GUNMAN

This lady has turned bat shit crazy, I thought as I sat across from Evelynn. The past few times that I have come back to Vancouver on a visit, I haven’t seen her due to her taking over Shrevport House Inc., but as I sat here I realized that maybe it was for the best.

With it being Spring break, I truly had no intentions on coming up for a visit. My dad was supposed to bring Miya to me for break so that I got to spend time with her while taking the time to relax from the school load I always have, but Mrs. Washel had told my dad there was something she needed to speak with me about, and that it was important that I come up here for Spring break.

And somehow, here I am waiting for Mrs. Washel while sitting with Evelynn as she gives me a contract proposal. A contract that she should know I want no part in, since she helped me get out of my last.

She looks overworked, and as if she has barely had any sleep in months. The bags under her eyes are prominent, and she no longer looks like how I remember her. For years she always looked like a respectable business woman, always looking her best.

Now? She looks as though she is burnt out and tired, and sounds as though she has absolutely lost her mind. She belongs in a nuthouse, there is no doubt about it.

“It’s as simple as that,” Evelynn said with a halfhearted smile. I stared between her and the stack of papers, annoyed and completely dumbfounded. How could she possibly say that it’s as simple as that, when she knows that it is quite the opposite?

“I’m sorry,” I replied, refusing to look at her, and hoping that Mrs. Washel would come over at any moment. It’s been nearly two years since I’ve stepped foot into D’s Diner, and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t give me memories of Addison, and a tiny bit of nostalgia. Some good, some bad. I did, however, refuse to sit at the table in the back where Addie and I used to sit. “But I’m going to have to pass, I don’t want to get wrapped up in something like that again when I fought so hard to get out of it. You, above anyone else, should understand that.”

I looked at the front counter, and finally saw Mrs. Washel appear from the back and felt a wave of relief come over me. With someone else here, Evelynn wouldn’t be able to talk about the contract.

“I think I’ll be able to change your mind,” she replied as she stood up. I was given a smile that gave me chills as she looked directly into my eyes. She left the contract on the table face down in front of me as she started to walk away. “I’ll see you again soon.” The smile she gave me made me get an uneasy feeling as Mrs. Washel walked over.

What did she mean she thought she would be able to change my mind?

I stood up as Mrs. Washel approached, a smile spread across her lips. “Oh, Hunter, it’s so nice to see ya again.” She pulled me in for a hug, and I smiled trying to push the conversation with Evelynn in the back of my mind.

I didn’t want to think about what she could possibly be planning. Regardless, I wasn’t here for her anyhow, I was here for Mrs. Washel, and then getting Miya to take her back to Portland for the week before I needed to get back in gear for school again.

Hugging her back, I smiled. She was like a grandma to me, even though I never got to meet my own. Nonetheless, she loved Miya and I the way I imagined a grandparent would. “It’s nice seeing you again, too, Mrs. Washel. I missed the diner more than I’d like to admit.”

She sat down across from me, and looked at me with eyes full of love. “What all have ya been up to? How’s college goin’? Are you eating right?It’s hard to make sure you’re okay when you move away and rarely visit.”

I laughed as she asked her questions one after the other. I’m sure it’s all of the same questions my mother would have asked, had she been given the chance. “Yes, yes I’m eating right, I cook almost every night. College is decent, and I haven’t been up to too much. I made a couple of new friends though.”

“That’s exciting!” She replied with a smile. I never made friends growing up, even if I tried. Addison was the only friend I ever truly had. So I’m sure that her hearing the fact that I have a couple of friends now brings her some peace. “What are their names?”

I smiled back at her, leaning back a little in my seat. “Adalynne and Alexander. They’re siblings. Adalynne is in some of my classes, and her brother is pretty cool.”

“Don’t go searching for Addison in Adalynne,” she said as her smile faded slightly. “However, you should bring them by some time.”

I don’t know where she got the idea that I could even be looking for Addie in someone else, but perhaps it was the similarity in name. I could see where she would get it from, but no one would ever come close to Addison, she was pure gold in my eyes. No one could ever come close to being Addison Michelle Shaw.

“I do need to ask ya something,” she continued. “It’s rather important.”

I looked at her as she spoke. I could tell by the tone her voice carried that it may have had something to do with her. “Is everything okay? Are you okay?”

“I’m getting old,” she said as her facial features softened. Her hair was a grey like color, and she had wrinkles all over her body. She was old, but that never stopped her from doing anything. She’s truthfully the most stubborn woman I have ever met. “And I don’t want this diner to completely disappear after I’m gone.”

“I don’t see the diner ever disappearing, Mrs. Washel,” I replied, looking around.

She had customers who have been coming here for years, and others who had just come in the day before for the first time. Business was never terribly slow. “Everyone loves this diner.”

“Yes, I know. However, I don’t have anyone I could trust as much as you with the diner. You love it just as much as I do. I don’t want my life’s work to fall into the wrong hands.” She reached for my hands and held them in hers the way a grandma would, or at least how I’m assuming a grandma would.

“What are you referring to?” I asked, puzzled. Surely, she did have someone she could trust with the diner more than me. I haven’t even been here for nearly a year and a half due to being away at college.

“Hunter,” she laughed slightly as she spoke. “I want you to have the diner. I have all the paperwork for it, we just need tah go over it and sign it. Free of charge.”

I felt the shock cover my face as my eyes widened. I don’t think I’d ever be capable of running a diner, much less one that she has had for nearly sixty years. “Surely you have someone in your family-”

“Nonsense,” Mrs. Washel replied. “No one is more worthy. You grew up in this diner. Your mother even loved the diner, and really, think she loved it more than I. Please, if you will, take over for me. Hire who you need to to keep it up while you’re away at college.”

“And you’re sure you want me to have it?” I got anxious thinking about being a business owner, but surely, everything was paid off. And maybe with owning the diner, Evelynn would leave me alone about the contract because she would see that my hands were tied between this and college. “I rarely am able to come home for a visit, I don’t know how much of the diner I’d truly be able to help with.”

“Absolutely,” her smile brightened as she spoke.

“Then let's get the paperwork, if you truly think I can do it,” I replied, smiling back. Besides, this diner holds a piece of Addison in it, pieces that I otherwise would never be able to get back because they’re all memories now. Pieces of my mother that I’ve only just grown to get to know.