Page 213 of As They Are
“There you are,” Tammy said with a smile. “You ready to knock some things down?”
My first Strawberry Springs project started today, and even though I was still emotional from the library, I was ready to do something else for the town.
“You know I am,” I said.
“I already told her to wear a mask,” Henry added. “I can’t even imagine what all would be in there.” He shuddered.
“It hasn’t been closed for too much longer than the library. Only ten years longer, in fact.”
“Onlyten years?” Tammy asked with a raised brow. “Who knows what all’s in there!”
“The older the better,” I said with a smile. Tammy took us to our usual table, but didn’t get to stay long since the diner was busy. Since the show finished airing, people flocked to the library, even though they weren’t residents. Marjorie and Henrietta were planning multiple events that would benefit the other smaller towns in the region. Tammy had help, though she preferred to try to do anything else.
Kelsey trudged to our booth. Henry and I had a habit of sitting on the same side so we could be close, so she was able to flop on the old leather dramatically.
“Whydoes Mom have such a huge fucking menu?” she muttered.
In the two months since Kelsey had come to town, she and I had become good friends. Mollie even got along with her too, and we’d had some card game nights at the farmhouse that went late into the night. Mollie would always be my best friend, but it was nice to have my group expand. I even chatted with Grace and Jade whenever I went shopping. I felt like a part of something here, and I was.
“It’s great for the customers.”
“I’m just so bad at being a server. I forget things all the time, and Kerry already went to the Facebook group about it.”
“We did all tell her that petty stuff was fine,” Henry said. “Sorry, Kelsey.”
“I just need to find something else,” she said. “But I hate reading and planning things, and no one else is hiring right now.”
“Give it a few months,” I said. “I bet something’ll come up.”
She let out a sigh before sitting up abruptly. “I forgot to refill Hugh’s coffee! Shit!”
She was gone before we could say anything else.
With Tammy running the show, our order came out smoothly. I wasn’t trying to get in the middle of their drama, but I’d heard both sides of the story. Tammy was being far more patient than most moms, but it was clear Kelsey wasn’t cut out for this.
I’d privately told Tammy to hold out as long as she could. Kelsey wasn’t bad at face-to-face interactions. She could charm anyone. The issue was when she got overwhelmed, she would forget to refill drinks or grab a side of ranch.
She would be far better behind a counter, not providing full service.
We ate quickly since today was Henry’s day to restock the clinic coffee from Food ‘n’ Things. We walked together up until I broke off at one of the older empty lots on the square.
Theo was waiting in front of it, tattooed arms crossed. He was looking over the space. I knew we wanted to get this done on as small of a budget as possible, so it would mostly be him, me, and one other person working on it.
“Ready?” I asked.
“Nope,” he replied, “though I don’t think I’ll ever be.”
“All we need is for—” I paused when another truck pulled in.
Dean Briggs was one of my best contractors when I worked in Nashville. I was happy he was willing to work with me after not being invited to work on the show.
And I’d heard he’d done great work on Violet and Charlie’s house.
“Mornin’,” he said as he stepped out of the truck with a coffee cup in his hand. Dean was a good man, but he also loved women. He was a playboy in every sense of the word, though I wouldn’t lie and say I hadn’t considered it many times before I met Henry.Once on a project in East Nashville, he’d gotten together with the owner. She was heartbroken when he didn’t want anything else, yet still said the sex was the best she’d ever had.
Even back then, I didn’t want to complicate things.
“Hi,” Theo said. At first, I was worried about how few words he spoke, but according to everyone, he never had a lot to say.
