At the temporary diner, customers started leaving small notes with their bills.
One regular customer suggested starting an online fundraiser, but Evan asked them to wait until he understood the actual budget. He didn't want donations to disappear into an arrangement that could not last. They shared financial summaries with their advisers instead. He wondered what tomorrow might bring instead.
One woman described meeting her husband at the Corner Table in 1987. A retired firefighter recalled warming his hands around Evan's coffee after night shifts. A young mother wrote that Kelsey had once watched her toddler while she searched her purse for bus fare. Evan read the notes after closing, trying not to become sentimental. The future still depended on rent, insurance, payroll, and kitchen capacity. Denise and the accountant calculated that an ownership transfer might be feasible through staged payments and a loan if the temporary operation maintained steady revenue. Evan would need to contribute savings, and Denise would assume some risk by financing part of the sale. Both would need independent legal advice. Meanwhile, Eleanor informed them the community center planned to renovate its meeting rooms the following year. The kitchen could remain available, but its hours might change. Evan recognized the danger of building a permanent business around a temporary arrangement. He began scouting alternative spaces, including a vacant storefront near the bus depot. Its rent was reasonable, but remodeling costs were high. An older bakery offered another possibility, though its ventilation system would require substantial work before serving hot food. Ben did not inspect any location Evan might choose. Their friendship, combined with Benjamin's professional role, required careful boundaries. Instead, he recommended hiring independent qualified inspectors before signing a lease. Evan took the advice. He also began attending evening classes on food-service management at a technical college, sitting beside students young enough to be his children. He found financial forecasting particularly difficult. One night, he confessed to Nora that he feared looking foolish. Nora replied that Thomas had felt the same way when he entered a computer training program at forty-eight. "He showed up with a notebook and asked questions everyone else was embarrassed to ask," she said. Evan imagined Thomas in a classroom, still determined to learn. That thought helped. On the anniversary of the family's first diner meal, Benjamin invited Evan to dinner. They ordered three plates of eggs and potatoes at the temporary restaurant, although Nora protested that dinner deserved something more exciting. Evan agreed to let them pay. When Benjamin handed him the receipt, Evan noticed a handwritten message: NO MORE IOUS. He smiled. Then Nora quietly corrected her son. "There was never a debt," she said. "That was the whole point."