Free 5 A Bad Egg by Jessica Beck Page B

that you’ve been running this grill for a long time,” I said. “Does
it ever get old for you?”
    “I don’t
imagine how it could. Every order’s different, isn’t it?” Mom said as she
deftly flipped three pancakes with her spatula, each one making a perfect
landing on the hot griddle. I’d tried to make pancakes once, and they’d been an
unmitigated disaster. There was a great deal more art to flipping than I’d
realized, and I’d decided to leave them to the experts after that.
    “I don’t know.
There are at least a dozen diners who order the exact same thing every time
they walk through the door. I personally couldn’t eat the same thing every day
of my life.”
    “I don’t
know. There’s comfort in finding something you like,” she said as she removed
the finished pancakes, glanced at the order I’d put in line, and added three
pieces of bacon to the plate fresh from the grill. “There you go.”
    “Thanks,” I
said.
    “Would you
like me to deliver that order?” Ellen asked, though it was clear that she had no
interest whatsoever in dropping off this particular order.
    “I’ve got it.
Why don’t you extend your break a little until he’s gone?”
    Ellen shook
her head. “No thanks. No one’s going to keep me back here, not even the
police.” With a firm step, she walked to the counter and grabbed the pancakes
before I could get to them. “On second thought, I’ll deliver these myself.”
    “You don’t
have to do that,” I said.
    “As a matter
of fact, I do.” She put on a brave face, and then Ellen walked through the
kitchen door into the dining room.
    “I’m going to
follow her,” I said.
    “Victoria,
don’t interfere. She has to do this herself.”
    “Maybe so,
but that doesn’t mean that I can’t keep an eye on her.”
    I walked
through the kitchen, and I saw that though Ellen had dropped off the sheriff’s
order, she stayed close by him. They were talking about something, and I didn’t
like the fact that the sheriff had apparently disobeyed Rebecca’s request.
    “Is there
something I can help you with?” I asked.
    “No, it’s
fine,” Ellen said. “We were just talking about the weather.”
    “Was that all you were discussing?”
    “Honest, that
was it,” the sheriff said as he held his knife and fork up in the air.
    “Okay, but
I’ve got my eye on you,” I said.
    He actually laughed
as he responded, “Victoria, I’d be disappointed in you if you didn’t. Tell your
mother the pancakes are spectacular, as usual.”
    “I will,” I
said. “Ellen, it looks like Karen is ready for her bill.” Karen Morgan was our
local clerk of court, and she had started eating regularly at the diner lately.
Some folks were like that, turning from infrequent customers to steady ones for
a while, and then tapering off again. I never knew if it was because of our
cooking or something going on in their lives, and it wasn’t exactly a question
that I could come right out and ask them. For now, at least, she was getting to
be something of a regular, and I knew that her time was limited during lunch
hour, so it was important that we be prompt.
    “I’m on it,”
Ellen said.
    As she
delivered the bill, I waved at her to ring Karen up so I could talk to the
sheriff in somewhat kind of private. “Are you behaving yourself?”
    “Mostly,” the
sheriff said. “You know that I pride myself on being a man of my word. I won’t
ever do anything I’ve agreed not to. You don’t have to worry about me.”
    “I’m not
questioning your ethics,” I said. “I’m just looking out for Ellen.”
    “Don’t you
think I know that?” The sheriff took another bite, and then he pushed his plate
away, though there was still a fair amount of pancakes there. “That’s it for
me. I’d better quit while I can.”
    “Would you
like me to wrap what’s left up for later?” I asked.
    “Don’t tempt
me,” he said as he slid a ten under his plate. “I’ve got to be going. Thank
your