She tucked her hands into her coat pockets and turned to go back to the trailer.
"Hey, Doris," I called to her.
She glanced back at me.
"I really appreciate it," I said. Not many people had put their trust in me, but it had been different with Doris.
She nodded. "Just show me you've got the stuff."
"I intend to."
"Oh, and Ro, the clumsy delivery guy from the lumberyard drove off and left a giant piece of plastic wrap behind. It landed on the road. Could you grab it?"
"Sure thing." I tossed the wood scraps I was holding into the pile and walked out toward the road. A long piece of plastic, the kind they used to bind together planks of wood, had flown out to the road. It fluttered like a dying animal every time a car drove past or over it.
As I waited for the next car to pass, I spotted the same green car that had been in front of the diner this morning. It was empty. This morning, I'd recognized the guy in the backseat as an asshole who Doris had fired on day two because he showed up drunk. I'd watched them for a few minutes as I worked but didn't think all that much about them until Rachel arrived to open the diner. I sensed instantly that they made her nervous, and I walked across to stand between her and the car. They'd driven off and I hadn't thought anything else about it until now. I could see one light on in the diner. I'd heard a few of the workers mention that the pretty server, Rachel, was basically running the place herself today. She was alone.
I crossed the street and spotted two heads right away. They were inside the diner. I looked through the window just as I spotted the asshole who'd lost his job lunging at Rachel. I slammed through the front door and torpedoed past the two other jerks. Rachel was on the floor, pale and in pain. I grabbedthe back of the asshole's shirt. He swung around with an arm that was dripping blood from a few small holes. His fist flew blindly back, but he missed. I threw him hard against the opposite counter. He yelled out in pain as his back slammed the solid edge. I didn't give him time to catch his breath. My fist flew into his face spreading his nose across his face. He crumpled to the ground.
I spun around. His two partners stared at me as if I had fire shooting from my nostrils, and that was what it felt like. "Who the fuck is next?"
The big one with red hair tried to zip past me. I stuck out my foot and tripped him onto his big face. I snatched the money from his fat fist. He tried to scramble to his knees, but I knocked him flat. The other guy was already out the door before I looked up. The green Chevy raced off.
I spun back around and raced over to Rachel. She was sitting forward and rubbing her back. "Are you all right?"
She took a deep breath and sniffled. "Got him good with the fork." A weak smile followed.
I glanced over at the fork on the ground. "A fork? Good choice. Definitely been stabbed by one before." I shook my head. "Don't ask. Not one of my prouder moments." I took her hand and helped her to her feet, then over to one of the chairs.
I pulled out my phone and called the police. The two men were just coming to as the squad car pulled up. Doris saw the activity and walked across to check on the diner employees.
She got Rachel an ice pack and a cup of tea while I gave my statement to the police. Red immediately spilled the beans about their third partner.
An hour later, the men I'd walloped had gotten medical treatment and were being taken in for booking. Doris had sat with Rachel the whole time.
"Hey, boss, you're the bomb, you know that?" I told her as she headed out.
Doris smiled. "Flattery will get you everywhere, Wilde. Now take the rest of the day off, with pay. You earned it. Ray, you take care of yourself."
"Thank you so much, Doris."
"Hey, Wilde, make sure she gets home all right, yeah?"
"I will."
It was just Rachel and me in the diner. Considering what had taken place, the restaurant didn't show many signs of the disturbance.
"I'll help you finish cleaning up," I said.
"You've already done a lot," she said. Her brown gaze met mine, and every past feeling came back like a tsunami. I'd tried to convince myself that I was over her, but that was just a lie I'd been telling myself. "Thank you for coming to my rescue."
I smiled and picked up one of the chairs that had fallen in the scuffle. "You were doing pretty good on your own with your cutlery, but I'm glad I happened to see that green car."
We stooped down to pick up a pile of fallen napkins. "I was carrying these out when they walked in. They're going to have to be trashed. Carol won't be happy," she said. "She's always complaining about the cost of paper products."
Our hands brushed past each other, and we both paused as if the light touch had set off a chemical reaction. In a way it had. At least on my end.
"Considering you singlehandedly stopped her diner from being robbed and trashed by those assholes, I think Carol's going to let the napkin thing slide," I said. "Have you talked to her yet?"