Page 43 of Happy Harbor
“Oh, sorry. I was somewhere else.”
“Well, as much as I can understand transporting yourself away from this crazy place, there’s work to be done. We need more help, and it needs to be quick.”
“Fine. I’ll call these two and get them in for interviews.”
“Today?”
She sighed. “I’ll try. Now, two new parties just walked in, so can you seat them?”
Diane sucked in a sharp breath, put a smile on her face, and walked toward the front door. “Hey, y’all! Welcome to Campbell’s Café!”
Josie walked into the kitchen to find her phone, where Bear was busily cooking. He looked over at her and smiled.
“You know, this will get easier.”
“You think so?”
“The chaos will become normal.”
Josie laughed. “Is chaos supposed to be normal, though?”
He opened the oven and put something inside. It looked like the little pot pies she’d seen in the freezer. “I don’t just mean the restaurant, Josie. That’ll work itself out. I mean the situation with your mother. It can be repaired, as long as you don’t run from it.” Without another word, he disappeared into the walk-in freezer, and Josie was left to wonder if he was right.
* * *
Kendra slowly walked toward the house, taking her time since she knew she’d be home alone for a while before her mother got off work. School had been different, but good. A smaller school meant smaller classes, and she liked that.
Being home alone wasn’t normally a problem, and it wasn’t that she didn’t like Nana’s house; it was that she was sure it was haunted. All old houses were haunted, weren’t they?
Last night, she’d heard creaking on the floor outside her room. There was either a gigantic rat walking around, or it was a Civil War soldier looking for his long-lost love. It had to be one of those two things.
“Hey, wait up!” She heard a male voice in the distance behind her, and her focus changed from worrying about ghosts to worrying about being attacked in broad daylight. Did things like that even happen in Happy Harbor? “Hey!”
She finally got up enough nerve to turn around and saw a boy she recognized from one of her classes. “Are you talking to me?” she asked, stopping in front of the local Methodist church. It wasn’t as fancy as the Baptist church she’d seen, but it had a cool campground with concrete picnic tables.
The boy caught up to her, and then leaned over, putting his hands on his upper thighs. He panted for a few moments, trying to catch his breath. “Are you deaf?”
“Excuse me?”
“I’ve been yelling behind you since you left school.”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I’m from the city, so I’m used to noise. I tune it out.”
“I can see that.”
“So, stranger, why are you chasing me exactly?”
He chuckled. “I’m Scotty,” he said, reaching out his hand. Kendra looked at it for a moment and then figured she’d better shake it. Southern code called for that.
“I’m Kendra. And, again, why are you chasing me?”
“You forgot this.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue pen.
“Dude, that’s not even mine.”
“What? It’s not?”
Kendra turned and started walking again, laughing. “That was lame.”
