“Home,” Mina said softly. “Or close to it. We’re at the rest stop on Route 29. The one with the 24-hour Waffle House.”
“Hey,” Elara said quietly.
And Elara, for once, had actually listened.
“Thank you for tonight. For the 16th.” Loving ladies 2024 01 16 -- 00-33-1226-04 Min
“No,” Elara said, and her voice was wide awake now, full of that quiet, fierce certainty Mina loved most. “It’s the day you drove all night so I could sleep. It’s the day you remembered my hash brown order. It’s the day we sat in a Waffle House at one in the morning and you looked at me like I was the only person in the world.”
2024-01-16 – 00:33:12
Mina’s eyes stung. She blinked it away. “Home,” Mina said softly
“Come on,” Mina said, squeezing Elara’s hand and letting go. “Let’s get you some carbs.”
Mina smiled, eyes on the road. “It’s just a day.”
She killed the engine. The quiet of the rural Virginia night rushed in—crickets, the distant creak of a wind-beaten oak, and the soft, steady breathing of the woman asleep in the passenger seat. The one with the 24-hour Waffle House
Her head was tilted against the window, a thin drool trail connecting her lower lip to the collar of her oversized flannel. They had driven eight hours straight from a music festival in Tennessee, fleeing bad weather and a bad conversation with an ex who’d shown up uninvited. Mina had insisted on driving the whole way. “You rest,” she’d said. “I’ve got you.”
They walked into the Waffle House at . The fluorescent lights buzzed. A waitress named Dottie poured them coffee without asking. They slid into a booth by the window, knees bumping under the table.
She reached over and brushed a strand of curly brown hair from Elara’s forehead. Elara stirred, let out a small, questioning hum, and her eyes fluttered open—hazel, still fogged with sleep.
The timestamp glowed faintly on the dashboard of Mina’s old Subaru: .
They sat like that for a while, hands interlaced, watching the steam rise from the Waffle House’s chimney. A trucker ambled inside, bell jingling. A stray cat crossed the parking lot, tail high.