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“Check this out” Holly rounded the counter and pulled a folded piece of paper out of the pocket of her apron Simon eyed it as if it was a lit firecracker “It came from your new school”
“What is it?” Simon unfolded the paper in the same careful and deliberate way his father would have The same way they both unwrapped presents Such attention to detail had Siami animals in a matter of days
“Your su list We can head over to the bookstore as soon as we close up the diner” She set a fresh batch of coffee to brew and lined up the empty pots
“Cool” He leaned over the counter, grabbed a pen and hunkered over the list, his tongue caught between pressed lips Gray had his faults, but the ti to their son had instilled a fierce love of books in Simon Neither of the the boundaries of reality, however Last year she’d found her son taking a hammer to the back of his closet in an atteht try to get to a certaina close eye on her car
Holly took advantage of Simon’s distraction and stepped outside for some air and a quick ipe-down The sea air still carried the lateits way down the California coastline Breathing deep, as if she could wrap her araze to drift over the edge of the Pacific on the other side of Butterfly Harbor’s h stone cobble wound its way fro the beach fro Waves crashed onto the shoreline, stu over rocks and shells How she wished she could scuttle about and burrow into the protective sand like the countless her home
As Holly wiped her rag down the glass on the front door, she caught sight of the crowd headed her way and pushed open the door “Ursula! The Cocoon Club is here”
The aptly naroup of seniors who had lived in Butterfly Harbor froabbed their way inside the diner for their Saturday s of conversations that included fa in a Poke BBQ Festival, one of those “new” events the Cocoon Club had been assigned as a test run for the town’s October Butterfly Festival
These new traditions see the town’s 125th anniversary celebration next month
Holly did a quick wipe of the three hand-carved monarch butterflies fixed atop the frame of the diner door before she followed her customers inside
“Myra, your new hairstyle looks beautiful” Holly didn’t bother to handseats at their usual table in the corner of the diner “Eloise, are you trying a new nail color?”
“Tangerine ice” Eloise waggled her arthritic fingers “Matches my hair You like?”
“Very stylish” Holly nodded “Everyone getting their usual?”
Murmurs of assent echoed and Holly jotted down the seven iteh the door for her shift “Till bring your coffee and tea And one Dr Pepper,” Holly said as she smiled at Oscar, affectionately nicknas and a slab of ribs in the man’s hands, however, and he transformed into the Picasso of Pork
“Sa years” Ursula Stevens, the ex-navy short-order cook and diner fixture grumbled from across the order counter as Holly approached “You’d think they’d stretch their taste-bud boundaries I’y, cranky face wasn’t softened by the hairnet plastered to her skull
“As evidenced by your cheeseburger soup” Holly’s sto its own lunch as she reached for the overstock of napkins for the dispensers before starting on the sugar and sweetener packets “Youfirst of thethose dinner hours” She understood the need for econo to survive, changes had to be es interrupted her meticulous schedule and eroded the already precious time she had with Sier hoursnew staff, staff she couldn’t afford unless they stayed open seven days a week, which costshe didn’t have a life beyond her son and the diner
“You best be looking to hireno fourteen-hour days” So Ursula had started working at the diner after Holly’s grandht the place in the early seventies
“Way ahead of you” She’d stalled hiring new staff for as long as she could She’d have to sit down this weekend and crunch the nu to pay for ityet “We’ll figure it out” Holly didn’t kno to fail and she wasn’t about to learn now