“Good to know.”
“The woman in the red shirt over there. That’s the new pastor’s wife, Janet. Don’t know her too well yet. If you ask me, she’s a little shy for a pastor’s wife. I’m sure she’ll warm up. Pastor John tells it like it is. Even makes you a little uncomfortablesometimes, as if he knows your secrets. I like that about him. You should come to church with me sometime.” Orene turned her attention back to Natalie. “You go to church, right?”
“I used to.” It wasn’t that they’d intentionally stopped, it just sort of got easy to skip service with everything going on, and then it just didn’t hit the radar. “Haven’t been in a while.”
“Perfect timing then. I can introduce you to everyone.”
“I’m getting a little overwhelmed.”
That cracked Orene up. “Oh, honey. We ain’t even got started.”
At that moment, Amanda slid their dinners onto the table. “Eat up. I’ll be back with dessert, so save you a spot.”
“We don’t have to tell her that we already had dessert arranged.” Orene reached across the table and took Natalie’s hand in hers. “Lord, thank you for this food, that it may strengthen and prepare us to do your work. Thank you for bringing this lovely woman to Chestnut Ridge. We are so happy to welcome her as a loved neighbor. Amen.”
“Amen,” Natalie said through misty eyes. She pushed her fork into the tender meat. Didn’t even need a knife. Orene hadn’t oversold it at all. Comfort food, richly laden in butter, ham fat in the veggies, and more carbs than she’d eaten all last year in this one meal.
“I heard we had a special guest tonight.” A man wearing a Kelly-green polo shirt stopped and stood at the head of their table.
Natalie looked up from her plate. He had to be over six-foot-five the way he towered above them.
Orene jumped right in. “Yes, we most certainly do. Isn’t thisgreat? Natalie Maynard, this is the owner of this fine establishment. Folks ’round here call him Stretch. You can see why.” She raised her arm in Vanna White style to his graying hair.
“And you too can call me Stretch. Nice to meet you, Natalie.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re in good hands here with Orene, but if you need any connections or information, you can always give me a call. Happy to help in any way.”
“Thank you. I’ll take you up on that.”
“So, where are you going to be staying? Up at Rock Castle?” He looked toward Orene with a raised brow, then back to Natalie.
“I don’t know anything about a castle. Orene said there weren’t any hotels nearby,” Natalie said.
“Oh, there aren’t. None I’d recommend, anyway. No, it’s just a big old castle of a house that sits on top of the mountain. No one I know has ever been inside it. Little girls in this town have princess dreams about it their whole lives.” He shrugged. “I was just joking around.”
“Oh. I’m staying with Orene tonight.”
“Of course you are.”
“Just until I can drive over to the cabin tomorrow,” Natalie explained. “I need to see what I need to do there. I haven’t been there in a long time. I’m anxious to see what shape it’s in.”
“The cabin over on No Business Mountain?”
“Yes. That’s the one.”
His eyebrows darted up. “It should be in fine shape. As far as hunting cabins go, it’s one of the finest. You’re planning to live out there all alone? It’s kind of separated from everything.”
That made Natalie a little nervous. “I don’t mind a littlequiet. It’s not that far from here, is it? I thought it was just a few miles.”
“Yeah, no, it’s not that far as the crow flies, but it’s unpaved. A good rock bed in most areas, but not all. With winter coming, that could be a little bit of a problem, but not if you stock up, I guess.” Stretch laughed. “You’ll figure it all out, but if you don’t, you can call me. I’ll help you find what you need.”
“You’ve got a deal.”
“Enjoy the rest of your meal,” he said, then walked over to the next table and started talking to them.
The clanging pots, the hum of conversation, and the whir of the heat closed in on her a bit. It was like she’d been swept off into a dreamworld.
