Page 28 of Happy Harbor
“Hang on. I’m behind the counter,” she called out, gathering the receipts and standing up. She raised her head, as if in slow motion, and froze in place like her feet were stuck in quicksand.
“Hi, Josie.” The face was older, but the voice was the same. Memories of her childhood came flooding back in waves, each one crashing into her and almost knocking her down.
“Diane?” she said, hardly able to believe her eyes. She refused to call her Mom. She didn’t deserve that title. “Why are you here?”
Diane looked down at the apron she was wearing. It was green with a tartan edging. “Honey, I work here.” Her name tag read Dee Dee, the server Bear had mentioned moments ago.
Josie felt like she’d swallowed her tongue. She worked there? Impossible. Nana had never told her Diane was back in town, much less working for her. Her grandmother wouldn’t have lied to her like that. Diane was up to something, as usual. Probably trying to connive her way into getting the money Adeline left.
“I don’t believe you. You’re just trying to weasel your way into my life and this restaurant. Nana would never have hiredyou!” Josie came out from behind the register and stood a few feet in front of her mother. “Now, get out and don’t come back, or I’ll call the police.”
Diane smiled sympathetically. “Josie, I’ve been working here for three years now. And I’ve been clean even longer.”
Clean? Also impossible. Her mother had never strung together more than six months of sobriety. “I don’t want to hear any of your made-up stories. Just get out!” Josie walked past her swiftly and opened the front door, pointing to the Riverwalk outside.
Diane smiled, as if she was unaffected by the outburst. “Josie, listen?—”
“Oh, hey, Dee Dee. Glad to see you back,” a woman said as she walked right through the front door. “You must be Josie? I’m Juanita.”
Josie stood there with a lump in her throat. This woman knew her mother? “Yes, I’m Josie. You’re one of the cooks?”
“Yes, ma’am. Just thought I’d come by and say hello. I’m sorry about Miss Adeline. She was a lovely lady. Really helped me and my kids a lot.”
“You and your kids?”
Juanita looked down at the floor for a moment. “Well, we were homeless for a time. Life kinda got messed up, ya know? Anyway, Miss Adeline took us in at her house for a few weeks, gave me a job, and helped us find a nice apartment over off River Street. My kids called her Grandma Addy.” She dabbed at her eyes and sniffled. “Sorry. We all knew she was sick, but it didn’t make it any easier.”
More and more, Josie was seeing what her grandmother had done for the people of Happy Harbor. It seemed like everyone had a story about her, and she had no enemies.
“Dee Dee, did no one tell you we were closed until tomorrow?” Juanita asked, glancing at her uniform.
“I thought we’d be, but I wasn’t sure,” Diane replied.
“Well, it was nice to meet you, Juanita,” Josie said, trying to hurry her along so she could get rid of her degenerate mother.
Juanita must have sensed something was going on because she quickly backed toward the door. “I’ll see you soon, Josie. Bye, Dee Dee.” Within seconds, she was gone. Apparently, everyone called her mother Dee Dee now, but to her she would always be Diane, the woman who birthed her and then ruined her life.
“Look, I know this comes as a shock to you?—”
Josie laughed loudly. “A shock? Nana could’ve owned a brothel, and I wouldn’t have been more shocked than I am right now. Why did Juanita welcome you back? Where’ve you been? Rehab again?”
Diane looked hurt. “Rehab? Of course not. I told you, I’ve been clean.”
“Yeah, right,” Josie said, rolling her eyes.
“I’m trying to be understanding here, Josie, but I won’t have you disrespecting me. I have been clean for years, and I’m very proud of that. I will always be an alcoholic, but I’m in recovery whether or not you want to believe it.”
“If you say so.” She was starting to believe Diane was serious, but she didn’t care. The woman had wrecked most of her life, and she wasn’t about to work with her every single day.
“Juanita welcomed me back because I was on vacation. I went on a retreat with my ladies’ Bible study class from church. When I got back, Momma took a turn for the worse, and I sat by her side until she passed, so I’ve been away from work for a couple of weeks.”
Josie stared at her. “Your church group? Oh, please. Now you’re really going too far. Everyone knows if Diane Campbell walked into a church, the whole place would go up in flames.”
Diane sucked in a long breath, like she was trying to keep from lunging at her daughter. “I see you still have quite the mouth on you.”
“Wonder where I got that from?”
Diane crossed her arms. “We don’t have to stay where we are in life, Josie. People can change.”
