She glanced at her image in the mirror. “It’ll have to do,” she muttered. Knowing Ruby’s Diner would be in full swing at this hour, and especially on a Saturday morning, she grabbed her purse, locked the back door, and stepped out into the brisk morning air. Chilled, she ran the two blocks down King Street. She’d get something to go.

As she entered the diner, she heard a din of voices, shouts from the kitchen, a glass shattering from somewhere, and the heavenly scent of coffee. She was a tea drinker, but she occasionally needed the kick from a robust cup of coffee, and Ruby’s brew was certainly that.

“Hey, girly,” Ruby called from the kitchen when she saw her slide onto a barstool.

She waved. “Morning, Ruby.”

Louise, Ruby’s sister, slapped a light-green pad down on the counter. “What’s it gonna be, kiddo? We’ve got the sausage gravy on special today. Three biscuits, three eggs, and three big ole’ heaps of gravy. You game?” Louise asked. “You sure need some meat on your bones.”

“Sure. Why not? I’ll take it to go, though. We’re keeping the store open today. You know, the biggest shopping weekend of the year.” Lauren glanced around the restaurant. It was buzzing with customers, and a line had started to form at the entrance. Good thing she’d gotten there early.

“Give me five minutes, kid. You want a coffee while you wait?” Louise asked.

“Yes, and one to go as well. Need the caffeine.”

Louise placed a giant mug of coffee in front of her. Without any urging, she took a sip and sighed. This was good stuff. She needed to get a Keurig and bring it to the store. There was no rule that said she couldn’t have that as well as her microwavable teakettle. It wasn’t like she had a boss telling her what to do. Taking another sip, she thought that at the moment, that wouldn’t be a bad thing. A boss took responsibility for all. Unfortunately, she was the boss and did not like it one bit. Running a retail store was not as easy as writing a book. If she said this out loud, people would look at her as if she had lost her mind; but for her, it was a fact. Writing was her forte, and she told herself she would get back to it. She had recently pushed her literary agent to find something for her. She could run the store and write during the quiet times, which, lately, lasted the entire day.

“Anything else?” Louise asked, bag in hand.

“Ah, no. This smells good. I can’t wait to dig in,” she said, and placed a ten-dollar bill on the counter.

“Nope, not today. This is on the house. All local business owners eat free.”

“Louise!” Lauren said. “You can’t . . .”

“Don’t you recognize half the people in here?” she said as she handed her the bag of food and a Styrofoam cup.

Lauren gazed around the diner. Yes. Many of Fallen Springs’ business owners were filling the booths and tables. “Then thank you. This is a real treat.”