Two Pieces of Toast, Please

“All set to order?” the waitress stood at the edge of the booth, notebook in hand, expecting she’d given them enough time.
“I think I’ll have two eggs, over easy. Bacon. And what kind of bread do you have for toast?”
“Um we have white, wheat, or you could get a grilled biscuit,” the man frowned at the menu and she continued, “Or a marble rye. It’s a little bit extra.”
“Ooh, marble rye sounds interesting.” His wife declared mulling over the promise of flavor.”
“Yes, yes, but I’m not paying extra for interesting. No, I’ll take the wheat.”
“Okay, and you ma’am?”
“Oh yes, what was it I wanted?” the woman scanned the menu quickly aware of her husband’s stare and definite misgivings of her absentmindedness. She wondered why he had married her twenty-six years ago. “Oh, here it is the house special. Can I have the eggs scrambled with cheese and some onion and green pepper with the homefries?”
“Sure. “ The waitress began to collect the menus and in the midst of her reach asked to no one in particular, “Coffee with that?”
“Yes.” They replied the woman’s voice just slightly behind that of her husband’s.
Her husband waited until the waitress had left before he commented to his wife that the onions and green peppers would cost extra. In fact the menu priced them at ninety cents each. “That’s a whole dollar eighty. You can buy a whole pepper in the store for that.”
In the quiet that followed the man reorganized his utensils to the far left making room for the Belfast Daily. Hidden behind the pages, he did not see how lost his wife seemed. How her body and dress seemed to contrast sharply with the well worn seat of the diner’s booth. She gratefully received the coffee from the waitress and began to stir in the cream. With hands wrapped around the mug for warmth, she looked out the window to the ocean.
“What if we went for a boat ride today? I always loved going on whale watches with the children when they were younger. And this will be the first June that neither of them will make it up for a visit.”
The paper crinkled as a triangular edge was bent down revealing her husband’s face. He looked at her with his eyes just over the rim of his generic reading glasses. “What? Sorry, dear I was just reading an insightful article about…well never mind. What was it you said?”
“Just mentioned the boats. The boys aren’t visiting until August or September or so. Thought maybe you and I could go for a sunset whale watch tour.”
“Those rides are so expensive for a stomach full of nausea. Maybe we could go poking around some antique stores today. I’ve been looking for a nice model ship to put in my study.”
“Another one?”
“Yes, I want something made out of mahagony or darkened cherry. Regal, rich looking. Don’t you think it would look nice against the bookcases we just had built?”
“Yes, very nice.” Her eyes seemed distant, her mouth puckered just slightly into a frown. “Oh waitress,” she called stirring her coffee, “I’d like some more coffee and can you change my order to that marble rye.” And looking straight at her husband she added, “two slices.”