Page 48 of A Future To Remember

“Pish,” Wanda puffed from the counter where she was sorting tickets from the lunch rush. “You go on and take a break, Maddy. Put your food order in too. I don’t think you’ve eaten in hours.”

My stomach grumbled.

“What’ll it be, girly?” Gus asked, grinning at me from the kitchen window.

When not making an offering to Hephaestus (the god of fire), Gus’s burgers were perfection. I grinned at him. “My usual, please.”

He nodded. “Cheeseburger, medium-rare, extra fries—comin’ up!”

When he turned away, I handed Wanda the order for the four-top and followed Cash to a booth at the back of the restaurant. He motioned me in first and I slid in, folding my right hand over my left casted fist. The cast was coming off in two days, thank God. I couldn’t wait to be rid of it.

He pointed to the cast. “How’s the hand?”

“The cast itches and sometimes the bone throbs, but it’s not terrible.”

“And the ribs?”

“I hear they’re great here. Extra barbecue sauce comes on the side.”

He chuckled. “For real, Maddy. How’re you doing overall?”

I nodded. “As long as I keep moving, I’m okay. It’s when I stop that things start to ache.”

Cash tapped his head. “How’re the headaches?”

“Why do I feel like I’m at the doctor’s office getting a checkup?”

“Sheriffs do wellness checkups all the time.”

I sighed. “The headaches come and go. Tolerable. If they get bad, I take some ibuprofen.”

“Any more nightmares?”

I held back a shudder, but just barely. “Nah. I’m good.”

The truth was that I was having the same nightmare every damn time I dozed off, even when it was for a short nap on my breaks in between the lunch and the dinner crowds.

I dreaded going to sleep, knowing that the same terror-filled dream awaited me. And at night, every time I woke up with a start, I’d find Levi hovering nearby with a look of fear and concern.

Apparently, I thrashed around and called out loudly during those episodes.

As much as I hated having the dreams, I hated even more how they were interrupting not just my sleep, but Levi’s too. But I wasn’t about to tell the sheriff about it. I was getting a little tired of people looking at me like I might break. If I told everyone who asked that I was fine, eventually, I’d be fine. Right?

Cash, thank God, took me at my word. After nodding, he said, “I want to talk to you about the other day.”

Wanda appeared at our table, dropping off a cup of coffee and a slice of hot apple pie for Cash and a chocolate milkshake for me. I grinned big at her, and she smiled in return, adding a wink. “Put some meat on them skinny bones of yours,” she said softly before turning away.

The sheriff motioned with his chin toward Wanda’s retreating form. “She says you’re her best worker.”

I took a long pull of the milkshake through the straw before replying. “Levi is her best worker, Cash. That boy works in a hot, steaming room, washing dishes mostly by hand, keeps the tables clean, the booths wiped down, the floors mopped, trash disposed of, and he even helps to unload and unpack the food supply truck each morning. He never complains, even when most of the people around here treat him like shi—dirt.”

Cash smirked. “Shidirt?”

“I’m trying to swear less because this town looks at me like I’m the devil’s spawn when I do.”

I might not remember much about myself, but one thing I’d quickly realized was that I tend to color most of my speech with expletives, and that I enjoy getting creative with said expletives when allowed. The problem was that nobody, and I do mean nobody, seemed to appreciate said creativeness, and I’d been openly tsked, glared at, and actually reprimanded a time or two.

It was fucking annoying.