Читать книгу Small Town Monsters - Craig Nybo - Страница 45

Small Town Monsters

7

“Anyways, I was just thinking a real bed might be the right thing for me tonight. So I think I’m going to pop back on over to my place to sleep. Hell, I could use a shower and a shave by the same account.”

Max moved over to the white board, picked up an eraser, and cleared a space on the writing surface. “I think I might just as well stay there at the house for a while, at least a week, maybe longer. Truth is, I’m starting to feel like a loser sleeping here at the diner all the time.”

Lucy sat down on the futon mattress. It felt welcoming, soft, ready to hold her in its embrace.

“If you need anything, I’m going to write a number right here on the white board you can call.” Max raised a red dry-erase marker and wrote the numbers “9-1-1.”

Lucy swallowed hard and looked away from the number.

“You can stay here as long as you like and I ain’t gonna charge you nothing,” Max said.

Lucy stood up from the cot and moved across the room to Max. She reached up to embrace him, but Max stepped back. She got the hint and kept her distance. “Max, thank you so much.”

“You got the opening shift tomorrow, right?”

“That’s right,” Lucy said.

“I expect you bright eyed and bushy tailed. I ain’t got no salon here, so you’re going to have to do what you can in the sink to look nice for the breakfast rush.”

Lucy nodded.

“And remember, if you need anything, anything at all,” Max pointed to the number he had written on the dry-erase board. “Think about it, Lucy.”

Lucy looked at the floor. She would take Max’s advice; she would think about it.

“Well, I’d best be getting on,” Max said. He walked to the office door, rested a hand on the jamb, and looked back at Lucy. “Got a few loose ends I need to tie up so you might hear me kicking around in the dining room for an hour or so, but I’ll stay out of your way. Good night, Lucy.”