Read Online Queenie's Cafe by SUE FINEMAN - Free Book Online

to catch the morning sun and brighten the place.”
    “What would it look like?”
    “I’d have green plants in the corners and a wrap-around planter outside, so you could see the flowers through the windows.” Her eyes lit with excitement as she talked.
    “Sounds nice. How many tables would it hold?”
    “Maybe four or five small ones.” The excitement left her eyes as reality invaded her dream. “I’ll never have enough business for that.”
    “Laura, you need to learn how to dream.”
    “Are you kidding?” She sighed. “All I’ve ever dared to dream is to have enough money to pay the bills.”
    She spoke so softly he barely heard her words, but he knew how she felt. He and his mother had struggled for years. Now they didn’t have to. Laura didn’t have to struggle either, if she’d let him help her.
    “When my mother won all that money, we sat down together and planned out how to spend it. We paid off all our bills, including my student loans, and bought new cars, but we had a lot of money left over. Mom had enough to build her dream house and buy anything she ever wanted, but she didn’t want much for herself. She helped her friends, sent their kids to college, and made anonymous donations to several worthy causes.
    “Someone called and asked Mom if she’d be interested in helping her with a rundown diner she’d just bought. She offered to give Mom a piece of the business in exchange for financial help in getting started. I’d just graduated from Florida State with a degree in business, so we formed a corporation. I did the research and everything checked out with that woman’s business. It was the first one we invested in, but that was just the beginning.”
    “So you do this full time?”
    He nodded. “It’s the perfect job for me. I’d hate sitting behind a desk all the time. The corporation pays me a salary and benefits, like any other corporate job. That’s another thing for you to consider. With the corporation owning a portion of your business, you and your employees would be eligible for health care, dental, investment plan, workers’ comp – the whole works.”
    “ Health care ? Who’s ever had health care?”
    “Think about it, Laura. I know it’s tempting to do it all yourself, but do you really want to work yourself to death like your mother?”
    “Not especially.” She slid off the seat of his pickup. “I’ll give it some thought. Thanks for the pizza and the loan.”
    “You’re welcome. Buy more paint. I have to work for Earl in the morning, but I’ll be back for lunch and we’ll finish the painting.”
    Laura watched him drive away. She didn’t especially want a partner, but if one of those banks didn’t come through, she wouldn’t have much choice. She wouldn’t get the same satisfaction as she would doing it by herself, but she didn’t want to end up surly and miserable like Queenie.
    She walked into her apartment, remembering a scene from the past.
    A month after Marv Walker’s wife passed away, Marv and Charley Fenderman came in for lunch. The two men looked like the odd couple. Marv was a meek little man, while Charley was big and boisterous. Good men, both of them. They ordered Queenie’s special hamburger and Charley teased Laura about something silly. She took her time with the order, giving them special attention. Charley’s teasing and Laura’s laughter finally coaxed a smile from Marv. And then Laura took the order back to the kitchen.
    To Queenie.
    “What do you think you’re doing in there?” The tone of Queenie’s voice burned Laura’s ears, and the muted conversation from the dining area stopped. Charley and Marv were listening.
    “You’re turning into a slut, always showing off for the men who come in here.”
    Trying her best to ignore Queenie’s unwarranted attack, Laura threw two hamburgers on the grill and blinked back the tears that stung her eyes.
    “One of these days, you’ll flirt with the wrong man, and you know what will