Not so the floozy in the next booth. She was holding the man’s right wrist with both hands, two of his outstretched fingers in her mouth, her eyes closed in a sad parody of sexual arousal.

Rose, the waitress, stopped by to ask if she wanted a refill.

“Just another straw,” Jen said.

Reaching into the pocket of her blue apron, Rose pulled one out. “Here you go, hon.”

Jen nodded toward the oversexed older couple. “Can you get them to tone it down? It’s a little…gross.”

Rose gave her head a small, barely perceptible shake. “New owner,” she whispered, and quickly moved to seat three highway workers who had just walked in.

B.B. didn’t own B.B.’s Roadside Diner anymore? When had that happened? Jen hadn’t even known the place was for sale. She glanced over at the next booth. And one of them was the new owner? What had happened, she wondered. Why had B.B. wanted to sell? The diner was almost always busy; it was hard to believe it wasn’t making money.

Maybe he was sick or had some family emergency. Maybe his wife or his parents were sick.

She hoped the new owner—or owners—were smart enough to leave things as they were and not make any changes. The diner was a Montgomery institution.

Through the window, she saw Lane’s pickup truck pull around the side of the building, and a moment later, he walked into the diner and sat down in the seat opposite her. “Sorry. We had a last minute delivery, and I couldn’t get away.” He picked up her glass, took out the straw and downed the last of her Coke, chewing on the ice. “Evangeline seems kind of hush-hush. Any idea what her plan is?”

Jen shook her head. “I have no clue. And the fact that she wants to meet at the house instead of her office seems kind of suspicious to me. I hope this is all on the level.”

He nodded. “I was thinking the same thing. I mean, we want this house, of course. But I’m not getting involved with anything risky.”

“Or illegal.”

“I don’t know if she’d go that far.”

Jen shrugged. “She has kind of a reputation.”

“Well, we’ll hear her out.”

“Yeah, but if it turns out it’s some kind of internet scam or some friend of hers or whatever, we’re not doing it.”

“That’s okay. We’ll just keep renting and wait.” He put a hand on hers. “Don’t worry. We’ll get there.”

“Yeah,” Jen said unconvincingly. She raised her hand. “Rose? Check?”

The house they were looking to buy was located behind the downtown in a neighborhood of modest wooden homes that had been built in the 1950s or 60s. They were ten minutes late, so the Realtor should have already been there, but her Lexus was neither in the driveway nor on the street outside. Lane parked his pickup in front of the house while Jen pulled her Accord into the carport. After getting out, she pointed to the FOR SALE sign in the middle of the brown lawn. “That’d be a SOLD sign if it wasn’t for that stupid bank.”