
he was really little, but spit it out immediately. He hadn’t touched an onion
since. Drew made a face and continued reading.
Chicken soup, beef stew… Drew scanned
the menu. He couldn’t decide, and looked up at Jake. Uncomfortably he asked,
“Er…what’s somethin good? I don’t really care.”
Jake
looked at him. “Son, if there’s one thing one that slip of paper that ya just
plain can’t go wrong with, it’s a steak. I ain’t never known anyone who can fry
a steak better than Cassie’s Ma. The side I can’t choose fer ya, they’re all
good. Trust me.” Jake winked at Drew and leaned back in the chair to twiddle
his thumbs.
Drew
looked back down at the menu, pretending to contemplate the meal choices. His
eyes wandered across the room, watching folks walk in and out, or sit and
finish their meals. The little bell on the door rang as people came inside or
went out, adding a little bit of cheeriness to the already welcoming
atmosphere. The sound of bustling in the kitchen, the low murmur of voices and
the clanking of dishes and utensils only added to the friendly air.
“Thanks
again fer the invite,” Brett fished around in his pocket to check for coins to
pay for the meal. He pulled out a dollar and a quarter, plus a train ticket and
a button that looked quite like the ones on his shirt. He squinted at them
through his glasses at stuffed the ticket and the button back into his pocket.
“It’s
nothin.” Jake smiled.
“Well,
folks, what’ll it be?” A girl wearing a brown apron over her white blouse and
denim skirt asked. She looked to be in her early twenties. Drew jumped, having
not seen her approach. “Evenin’ Jake, I see you brought friends?” She smiled
sweetly at Brett and Drew. Brett smiled back.
“Yes
Ma’am. This here’s Brett Chauncey, deputy from Wildstone Wyoming. He’s here on
business.” Jake concluded, nodding to Brett.
“Jake
seems very good at introducing people,” Drew thought.
“M’
pleasure to meet you, Miss,” Brett shook hands with her, a sheepish grin on his
face.
“And who
might this handsome young man be?” Cassie asked, grinning at Drew.
Drew blushed
furiously so that his face began to take on the color of ripe tomato. “D…Drew.”
He managed, and then looked down at his lap.
“Drew?”
The girl giggled, seeing how embarrassed he was. “Well, men, do ya know what
you’ll be havin’ tonight?”
“The usual.”
Stated Jake. “And get him a steak with some of your best taters ‘n gravy.” Jake
nodded to Drew.
Drew
looked at Jake in surprise. But wasn’t one to complain about food.
“I’ll
get your beef stew.” Brett chimed in. He looked like he was about to say more,
but seemed to stumble over his words and gave up.
“And
that’ll be all?” She asked.
“Yes’m.”
They all answered simultaneously. Drew grinned and whispered “Jinx,” under his breath.
“Thanks
Cassie.” Jake said as the waitress turned to leave. “You alright over there
Drew?” Jake chuckled.
“Grr…I’m
fine.” Drew growled, looking up. He didn’t want to admit he was embarrassed
just because he was complemented by a girl. Brett snickered and received a
glare from Drew. Jake sensed tension and changed the subject.
“So
Drew, whatcha think of Ruby Springs so far?”
“It’s...I
dunno. It’s just another town.” The teen let his eyes drift to the window,
watching the goings on of the town.
“You’ve
only been here for a little while Sonny, but I think you’ll find out that it’s
much more than you make it out to be.” That’s all Jake said. He didn’t preach,
didn’t lecture, didn’t criticize, only dropped in a little correction with a
dash of optimism.
“Maybe.
Maybe not.” It really didn’t matter to Drew what happened to him in this little
town, so long as he could make up his parole time and go free. The judge had
decided parole time would be better than prison, considering Drew’s age and
past.
“Here
you are, folks. Yer supper.” Cassie set a couple of plates on the table. Drew
eyed the food hungrily. He personally thought Brett considered Cassie a
prettier sight than the food, but kept his thoughts to himself.
“Thanks
Cassie.” Jake took his food and bowed his head, whispering a few words of
prayer. Brett and Drew remained silent, and Brett bowed his head. Drew didn’t.
“Thank you kindly, Miss Cassie,”
said Brett who immediately dug in. “This has to be the best beef stew I've ever
tasted in my whole entire life.”
“Why, thank you Mr. Chauncey.”
Cassie flashed him a sweet smile.
Drew had his mouth full of mashed
potatoes when Jake asked him a question. “You like that?” Jake chuckled when
Drew looked up at him fork in one fist, knife in the other, and his mouth
stuffed. Drew only nodded, chewed his food and swallowed.
“Um... Thank you.” Drew mumbled.
“It's... It's real good.” He turned red and then started at his steak.
Cassie looked over her happy
customers. “You're all welcome. I got to get back to the kitchen, but I'll be
back for the bill.”
Drew seemed to inhale his food. It
was the first good meal he'd had since they'd left Wildstone. On the trip, he
got by on hard bread and jerky, which by the way, it was not the tastiest meal
there ever was.
“Easy boy, said Jake. Slow down. It
ain't gonna just grow legs and run away.”
Drew looked sheepishly up at Jake,
immediately imagining a potato with legs jumping up and running across the
cafe. He grinned at the silly thought and took another bite of “taters ‘n
gravy”.
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[Sorry about the abrupt ending, I got stuck. This needs editing so yeah I'm working on it. Thanks for reading]
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