"Morning, George. You want the usual again?" Sarah asked of her favorite customer. He came every morning at 9am, sat in the same barstool at the counter and ordered the same bacon, over easy eggs and red hash with orange juice and coffee, no toast. He always tipped well and was pleasant to converse with. The fact that he was devilishly handsome didn't hurt either. It was customers like him that made waiting tables bearable.
"Of course, my dear." The man replied with a smile.
She poured his coffee and put the order up for the cooks. "Looks like some one is keen on you, Sarah." Her supervisor, Jenna whispered in her ear. Sarah shot her a disapproving look. She was not interested in a relationship with anyone. Losing her husband was hard enough emotionally to close the doors to her heart for good. "Looks like break time for you." She added.
Sarah turned her attention to what Jenna was looking at. An older woman had just walked in eyeing them both. It had been better than a decade since she had seen the woman but hers was a face she would know anywhere. The last meeting was her husband's funeral. Jenna had met her then, too and apparently hadn't forgotten. Sarah sighed. "Looks like it. Thanks Jenna. I'll try to keep it short."
"Take your time, hun. It's slow."
Sarah followed the woman to the booth in the back that was usually used for the employees' lunch breaks. They sat in silence as Jenna appeared with two coffee cups and small carafe of milk. With cups filled, the woman looked expectantly at Sarah. "I'm surprised to see you here," Sarah began. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Oh, the formalities of manners. Besides, the surprise should be mine as I didn't even know where you lived until now." She quipped.
"Yes, well..."
"And you know why I'm here." Sipping her coffee, she eyed Sarah with a knowing stare. "The question is, my dear, why did you wait so long? I would have been more than happy to help you in anyway possible at any given time. You know that."
Sarah suddenly felt sheepish. Why had she kept such a distance all this time? Was it her fault that she was now a widow? Was it her fault that she was a single mother of an unruly teenaged daughter? "I'm sorry. I do know that. I just..." She couldn't finish the sentence.
"Surely you don't think I blame you for what happened to Jeremy?"
"No, of course not." Truth was, she blamed herself making it impossible to face the woman who now sat before her.
"Good. And neither do I blame you. My son's time on this earth was up. Nothing you or I could've done to change that."
"It was too soon." Her tears threatened to fall. It had been eleven years since her husband's untimely death and the pain of it was still raw. She had allowed herself to be swallowed up in grief, finding comfort in its solitude.
"Agreed. But it remains unchangeable."
Sarah sighed, willing herself not to cry in front of her mother-in-law. "I'm sorry, Gertrude. I really am."
"Gertrude?!" She set her coffee down in surprise. "Why would you call me that?"
"That's your name, isn't it?"
"Call me Gram. That's my name to family, you know that."
"It's just that I thought... I mean, after all these years..." She looked at the softness of the woman's eyes. "Okay. Sorry. Gram. Thank you for coming."
"Anytime, love. Now, down to business. Melissa."
"Yes, Melissa. She is so lost and rebellious. She used to be such a good kid, you know? Good student. Bright and happy. But these last couple of years, she's been spiraling down into this weird funk. Her friends are terrible influences. She used to be so beautiful with her dad's smile and hair color; now everything is black. Hair, nails, makeup, clothes, everything. And the piercings. I can't believe how many of those she's gotten just in the last month. I'm at my wits end..."
"I will take her." Gram interrupted. "One year with me. It'll do her good."
"An entire year?? I don't think..."
"Not long enough?"
"More like too long." Sarah huffed.
"You thought the same thing when you came to stay with me, remember. And by the end of that year, you didn't want to leave."
Sarah smiled at the memory. "Yes, I remember. But that was only because I met Jeremy."
"Yes, you two were inseparable."
"Yes, well..." Sarah's voice cracked with emotion. "Look where that led us."
"It led to love, hun."
"And heartache."
"Are you saying you regret the time you had with him? Or having your daughter?"
"No, or course not. It's just..."
"Look, hun; whatever time we get is a blessing to be shared. Happiness lies in gratitude. Be thankful you had what time you did have. Cherish those memories as I do every day. Be careful not live in regret or waste time focusing on what you're missing, or you will miss what is most important." She rested a hand on Sarah's giving her a look of sympathy. "One year. I will set everything up. You don't have to worry about a thing."
"Okay Ger- Gram. One year. I hope you can get through to her."
"Don't worry, hun. Now, you better get back to work. There's a rather handsome gentleman at the counter who has his eye on you." She winked at Sarah as she nodded toward the man in question.
"Not looking for love."
Gram stood and rested a hand on Sarah's shoulder. "Time is a blessing to be shared not wasted. Same with love." She left Sarah to her thoughts.
Sarah left the table to return to her work. She grabbed a coffee pot and walked over to George. "More coffee?" 'My goodness, he is handsome, isn't he.'