Page 31 of Mountain Freedom
“Hey,” he added as he turned away. “You’re coming to dinner tomorrow night, right?”
“I’ll be there,” I said, nodding confirmation. Once a month, Greg and Janet hosted a Friday night dinner for their family, and they included me in the count.
“Bring Allison,” he suggested. “If she’s having a hard time making friends, Daphne and Willa would be good for her. You know they’ll immediately make her part of the group.”
“That’s a good idea,” I admitted, even though I knew if I showed up with her people would automatically assume we were a couple, and it might lead to some awkward conversations.
Still, he was right—Daphne and Willa were both close to Allison’s age and would make her feel welcome. That would give her two good girlfriends here, and since they were both pretty popular in the community, having them as friends would give her some automatic credibility.
Although part of me wasn’t quite ready to share her.
“It’s settled then,” he said. “I’ll tell Janet to add another place setting to the table. Now go on and get out of here. That paperwork will wait until morning and you know it.”
“Yes, sir,” I said, giving him a salute.
He just laughed and headed out the door.
And with a smile on my face, I grabbed my stuff and followed him.
“This place is adorable,”Allison said, her face lighting up as she took in all the details of the historic home-turned-café. “You said Luna owns it?”
“Yeah. She bought this place and turned it into a restaurant about a year ago.”
Allison shook her head. “It’s so fun to see how people we were in school with turned out. I remember how Luna loved to play with the miniature kitchen at the children’s library. Now she owns a restaurant of her own.”
“Yeah.” I grinned. “And I can remember you walking around with the toy stethoscope.”
Allison’s face broke into a smile. “I did! You’re right. I don’t remember what you used to play with though. Do you?”
“Nah,” I said, shaking my head and keeping my grin on, even though a flicker of pain hit my heart. “I don’t think I was ever much into toys.”
Allison looked like she could see right through me. “Yeah, probably not,” she said, but the sadness in her voice told me she had remembered the same thing I did—how I had learned early on that if Russell picked me up and saw me playing with anything at all, he’d find a way to humiliate me for it in front of all the other kids.
The toy kitchen was women’s work. The doctor set was ridiculous because I was too stupid to ever become one. Books? I was a sissy, wasting precious time reading dumb fairytales.
The only thing he would have been happy to have me play with were the toy guns, but only if I was the bad guy. And that was the one thing I had been determined to never be. If he had caught me playing the role of a cop? He’d probably have called me a traitor and killed me that night.
“Anyway,” I said, deliberately changing the subject. “Luna did a great job with the project. She really kept the character of the old house. You can rent out the top floor for meetings orevents. The bottom is open for lunch and dinner as a café. It’s been pretty popular, especially with the tourists.”
“I can see why.” She peered at the counter. “Lobster bisque? Fresh mozzarella with toasted hazelnuts, balsamic glaze, and truffle oil?” She clapped her hands like a little girl. “Everything sounds incredible.”
“Thank you,” Luna herself said, walking in just in time to catch Allison’s excitement.
I watched the surprise on Allison’s face as she took in the sight. Luna had grown up into a stunning woman who liked to dress like she was heading to dinner at a castle or something instead of running a restaurant in Rosemary Mountain. She always knew how to make an entrance, that was for sure.
“Hey, Jackson,” Luna said, giving me a smile.
“Hey, Luna. Remember Allison from school?”
Luna turned to Allison, keeping her face cool, though I noticed the quick flicker of surprise in her eyes. “Allison Bell, right?”
“That’s right,” Allison replied with a warm smile. “It’s great to see you after all these years. Congratulations on the restaurant! I can’t wait to try it.”
Luna shrugged and held up a graceful hand as if it was nothing. The red jewels on her bracelet sparkled in the light. “Thank you,” she said. “I hope you enjoy it. Welcome back to the mountain. I’ve heard you’re taking over the family practice on the square?”
“I am,” Allison confirmed.
“Good luck. You’ll need it,” Luna said, raising her eyebrows. She turned her body away from us to address the girl behind the register as we moved up to the front of the line. “The detective eats on the house tonight. Come see me sometime, Jackson.” She squeezed my arm, then gave me a wink as she turned and headed up the stairs to the top floor.
