The Last Table at Harbor Cafe
Chapter 2 - The empty chair
His wife had worked Thursdays at the library. Their cafe meeting had been the one hour neither of them belonged to anyone else's schedule. After she died, he kept coming because the room remembered her laugh better than his empty apartment did.
Lena apologized for asking. He shook his head. "You thought I was waiting. I am remembering. They look much the same."
He knew the cafe was struggling. He had watched Lena count receipts and mend the same apron. He offered to give up his reservation.
On her way home, Lena stopped at the library. The librarian remembered Mrs. Reed and showed her a folder of book-club photographs. In almost every picture, there were people crowded around the cafe's small tables.
