My All

Part 11

When they got to the diner, Shawn walked in first. "Shawn, honey! What a surprise. I thought you were going out of town." Wilma said, coming to greet him. He pulled her aside. As Wilma saw Deborah walk inside, she pushed Shawn aside. "How dare you come in here? What did I tell you?"

She started walking towards Deborah, but Shawn stopped her. "She's here with me, mom."

"What for? I told her never to come back here."

"You said she quit. Why did you fire her?"

"She slapped me. I didn't want to tell you not to upset you." Wilma said, crossing her arms.

"You insulted her mother and her. What did she ever do to you?"

"So I see she went complaining to you."

"It's one thing to fire her, but making sure she can't get a job anywhere else in town. Mom, please. You are better than this."

"Maybe she needs to leave town. She has nothing here. No family, nothing. She should come back where she came from and leave us alone."

Deborah huffed and walked out the diner. "I'm hiring her again. And that's that. I don't want to hear anything else from you and you leave her alone." He said walking after Deborah. "Desiree!" He called after her.

Deborah stopped and turned around. "Maybe she's right, Shawn. Maybe I should go back to my family. They are all I have left."

"You ran away for a reason. I know there's something you haven't told me yet." He said, rubbing her arms. "Come back inside. Help me close up."

Deborah looked back at the diner and at him. "Alright, but the first comment I hear from your mom, I'm out."

As they entered the diner, Wilma was nowhere to be found. "She left for the hospital as soon as you stepped out." Carl said from the kitchen. "She said you can take care of the diner again if she's going to be working here."

"Perfect." Shawn said as he looked back at Deborah. He grabbed a newspaper from behind the counter and handed it to her. "Start looking through the classifieds for an apartment, I'll let you know if they are worth it. I'm going to do the books for today real quick."

Deborah sat in a booth and looked through the classifieds. She had five places circled by the time Shawn came back. They said goodbye to Carl and he sat in front of her. "So far, this is what I've seen." She said, handing him the paper.

"The first two are a no." He said scratching the paper with the pen.

"Why not? They seem to be at a good price and they are furnished."

"They are owned by Nelson Rollins. Remember him?"

"The guy I threw the coffee at on my first day?"

"The same one. Yeah, so no. I know who owns the other three. She's a sweet old lady. Tomorrow is Sunday and I don't open till the afternoon. I can take you if you want."

"You've done more than enough for me." She said folding the paper.

"Come on. It's nothing. She doesn't know you. Me being there might help you."

"Alright then. Say we meet here at eight?"

"Okay then, that's settled. One less thing for you to worry about. And at eleven you'll start work again, okay?"

"Thank you."

"It's no problem. Let me walk you to your car." He said as they got up and he closed the diner door. They crossed the street towards her car and he opened the door for her. "Have a good night."

She put her hand on top of his, which was holding the door open, and smiled at him. "You too and thank you for everything again."