“And for you, Terry?”
“I’ll have the catfish too, and also iced tea, extra lemon if it’s not too much trouble?”
“Not at all.”Florence wrote down the order.“And I’ll tell you now that Jamie’s apple pie is the best I’ve ever had.”
“I’ll take your word for it.I hope all that comes with biscuits?”Harold asked, folding his hands on the table.
“Yes, it sure does, and corn bread.”
“Excellent.”
“I’ve heard rumours that Jamie’s biscuits are even better than Ms.Mattie’s?”
Florence looked skyward.“I’m sorry Ms.Mattie, but they’re right.Your grandson makes better biscuits.”
“I find that hard to believe,” Harold said.Florence noticing that there was a slight tremor in the old man’s hands.
“It’s true, Harold.You’ll see.”Florence bent over and kissed Harold’s cheek.“Let me go and get your orders in.”
Harold held his hand to where Florence had kissed him, a dreamy look on his face.
Florence clipped the small green ticket on the order wheel.“Order in.”
Walter called it out, and Timmy and then Dexter repeated what the order was for their respective station.
Florence came into the kitchen.“Jamie, Mr.Hanson is here with Terry.”She got a breadbasket and started to place biscuits and corn bread into it.She looked over towards her new boss.“I thought you might like to say hello.I don’t even know how old he is now.Got to be in his nineties.”
Jamie smiled.“He’s got to be.He was old even when I was a kid.”
Salzy’s face froze.His hands stopped peeling potatoes.“Terry’s here?”
Florence stopped herself from pushing into the dining room and looked at Salzy.“Oh, I see now.”She smiled broadly at him.
“I’ll go and say hello.”Jamie took off the apron and wiped his hands on a towel.“I don’t know that I’ve ever met Terry.”
“Oh man,” Salzy moaned as he looked down at himself.He was a mess.
Jamie laughed.“Don’t worry, you’ll be able to see her first thing in the morning when you go and get paint.”
Salzy smiled.“Okay.Cool.Just tell her I said hello.”
“Hey, Salzy, could you wrap up that dough and put it in the walk-in for me?”
“Yes sir, Sir.”Salzy saluted.
“Oh brother.”Jamie shook his head before pushing through the swinging door.
By the time Jamie went into the dining room, the place was almost full, and the parking lot looked packed.I need to take a closer look at that.He greeted Mr.Hanson and his great-granddaughter.There were others in the dining room who wanted to say hello to him, too.It was a good thirty minutes before he got back to the kitchen.
“What took you so long?”Salzy asked as he covered the large bowl of peeled potatoes in plastic wrap.
“He’s Mister Popularity,” Hazel answered, standing at the bread station.“Everyone wants to see him.”
“I don’t know about all that, now.”Jamie looked at the sheet of paper that he’d taped down on his workbench.Only one more thing to do on his list for the night.
“Hey, Jamie,” Florence called from the drinks area.“You gonna have a fan club special?”She laughed.
Jamie rolled his eyes.
