Page 32 of Christmas at Black Cherry Retreat
Tom read the menu and was immediately a happy man. ‘Today’s special is fried pork chops, mashed potatoes, creamed corn and turnip greens. Don’t tell Aunt Ina but the chops are better than hers,’ he confided.
‘Do they have anything else, only…’
‘Only what?’
‘I’m not supposed to eat a lotof fatty foods,’ she apologised. ‘Over the last few years I developed a stomach ulcer mainly down to stress and need to be sensible about my diet.’
‘Is it painful?’
‘It can be if I ignore it.’
‘So pepperoni pizza with extra cheese is out then?’ Tom teased.
‘Unless I want to wind up at the nearest hospital I’d have to go with a yes.’
He glanced back at themenu. ‘They’ve got a hearty vegetable soup or a choice of sandwiches.’
‘The soup will be perfect and maybe a wholegrain roll. You order what you want, it doesn’t bother me.’
Tom didn’t argue. The pull of excellent pork chops was too strong. ‘Okay.’
Half an hour later Tom pushed his chair back so he could stretch out his over-stuffed body. He’d succumbed to the lure of thecook’s famous apple cake with homemade vanilla ice cream for dessert and was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to move for a week.
‘Will that keep starvation at bay for a few hours?’ Fee teased.
‘Maybe.’ He poured a generous measure of cream into his coffee before pulling out his phone. ‘You sure you don’t mind?’
‘I told you it was fine. I’m going to do the same.’ Fee assuredhim and retrieved hers from the battered tan leather tote she told him had done more miles than most airplanes. He took her at her word and started to check through his accumulated messages.
She deleted the mountains of spam and narrowed the rest down to half a dozen she might actually want to read. Fee sighed as one name leapt out.
‘Is something wrong?’
She glanced upto meet Tom’s worried eyes. ‘Not really but I’ve got a message from my mother.’ Was Maddy really not going to abandon the idea of playing happy families with Allain Dupre after all these years?
‘Do you want me to read it for you?’ he asked.
‘I’m not helpless.’ Tom flinched and she regretted her sharp reply. ‘Sorry.’
‘It’s alright.’
Fee glanced down at her phone.
‘Just because it’s called a smartphone I don’t think it’ll read itself, sweetheart. Can you imagine what the folks at the Hensley settlement would’ve thought of all this modern technology? Sometimes I wonder who’s better off.’
‘You are. Trust me.’ Her vehemence poured out. ‘I’ve seen enough people living in primitive conditions, women dying in childbirth, kids not making it pasttheir first birthdays and people scrubbing their clothes in a dirty river to know it sucks. Don’t let anyone tell you they’re happy and content with their lot in life because it’s rubbish. If you offered them a washing machine, decent health care and electricity they wouldn’t give a crap about sticking with the traditional ways.’ Fee’s frustration demolished the filter she usually kept firmly inplace. She became aware of the other diners openly staring at her.
‘I know, honey. I didn’t mean it literally.’
‘Sorry. I’ve forgotten how to behave.’
‘You’ve got nothing to apologise for.’ Tom squeezed her hands. ‘You still feel deeply for people and after all you’ve been through I’d say that’s huge.’
Tears blurred her vision and Tom passed over a fresh white linenhandkerchief. He didn’t say a word while she removed her glasses and wiped her eyes.
‘Do you want to get out of here? We could sit on the porch.’
She nodded and Tom caught the waitress’s eye to get the bill. After he paid they gathered their things and went to sit together on an old wood swing. For several minutes they swung idly without talking and the gentle silence finally loosenedher tongue.
