~ Rebecca
**********
My first stop after making sure the
girls had everything under control was the Bighorn Diner. It really was only
dawn, after all, which meant breakfast time and I had been wanting to try Miss
Ellie’s famous strawberry triple stack flapjacks. It wasn’t like I ever had the
time during the day to go out for breakfast and I was totally taking advantage
of this one. Besides, it would make my assurances to Mrs. Goslin that I really
did need a break from the store more realistic in a way that was easier to
explain than “super secret mission for my boss, the Egyptian god.” That would
not have been nearly as reassuring.
The Bighorn Diner was everything I
had heard it was. The dining room was huge, almost twice the size of mine, and
the kind of inviting atmosphere that is usually only associated with idyllic TV
shows. The scent of hot grease, fresh organic fruit, and real maple syrup permeated
the air and was accompanied by the sounds of people chatting over breakfast,
wait staff refilling drinks, and small children chattering about their artwork
as they doodled on place mats with the provided cups of crayons. I half
expected the Fonz to come breezing in with a kiss for Mrs. B’s cheek and a “hey,
hey, hey!”
“Well hello there!” a sweet
grandmotherly woman said with a huge smile as I stepped in. “I’ve seen you
around town but never here in my diner. You’re Marissa, right? I’m Miss Ellie,
the owner of the Bighorn.”
I grinned back and nodded, unable
to stop myself from inhaling the heavenly scent of perfectly fluffy pancakes as
a waiter walked by with a try for a family seated not far from the door. “I don’t
usually have anyone to cover the coffee shop in the mornings, but the Goslin
girls are working for me over Christmas break, so…” I said with a bashful
shrug.
“So you saw the chance to get out
for a bit and decided to make a run for it,” she finished with a hearty chuckle.
“I keep hearing these fantastic
tales of made-from-scratch pancakes and decided I just had to try some,” I agreed,
not bothering to hide the eagerness in my voice.
“Ah, ah, ah! I don’t serve pancakes
here, only flapjacks,” she corrected with mock sternness, just as I had been
warned she would. “A table just opened up over there by the window. Why don’t
you sit yourself down and I’ll send someone over to take your order directly.”
I smiled again and headed over to the booth she’d pointed out, mentally
changing my Fonz metal image to one of Miss Ellie’s strapping sons sauntering
in to give his mother a buss on the cheek. I could see why the Bighorn was so
popular with the town’s shifters, even the carnivores. They wouldn’t get any
meat with their meal here, but the soul couldn’t live on red meat alone.
4 comments:
Fabulous line: "but the soul couldn’t live on red meat alone"
I adore your description of The Big Horn diner. It's so perfect for Talbot's Peak... and I wish I was there!
Me too, and I can't even eat pancakes -- pardon me, flapjacks -- any more. Something about breads, heavy syrup and possibly glutins. Getting old sucks. But I'll bet she whips of up a mean skillet of hash browns, which I can eat. Bring it on!
I'm really waiting for this book now. I'll even buy a copy to read on the laptop. Now that you're a stay-at-home writer, you deserve every penny of royalties you can get.
Knowing Miss Ellie, I bet she has menu options for those who can't digest processed sugars and starches. Who knows, maybe that's a big problem for some shifters.
There's a flourless banana pancake I love to make anytime I have over-ripe bananas, though it does have milk and eggs. I usually put peanut butter on those. And personally, I don't put syrup on my pancakes. I just don't like it. Now, a sunny side up egg? That I do like on pancakes.
Bring on the hashbrowns, love those too!
Way back when I would make pineapple pancakes, then put peanut butter and honey or jelly on them... delish!
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