Max toyed briefly with the notion of returning to the house straight away, but decided against it. Since she liked to stay as far away from the police and government as possible and she had no clothes to launder, she was left with only one option - the diner.
The plain brick building was unmarked except for a sign on the door that read "Tom's - Open." The sparse outer decoration really prepared one for the first step through the door. Inside there was no comfortable furniture. There was only a long counter surrounded by fifteen mismatched stools and a small kitchen area behind that. The most interesting thing on the wall was a clock in the shape of Elvis Presley - its hips swung back and forth every hour, on the hour. The only things that sat on the counter were salt and peppershakers and a napkin dispenser. It was the epitome of minimalist business.
Max smiled at the four other customers - a young couple and two older men - before taking a seat at the far end of the counter. She set her bag down on the floor and checked the time on Elvis's chest.
The waitress, a woman in her forties who looked like she was stuck in the fifties, approached her with a wide smile. "Mary-gold, how ya doin', dahlin?"
"Just fine, Trix," Max replied with a smile.
Diane - or Trix as she was known - was a transplanted Southern belle who never rid herself of her habit of giving people cutesy nicknames. Max's fake name of Mary had been Mary-gold since day one and everybody was a dahlin.
"What'll it be, hmm?"
"A good cup of coffee," Max ordered. "And maybe some scrambled eggs, if Stan doesn't mind cooking them."
Stan was the cook - and Trix's husband.
"Stan doesn't mind cooking anything that somebody's got to pay for," Trix replied with a smirk. "I'll have him start your eggs and I'll get your coffee."
After Trix disappeared to the kitchen, Max looked around the room. She knew the older men by sight, not name, but the young couple in the corner she had never seen. By their tired eyes and the map they had spread out between their breakfast plates, she guessed they were out-of-towners who were trying to get as close to "out of town" as possible. She didn't blame them. If it hadn't been for a certain government agency looking to throw her ass in a cage, she would have been having similar thoughts.
Trix returned with Max's coffee and set it down in front of her. "Here you go, freshly brewed and everything."
"Thanks," Max replied then wrapped her fingers around the mug.
"So, your brother Mark up to anything special today?" Trix asked. It was a well-known fact that Trix had a bit of a schoolyard crush on Zack - something Stan didn't care much about but the rest of the "town" found highly scandalous.
"Oh, I'm sure he's keeping busy," Max said and took a sip of the coffee. It was certainly better than anything Zack ever cooked up was and a zillion times better than the burnt stuff the men at the general store called coffee. "He's probably out chopping trees or something manly like that."
"I bet he is," Trix said. A dreamy expression came over her face. "I bet he's out in the snow, muscles rippling as he brings the ax down, sweat falling off his… I'll go check on your eggs."
Max wanted to smirk as Trix walked off, but found the image the older woman had supplied her with too disturbing.
Trix returned with a plate of scrambled eggs and placed it in front of Max. "There ya go, just as good as ever."
Max smiled in return and dug into the eggs. They weren't A+ but she would take any eggs she could get. The only reason the place had eggs was because Trix kept a small collection of chickens in the back. Max had seen the coop - and had been tempted to take one. Zack had kept her from the delicious meal she had planned, citing the fact that everyone in town would automatically assume they had done it because they were "the outsiders." She had called him a drama queen but didn't take the chicken all the same. Not because she felt Zack was right but because she didn't want to hear him bitch about it.
The door opened but Max was too focused on her meal to look up and examine the newest patron. When she heard the sound of heavy boots clomping toward her, she realized who it was.
"Busy morning?" she asked and gathered more eggs onto her fork.
"Busy enough," Zack replied so that only she could hear. "I would have been busier if you had returned on time with my supplies."
Max shrugged. "Girl's gotta eat."
Zack seemed keen to continue his diatribe but Trix sauntered over to them and he was interrupted. He looked up at the woman but offered her no smile.
"Mark-y, dahlin," Trix said with a wink. "How've you been? Cut down any trees lately?"
"No," Zack replied, still stone-faced.
Trix ignored his reluctance for conversation. "Well, there's always time for that later."
"I'm not really the nature type," he told her with a shrug.
"That's too bad," Trix replied. She seemed genuinely disappointed.
The young couple called for her. She sighed sadly and walked over to them.
"You want me to give you two some alone time?" Max quipped with a smirk. She wasn't looking at Zack but she could feel his scowl like a slap.
"What I want," Zack growled, "is for us to go back home."
Max turned to him at the word "home." She already knew that when he said "home" it wasn't her idea of it. She pushed her plate of scrambled eggs away from her, no longer hungry.
"I haven't even finished my coffee yet," she told him and picked up the mug.
"Max," he sighed. He shook his head and looked around the diner.
She knew what that sigh meant: a speech.
"Max," he started, "you know coming into town isn't a good idea. Town visits should only be executed under the direst of situations. Recreational visits aren't safe for people like… us."
"And what exactly is safe for people like us?" she bit, careful to keep her voice quiet.
"The house is safe," he said. "Places far away, they're safe. This isn't safe."
"Whatever," she breathed and then slapped a few bills on the counter.
She picked the bag up from the floor and tossed it at Zack. She looked at him and seemed to feel her eyes glow from the anger coursing through her. She thought of saying more to him, but instead just left the diner.