Bobby's Diner

PRAISE FOR SUSAN WINGATE & “BOBBY’S DINER”

Finalist Award
Winner In The

2010
International Book Awards

2009 National
Best Book Awards, And

2009 Next
Generation Indie Book Awards

“BOBBY’S DINER IS A STORY OF A WOMAN trying to find
herself in a town where nobody wants her. Imagine a
 
situation where the ex-wife and ‘the other
woman’ inherit a piece of property with a business and they are expected
to
 
work together. Georgette and Vanessa
hold fast to the only thing they have, each other. Georgette’s story tells a
tale of life, love,
 
death, grief, pain,
loneliness, and redemption. And, she finds her true family with the most
unexpected people.”— www.aromancereview.com

“SUSAN
 
WINGATE
 
HAS SHOWS
 
an understanding of human nature well beyond
what is normally seen in a novel. She has a mastery of dialogue that I find
refreshing—I felt as though I was right there, listening. It isn’t often I find
dialogue so true-to-life. Between her mastery of dialogue and understanding of
human nature, Susan Wingate held me captive with this book.”—Joyce Anthony,
author of Storm, and moderator of Books & Authors blog

“Watching the relationship between them at first
waring factions of Georgette and Vanessa develop is written in a masterful
fashion.I will end this review where I started, whoever labeled this as chick
lit is out of their mind! This is a book that has wide appeal. I do not rate
books as other sites do, but if I did, this would score 5 stars. I loved the
plot, loved the characters, and (this is the book critic in me talking) from a
technical standpoint I can find no fault, it has been well constructed, well
edited, and the story flows.You can grab your copy from Amazon by clicking on
the link above.” — Simon Barrett, BloggerNews Network

“Readers will recognize their mother, sister or
girlfriend in Wingate’s characters. For every flaw there is an endearing
quality that draws you into each woman’s story. Bobby’s Diner offers several
storylines that force each character to face her fears, find forgiveness, and
redefine her life. Bobby’s Diner makes a nice gift for a gal pal and is sure to
provide great fodder for book discussion groups.” — M. P. McKinney for APOOO
BookClub

“How many times have you heard a wife or girlfriend
say
 
that she never wants to meet ‘the
other woman?’ As the book
 
begins, they
inherit together. Add to that a conniving land developer, the murder of a dear
friend and you have the recipe
 
for a
great piece of women’s fiction. Bobby’s Diner could
 
become much more than a simple roadside diner
to the people who take the opportunity to go inside and check out the
menu.”—Nikki Leigh, author of Widow’s Walk, Lady Lightkeeper,and Lilah and the
Locket.

“ALL
 
THAT’S
  
BEST
 
IN
 
CHICK
 
LIT. Bobby’s Diner is a
 
story that any woman who has ever loved can enjoy.
It has memorable characters, strong women, and the theme of perseverance in the
face of adversity is one always to be admired. Well written.”—Arline Chase,
author of Killraven, Ghost Dancer, and the spirit series, Spirit of Earth,
Spirit of Fire, Spirit of Wind, etc.

“IT’S’ HILARIOUS
 
and good natured while being a good story. It should do well— I’d say
more, but I’ve got another 20 pages to read.”—RD Larson, author of Evil Angel,
Mama Tried to Raise a Lady, and Doors.

“SUSAN
 
WINGATE
 
REGALES
 
US
 
with a tale too true to
 
be fiction. When Georgette inherits half of
Bobby’s Diner she soon learns she has to share the restaurant with Bobby’s
first wife Vanessa. A tale well told, humor abounds.”—Terry L White, author of
Mystick Moon, Ancient Memories, Hang Your Head Over, and the Chesapeake Series,
Chesapeake Harvest, Chesapeake Legacy, etc.

“BOBBY’S DINER IS AN AWARD WINNER, mark my words.
Susan Wingate gives us a truly great experience.
 
More than just another crime related story,
this one is much deeper, more captivating in clashing personalities, more real
in the ways of life…spell-binding.
 
Once
started, this one demands you finish page by page, word by word, and leaves you
wanting more, wanting to share all these personalities shared.”—Carroll M. Jones,
author of Murder on Margin and Where Roses Bloom.

BOBBY’S DINER

(Kindle Edition)

by

Susan Wingate

***

Copyright 2008 by
Susan Wingate. All Rights Reserved

Copyright 2008
cover art Shelley Rodgerson

***

Publishers Note:
This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are
fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely
coincidental.

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights
under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form,
or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise)
without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above
publisher of this book.

685 Spring
Street

PMB 161

Friday Harbor,
WA 98250

Fax:
360/378-4456

Acknowledgments

From my
beginnings as a writer it became apparent that creating a book was a team
effort. Yes, the writing of it is mostly a single-handed task but once the
story is complete many hands make it a piece of art. So it goes with Bobby’s
Diner.

Therefore, it’s
with great admiration and praise that I give thanks to those who helped see
Bobby’s Diner through to its completion. My appreciation goes to those who read
the story and gave me feedback. To Mike Conrad, Dennis Logan, Amie Ajamie,
Alice Acheson, Nikki Leigh, Connie Augé, and Theresa Mathews. And, a special
thanks must go to my dear friend and editor, Monica Van Appel.

I’m profoundly
in the debt and in constant awe of Arline Chase, whose wisdom and knowledge
about this industry is stellar. My utmost regard, for the beautiful cover art
and actually “seeing the signs,” goes to Shelley Rodgerson.

Through my life
I’ve always felt blessed and being able to work with these people has been a
great honor.

Lastly, I must
thank Bob Wingate. For, without him Bobby’s Diner wouldn’t be.

CHAPTER
 
1

For the reading of Bobby’s will,
the attorneys sat Vanessa—the ex, Roberta (Bobby and Vanessa’s daughter), and
me in a conference room together. I was instructed
 
to bring a lawyer, as were the other two
ladies. I didn’t. That sort of thing isn’t in me. Vanessa did. The lawyer read
Bobby’s will. It was pretty much as I expected. I got the house we shared, most
of the money accounts, Roberta received $200
 
thousand dollars in a fund her father had set aside for her upon his
death. Then, the lawyer read further. Bobby did something
 
none of us expected. He gave me half the
interest in the diner and Vanessa, the other half!

Just like Bobby to be equitable.
Finally, the lawyer read a statement Bobby had handwritten before he died.

The note said something about his
guilt for leaving Vanessa,
 
but his great
love for me, about Vanessa’s interest of nearly half her life spent building
the diner, and my creativity to keep it going.

Have you ever heard the term
‘livid’ before? Well, Vanessa’s face turned every shade of livid I’ve ever seen.
I remember sitting there and imagining her head filling up like one of those
water balloons at the fair and exploding right off her shoulders. Her lawyer
patted her hand and told her “not to worry.” I giggled to myself at the mess of
it all, said my “thank yous” and “good- byes” to his former family and the
lawyers, and I left feeling pretty
 
good
too considering what had just happened. Financially, I was solid and didn’t
need to worry about money for a while, anyway.

I closed the diner for three
weeks.

When I went back to reopen,
Vanessa was there waiting outside the door. She offered to buy my interest. I
told her I had no intention of selling and offered to buy hers. She fumed at my
boldness and told me she’d never sell. Bobby knew I was stubborn as a mule in a
blizzard and he knew his former wife had some of my same shortcomings.

“Well, isn’t this a fine mess.”
Vanessa threw her hands up and when they came down, they landed on her lap as
she sat hard against the window’s ledge.

“Guess Bobby had the last laugh,
huh?” I looked out onto the day with one hand protecting my face from the
bright sun. It was early spring then and the cacti were putting on a show that
would embarrass the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, gorgeous.

“Since this place is now legally
half mine, I want a key.” Vanessa was indignant.

“Fine. After José gets here, I’ll
have him run up to Charlie’s to get his copied.”

Vanessa let out a small huff and
stood back up. “What are we supposed to do now?”

“Well, the diner needs managing.
I guess we manage it.”

“Together?” She put her hands on
her hips.

“What else can we do?”

“It just won’t work.”

“Why is that, Vanessa? After all
these years, do you