{"id":3446,"date":"2024-05-08T15:25:48","date_gmt":"2024-05-08T15:25:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/oxmag\/?page_id=3446"},"modified":"2024-06-04T22:40:42","modified_gmt":"2024-06-04T22:40:42","slug":"come-hell-or-highwater-by-melissa-ridley-elmes","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/oxmag\/come-hell-or-highwater-by-melissa-ridley-elmes\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Come Hell or Highwater&#8221; by Melissa Ridley Elmes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\">Each time the door opened, Liam\u2019s head snapped up. He\u2019d seen fourteen people come and eleven of them go again since arriving shortly after seven a.m.; it was a popular diner with the locals, his waitress had explained when she brought him a menu, which Liam had not yet looked at.\n\tHe had spent the first five minutes of his visit surveying the dining area: white walls lined with a variety of certificates cheaply framed, most recently one from two years earlier proclaiming the diner served the \u201cbest coffee in the tri-cities\u201d; a series of well-used booths covered in washable fabric lining the wall closest to the street; stainless steel stools lining the worn wooden counter along the back, tended by a cheerful college student who greeted everyone who sat there with a smile and a bright \u201ccoffee?\u201d as she slid menus in their direction from the large stack at the end of the counter that she periodically ran a bar rag across.\n\tDown the middle were six square tables, diagonally positioned, each with four chairs, suitable for small groups or to be pulled together for an eight, ten, twelve, sixteen, up to twenty-four top party. He imagined it was a regular after-church destination on Sundays. He was sitting at the center table, farthest from the door, so he could see each person walking in.\n\tNo one had entered for several minutes now. Liam fiddled with the salt and pepper shakers, then finally took up the menu and glanced through its contents- the usual diner breakfast fare- <em>served all day! <\/em>Proudly emblazoned across the top of each page: a variety of egg plates, with and without toast, sausage, bacon, and ham; a list of pancakes of increasing complexity and sweetness culminating with a chocolate pancake with ice cream, whipped cream, cherries, and sprinkles that you could get for half-off with proof it was your birthday; something called a breakfast casserole that involved hashbrowns, cheese, eggs, sausage, and a house \u201cbreakfast sauce\u201d; biscuits and gravy, grits, \u201cask your waitress about today\u2019s baked goods\u201d.\n\tLiam\u2019s waitress, a kindly-looking middle-aged woman with a snaggle tooth, old-fashioned wire-rimmed glasses, and crimson lipstick, wandered over for the third time since he\u2019d sat down. \u2018Barbra\u2019, her nametag declared, with a hand-drawn daisy in yellow Sharpie after the second \u2018a\u2019. \u201cReady to order? D\u2019you want to hear about today\u2019s baked goods?\u201d she asked. \n\t\u201cOr tell me about the house breakfast sauce instead?\u201d\n\tBarbra smiled one of those trying-to-be-cute smiles. \u201cOh, I\u2019m sorry, can\u2019t tell you that, it\u2019s top secret! But I can tell you, everyone just loves it!\u201d\n\tLiam smiled back and ordered a coffee to stave off being asked to relinquish his table as the diner started filling up. \n\t\u201cBest coffee in the tri-cities!\u201d Barbra assured him, gesturing at the framed certificate. She left briefly, returned with a cup and a steaming pot, set the cup down, poured, wiped a stray splash from the table with her rag, and moved off to wait on a new table.\n\tLiam left the cup where she had set it and returned to his survey of the faces that entered the diner, many more now as the rush hour crowd filed in: a giggling trio of young women dressed in black pants and white shirts on their way to their department store job; men singly or in pairs wearing business attire, a woman in her mid-thirties with pink hair greeted enthusiastically with a chorus of \u201cMary!\u201d from waitresses, counter-tender, and even a few guests, evidently a well-liked local or coworker. At one point, the diner was filled, and Barbra, who had given up approaching his table after his fifth \u201cI\u2019m fine, thanks\u201d in favor of waiting on more active customers, kept darting looks over at him, which Liam registered but avoided meeting. Eventually, things evened out, and the diner maintained a half- to three-quarters full status for much of the morning. \n\tBarbra wandered back over to his table towards eleven o\u2019clock. \u201cI\u2019m fixin\u2019 to leave,\u201d she said. Liam understood this meant he should ask for the check, which came to $1.34. He placed a twenty-dollar bill in the book, closed it, and slid it across the table. \u201cKeep the change.\u201d\n\tBarbra thanked him, a note of gratitude-tinged surprise in her voice. \u201cD\u2019you still want that?\u201d She asked, gesturing to the full cup of coffee.\n\tLiam nodded, and she shrugged and left. He saw her whisper something to the girl behind the counter, who looked over at him and laughed. He imagined the exchange: <em>that poor guy\u2019s been here since seven doing nothing but watching people come in that door. She must be pretty special for him to stick around so long! <\/em>The thought brought a wry smile, quickly smoothed back into studied disinterest.\n\tThe lunch crowd replaced the morning crowd: young mothers pushing strollers and holding grimy toddler hands, senior citizens, another flurry of men in business clothing, six women in a book club, their dog-eared and Post-it-noted paperbacks on the table alongside their club sandwiches and Cobb salads and iced teas. The college girl at the counter was replaced by a slender and bored-looking young man with thick black spectacles who spent all his non-interacting time with his nose in a book or scribbling furiously in a little black notebook with an old-fashioned fountain pen. Barbra\u2019s replacement, Ginny, had dyed red hair shaped into a sleek pageboy, a long nose, and a no-nonsense air that compelled Liam to ask for another menu and order a sandwich and fries.\n\t\u201cYou want me to dump that and get you a fresh one?\u201d She asked him, indicating his hours-old cup of coffee, still untouched.\n\t\u201cSure, thanks,\u201d Liam said because it seemed she wouldn\u2019t take no for an answer. \n\t\u201cYou don\u2019t mind my askin\u2019, what brings you in today?\u201d Ginny asked as she set down the plate of sandwiches, a few chips slipping off onto the Formica tabletop. He picked them up and placed them back on the plate.\n\t\u201c\u2019Cos it doesn\u2019t seem to be the coffee,\u201d she added, with an effort at humor, as she set down a fresh cup to replace the one she\u2019d just taken back to be tossed.\n\tLiam gave her a vague smile. \u201cI\u2019m meeting someone.\u201d\n\t\u201cBeen here a long time,\u201d she observed.\n\tHe nodded but didn\u2019t elaborate. After a moment, she grew impatient or bored and moved away to another, more talkative table of customers. Liam listened to their laughter and back-and-forth banter without hearing anything they said, lost in that haze of sitting around just waiting for \u2026 something. Someone.\n\tAround two-thirty, Ginny walked back over to his table and tsked when she saw he hadn\u2019t so much as eaten a chip off his plate. \u201cI\u2019m goin\u2019 on my lunch break,\u201d she informed him. \u201cIf you need anything while I\u2019m gone, Paul will help you.\u201d She indicated the young man behind the counter, currently wiping off menus with an air of resignation, his notebook splayed pages-side down on the counter to one side, a pen ostentatiously tucked into the breast pocket of his white button-down shirt. Liam thanked her and watched her walk through the double doors on the other side of the counter and vanish into the depths of the building. He returned his attention to the room in front of him.\n\tAt this point, the lunch crowd had died down. A few people were seated at the counter sipping coffees, and some students were occupying booths, their textbooks and laptops spread out on the tables, wet rings spreading under sweating glasses of ice water. Each ringing bell announcing a new customer\u2019s entrance caught Liam\u2019s attention, but otherwise he looked down at his untouched plate of food and unsipped coffee, lost in the company of unarticulated, half-formed thoughts.\n\tGinny returned twice more, once immediately following her lunch break to check on him and again just before six p.m.: \u201cMy shift\u2019s over.\u201d\n\tLiam asked for the check, which came to $11.39. He slipped another twenty into the book and handed it to her. \u201cKeep the change.\u201d\n\tShe thanked him, and her eyes went soft. \u201cYou sure you don\u2019t need anything else?\u201d\n\tHe heard the note of pity in her voice. \u201cNo, thanks. I\u2019m fine.\u201d\n\t\u201cYou don\u2019t mind me sayin\u2019, you\u2019re a real good-lookin\u2019 man, and you seem real nice. I hope she appreciates you,\u201d she said in a sudden burst of boldness.\n\tLiam smiled at that. \u201cShe doesn\u2019t even know me.\u201d\n\t\u201cBlind date, huh?\u201d Ginny tsked sympathetically. \u201cStill think she\u2019s comin\u2019?\u201d\n\tLiam shrugged. \u201cNothing to do but wait and see.\u201d\n\tGinny\u2019s expression registered admiration. \u201cWell, good luck to you. Hope you come in again.\u201d\n\tLiam smiled again. \u201cNot likely. I\u2019m just here for the day. Just for this.\u201d\n\tGinny\u2019s expression turned to total disbelief. \u201cAnd you been here all day, just sitting at this table? Even with all the museums, parks, stores, and other things to do out there?\u201d She gestured to the door as a symbol of the bustling city beyond.\n\t\u201cLike I said,\u201d Liam answered, working to keep his tone easy, \u201cI\u2019m just here for this.\u201d\n\tGinny\u2019s lips pursed. \u201cWell\u2014\u201d She seemed to be at a loss for words. \u201cAre you sure you don\u2019t want anything else?\u201d\n\t\u201cYou could tell me what\u2019s in that breakfast sauce,\u201d Liam suggested.\n\tShe got the hint. \u201cHouse secret. Have a good night.\u201d\n\tLiam watched her walk away. As Ginny reached the front door, she met a woman in her sixties at the entrance. Small and nervous looking, she stepped aside to let Ginny pass, closed the door behind her and turned to survey the room. \n\tLiam straightened up and looked intently at this woman. Her face was gently lined with wrinkles and looked tired and careworn. Her hair, brown and heavily threaded with grey, was carefully arranged in a side-parted shoulder-length style. She was dressed plainly, in a button-down shirt slightly too large for her slender frame and well-worn khaki pants. There was nothing remarkable about her except that as she looked at him and he looked at her, it was through eyes of the exact shade of caramel brown, with the exact tilt at the outer corner, with which each observed themself in the mirror every morning.\n\tAfter a long pause, during which her body language suggested she might turn and leave, the woman seemed to make up her mind. She pulled her shoulders back, sighed, and passed the line of tables down the center of the room toward Liam.\n\tHe stood as she approached, surprised to find himself shaking. He gripped the top of his chair for support.\n\tShe stopped across the table and gestured to herself. \u201cFrances Highwater.\u201d\n\t\u201cLiam Highwater,\u201d he responded, indicating himself in return, his voice sounding like that of a stranger to himself, nervous and self-conscious.\n\t\u201cMay I join you?\u201d she asked, gesturing with a slim hand at the empty chair opposite him. He nodded silently, slipping gratefully into his seat again and hoping she couldn\u2019t see him trembling. <em>Get a grip, Liam!<\/em>\n\tShe sat and took in the scene before her, just as Liam had done when he arrived. \u201cThat looks good,\u201d she said, eyeing the sandwich on his plate.\n\tLiam nodded.\n\t\u201cBeen here long?\u201d She ventured next, studying his face.\n\t\u201cNot terribly, no.\u201d\n\t\u201cI don\u2019t mind saying, I was of two minds whether to come,\u201d she said finally. \u201cIt\u2019s just\u2014I wasn\u2019t expecting you. This. Any of it.\u201d\n\t\u201cI\u2014wasn\u2019t expecting it, either,\u201d he agreed. \u201cIt just\u2014I. Just happened.\u201d\n\tHe stopped talking and looked down at his hands, folded into one another on the table before him. \n\t\u201cYou look well,\u201d she said after another long pause. \u201cLife\u2019s been good to you?\u201d\n\tHe nodded. \n\t\u201cAnd you\u2019re happy?\u201d She pressed, still studying his face as though she would memorize it, as though he were a puzzle she was trying to solve. \n\tHe nodded again.\n\t\u201cWell, that\u2019s nice. That\u2019s good,\u201d she said and lapsed into silence again. \n\tLiam\u2019s third waitress of the day, Ashley, came to the table all smiles and dimples and upspeak. \u201cHi there? How are you today? You want to see a menu?\u201d She asked Frances. Frances looked at Liam with questions in her eyes.\n\t\u201cYou should try the coffee,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s the best in the tri-cities area.\u201d\n\t\u201cIt is!\u201d Ashley agreed. \u201cCan I get you a cup?\u201d\n\tFrances nodded. \u201cDecaf, please.\u201d\n\t\u201cAnything else?\u201d Ashley asked, including Liam in her probe. Liam said he wouldn\u2019t mind another cup of coffee himself. He had a long drive ahead of him.\n\t\u201cYou drove here?\u201d Frances asked as Ashley walked away. \u201cAnd you\u2019re just here for today?\u201d\n\t\u201cYes.\u201d\n\t\u201cWell. That\u2019s\u2014\u201d Frances broke off and looked away for a moment. Then, she reached across the table, knocking chips off his plate as she grasped his hands. \u201cI\u2019m sorry. I\u2019m sorry you spent all day here waiting for me.\u201d\n\t\u201cI\u2019ve spent my whole life waiting for you,\u201d he blurted before he could stop himself. \u201cCome hell or high water, I\u2019d have stayed until you came. A few hours in a diner is nothing.\u201d\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s a lot to me,\u201d Frances replied, giving his hands a quick squeeze and, just as quickly, withdrawing her own hands back to her side of the table. Liam broke eye contact and looked down, noticing how much like her hands his own were, down to the bitten nails betraying the genetic predisposition to anxiety that characterized the heavy silence they sank into. Ashley returned with two steaming cups of coffee; noting the looks on their faces, she discreetly set them down on the table and left again without a word.\n\t\u201cWhat should I call you?\u201d Liam asked finally, looking up to meet Frances\u2019 scrutiny again. They held one another\u2019s gaze for several minutes, an unspoken conversation that felt more intimate and important than anything either of them could have said aloud, emotions flickering from one set of eyes to the other, reverberating like some code only they understood. Finally, Frances swallowed and said, her voice husky with sentiment:\n\t\u201cI hardly deserve it, but\u2014\u201d\n\t\u201cMother,\u201d he finished, and they dissolved together into undefinable tears.\n\tBehind the counter, his idle onlooking transforming instantly into studied interest, Paul pushed his glasses up more firmly on his nose, picked up his notebook, pulled his fountain pen from his pocket, and began scribbling furiously.\n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Melissa Ridley Elmes<\/strong> is a Virginia native currently living in Missouri in an apartment that delightfully approximates a hobbit hole. She is the author of two poetry collections, Arthurian Things (Dark Myth Publications, 2020) and Dreamscapes and Dark Corners ( Alien Buddha Press, 2023). Her fiction and poetry have also appeared in Washington Square Review LLC, Belmont Story Review, Black Fox, Poetry South, Star*Line, Dreams and Nightmares, and various other print and web venues. Her work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and the Elgin, Rhysling, and Dwarf Star awards for speculative poetry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Each time the door opened, Liam\u2019s head snapped up. He\u2019d seen fourteen people come and eleven of them go again since arriving shortly after seven a.m.; it was a popular diner with the locals, his waitress had explained when she brought him a menu, which Liam had not yet looked at. He had spent the &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/oxmag\/come-hell-or-highwater-by-melissa-ridley-elmes\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;&#8220;Come Hell or Highwater&#8221; by Melissa Ridley Elmes&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2310,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3446","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/oxmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/oxmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/oxmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/oxmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2310"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/oxmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/oxmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3446\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/oxmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}