She strode into the restaurant with the long-shot hope that someone might recognize her. The inside of Marge’s Diner matched the outside decor. Long, rough-hewn picnic tables filled with customers lined the room, everyone from families to a table of military members in uniforms—more flight suits to torment her imagination. Apparently the appeal of this place enticed people to drive a long way in crummy conditions.
Dishes clanked, and voices mingled. A family of five studied the daily specials posted on a chalkboard over the cash register. The board also listed instructions not to tattle, spit, pinch or pull ponytails.
Dee loved it. She unwrapped her scarf from around her head, a sense of utter rightness coaxing her to step farther inside. She needed a haven, some bit of peace to end a day that had stunk. “Oh, Jacob, this place is great. No wonder it’s packed.”
“I had a feeling you might like it. You’ll have to tell Marge when she brings our order.” Jacob followed the waitress as she pointed to the empty table for two in the back.
A table that waited just past a field of inquiring faces.
Nerves returning like a bad penny, Dee stumbled back a step. She couldn’t shake the notion that someone was staring at her. Maybe they all were.
When they found out about her amnesia, would they label her a liar as Jacob had initially? Or would they think her a nutcase? “Maybe we should order takeout and go back to the motel.”
“Fried walleye demands to be eaten while hot.”
As he guided her toward the table, Jacob offered nods and offhand greetings to people who called out and slapped him on the back.
A hulking tall man in a green flight suit pushed back from his table and stood. “Hey, Mako, everything must have gone okay at the base. I didn’t expect you’d be done so fast.”
Jacob stopped, placing a steadying hand between Dee’s shoulder blades. “Dee, this big guy is married to Doc Bennett. Bronco, this is Dee.”
She extended her hand, preparing for a crushing grip. Yet the aviator shook with a firm but not-too-tight clasp. She’d liked his wife and found she already liked the husband, too. “Your wife was very generous with her time today. I appreciate it more than I can say.”
“You’re with Mako. That makes you one of us and we take care of our own.”
How much did he know of her problem? She didn’t plan to put it out there and he politely didn’t ask.
Jacob turned to the other man at the table who was holding a fistful of French fries. “This is Crusty.”
The wiry guy cranked a megawatt grin as he dumped the fries back on his plate, swiped his hand across his flight suit and shook hers with an energetic pump. “Great to meet you. My wife is gonna be torqued that we all got to see you first. Well, and that we saw Mako, too. Maybe you can talk this fella into accepting one of our dinner invitations before he heads back to Charleston.”
Dee didn’t know what to say to all of that so she simply smiled in return. Within seconds the men were discussing the flight the two had just completed and Dee let herself relax. Then suddenly she didn’t feel so calm after all.
Back to Charleston. Somehow she’d forgotten what Emily said about Jacob being stationed somewhere else.
Panic bubbled in her stomach. How could she have become so dependent on a man she’d known for a day and a half? But her life consisted of just those few hours and he’d filled most of them.
She forced her breathing to even out while they finished their conversation. Then, thank goodness, Jacob powered ahead without pausing to give anyone else a chance to ask the questions stamped in their curious eyes. She shook off the uneasy sensation of being gawked at and charged forward.
He held the chair for her before settling across the table. She forced her hands to steady, reminded herself to relax.
With a fingernail, she flicked the edge of a menu that peeked from inside an old school primer. “Can we not tell people about my, uh, memory issue just yet? I don’t want that to be everyone’s first impression of me—crazy amnesiac lady.”
“Whatever lowers your stress level. I didn’t say anything to the guys over there, in case you were wondering. I spoke straightaway with the doc and she’ll keep patient confidentiality.”
“Thank you.” Dee stole another glance at the diner’s patrons and wondered if everybody would treat her problems with as much care as Jacob had.
Table by table, diners stopped staring and returned to their meals. Except for one group over by the potbellied stove soda dispenser. Emily was standing there, draped over a teenage boy. They were with a group of seemingly normal, everyday kids.
A fragment of Dee’s peace edged away. What kind of life did her own child have? Was she missed along with trips to the park and ice-cream parlor? Dee couldn’t decide which bothered her more—her child crying for her or not missing her at all.
Jacob drummed his straw against the table absently. “Let’s try a word association game.”
Anything sounded better than waiting around for her past to magically unveil itself. Of course, it also made her all the more vulnerable to Jacob. What would she reveal unwittingly? “Okay. Ready whenever you are.” Liar.
“Home.”
An empty hall echoed. “House.”