Page 9 of A Seer and Present Danger

He hadn’t left a tip which, yeah, it didn’t take a seer to see that coming.

Still, a little future flickered:

Kenny angry. And a teddy bear?

I chuckled and gathered up their dishes.

Some of the little futures were ridiculous. I was glad that not all of the futures I saw came true.

The day went by quickly. By the time I took over half of Shelly’s tables, and Aggie took the other half (I was pulling a double shift, Aggie was pulling one and a half shifts), it was dark, and Stalker ex-Bossman was gone.

A future flash showed me Gail coming back, alone, for a late dinner, so I cleared a booth for her.

Yep. She stumbled in about five minutes later, eyes red from crying. I got her settled.

“Can I get you a nice cup of tea?”

She nodded and used the napkin to wipe her eyes. “Yes, and a slice of the apple pie.”

“Dessert before dinner. Good choice.”

“He can’t tell me what to do. He’s leaving? Then he’s going to pay for it.”

“Kenny?” I asked.

She blinked and seemed surprised I’d heard her. “No. No…my almost-ex. It’s nothing. He’s nothing.”

“That’s the spirit! Want a bowl of whipped cream on the side of that pie?”

“Plus extra whip on top.”

“Coming right up.” I left her with a menu even though I knew she was going to order a cup of soup she wasn’t going to eat and another slice of pie which she would.

“What’s that about?” Aggie asked when we both ended up at the coffee station.

“Mad at her ex. You okay?”

“What do you mean?”

“Just you know, the whole stalker-boss thing.”

“He’s a big fat nothing. I never want to think of him again.”

I laughed. “Great attitude. Well, look at that. Kenny’s back. Wonder if he’s going to sit with Gail.”

“Why do we care?”

I realized she wasn’t up on the gossip that he and Gail were getting together even though Gail was still married to Hugo. My best friend Jules kept me in the loop on stuff like that, but I never felt like I should share other people’s business.

“Oh, you know,” I said. “They were here for lunch earlier. He’s not much of a tipper. I’ll take him.”

I met Kenny at the front and gave him a smile. “One tonight?”

“Yes. Alone.” He had that glassy-eyed, sweaty look that made me think he’d had a drink or two and shouldn’t be driving.

“Right over here. I’ll get you coffee to start.”

Kenny ordered the biggest steak and potatoes we had on the menu and ignored Gail, who (as I’d expected) ordered more pie and whipped cream and ignored him right back.