Denise Benfield is dealing with her mother's imminent death from cancer, when Mike Pelton shows up at the door, saying he was an old friend of her mother's, hasn't seen her in forty years, and wondered what has happened to her. She lets him in, and learns that it was more than just friendship all those decades before. Should she let him see her mother?"It Happened At The Burger Joint" tells of this encounter, as Denise tries to figure out what Mike's relationship was to her mother. Stories of when they worked together at The Burger Joint amuse her and her aunts, and prove that he really knew her mother. From what he says, Denise can tell that he was in love with her mom, though she married someone else. She had always thought her mom had had another boy she liked besides her father. She wants to know the full story.