Page 15 of Rescue
Chapter 8
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Penelope
I’m finally getting my groove here in the cafe. Nana has everything so well organized that it only took a few days for me to get back into the swing of things. I’ve learned the quirky new menu and I’m no longer thrown off when someone orders a Vanilla Flap Frap, a Sassy Cinn-er, or even the Bold and Busty Bean Flicker, which turns out to be a super strong blend of espresso and coffee.
Nana and Mama’s arrangement seems to be working out well. I called earlier during a mid-morning lull and Mama said she had everything under control. Now that Nana is out of the hospital and settled into Mama’s guest room, her mood has improved tremendously. Her pain is manageable, and the physical therapy seems to be going well. Hopefully she’ll be back on her feet in no time.
It’s Saturday afternoon and I’ve got the whole weekend ahead of me. Nana chose the hours of the cafe wisely. We close at noon on Saturdays and don’t open at all on Sunday. Since Monday is a holiday, we’ll be closed then as well. I can’t wait to finally get a chance to relax and enjoy being back in town.
There’s a parade later today that runs through the center of town and ends at the local fairgrounds where the community is putting on several events, including a small carnival and craft fair. Amy is running the dunking booth for an hour and then we plan on meeting after she’s done to watch the wet t-shirt auction. This isn’t like any event I’ve been to. The local firefighters get hosed down and then the single (or not so single) ladies of the town bid on them to get a date with the firefighter of their choice. If you’re worried about our local firefighters being objectified, no worries. They started this tradition themselves and keep it going every year. They’re all a bunch of peacocks and not so secretly love to strip down and let the ladies look their fill. It’s pretty barbaric but it brings in a ton of money and people come from all around to watch the show. All those people mean tons of revenue in tickets, concessions, and shopping along the town square. It’s the biggest community event of the year.
Mabel’s Manor is always well represented. We supply all of the coffee and pastries, including cupcakes, cookies, and breads for the local concession stand. There aren’t many eateries in town, but there are still too many for all of us to have a booth. Rather than fight, the owners made a deal. They’d have one booth that supplied a couple things from each restaurant. The diner supplied the burgers and fries, Mable’s Manor supplied the pastries and coffee, Bob’s BBQ supplied pulled pork sandwiches, and so on. Like a one stop shop for all Piney Grove foods. It really is a great deal, and it keeps the local restaurateurs happy.
It took me a while, but I was able to get all of the extra baking done in time. I worked hard yesterday but was finally able to finish everything. The relief at having all my obligations taken care of is palpable. If I’m honest, it was pretty stressful and more than a few times I worried that I wouldn’t get it all done in time, but I surprised myself and pulled it off without a hitch. I guess all those months of working for bitchy Brenda paid off. I put the finishing touches on the packaging yesterday and made sure I dropped everything off at the stand last night.
I won’t lie, the confidence boost I got after I was done felt incredible. I almost wanted to call Spencer and tell him about what I had accomplished, but I didn’t. I don’t want him to get the wrong idea and think I want to get back together. I’m enjoying my new life here in Piney Grove. I’m not ready to think about what my next step is, but I know that things with Spencer and I are over.
Resolving to put these thoughts behind me and enjoy the day, I finish up the cleaning that’s left in the kitchen and head upstairs to get ready. I take a quick shower, fix my hair, and put on some light makeup. Then I rummage through my suitcase to pick out something to wear. I still haven’t found the time to unpack, maybe I can get to that tomorrow since I’ll be off all day. I choose a pair of shorts and a green tank top, grabbing a light jacket to throw over my arms in case it gets cold. The weather today is supposed to be mild and warm, but in late August and early September you never know when the weather could change. Up here, the weather is known to suddenly shift and the nice warm day you thought you were going to have becomes wind, rain, and 40 degree temps. You don’t want to be caught unprepared out here in the mountains. Things can shift on a dime.
Heading out the door, I make the decision to walk the short distance to the fairgrounds. It’s less than a mile and I know with the traffic I won’t find parking once I get close anyway. The walk is short, and the weather is perfect. I marvel at the fact that 2 weeks ago I was engaged and living in the city. Being home has given me a whole new perspective and I’m trying to enjoy everything around me.
It gets busier the closer I get and before I know it I’m swept into the crowd and enjoying the atmosphere. I spend some time walking around and checking out the booths, grabbing a cute bracelet that’s just my mom’s style, and a silly little gnome knick knack that’s just wacky enough that I know Nana will love.
Weaving through the crowd, I make my way toward the dunking booth. Once I spot Amy, I make a beeline towards her. Behind her I can see Miles in the booth, a huge smile on his face, good naturedly ribbing some high school boys who’ve lined up to take their turns at trying to dunk him. From what I can gather, these are his employees and they’ve worked the crowd to chant “DUNK THE BOSS” with them at the top of their lungs. Laughing at the boys’ high spirits, I look back at Miles and we make eye contact. His smile morphs into something more, and from here I can see the heat in his eyes. My stomach does a weird little flip and I smile a little, then nervously look away. I don’t know what it is about him that makes me feel so flustered, but I can’t seem to pull myself together when it comes to him. My usual cool just evaporates around him.
“Hello??? Earth to Penny!” Amy says. My already flushed face reddens even more as I’m snapped back to reality.
I give Amy an embarrassed grin. “Hey, sorry, I was distracted. What’s up?”
“I’d say,” she says, looking in Miles’ direction, then back at me with a curious look. “You ready to go? I’m all done here.”
Behind her I can hear the crowd's disappointment as one of the kids misses. The group of boys jokingly send out a chorus of boos. The last kid in the group is up and from the looks of it he has a good arm. I can feel the anticipation running through the crowd. Miles starts to look nervous.
“Now, Adam,” I hear him say. The kid is ignoring him, his eyes on the target, a determined look on his face. He winds up and throws. It seems like time slows down while the ball flies through the air, but when it hits its goal the buzzer sounds like an alarm. Miles’ face twists in anxiety and his eyes fly to mine me right before he goes down. When he comes up with a splash he’s sputtering and laughing. The crowd goes wild clapping and laughing, high fiving Adam for his good aim. I chuckle and turn back to Amy, letting her know I’m ready to go.
“What was that about?” Amy asks, clearly wanting details on that little interaction.
“What?” I say innocently, trying to avoid the conversation.
“You know what,” she says. “Miles was looking at you like you were a snack!”
“He was not!” I say with nervous laughter, more than a little embarrassed.
“Ok, girl, whatever you want to tell yourself. Let me know when you come back to reality.” She shoves me a little and I know she’s just teasing me.
Miles wasn’t really staring at me, was he? I mean sure, there were those couple of moments when we locked eyes, but that doesn’t mean anything. We’ve seen each other a few times at the cafe and were able to remain totally professional. I don’t see why everyone has to be so dramatic. So what if we know each other? That doesn’t mean he’s staring at me like a piece of meat.
We wander around for a while, people watching and chatting about everything and nothing. We grab some food from the concession stand and walk back towards the main stage where the wet t-shirt auction will be. Neither of us plan on bidding on anyone, but we want to make sure we have good seats.
We find a couple seats near the front, but out of the splash zone (yes, that is a real thing), and settle in for the evening. It's almost show time and the seating area has really filled up. Just as the sun starts to set, the lights come on and the host comes out. We watch as the men get sprayed down, then auctioned of one by one while the women go crazy bidding and winning the men. I see the Carter twins, but I only have the chance to wave to them through the throng of women between us. I still haven't had a chance to catch up with them, but I’m sure it’s just a matter of time. The four of us, me, Amy, Bryant, and Brody, were all best friends in high school. For a long time I thought Amy and Brody would end up together, but nothing ever came from all their flirting. Everyone always thought there was something romantic going on between Bryant and me as well, but they couldn’t have been more wrong. Bryant was more like my disgusting brother than anything else. There were never any feelings other than purely platonic sibling love between us.
Bryant is a great guy but he’s too much of a ladies man. I’ll admit that he’s hot, but he’s also totally obnoxious and cocky. That is just not my type. Maybe I thought it was with Spencer, but if I’ve learned anything, it’s that guys like that are not for me.
Brody is also really hot, if I have to admit it, but in the opposite way. He’s a lot more quiet and self-assured. He doesn’t need the approval of the crowd and has always just been happy to hang with his close friends. If we ever went out to a party in high school, I always knew I could find him sitting outside, waiting for us to be ready to go. He never rushed us, and if we needed anything he would be there in an instant, but he always just seemed above it. Brody is something of an old soul, aged before his time. By what, I have no idea. He and Amy were always a lot closer than he and I. They would pair off, leaving me to deal with Bryant alone. And Bryant, the life of the party, was never ready to go home. He always made sure to take care of me though, and for that I’m very thankful. I always knew that he had my back, my drink was safe, and that none of the guys would try anything with him around. And he never once let me down. Both boys, men now, were never anything but awesome friends to me. I grew up a very lucky girl.
This evening Brody is ahead of his brother in line to be auctioned. Bryant, with his life of the party attitude and chiseled body, is no doubt being saved for last. When Brody comes out on stage, Amy starts getting very uncomfortable. “What's up with you?” I ask the fifth time she nervously glances around like she wants to get up and run away.
“Nothing,” she whispers, though she definitely doesn’t need to be whispering. The crowd is going wild ready to start bidding. The noise is almost deafening.
“Why do you look so uncomfortable? If you don’t want anyone bidding on him, why don’t you just do it?” I ask. I always thought they’d get together on their own, so I never pushed, but maybe there’s something there keeping them apart that I don’t know about.
“I don’t want him,” she says, elbowing me to drop it, but it sounds to me like she’s trying to convince herself. I can tell she’s lying, which confuses me, but I don’t push her. If she wants me to know what’s going on, she’ll tell me. The host starts the bidding and Amy gets more and more upset, though if Brody can tell, you’d never know. He’s up on the stage flexing and putting on a great show. By the time Nancy Womack has finally won the bidding war, Amy is downright angry. There’s obviously a story here, but I don’t think I’m going to get it today. It seems like a lot has changed since I left. “I’m bored, want to get out of here?” she asks me, and if I didn’t know her better, I wouldn’t be able to pick up on the desperation in her eyes. She clearly wants to be anywhere but here.
“Sure,” I say, taking pity on her, “I’ve got a great bottle of wine back at the cafe if you want to join me.” I’m not sure if she’ll accept since she seems so cagey, but I’m pleasantly surprised when she nods in agreement. “Come on, let's get out of here,” I wink and smile at her, trying to lift her spirits. She finally cracks a smile when I offer her my arm. She wraps her arm through mine and we walk like that, back through the crowd. I think I catch a glimpse of Miles at one point, but I can’t be sure. It’s busy and everyone is straining to see the next guy up for auction.
When we get back to the cafe, we go in and get to work. I loan her a pair of pajamas so we can get comfy, we push the couch up to the fireplace, and she starts a fire (with the flue open this time), while I grab the wine and a couple glasses and throw together a quick charcuterie board for us to nibble on. We settle down into either end of the couch with our wine and snacks between us and enjoy a delightful evening of tears, belly laughs, and reminiscing. Somehow Brody never comes up again, and neither does Miles, both of us content to leave the Carter men off the table for the night. I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun doing absolutely nothing. As I fall asleep that night, the last thing that runs through my mind isIt’s good to be home.
