His expression tightened.
“I just need somewhere to sit.”
Danny pointed toward a stool near the end of the counter.
“One left.”
Ethan looked at it.
Then at the man sitting beside it in construction clothes.
Then at Danny.
“That?”
“It’s very stool-shaped.”
Ethan stared.
Danny stared back.
Then he sat.
“Need something?”
“A place to work.”
“Lucky for you, we help people here.”
He looked at her.
Something about the sentence sounded familiar.
Danny gave him a menu.
“Coffee?”
“Yes.”
“Food?”
“No.”
She poured.
Ethan opened his laptop.
Five minutes later, a toddler at the nearest booth knocked over orange juice.
The mother apologized repeatedly.
Danny brought towels.
Helped move the child.
Replaced the juice without adding it to the bill.
Another customer complained his toast was too dark.
Danny replaced it.
A third asked if she had a phone charger.
Danny produced one from beneath the register.
Ethan watched without intending to.
His phone rang.
Roadside assistance.
Delay.
Another forty minutes.
He exhaled sharply.
Danny heard.
“Problem?”
“Car.”
“Battery?”
“Probably.”
“You know how to jump it?”
“Yes.”
“Then why roadside?”
“I don't carry cables.”
Danny looked disappointed.
“You drive a car without jumper cables?”
“I don't typically plan mechanical failure.”
“Mechanical failure loves people like you.”
Ethan almost smiled.
Then an elderly man entered.
Danny’s entire manner changed.
“Mr. Bell.”
The man used a cane.
Danny came around the counter.
Held the door.
Helped him remove his coat.
Set him at booth three.
“Usual?”
“Only if Gus learned how to cook overnight.”
“I’ll tell him.”
Ethan watched.
Danny returned.
He said:
“You do that for everybody?”
“Do what?”
“Take care of them.”
She shrugged.
“I work here.”
The answer caught him.
He looked at her name tag.
DANNY.
Walter’s waitress.
Ethan almost laughed.
Of course.
“What?”
Danny asked.
“Nothing.”
“You have a face.”
“What kind?”
“One that thinks it knows something.”
Ethan closed his laptop slightly.
“Walter.”
Her expression shifted.
“What about him?”
“The old man yesterday.”
“You know him?”
Ethan could have told her immediately.
That would have been the right thing.
Instead, he hesitated.
He did not know exactly why.
Maybe curiosity.
Maybe Walter’s stupid experiment had infected him.
“He mentioned the diner.”
Danny relaxed slightly.
“Is he okay?”
“Yes.”
“You sure?”
“He’s fine.”
“Good.”
Then she looked suspicious again.
“How do you know him?”
Ethan opened his mouth.
His phone rang.
Roadside service.
He answered.
By the time he finished, Danny had moved away.
That moment would later bother him.
He could have told her.
He did not.
The car was repaired by ten.
Ethan left.
He tipped twenty dollars on a three-dollar coffee.