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One week ago, a drunk college kid flying down the mountain switchbacks like some kind of wannabe NASCAR driver lost control on a near ninety-degree turn and careened head-on into her parents’ Honda Accord All three lives were lost instantly Toni wasn’t heartless, she felt sadness over her parents’ passing, but their relationship was so strained, she felt soh it was the death of some distant relative, rather than the people who’d created her She’d o when they broke contact

They’d been the people ere supposed to love and support her, no matter what

No matter how bad she rebelled

Or screwed up

But they hadn’t They’d turned their backs on her when she’d needed theer, but now she’d inherited everything they owned including a hopping business And all the dae from the past had been a constant in her mind since she received the call from the police

“Toni? You still there?”

With a shake of her head, she pushed the old ghosts to the background for the ti Later, they’d probably creep back up on her, as they had been since she returned to her hometown, but she didn’t want any of her pain to bleed into the conversation with her uncle He’d be on a plane in a heartbeat, showing up to battle her demons “Sorry, I’m here What did you say?”

He chuckled in her ear “I asked how things were going at the diner?” Fifteen years her e to Toni than he’d been to his sister Toni had worshiped him like a beloved older brother her entire life A life that she pretty much owed to him and the fact that he loved her just as much

“We re-open tomorrow” She huffed “It’s only been closed seven days for the funeral and everything, and you’d think the apocalypse was upon this town”

“People like their pancakes”

Even though he couldn’t see her, she shrugged “I guess they do”

“Say what you want about your parents, but they kne to run a business and they kne to hire a daood chef”