Salzy frowned.“I don’t know the first thing about wine.”
“It’s not my go-to, but I enjoy a decent drop with a good meal.I did learn to appreciate it over the course of my career.”He picked up a bottle.“Hm, I’ll have to remember this.”
“Come on.Wait till you see the beer selection.”Salzy smiled over his shoulder at Jamie.“They have it divided up by country.”
“Holy cow,” Jamie exclaimed.“This is unreal.”He walked along the long wall of glass-doored coolers.“You weren’t kidding.”
“See anything you like?”Salzy pointed down the aisle.“Fancy some Japanese beer?”
“That Asahi isn’t too bad,” Jamie pointed out.“Not sure I’m in the mood for that.Let’s look at the German beers.”
They turned back and found the coolers with the German selection.“See anything you like?”Salzy asked.“I have to admit, I’m not familiar with any of these.”
“That one,” Jamie pointed out to a bottle on the top shelf.“Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier.Let’s see if we can get a case of that.”Jamie smiled at Salzy.“I think you’ll like it.I’ve had it a few times.I first had this at Oktoberfest in Northern Georgia.”
“There.”Salzy pointed to a case on the bottom shelf.“Damn, that ain’t cheap.”
Jamie opened the door and got a full case.“And I don’t care.Can you get a cart for this?”
Jamie set the case down on the floor to wait for Salzy.He looked around and saw what he was looking for.
“Here.”Salzy picked up the beer and put it in the cart.“Anything else?”
“Yep.”Jamie headed for the tequila.He pulled down a bottle of Cazcabel Blanco.“This is some good shit.”Jamie smiled at Salzy.“And yes, youaregoing to try it.”
Salzy dropped his chin to his chest.“I’m in for it now.”
They loaded up the beer in the back of the truck with the boxes while Jamie held the bottle of tequila.“I’m thinking pizza, beer, and tequila.”
“Okay.”Salzy looked at Jamie.“Only for you.I swore I’d never drink tequila in public again.I hope you’re prepared.”
“Oh, I’m looking forward to seeing you with tequila.And it won’t be in public.It’ll just be us.”Jamie smiled a full and genuine smile.“Things are looking up.”
When they pulled up to the diner, a big crane was manoeuvring a huge steel beam through the front of the diner.“Holy shit!”Jamie was out of the truck before Salzy could bring it to a full stop.He had to park it along the side of the road along with many other trucks of various sizes, colors, and models.
Jamie ran towards the front of the diner before a man who was working in an orange, fluorescent vest stopped him.“Hold up.You can’t go any further than this right now.”
“But—”
“No buts to it.It’s a safety issue.”
Jame glanced around at the side of the diner and sprinted towards the back.He nearly body-slammed into the back screen door before he managed to get it open.
Mike saw him first.“Stand back, Jamie.Let these guys do their thing.They’re true professionals.”
“What the hell?”Jamie’s eyes were so wide he was afraid they might pop right out of his head.“What happened to all the windows?And the door?”He made to take a step forward before Mike grabbed him by the shoulders, pulling him back.
“Don’t worry.We took them out to get the beam in.We’ll put them right back just the way they were.”
“Hi, Jamie.”Joesph hugged his friend.“You’re just in time to see the steel beam put into place.Isn’t it exciting?”
It took a bit of Joesph and Mike holding him back before he was able to piece together everything that was going on.There were men with ropes guiding the thick I-beam, all wearing hard hats and the same orange vests, Jamie now noticed had light reflective stripes.Another man was talking, feeding information to the crane operator.They were pulling, pushing, and oh so slowly, settling the new beam into place.To Jamie, it felt like time was all but standing still.
“They’ve almost got it now,” Mike said, his hands still on Jamie’s shoulders, only now standing behind him.“Once it’s in place they’ll weld it all together.That thing won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.”
Jamie noticed that the entire wall that had run the full width of the diner was gone.The kitchen and dining room were now one very large space.
“Uh...what happened to all the kitchen equipment?”Jamie asked, almost whispering as he watched the beam being pushed along with what looked like a forklift.
