Chapter 1 – Judged at the Door
The young manager blocked my path before I could reach an empty chair. Her gaze traveled from my faded cotton dress to my old sandals and finally settled on the worn canvas bag my husband, David, had given me years ago. “I’m afraid this isn’t the place to come in just to cool off,” she said. Her polite words carried no kindness.
I was sixty-two, overheated, and still clutching the blood pressure medicine I had collected from Miller’s Pharmacy. The six-block walk home had become unbearable beneath the afternoon sun. Romano’s, with its shaded windows and cool dining room, had seemed like a safe place to rest and buy a drink. Yet the manager, Alison, insisted the restaurant was fully booked, though most of its tables stood empty.
“I’ll pay for coffee,” I told her, steadying myself against a chair. She named an absurd price, then glanced at my bag as if it answered every question about my finances. When I said I could afford it, she gave a small, disbelieving laugh. My cheeks burned. David had been gone three years, and our son, Michael, had died even earlier at twenty-eight because of a drunk driver. That bag held memories worth more than anything in the room.
Alison raised her voice and called for security. Before anyone came, another woman stepped out from the office. She was around forty, silver threading her dark hair, and the room seemed to settle when she appeared. “Alison, what’s going on?” she asked. Then she looked at me. Her expression changed from concern to astonishment. Tears filled her eyes as she whispered, “Miss Betsy?”
