Here is the latest snippet. Still in The Christmas Gift:
Out of spite she snagged his six pack of beer on her
way out. She decided to pawn it for the food she'd specifically told him to
get. She wouldn't be able to get a lot, but she'd find a way to stretch it.
Hopefully, she'd get some decent
tips to make up the difference she thought. It was that or bring some of the
unused food home again. Wally the manager was getting wise to that though.
When she got to the diner, she smiled to Mrs. Kringle, the elderly matron who came by for
a cup of tea and lunch every day. The woman could barely walk and should be in
an assistant living home now that her husband was gone, but she was proud and
stubborn.
"Mrs. Kringle," Malory murmured as she held
the door open for the woman.
"Malory," the woman said with her dimples.
"How many times have I told you to call me Faith?"
"Too many times to count. But the owner said we
have to behave," Malory said as she saw Wally behind the counter. She
looked over to him as Faith made her way to her usual booth.
"Problem?" Malory asked as she went behind
the counter and got her apron off the hook.
"Yes, I'll say. Phil the owner sold the
diner," he said.
She blinked at him in shock. "Are you
serious?" she demanded.
"Yes. Today is our last day. They are going to
bulldoze the place to make room for a parking lot for the residential unit
coming in," Wally said with a shake of his head.
"You …,"
she stared at him. "Damn it,
Wally, it's the holidays!"
"I know, and that used to mean something. I just
found out it gets worse, Phil took off with the cash for orbit and didn't leave
us a severance or anything. He cleaned out the accounts, and the food we've got is it. Pier and the others are gone. I'm
covering … I don't know why," he said with a shake of his head.
"I'm sorry," she said squeezing his arm.
Wally was a piece of work and a pain-in-the-ass
boss but he had a family to support. She could respect that.
She finished doing up her apron and wondered what she
was doing there when he handed her a check. "Since we're being screwed, I'm not sending him any of the money
from today's sales. Frack him," he growled. "I already gave their
shares of the tips to Pier and the others. Here is yours. And we're treating
our regulars." He nodded to Mrs. Kringle. "We need to tell them too.
I'll go get her tea," he said.
"All right," she said.
"I'm working on a sign too. Hell if I know where
any of us are going to find work here," he muttered as he left.
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