Chapter Twelve

 

With a few phone calls made to remove the smouldering carcasses of the machines the fire crew left. With an appreciative Summer and Elizabeth, who couldn’t believe their luck; good or bad.

Summer suddenly felt hungrier than ever. She felt appreciation for their remaining machines, the microwave and kettle. The two that hadn’t betrayed them. Elizabeth stared in disbelief still, Summer went and got their bags from the hall, “the Diner” they managed to share the idea at the same moment. they pulled their coats on headed off to the Diner.

The news of the fire seemed to have spread like wildfire ahead of them, they were stopped every few moments to ask how they were doing. Wildfire probably would have spread slower to be fair.

Arriving at Simon’s they were ushered in. Summer strode over to her favourite table, where she would usually have her books out to study. Not quite a real table, but a shelf with the spare stools tucked underneath. They could have their back to the diner and relax.

Simon seemed attentive for his standards, asked with concern for them and seemed rather impressed at Summer’s flame taming skills.

With a bit of food in them they finally managed to laugh about their suicidal appliances. While this was Summer’s evening off, she still spent the time in the Diner.

Summer began to talk about her afternoon before the implosions. Elizabeth listened to Summer talk about the draw and what she found inside. The thoughts of the talk slipped Elizabeth’s mind and Summer was in no mood to remind her. She was just happy for a lucky escape.

The next few days were spent eating out at the Diner but that didn’t stop Summer from spending stolen free moments going through the files. She had discovered strange stories from Archie that left her smiling. Funny stories about things he had seen, family dinners, just odd little things that made him that much more real.

Elizabeth didn’t share the same curiosity around her draw just yet. She had buried herself in learning new skills, trying to practice new things with Caroline after the bakery was cleaned and tidied, they practiced new ideas after her shift.

(Skip waiting for me to post and order the book here )