Page 4 of A Seer and Present Danger

“No? But it happens today, I think. Something about the futures made me think it would happen today.”

She pulled out her phone and stood. “Good enough for me. Delaney’s meeting me here for lunch. We’ll put the fire department on alert.”

Yancy stood too. “Thank you.”

“Hey, it’s my pleasure.”

“Piper,” Aggie, our newest employee, leaned out the back door. “Time’s up. You have tables waiting. That pale man is here.”

Aggie was in her forties, white, and built with strong arms and shoulders that made me think she worked out. She had a thin hook of a nose, a sharp chin, and her dark hair was pulled back in a messy bun.

She narrowed her eyes, watching Jean and Yancy walk away. “I thought only we were allowed to use the break area.”

“We are!” I said cheerily. “But it’s okay if friends stop by. Aggie, you’ve only been here a few days⁠—”

“A week.”

“Wow. Time flies! Has anyone showed you where the fire extinguishers are?”

“No. Why?”

I laughed. “This is precautionary only. It should be a standard part of our training manual, which I’m sure Buzz will get around to writing in his spare time. So that should be done in a decade or so.”

I walked into the diner and she followed.

I recognized most of the crowd. Some of them, like Jame and Fawn (both werewolves and part of the Wolfe family who owned the rock quarry) and Gabriel the locksmith (elf) were regulars from Ordinary. The rest were truckers and travelers who often stopped in.

And of course, there was Than, the god of Death himself. He sat in a booth, his dark gaze locked onto the menu in his hands. He was wearing expensive black slacks and shiny black shoes. His short-sleeved shirt was white with what I wanted to say were sketches of cows in boats.

“Fire extinguishers here by the back door and there, and there, and there.” I pointed. “Couple big ones in the kitchen too.”

“Thanks. I’m up for break now. Can you handle this mob?”

I took another look at the customers. Sure, it was busy, but it wasn’t that busy.

“Totally! Go. Enjoy!”

I stepped into action. Little futures bubbled into my brain and kept me one step ahead of the coffee refills, extra sodas, napkins, and a mop to clean up the mint chocolate milkshake that went whipped-over-cherry onto the floor.

Then I sauntered over to Than. I’d been right. His shirt was covered in bulls standing in boats. It was a bull ship shirt. I wondered if he got the joke.

“What can I get you today?”

He didn’t look up from the menu. “Applesauce.”

I waited a moment. “Just applesauce?”

His gaze ticked up and one eyebrow lifted. “Is it not customary to order this fruit sauce?”

“Oh, no. Lots of people order it. But it usually comes as a side dish with lunch or a dinner or a kid’s meal.” I grinned waiting to see what he would do.

“I will take hot water.”

“Applesauce and hot water. Got it. Anything else?”

“Tell me, is the sauce fresh?”

“Yes.”