Page 6 of Rescue
Chapter 3
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Miles
I’m startled awake by the incredibly aggravating sounds of Gangnam Style. I burst out of bed cursing my little brother, Bryant, for changing my alarm from the standard beep that it usually is. As the prankster of the family, I should be more on guard, but he’s my brother so I let it slide more than I ought to.
I stumble to the shower, eyes barely open, with thoughts of revenge. He’s going to pay for this. I’m too tired and frustrated to think of how right now, but patience is a virtue. I’ll hit him when he’s least expecting it. My three brothers and I are close, and we’ve been in a never-ending prank war that’s spanned more than two decades.
As I turn the water on and let it heat up, my mind goes to what I have to do today. As the manager of my family's sporting goods store, I know it's going to be busy as we head into the winter months. There’s no snow on the ground yet, but with the way my bad knee has been aching, I know it won’t be long.
I finish showering and am dressed and out the door before I know it. I make my way to Mabel’s Manor, the local cafe, to get my usual coffee and sticky bun. I’ve become a creature of habit and without my routine my day is wrecked.
Once I'm in my truck, my thoughts turn to the deal I’m trying to make with the Callahans. They own the property adjacent to us with several rental cabins and run a shuttle service that brings folks up the mountain to the ski lifts. If we were able to buy them out, that would make us a one stop shop in town. We’d have lodging, rentals, gear, and shuttles. I want to make my mark on the family business and this is how I want to do it. It feels as though Dad is dragging his feet retiring and maybe this is what he needs to see the business is in good hands. This deal is going to be just the thing our business needs to take it to the next level. Now I just need to figure out how to get the Callahans to sell to me. I hope the mistakes I’ve made aren’t too hard to overcome.
I make my way through the twisty mountain rounds, head still in the clouds. When I pull up in front of the cafe, the parking lot is deserted and all the lights are still off. “That’s odd,” I mutter to myself. Mabel didn’t say anything yesterday about having to close.
There goes my whole day,I think to myself. Janis, my assistant, means well, but her coffee is sludge. She’s been with us since Dad opened the business, back when we were just Carter’s Ski Rental. Now that he’s stepped back, she’s become my assistant. She really knows how to keep track of the business, but when it comes to coffee, she’s hopeless. You would think after 30+ years of making coffee that she’d have the skill mastered. It’s not even that difficult. But she always ends ups brewing this nasty, thick, burnt brown liquid that would turn even the hardest stomach. I just can’t do it.
I turn my truck towards The Fried Egg. I can get a coffee to go from them. It won’t be as awesome as Mabel’s, but it’ll do. Anything is better than what I’ll be stuck with at the store, and I bet I’ll be able to find out what's going on at Mabel’s Manor. The gossip mill in this small ski town is alive and well. Everyone knows the town diner has all the best information, second only to the Crochet Cabaret, a local women’s group. I may not want the details on the whole town, but I know where to get the details when I need them. And since my favorite coffee shop closed, the diner will just have to work.
I pull up outside the diner and have to search extra hard for a parking space this morning. It seems like the whole town is here, and I guess they probably are, since Mabel’s is closed.
As I walk in, I’m greeted by the sounds of excited chatter and smells of all things fried. The place is bustling with activity. I lean against the main bar and wait for one of the waitresses to notice me. I finally catch Kasey’s eye. I’ve known her since high school; she was a few years ahead of me. She’s been a waitress here forever. Always one to gossip, she picked the perfect place to work. Nice girl, of course, if you like that kind of thing.
“Hey, Miles,” she says to me as she wipes the counter in front of me. With her black curly hair bursting out of her ponytail and glasses too big for her face, I wouldn’t say she’s unattractive, but she’s not really my type.
“Morning, Kasey, any idea why Mabel’s is closed this morning?” I ask. She’s sure to know with all the gossip that goes on in this place.
“Well,” she says with a laugh, “I guess Ms. Mabel decided to go a little overboard pranking Tom this year and fell off his barber shop pole.”
“You’re kidding!” I say, holding back a laugh. The mental image alone is hilarious. Mabel has been known to get herself into some sticky situations, but I hate that she’s hurt. I quickly follow up with, “Is she ok?”
“Not really. She took one awful fall. From what I heard from Willa, she’s pretty busted up with a broken hip and wrist, but she’s having surgery this morning and should be right as rain in a few months.”
“That’s terrible! I wonder what’s going to happen with the cafe while she’s recovering,” I question, more to myself than Kasey.
“I’m sure she and Willa will figure it out. Willa said something about her daughter coming home to help, but we’ll see. Can I get you anything or are you just here for the gossip?” she asks jokingly.
That makes sense. Willa is Mabel’s daughter and does the accounting for most of the local businesses here in town. I believe her daughter is somewhere around the same age as the twins. I think I remember them all running around together. I wonder how that would work, her running the business for Mabel. I know if someone else were to try to open and run the sporting goods store on their own, they’d probably run into all kinds of trouble. There are just some things you need to know about a business to keep it properly running. Hopefully, she can help out, but she’s going to have one hell of a time if she doesn’t know what she’s doing. Realizing Kasey is still waiting, I manage to respond, “Yeah, can I get a large coffee to go, please?”
“Sure thing. Give me just a minute.” Then she's off to fill a cup for me.
Back in my truck with my coffee, I test a sip of the hot liquid. It’s good, but nothing compared to Mabel’s. Did Kasey say when this girl was supposed to come help? I might go crazy without my usual morning cup of Joe. I drive the three blocks to the store. Pulling up, I can’t help the sense of pride I feel in what my family has built.
Carter’s Extreme Sporting Goods is more than just a sporting goods store. My dad started this business when he was just out of college, renting skis and equipment to tourists who’d come to our mountain for some of the best skiing in Southern California. 10 years later he expanded to sporting goods equipment, specializing in mountain sports. This isn’t where you come to get a soccer ball or baseball bat. Sure, we have those here, but that's not why people shop with us. They come for our top of the line kayaks and canoes, mountain bikes, and wind kites in the summer. In the winter, we have all things snow, including snowboards, snowshoes, and snowmobiles. We try to cater to a clientele that loves adventure and the outdoors with an emphasis on the more adrenaline inducing sports. It works out well for us. Business is good.
I head inside and wave to Adam, the college student we have working the register. About half of our employees are young students who need a job with a flexible schedule and don’t mind odd hours or breaking their back loading gear into a client's car. They’re not always the most reliable, but our customers tend to prefer their opinions over some of the other guys who’ve been here a while. Don’t get me wrong, our older salesmen are top notch, and a lot of our locals and higher end clientele prefer them, but extreme sports are usually for the younger crowd. They’re always looking for the newest and most popular products and our college age employees have a handle on that better than most. We sell risk and young people love to take it.
I do a quick walk through the store to make sure it’s tidy and well stocked. I stop to talk to Mr. Ray, a retiree who has nothing better to do then stare at the gun case. He’s had his eye on a particular gun lately, but he says he still can’t make up his mind and has once again decided to wait. I’m not surprised.
After a brief chat with him about Ms. Mabel’s accident, and what a shame it is, I head to the back where we have a couple offices and the employee lounge. It’s not much, just two small offices, a desk for Janis, and a slightly bigger room with a couple chairs, a table, a tv, and an old couch that has probably been here since the beginning. The walls are covered in sports memorabilia and photographs that Dad has collected over the years.
Janis is waiting for me when I walk in with my messages and a smile. She's dressed in her usual eccentric way with a bold orange headband holding her hair back. It looks like her headband matches the patterned dress she has on. She could just put on jeans and a polo like the other employees but she says that just not her style. I figure it’s fine. She’s rarely on the sales floor, but when she is, she draws so much attention that half the town stops to chat with her.
She greets me with her usual raspy too-many-cigarettes voice and hands me my messages. I'm extra busy today with my usual start of the week duties as well as the proposal I’m working on for Dad, so I don’t have time to chat. I quickly shuffle into my office and get to it.
The day flies by and I only stop to eat the lunch when Janis insists. She’s always mothering in her brash and pushy way, hovering over me, and forcing me to take care of myself. I’ll never admit it, but I sort of like it.
