“Yousipa martini,darling.”Joesph sat, holding the glass by the stem.
“How do you drink that?”
“Slowly.”Joesph looked over the rim.“Why don’t you take a deep breath and try to relax.”
Jamie closed his eyes, straightened his back, took a deep breath, and let it out deliberately.
“Hello, up there,” Salzy called out.“Want to come have a look at the dining room of the diner?”
Jamie stood immediately.Joesph doing so a little slower and a lot more calmly.“Yeah,” Jamie yelled, already moving towards the door.
“They’ve almost finished, and it looks amazing.”Salzy was smiling when he saw Jamie.“Holy cow.”
“Doesn’t he lookfabulous?”Joesph said from behind Jamie.
“Wow,” Salzy said again.“You look great.Hell, I might even consider dating you.”
“Really,” Jamie said, trying to be flirtatious.“Come here and give me a kiss, big boy.”Jamie stood on the last step, his mouth puckered up.
“Uh...Okay, maybe not.”Salzy took a step backwards.
Joesph busted out laughing as did Jamie.“The look on your face.Priceless,justpriceless,” Joesph said, pushing Jamie off the last step.“I wish I’d have had my phone out and at the ready.”
“Would you guys just come see?”Salzy turned towards the back door of the diner.“I think they did a good job.They were so fast and they got those huge rolls of cork down in a matter of minutes.”Salzy held the door open for them.“It took them longer to get the old floor up than it did to get the new one down.Wait till you see.”
Jamie stopped where the old door into the dining room from the kitchen used to be.“Damn.”He looked over his shoulder.“Can we walk on it?”
“Yep.Sure can.I asked the same thing.”Salzy passed Jamie.
“Oh yes...this ismarvellous,” Joesph said, obviously thrilled.“Just as I designed it.The pattern is spot on.”
“What pattern,” Jamie asked, his voice almost a whisper.“This is...better.I don’t even know how or what to say.”
“The pattern is supposed to look as if there is no pattern,” Joesph explained.“They are coming back tomorrow to finish?”He asked, turning towards Salzy.
“Yeah, they said they’d be finished in here tomorrow and then will help the other guys lay the tile floor in the kitchen.”
“I’m amazed.”Jamie walked around the space, seeing that there were sections closer to the wall that were yet to be done.“It looks so good.”He looked at Joesph.“You’re a miracle worker.Thank you.”He gestured around the room.“Mamaw would have loved this.”He felt himself tear up and shook himself hard.
“Oh, don’t you dare go and start crying.”Joesph held his friend close.“You don’t want to mess up that pretty face of yours.”
Jamie quickly wiped at his eyes and looked at Joesph.“I don’t know how to thank you, but...thank you.From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”
Joesph shrugged.“What are best friends for?”He looked around the room again.“It’s all starting to come together.It looks great.”
Salzy came over and hugged Jamie from the back while Joesph held him from the front, making a Jamie sandwich.“It looks amazing.Ms.Mattie would love it, and Mr.Solan would be screaming about how much it all cost.”
Jamie giggled and then laughed.“Papaw would have had a heart attack at what all this is costing.”
“Yes, but...It’s for the future, isn’t it?”Joesph asked softly.“The future, Jamie.Your future.”
“Hello?”Mike’s voice came from the back of the diner.
“We’re in here, handsome,” Joesph answered.“Come have a look.”
Jamie saw Mike as he crossed the threshold from the kitchen into the dining room.He was dressed in black jeans and a dress shirt that fit him like a glove, the color matching his eyes perfectly.Jamie let out a breath that he’d been holding from the minute he’d heard Mike’s voice.
“This looks incredible,” Mike said in his deep, soft baritone.He walked in a circle.“The colors are...perfect and it’s like walking on a sponge.”He looked at Jamie, Joesph, and Salzy, all huddled together.“Everything alright?”
