Page 13 of Monster Diner

Victor spun to face her, fearing Igor, but she was staring at the room, face blanched of color.

“It looks exactly how I left it.” She stepped into the room and touched her desk and posters. Victor watched her every move. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. “Why didn’t he turn this into a gym or office…”

“He missed you.” This was the wrong thing to say, he realized, because she instantly crossed her arms and her shoulders shot up to her ears as if she were balling herself up to protect against the room or maybe from the uncomfortable truth that her father loved her?

“He had a weird way of showing it,” she said.

Victor knew just from looking at her, she was the type to sacrifice her comfort, her desire to keep everyone happy. She’d be miserable staying here. He couldn’t make her sleep in this room.

“Actually, you should take the primary bedroom,” he said.

She spun around to face him. “What—no, surely you and your partner need the room. I’m imposing on your family.”

“First of all, no partner. It’s me and Brayden.” He felt it was imperative to make that clear. “Second of all, this is your house too. And third of all, you don’t want to share a bathroom with a teenage boy. Believe me.”

“You don’t have to. This is my old room after all…”

“No, I insist. I’ve mostly been using the primary bedroom as a closet anyway. And I love Hero Club too, remember?” He gave her a sly grin. His secret love of comics had brought them together in high school. Even now, he rarely talked about his passion for comics and action movies.

She laughed again, but it felt forced. Maybe she’d forgotten, and he was the only one grasping at their shared past. Rather than linger, he picked up her things and carried them to the primary bedroom before shoving the rest of his things back into his own suitcase. She followed him into the room, and he saw the way her shoulders relaxed as she looked around. It might as well have been a hotel room. There wasn’t a single picture or personal touch on any of the walls.

“Get settled in. I’m gonna feed Igor before he tears an ear off.”

She nodded absently, and he left her standing in the middle of the room, staring at the bed. A part of him wanted to linger, to ask her what had led to her current situation, but it wasn’t his place to pry.

He passed by Brayden’s room and heard him shouting at his friends, who he was playing a game with, then headed to the kitchen. Igor’s urgent squawking didn’t diminish until Victor was opening the fridge, letting the bird select ingredients.

Igor must have been feeling nostalgic because he grabbed a prepped hamburger patty and some onions.

Victor sighed and pulled out a pan and chopping board. By the time he’d prepared the bird’s patty melt and a few more for himself, Lizzy, and Brayden, Lizzy entered the kitchen in a change of clothes and smelling like floral soap. The fact that it cut through the scent of caramelized onions and cooked beef was impressive, or maybe it was just because he was so painfully aware of her. Her hair was wrapped up in a towel, but one wet tendril had escaped and caressed her neck, and he tried not to let his gaze linger too long.

“Hungry?” he asked her, turning back to the stove.

“Starving,” she replied and took a seat at the kitchen table.

He slid a patty melt towards her, cheese oozing out from beneath the rye bread.

“I’ll never want to leave if you keep cooking for me like this.”

“What if I wanted you to stay forever?” he asked.

She laughed and took a bite of her patty melt. He didn’t have the heart to tell her it wasn’t a joke. That old fluttering feeling stuttered in his chest. If he wasn’t careful, he was going to do something very stupid. Like scare her away by telling her he thought that she was exactly what the diner needed. He’d seen her notes on the schedule. She’d figured out that thorny problem in minutes. She had the same instincts as Frank.

“So you’re a single dad. What’s that like? Does his mom have him on weekends or…?”

He dabbed some hot sauce onto his patty. That, along with the hot peppers he’d cooked separately, would ensure his food was perfectly spicy, just how he liked it.

“He’s adopted. I can’t have biological children,” he said as he picked up a plate to offer Brayden. He likely wouldn’t eat it, but Victor kept trying.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to touch on a sensitive subject.”

He waved the apology away. “It’s fine. You couldn’t have known. I’m a rather unique case.”

“And you chose to have a kid alone? That’s admirable.”

“It was Frank who inspired me. He took me in when I had nowhere else to go. Brayden was in a similar situation, and I wanted to pay it forward.”

“Are you sure we’re talking about the same Frank Jr.?”