Dwayne’s words even though they were in the past still played through her mind threatening to swallow her whole. She was overweight, and had been when she first met Dwayne in college. At the time she’d been studying business, and instead of finishing her degree, she quit to help him. She’d become one of those women who she screamed at the television to open her eyes to the monster.
In the beginning he’d start by calling her fat, or lard ass, or something more that hurt, but she ignored it. He was her boyfriend, and he said he loved her. It hadn’t been long until the name calling had turned to violence. She met Dwayne when she was twenty, and it took her five years until she finally left his cheating, abusive ass. She’d not sneaked away either. Even though she had been petrified, she had packed her bags, to which he laughed, saying she’d be back. Six months later she was back home, and she wondered if he was still laughing.
The sound of the doorbell going had her turning around to find several customers entering. They gave her a smile, and she finished the pot of salt. Wiping her hands, she grabbed the notepad and pencil, walking toward the table. She took the order, promising to be back with coffee.
I can do this.
She placed the order on the roundtable, telling Teri she had an order.
“That wasn’t too bad, right?” Teri asked, taking the slip of paper.
“One customer I can handle. Well, two customers.” She moved toward the coffeepot. Once the customers had their coffee filled, she moved away to finish her jobs. It wasn’t long before the bell started to go off over and over again.
With each new customer, she took a deep breath, and did the job. She was not shy of hard work.
A couple of the customers recognized her, and tried to catch up. Grace was happy to have the excuse of dealing with customers so she didn’t have to answer them. Teri kept up with the orders, and she was surprised how smoothly everything ran.
When the bell went again, and she spotted leather clad men, Grace stopped. Looking outside the window she saw several bikes parked there.
Running her hands down her apron, she tried to mentally prepare herself for dealing with the deadly looking bikers. She had imagined them looking greasy and giving out lewd looks to women. The name, Dirty Fuckers, it didn’t do them justice, not at all.
They were far from dirty, and as for fuckers, well, she guessed they screwed a lot.
Teri came out of the kitchen and walked over to her.
“Come on, I’ll introduce you to the owners of the diner.” She took Grace’s hand, practically draggin
g her over to them before she could say anything. “Hey, guys, I’d like you to meet Grace Stewart. She’s my newest waitress.”
Grace held her hand up. What was she supposed to say?
“That’s James and Cora. He’s the Prez. There is Pixie, Leo, Paul, Jerry, Drake, Caleb, and oh, Chloe is just pulling up with Kitty Cat. Not all of the guys are here, but I imagine they’ll show up at some point. Don’t let them scare you.”
Teri then moved away as if she hadn’t just handed her over to a bunch of wolves.
Holding onto her notepad for dear life, she tried her best to smile at the men. “What can I get you?”
“I know you,” Cora said, pointing at her. “You used to live here, right?”
“Yep.”
“What happened to your parents?” Cora asked.
Her cheeks heating, Grace held the notebook close to her. “They, erm, they died in a plane crash.” It was one of the reasons she’d left town to go to college out of state. She hated the pitying looks, and everyone knowing her business.
“That’s right, Stewart, I recognized the name, and of course, you haven’t changed much.”
Grace smiled. She recognized Cora as well, but she hadn’t known much about her. “What do you do now?” Grace asked as it seemed the polite thing to do.
“I’m a secretary at the high school now. Stacey, I think she taught you history?”
“Yes, she did.” She remembered. Cora had visited her history teacher.
“It’s nice to see you again. Can I get you anything?” That’s it, Grace, remember to serve.
“The breakfast casserole for me.”
Scribbling down Cora’s food, she then dealt with the rest of the table’s orders before heading toward Teri, who was already waiting.