The diner closed at nine. At nine twelve, Eli was still in the booth by the window, checking a phone with no signal.
Outside, rainwater dripped from the edge of the awning. The last customer had left a few minutes earlier, carrying a paper bag against his chest. Now there was only Eli, the woman behind the counter, and a refrigerator that rattled whenever everything else went quiet.
His car was two miles up the road, outside a repair shop. The mechanic had offered to look at it first thing in the morning. Eli’s brother had offered to come get him. That had been almost an hour ago.
“Your ride coming?” the woman behind the counter asked.
“He said he was on his way.”
She glanced at the clock. Eli reached for his coat.
“I can wait outside.”
“No rush. I’ve still got half a pot.”
She lifted the coffee pot to show him, as if the amount remaining settled the question. He let go of his coat.
“You sure?”
“I’ve got silverware to wrap. You can supervise.”
She brought over two cups and sat across from him. Between them she placed a basket of clean forks and knives, a stack of paper napkins, and a handful of thin paper bands. Outside, a truck slowed at the entrance, then kept going.
Eli watched its red taillights disappear around the bend.
“Wrong truck?”
“Wrong brother, probably.”
She smiled and began rolling a fork and knife into a napkin. Her fingers folded the corners without any help from her eyes.
“My brother used to do that,” she said. “Tell you he was leaving before he’d found his shoes.”
Eli laughed. “That sounds about right.”
He picked up a napkin. She slid the basket toward him.
“He said twenty minutes,” Eli said. “I should’ve asked which twenty.”
He had already worked out what he would say when his brother arrived. Something about phones working in both directions. Something about twenty minutes being an actual amount of time. In his head, his brother looked sorry and had no answer. In real life, he would probably offer to fix the car himself.
His first bundle came out loose, with the knife slipping through the bottom. The woman took it apart and showed him where to fold. He tried again. This time it held.
Her name was Ruth. It was written on the receipt beside his empty plate, but she told him anyway. He told her his, and they worked through the silverware. Every few bundles, she stood to put something away. Eli stopped checking his phone each time she moved.
“You from around here?” she asked.
“Used to be. I’m in Knoxville now.”
“Visiting?”
“My niece turned six. I was supposed to help put a basketball hoop together.”
“Supposed to?”
“My car had other plans.”
The box was still in his trunk, beside a yellow gift bag. His brother had sent him a picture that afternoon: a small girl in a paper crown, standing in the driveway with a basketball almost as wide as her shoulders.
“There’s a rabbit in the car, too,” he said. “Stuffed. I bought it before I knew about the basketball.”
The last time he’d seen her, she had needed help putting on her coat. Now she could spell his name, and she’d written it herself on the invitation.
“She’ll like both,” Ruth said.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You looked worried about the rabbit.”
He laughed again and turned his cup by the handle. On the wall beside the kitchen, a calendar showed a lake surrounded by green hills. It was still open to August. Under it hung a child’s drawing of the diner, with purple windows and a sun bigger than the roof.
“Granddaughter?” he asked.
“Health inspector.”
He looked at her. She kept wrapping.
“Yes. Granddaughter.”
They finished the basket. Ruth carried it behind the counter and switched off the light above the empty pie case. Eli slipped into his coat. Through the window he could see the rain had stopped, though water still ran along the curb. He could stand under the awning. His brother would see him from the road.
Then his phone found enough signal to light up. Another twenty minutes. His brother had started out, realized the child’s car seat was in the other car, and gone back. Beneath the explanation was a second message: She wanted to come get you.
Eli read that one twice. He typed, Tell her I’ve got her rabbit. Then he turned the phone facedown on the table.
Ruth came back with the pot. “Any news?”
“They’re on their way.”
“Both of them?”
He nodded and pulled his cup a little closer.
“Might as well have some coffee, then.”
She pushed the sugar toward him. Eli took his coat off again.