Читать книгу Small Town Monsters - Craig Nybo - Страница 44

Craig Nybo

6

on her right eye and Max thought he knew just who had given it to her. He twisted the lock and pushed the door open.

“Hey, Max, I’m sorry to bother you so late but—“

Max looked her up and down. She seemed so small standing out in front of the diner, an armful of schoolbooks at her side. “Come on in,” he said, stepping back to give Lucy plenty of room.

He walked across the dining hall, not looking back at her. She followed him, wiping the moisture from her cheeks and clearing her throat. “Could have used you today for the dinner rush. Things was hopping and all I had was Audrie.”

“Audrie can handle it,” Lucy said.

Max led her through the back door of the dining hall into his office, a utilitarian room, done up in wood paneling. A simple desk Max had made himself held an old computer and printer. Several stacks of papers, bills from vendors, tax forms, inventories, and profit/loss information, sat on the desk, all organized into like stacks. A small whiteboard hung over his desk, marked up with a few ad hoc notes and messages in Max’s ultraclean penmanship. Across from the desk, a cot turtle-crouched against the wall, topped with a narrow futon mattress.

“I know I’ve taken to staying here most of the time. Truth is, ain’t nothing much for me to go home to these days since Gunner died.”

“You should get another dog,” Lucy said.

Max opened a small closet and removed a fresh sheet, blanket, and pillow. “Yea, that’s what everyone tells me. But, you know how it is, sometimes, you just gotta let things go.” He spread the sheet over the futon mattress and tucked it in.

Lucy began to cry.

“Who knows, someday I might get another dog. I’m thinking something smaller, maybe a cocker spaniel or a shih tzu or something. Gunner used to shit like a man and I never much cared for it.” He spread the blanket over the fresh sheet and placed the pillow at the head of the cot.

He turned to Lucy and ignored the tears on her cheeks.