Seven Crumpled Dollar Bills on a Pine Table in Michigan

The coffee at the Highway Sixty-One Diner cost two dollars a cup, and it was hot enough to burn the tongue if a man did not let it sit. Mike kept his hands wrapped around the thick white mug, listening to the wind off Lake Mitchell whistle through the doorframe. The draft smelled of damp pine and wet asphalt.

Four other veterans sat with him around continue reading …