Page 83 of Outcast
“I was texting with Matteo. His dad is suffocating him.”
I chuckled. “It’s not always easy working with family.”
Allison nodded. “You can relate, I’m sure. But Matteo isn’t even getting a paycheck. It’s like his dad is punishing him, you know? He rides him all day, grinds him under his boot, and Matt doesn’t even have the money to put gas in his car, so he’s walking everywhere. That father of his is a real piece of work!”
“Sounds rough.”
She shook her head. “That’s not why you’re here, though.” She sighed. “We should get our ducks in a row before Brenda gets here.”
“Yep. You reviewed their grant application?”
“I did. Thanks for helping them write that, by the way. It gave me a much stronger argument to make with my supervisor.”
“Of course. I’d hate to see us lose Jerkers. It’s such an iconic Riverton business. I know it was closed for years, but the revival has finally started to take off.”
“You just don’t want to lose those MoonShakes,” Allison teased.
I laughed. “Busted.”
“No, I agree. It’s a shame they got behind, but I guess the restaurant business has very thin margins. I had some concern they might find themselves in this position again, but the debt is primarily related to the building, andthat, we can agree is a historic landmark worth saving.”
Allison pushed some paperwork across to me. “This is the most the community foundation can offer right now. Can you work with that?”
I skimmed over the paperwork. It wouldn’t cover all the Morrisons’ debt. Not by a long shot. But it would catch them up enough to avoid foreclosure.
“It’s a start,” I said. “We’re going to need more than this long-term. So they don’t end up back in this position, like you said.”
Allison nodded. “I’ve got some ideas. Let’s wait for Brenda?—”
A knock at the door interrupted. We looked over to see Esther opening the door. “Mrs. Morrison is here.”
“Come on in,” Allison said. “We were just getting on the same page before you arrived.”
Brenda stepped in, a big-boned lady with the scent of grease clinging to her. Or maybe that was the large paper bags she held in her arms. The Jerkers logo on the side made me perk up.
“What have you got there?” I hopped up to relieve her of the burden.
Allison snorted. “Such a gentleman when fried food is on the line.”
Brenda smiled. “You’ve both been so kind to help us out of this mess. I figured I might as well feed you.”
It was only ten thirty, but Brenda would have to be back at the diner for the lunch rush.
I placed the bags on the table, and Brenda started unloading them. Burgers wrapped in foil, salt-and-vinegar fries—a specialty of Jerkers that people either loved or hated; I was definitely in thelovecamp—and an entire banana cream pie.
There were also two pint-size cartons with lids. “What are these?”
“MoonShakes,” she said. “Couldn’t bring them in drink cups and carry everything. But there are spoons.”
I pried the lid off instantly and dug in.
Allison chuckled. “Well, you just made Emory’s day. He loves those things. Thank you for all this. You really didn’t need to feed us. Jerkers is an amazing part of our community, and we want to see it stay that way.”
Brenda sat down in a spare chair at the table, blinking glassy eyes. “I appreciate that so much. It’s really such a labor of love for Ernie and me.”
“We know it is,” Allison said.
“We both grew up going to the original Jerkers, you know.” She chuckled. “Every Friday during football season, practically the whole high school would pack in. It was named for the mascot, you know.”
