Free Just Cause Universe 2: The Archmage by Ian Thomas Healy Page A

about it with a complete stranger?”
    Sally smiled sadly. “That’s okay,” she said, taking a sip of her lukewarm chocolate. “You’ve got other customers and stuff. I’ll just finish this and be on my way.”
    “Suit yourself, hon, but you’re the only one left and all I got left to look forward to is doing dishes… and I’ve done enough of them in my life to know they ain’t in any hurry to get done any sooner.”
    Sally looked around to see that sure enough, she and Hazel were alone in the diner.
    “You mind if I sit down for a few minutes?” The older woman slid into the seat across from Sally without waiting for an invitation. “ Lord, that feels good. I been runnin’ all day and this is the first chance I get to sit. I recognize you from your picture in the paper. You’re the one named after a song. What’s it again?”
    “ Mustang Sally .”
    “That’s right. I always liked that song. Well, Miss Sally, what brings you all the way out here to the middle of nowhere? Let me guess… man troubles.”
    Sally lowered her eyes. “Is it that obvious?”
    “Believe me, I’ve had enough of my own to know what they look like on someone else’s face.”
    “I caught my boyfriend cheating on me.” Sally’s voice quivered a little as she admitted aloud what she’d seen.
    “Hmmm…” she said. “Well he must be blind or stupid, because anyone could see you’re a real peach .”
    For some reason, the term struck Sally as funny. “Got any words of wisdom for me, Hazel?”
    “Honey, I could write a book with all my words of wisdom. Problem is, folks who really need them ain’t bright enough to buy a book and I’d still be waiting tables here.”
    “Oh, I don’t know,” said Sally. “You’ve got a way with words.”
    “They ain’t none of them that haven’t been said a thousand times before.” She smiled confidently. “For example… if you love someone, set them free . You heard that before, right?” Sally nodded. “And if he returns, he’s yours forever. If he doesn’t, he never was. That’s plain and simple. Took me a couple of husbands before I took that one to heart.”
    “So I should just let him go? Let him get his jollies with someone else?”
    “This boyfriend of yours… how old is he?”
    “He’s almost twenty.”
    “Then he’s young enough he don’t know what he wants yet. He probably won’t know when he’s twice that age. Boys that age ain’t thinking with their brains , if you catch my meaning.”
    Sally smiled a little. “I can be guilty of that myself.”
    Hazel burst out laughing. “Oh, honey, we’re all guilty of that! That’s something the Lord gave us to remind us we ain’t much better than the animals. But He gave us the ability to control it, and that’s what makes us human.”
    “I guess so.”
    Hazel leaned forward. “Listen, hon. In any relationship, one person is always begging the other. You can be the one doing the begging, or you can be the one in control. Took me a couple more husbands to figure that one out.”
    “So you’re saying I should make him beg?”
    “What I’m saying is that if he truly loves you, you won’t have to make him beg. He’ll do it all on his own. You just have to give the boy some time to understand his own mind. Now do you want him back?”
    She thought for a few seconds. “Yes,” she decided. “Yes I do.”
    “Then you just give it a little time and see what happens. Let him go. He’ll decide whether he wants to beg for you or not. And if he’s got a smart bone in his body, he’ll beg.”
    “Because I’m a peach.” Sally chuckled. She didn’t feel very much like one; to borrow one of Jack’s favorite vulgarities, she felt more like ten pounds of shit in a five pound bag.
    “ Ex actly.”
    She finished her chocolate, which was very good in spite of not being warm anymore. “Thanks, Hazel. I guess I did need someone to talk to.”
    “Well… we ladies got to stick together,” said Hazel as she