Broken Road (18 page)

“Oh, my. Where are my manners?” Doreen let go of Riley, wiped her eyes with the folds of her apron and reached out to shake the man’s hand.

“I’m Doreen. I own this place and I’ve known this boy since he was 6 years old. I’m just so happy to see him back. We’ve all been so worried.”

“I’m Louis Montgomery. I’m his ride home today.” The man gave Riley a wink.
 

“Well, bless you for that. Anyone of us would have been happy to go get him. All you had to do was call.” Doreen gave Riley another squeeze. Riley managed to give her a half smile.
 
Brenda tried to listen in on their conversation while still wiping down counters.

“It’s my pleasure. I don’t mind at all.” The older man replied.

“Now you boys just give me a minute to see to your breakfast and I’ll be right back.” Doreen headed back toward Brenda.

“Oh, it’s so good to have him back!” Doreen exclaimed as she headed into the kitchen. “Hey, Renae,honey, why don’t you go refill their cups and I’ll be out in just a minute.”

“All right, Doreen.” Brenda put down the rag she was using to wipe the counter and picked up the coffee pot. Her heart was racing as she walked back toward their table. Was her hand still trembling? She smiled as she picked up the first cup and began to pour.

“Thank you.” The older man said and took a quick sip. Then she picked up Riley Favreau’s cup. There was a subtle tremble followed by a spill that caused her to drop the mug on the floor with a crash. The soldier jumped at the sound and seemed alarmed. The older man grabbed his napkin and started to wipe up the liquid on the table headed in the direction of the soldier.

“Dammit!” She admonished herself as the contents of the cup started to stream across the tabletop and onto the floor. The older man got up out of the booth.

“It’s ok.” He said glancing at the soldier before bending down to pick up the broken pieces. “Accidents happen.”

“I’m so sorry.” Brenda said as she ran to get a rag to wipe up the rest of the spill on the floor.

“ It must be a Monday.” The man laughed as he walked the pieces over to the nearby trashcan and put them in.

“Honestly, it’s my first day. Well, my first day
here
.” Brenda explained.

“Oh, then that explains it.” He chuckled.

“I mean, I’ve waited on tables before but it’s been almost 20 years.” She felt the need to explain her lack of coordination.

“Well, then cut yourself a break. It’s been a while.” He said sitting back down.

“Guess so.” She smiled apologetically and went to get him another set of cups. Doreen passed her carrying another breakfast special for another a gentleman sitting at the counter. Brenda grabbed the coffee cups and followed her to the table. She noticed that the soldier had positioned himself still farther back in the corner of the booth.

“Honey, what happened here?” Doreen asked Brenda as she noticed the moist surface of the table and the lack of a coffee cup.

“Just a little accident. Nothing to worry about.” The soldier’s friend winked at Brenda.

“I’m so sorry, Doreen, I guess my waitressing skills are a little rustier than I remember.”
 

“Never mind that, honey. You’re still doing a load better than Carl
ever
did. Any time I had him go out and take orders or serve customers it was like watching a Sasquatch juggle jacks. That man’s hands were too big for plates and his brains too small for orders. Thank God, you’re here, Renae.” She said giving Brenda a bear hug.

“Wait, Doreen. Let me get this cup down before I drop something again.”

“Sure thing, honey. We don’t want that to keep happening. I’m sure it’ll all come back to you soon.”

“I hope so.” Brenda gave her a weak smile.”Otherwise you may want Carl back.”

“Never.” Doreen said emphatically. “It’s not gonna happen. The man is a traitor. If my little place isn’t good enough for his so-called culinary talents than he can take that chef’s hat they promised him and shove it where the sun don’t shine!” The older man chuckled.

“Sounds like a blood feud.” He said in between bites of the breakfast special.

“He might as well have taken 30 pieces of silver as far as I’m concerned. But. . .” She paused as she glanced over at the soldier. “Riley, honey, why didn’t you order anything to eat?

“I’m not hungry, Doreen. Thanks anyway.”

“Not hungry? Not hungry? Since when have you ever come through those doors and not been hungry? Never-that’s when and just look at you! Nothing but skin and bones ever since you came back. I told you I was going to fatten you up, didn’t I? I don’t break my promises, honey, you know that. Your grandpa would turn over in his grave if he saw you looking so skinny, you always being such a big strapping boy. You remember how you and Brandon ate everything I had for that pancake special that one Saturday and I had to change it to oatmeal? Almost had a riot on my hands. . .” Doreen stopped herself. The soldier was looking down sadly at his empty cup of coffee. “Oh, I’m sorry, honey. What was I thinking? So stupid of me. I don’t know why I do that, I just keep running at the mouth. It’s just that it’s so hard not to think about your grandpa and you boys. I can never think of one of you without the other. Force of habit, I guess. I’m sorry just the same. In any case, I’m making you some pancakes right now and don’t you say no to me. I’m making them and you’re eating them and that’s that.” Doreen placed a maternal hand on Riley’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. That’s when she almost ran right into Brenda, who was carrying the fresh pot of coffee.

“Oh, honey. I’m so sorry. My brain is so scattered this morning. Darn that Carl and his shenanigans! I’m out of sorts still. You know what, I’m going to make that boy some pancakes.”

When Brenda returned to their table with the coffee pot she noticed that the soldier still hadn’t looked up from his cup. The older man was halfway through his meal.
 

“Thank you, Renae, is it?” He said with a smile and Brenda nodded as she bit her bottom lip. It was still hard to lie.

“I’m Louis.”

“Nice to meet you.” She said and filled up his cup.

 
“So, are you from around here? Riley was telling me he didn’t recognize you.” The soldier’s head snapped up and he gave the older man some sort of look. It made Louis smile.

“No-actually. I’m visiting from out of town on some business for a friend. I’m checking out a farmhouse she wants to renovate. It’s been in her family a long time and she’s thinking about moving out here but she’s sort of tied up with things. So, I told her I had some vacation time coming and I could come out and take a look. That’s where I’m staying while some of the work gets done.” Louis looked confused.

“If you’re visiting how did you end up working here?” he asked and she saw that the soldier was listening.

“Doreen has been really good to me ever since I came into town so when Carl quit this morning, I offered to step in until she could find someone more permanent.”

“Now that’s really nice of you.”

“I don’t know if Doreen will think so-especially if I manage to destroy any more of her cups.”

“Not many people would do something like that you know.”

“Well, this place kind of has that effect on people, I guess. It’s different from anywhere else I’ve been.”

“You a world traveler of some sort?”

“No- quite the opposite. I meant the people are different. They’re really nice.”

“I can believe that.” Louis said taking his last bite. “Maybe it’s got something to do with the food. It’s delicious.”

“Yeah, Doreen’s a pretty good cook.” Brenda said and noticed a ghost of a smile on the soldier’s face.
 

Just then Doreen came out of the kitchen with a plate of pancakes. She set them down in front of the soldier with a motherly flourish.

“Here you go, honey. I made my special pancakes just for you. I already put the syrup on them and everything. Go ahead take a bite.” The soldier looked up at Brenda and Doreen and then over at Louis. Louis gave him a nod and the soldier picked up a fork.

“Thanks, Doreen. They look great.”

“Never mind if they look great, honey. Do they taste great? That’s the question and you’re never gonna know that unless you stick it in you mouth so go ahead. I’m watching.” Doreen crossed her arms across her large bosom and waited. The soldier gave her a smile and cut a piece of pancake off with his fork. Spearing the piece he put it in his mouth. He chewed slowly and swallowed.
 

“Delicious.” He said and Doreen clapped her hands together.

“I’m so glad, honey. Now you keep eating and I’m gonna pull up a chair for a minute. You’ve been gone for quite awhile and I want to know everything. You had us so worried, honey. None of us knew where you were and after everything that you’ve been through we were just afraid to ask. But you tell me are you okay? Did they treat you well where ever you were?” The soldier kept chewing but Brenda saw the worried glance he shot over at Louis. Louis gave him another nod.

“I’m fine, Doreen. Everything’s okay.”

“Thank you, Jesus!” Doreen said clasping her hands together again.“I have to admit we were hoping to see you at your grandpa’s funeral, but Pastor said it wasn’t possible.” She paused as if waiting for the soldier to fill in the gaps with explanations about why he hadn’t made it to the funeral. But neither man spoke.
 
“It was a beautiful service, though.” She continued. “The whole town turned out. He was loved, your grandpa was.” Doreen’s eyes glistened again and she dabbed at them with the apron.

“We were just talking about that.” Louis interjected. “After we finish here we were hoping to stop by the cemetery to pay our respects before heading out to the house to get him settled back in.” Doreen looked stricken. She began to wring her hands as she looked from one of the men to the other.

“I thought you knew. Didn’t Pastor tell you?” Doreen’s voice trembled as she looked over at Riley and then back at Louis.

“Tell me what, Doreen?”

“The bank. . .the bank foreclosed on the house, honey. It’s gone.”

Riley stopped chewing. He didn’t know if he was going to be able to swallow.

“Oh honey, I’m so sorry. I thought you knew, I thought Pastor told you! He said he was going up to visit you so he could give you the news.” Riley thought back to how many times he had rejected visits by Pastor Langston. Had one of those visits been intended to tell him that the only home he’d known since he was 6 years old had been taken?

“Mam, when you mean that the house is gone do you mean it was sold?” It was Louis’ voice that Riley heard. Doreen’s eyes were swollen with tears.

“Yes, but not to a family. They sold it off to an operation. You know, one of those corporate farms. It’s a good piece of land, always has been. No one knows exactly which one of the corporate farms but by the time the rest of us found out about it they’d already torn down the house and cleared the land.”

“Oh my God.” Riley heard the waitress exclaim.

“Old Jimmy managed to sell some of the cattle off before the bank took over. He has that money for you Riley. It’s what your grandpa would’ve wanted. Oh honey, you have to know that if we’d known your grandpa was in that much trouble we would’ve done everything we could have to save your place. We did the fundraisers for the hospital bills but when we went to see Bill over at the bank thinking maybe we could put it toward that instead, he said it wasn’t nearly enough and that we should use it to help with the debts instead. That way you wouldn’t have that hanging over your head. He felt real bad about it, really he did, but his hands were tied. Your grandpa signed a bunch of papers, took out another loan, even though Bill advised him not to. He warned him that this could happen but who could have know what would happen to both of you?” She cried.

Riley couldn’t put words together. He could barely breathe. The house was gone.
Gone.
And it was all his fault. The strain of his homecoming, his problems had made it impossible for his grandpa to keep up with the expenses of running the cattle farm and now everything was gone.
 

“This changes things, Riley.” Louis’s eyes were full of concern and pity. Riley hated that more than anything. Doreen had gotten out of the chair and was hugging him again. Riley just wanted to escape, to run down Main Street and out onto the highway all the way to home. To where the house had once stood. To see it for himself before he could truly believe it.

“I’m so sorry, honey. I had no idea that no one had told you.” Doreen was sobbing.

“Did you know?” Riley asked Louis. The older man shook his head. “No, I didn’t. If I had we wouldn’t be here now.”

“Why on earth not?” Doreen demanded. “This is his home!”

“It’s complicated, mam. Technically Riley doesn’t have a home anymore.”

“Of course he does! He’s welcome to stay with me or with any of us here in town.”

“That’s kind, mam. Really it is but we’re going to have to back and figure this out. I’m sort of responsible for him.”

“Back where?” She asked and Riley exchanged glances with Louis. He seemed to understand that he didn’t want everyone knowing that he’d been in a mental hospital. But he also wondered where they thought he had been all this time.

“Back to the Vet’s Home?” Doreen said still holding onto Riley’s shoulder with a fierce show of motherly possession. So that’s what they thought that he’d been laid up at the Vet’s Home? He guessed that’s what Pastor had told everyone and he couldn’t help but be a little bit grateful for the lie.

“That’s a possibility.” Louis answered frowning. Riley could tell Louis was trying to think of a solution. He could almost see the wheels turning.

“Do you have to go, honey?” Doreen turned to Riley. “ Don’t you want to stay here with us?” Riley felt bad. He could see how much Doreen cared about him and how devastated she was about everything that had happened. The truth was that he didn’t want to go back to the hospital or go to a Vet’s Home as it probably meant more doctors and more support groups. Louis would make sure of that and Riley had had his fill of it.
 
But more than that he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he didn’t want to stay with anyone in town that knew him, not Doreen and definitely not Pastor Langston, who he was sure Doreen would think to call and ask. He couldn’t live in their spare rooms as some sort of bizarre houseguest.