One Thursday Morning: Inspirational Christian Romance (Diamond Lake Series Book 1) Read Free Page B

peered through the crowded restaurant at table fourteen. Seeing the empty glass of a little boy sitting near the edge of the table, I flashed Wendy a polite smile and said, “Thanks.”
     

     
    Diego gave me and my ten-speed a lift to my house to drop off the bike and to get the cash for him. I left the bike against the side of my house and got the money from inside. Getting back into his truck, we drove over to his house. As we pulled up in the driveway, the front porch light was on. Seeing the fenced yard, the sprinkler running, and a few stray toys littering the yard warmed my heart, even though it stung a little. In your time, God. You know that in my heart, I want this someday. We got out of his truck and headed up the driveway to the garage that sat in the back and connected to the alley. Going through the gate, we came around to the garage, and we both pulled up and pushed the garage door open.
    Diego smiled as the dust settled and the 1971 lime green Ford Pinto came into view. “Not a pretty car, but it works,” he said with a shrug.
    Smiling, I nodded. “She’s perfect.”
    “ She? ” Diego asked as I walked in and smoothed my hand across the dust-covered hood.
    “Oh, yeah.” Glancing in through the driver’s side window, I continued, “This has too nice of an interior to not be a female.”
    He laughed and leaned to see past the garage toward his house. “It was my wife’s car, but she doesn’t use it anymore. She has one of those fancy SUVs nowadays. Hey, Amy,” he said. Turning to him, I rose an eyebrow. “Here.” He tossed the keys over. “Get in and get it out of here. I have to get inside to the wife and dinner.”
    I caught the keys and went over to Diego and gave him a hug. He was a great friend whom I viewed more like a father figure than a line cook at Dixie’s Diner. He didn’t have a lot of time in life, but he always took time to at least say ‘hi’ whenever he saw me. The first few months at the diner, when I was unsure of how to do my job, he helped. If I was falling behind, he’d run my food. If I didn’t hear an order come up, he’d repeat himself. Always helpful. “Thank you.”
    “You’re welcome, Amy. Run along now.”
    Hurrying back over to the car, I climbed inside. Dust thickened the air, but it did little to distract the smile that I found not only on my face, but in my heart. To have people who genuinely cared wasn’t something I hoped to find when I left John. I never thought about that aspect in my new life, but I was glad I found it.
    By the time I got back to my little house at the end of Piker’s Drive, a summer rain had started in. Getting out of my car, I covered the top of my head the best that I could with my hands and hurried across the gravel up my porch. Unlocking the door and going inside, I was dismayed at the sight of water dripping from the ceiling. Shouting, I dropped the car keys on the entryway table, scaring Milo out of his nap and off the couch. I darted into the kitchen and grabbed a pot. As I positioned the pot under the drip, I realized how ironic it was that I’d forced Diego to take my money only a little while ago, and now, I had no money and a leaking roof. Laughing, I sat back onto the floor to pet Milo as I thought about the agreement I had with the landlord to fix any repairs myself to save fifty bucks a month in rent.

Chapter 4
    On my break the next morning at Dixie’s, I sat down in a booth and began calling around town to various roof contractors to see what the repair costs were for a leaky roof. There were no solid estimates on price for the repair since I wasn’t sure how bad the leak was, but I was quoted six to nine hundred as an average based on the information I provided. Getting off the phone with a jerk from Spokane who said he’d be booked out until August—two months from now—I hung up, slamming my phone down in a stint of frustration. “Ugh! Why can’t it just be simple?”
    Emma Montgomery—the co-owner