Chapter 2

The owners, Sam and Susan Myrtle, had wanted to promote from within. They lived a couple of streets from the diner and were tired of being on their feet day and night, now that they were close to seventy. Their adult kids hadn’t been interested in continuing the family tradition either. Still, the Myrtles visited the diner a few times a month, and the regulars asked after them all the time.

The day manager, Hortencia Valdez, was a sixty-something divorcee who had no use for men or women in her life, according to her, and was happy spending her days with the hustle and bustle of people coming and going, listening to their troubles, easing their pain, sharing their joys. She was a looker, too, and had had many an offer, from what I’d seen and overheard. Hortencia lorded it over everyone, including the staff, and they let her, gladly, because she was a kind soul. I loved her to pieces, as a friend.