Page 69 of Happy Harbor
“What do you have all over you?” Josie asked, looking at the black spatters all over his shirt and shorts.
“Grease? Paint? I don’t even know anymore.”
She laughed. “Maybe you can start a new fashion trend.”
“Is dirty coming back in fashion?”
“Let’s hope so, for your sake.”
“How are the repairs coming along?” Diane asked.
“Faster than I thought. I may be able to get you back in there within the week.”
“Really? That’s great.”
“Actually, my mother will live with us from now on.”
Diane turned and looked at her with wide eyes. “What?”
“Sorry, but that apartment can bring a bigger income than you can pay. I could even rent it to a business, like an accountant or something.”
“So, I live with you now?”
Josie nodded. “Yep. Like it or lump it, as Nana used to say.”
Diane smiled. “I like it.”
“Great. I’ll get it all fixed up, and you can decide what to do with it,” Walker said. “Listen, I heard what happened with your grandmother and the loan. I’m so sorry.”
“Thanks. We’re trying to figure out if there’s a way to save the restaurant. I mean, twenty thousand dollars is a lot of money. There’s barely enough to keep the place running, much less cover those back payments.”
“I’ve been thinking. What if we do a big benefit?” Walker said. “The town doesn’t want you to lose this place. We could have something on Main Street and try to get people from the next town over to come too.”
“Can we put something like that together quickly?” Josie asked. In her experience, big events took a while to coordinate.
“This town can do it. Everyone will help, I bet.”
For a moment, Josie thought about how this would’ve gone in Atlanta. Would people have banded together when she needed them? She didn’t even have any people. She had one friend.
She couldn’t imagine that people would come to her aid here either, especially those who were strangers to her. Why would people go out of their way to help? Would she do the same for somebody else?
It really made her have deeper thoughts than she wanted to think that early in the morning.
“I guess we could try to put something together, but I wouldn’t even know where to begin,” Josie admitted.
“Leave that to me. I know a lot of people in town, and I think I can get it together.”
“I’d be glad to help too. Especially since this appears to be partly my fault,” Diane said.
“How is it your fault?” Josie asked.
“If I hadn’t brought Dan into our lives all those years ago, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“It’s not your fault.”
Diane smiled. “Thanks, kid.”
It felt weird to have this energy between her and her mother. Her brain wanted to make smart comments and argue with her over any little thing, but her heart was opening a bit. It was still scary for her, but she had to try to trust her mother.
