Closing his eyes, he allowed the fatigue to pull him under.
Bolting upright in bed, Joseph looked around. The early light of dawn shone through the slats of the blinds, and for a moment, he had trouble remembering where he was. Even with as many places as he’d traveled, he usually woke instantly, knowing his surroundings. But having slept so soundly all through the night, he blinked in confusion while feeling completely refreshed.
He scraped his hand over his face, a smile hinting at the edges of his lips. He tossed the covers back and headed into the bathroom. Taking care of business, he dressed in his standard uniform of jeans, T-shirt, and boots. Walking through the living room, he grabbed his leather jacket, keys, and wallet, then headed down the stairs and through the shop. First order of business… breakfast.
Eschewing his bike, he decided to walk but determined to move his bike to the alley later so that he’d be able to use the back stairs. The light of day gave evidence to a street full of little shops, a bank, lots of businesses, and a library. He spied the green awning with the sign of Jillian’s Coffeehouse & Galleria, but as he neared, his steps slowed. Peering through the window, he could see people bustling around, greeting each other, laughing, talking, and sitting at small tables crowded together. Not my scene.
He turned and headed in the other direction toward Stuart’s Pharmacy. Entering, he discovered it was exactly what he’d hoped for. A small-town drugstore with the pharmacy in the back, aisles filled with items to purchase on the right, and a small diner on the left with booths and tables.
Sliding into the last red vinyl-covered booth, he barely had a chance to look at the menu before a matronly server in a pink uniform popped by. She was already pouring coffee before he had a chance to speak. Her gray hair was teased and sprayed into a bouffant, barely moving as her head bobbed when she greeted him warmly.
“Hey, sugar, I’m Doneeta, and I’ll be serving you today. Well, today and any other day you come in for breakfast. I don’t even ask anyone if they want coffee anymore. Been doing this job for over twenty years and never met somebody who didn’t want coffee in the morning! Course, some people prefer tea, but I figure a big boy like you would want his strong coffee.”
Startled at her greeting, he nodded his thanks. “I’ll take your breakfast special. Extra-large.”
“I’m not surprised. A boy your size has gotta fill up in the morning. My Harvey, God rest his soul, was a big man. He liked a breakfast that would get him going in the morning.” She leaned down and winked. “Marlene ended up ordering too much bacon along with the sausage this week. Since you’re getting a breakfast special, we’ll throw them both onto the plate!”
He nodded his thanks again, and she bustled off to pour more coffee. He’d barely taken a sip of the hot, strong brew when his seat was jostled. Jerking his head around, his gaze landed on Jason, followed closely by Zac. He jumped to his feet, greeting Zac the same way he was greeted by Jason the previous evening. After hugs and back slaps, the two men slid into the booth across from him.
Jason yelled out, “Doneeta, make that two more of whatever this guy is having!”
“You got it, sugar! Lordy, Lordy, Marlene! We’re going to get rid of all that extra bacon!”
Grinning, Joseph shook his head and focused his attention on his friends. Zac’s dark hair was still trimmed short, swept to the side. The familiar, easy-going smile was on his face, and Joseph wondered if it was due to being out of the Navy, having a job he enjoyed, or being married. Hell, probably all three.
“I can’t believe you’re actually here, man,” Zac enthused, his smile wide and eyes roaming over Joseph’s face. “What have you been up to?”
“Traveling. Working. I’d stay awhile somewhere and then get the urge to move on.”
“And home?” Zac prodded.
Snorting, he shook his head. “What home?” The last thing he wanted to do was talk about the place where he grew up. If the look on his face wasn’t enough to let someone know that was a conversation he wasn’t going to have, he felt sure the tone of his voice certainly gave evidence. But he didn’t have to worry about these two.
That was probably why they’d become friends in the first place. He and Zac met when they worked on the same ship as Navy firefighters. Jason came around soon after as a mechanic. Somehow, the three of them bonded one night in a port after getting rip-roaring drunk. Zac talked about his mother’s death and his father’s alcoholism. Jason’s parents had been killed while he was in the middle of the ocean on a Navy vessel. Joseph spilled his guts about his relationship with his parents. It might have seemed fucked up, but the three of them had been friends ever since.
“Well, you won’t find a better place to call home than Baytown,” Zac said, leaning back in his seat, drumming his fingers on the tabletop.
“Not looking for a place to call home, guys. Just looking for a chance to reconnect with old friends and a place to put my head at night for a while until I feel the urge to move on.”
Jason held his gaze. “I’m telling you, Joseph, this place will get into your blood. You think it’s just one of your many stopping points on your travels? It’ll be hard to say goodbye.”
He looked up in gratitude as Doneeta interrupted by placing their plates onto the table. He was starving, but he also wanted to halt the conversation that he knew wouldn’t come true for him. Fuckin’ happy endings were for others.
For several minutes, the three shoveled in the supersized breakfast special. Eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits and gravy, grits, hash brown potatoes, and Doneeta kept the coffee coming. When their plates were finally clean, the three men leaned back and groaned in satisfaction.
“Jason tells me that you’d like to volunteer with the fire department,” Zac began.
“It’s something I can do, and I’m more than happy to help.”
Jason leaned forward, his forearms now resting on the table. “I talked to Rose last night after I got home, and she had an idea. Actually, I can’t believe I didn’t think of it at the beginning. Since I only need some tattoo work on the weekends, and right now I have two mechanics working for me in the garage bays, where I need help is an extra person to run the tow truck. When a call comes in now, one of them has to stop working on a vehicle. And I’m telling you, calls for the tow truck come in all the time.”
Joseph nodded slowly, liking that idea of staying busy. “I got no problem driving a tow truck. I’ve also got some mechanical knowledge from some of the jobs I’ve done. I worked on oil field machinery and the engine of the shrimp boat I was on for a while.” Chuckling, he added, “Hell, when I worked at the whiskey distillery in Tennessee, I helped them with their ancillary equipment.”
A bark of laughter erupted from Zac. “Damn, you always could pick up something easily. If somebody showed you how it worked one time, that was it… you nailed it.”
“You were the smartest person I’d ever met,” Jason said, his eyes twinkling with mirth. “I always thought it was funny that you’re such a fuckin’ genius and loved hiding it.”
He scowled and mumbled, “Not hiding it. Just not fuckin’ flaunting it.”