Chapter Nine
Thursday was a slow night at the diner, the highlight of the evening being when Valerie had found an envelope with her name on it jutting out from under the cash register. She’d had no idea how it had suddenly arrived in that location. It contained a gift card to her favorite store, which was very thoughtful, and another poem. Joe had come in, but Wanda waited on him, having heard what happened between him and Valerie, and she was happy to see him take his order to go.
Her shift started at 2:00 on Friday, and she felt a bit more chipper as she strolled in and put her apron on. She was resolved not to hang on to her anger at Joe any longer; he was just making her bitter and there was no place for that in her life. Valerie called hello to Sam and then greeted Frank who shouted
