“Oh, there is absolutely pressure…” Mimi shot back, causing the two of them to exchange a look before both smiled. “What do you think?”
“I think,” Heidi began and looked around the room once more, as an idea started to take shape within her heart. “I think that I’m excited about this…” her voice trailed off in awe as she imagined a case full of little treats, up to her elbows in flour making other items, so many smiling faces instead of being yelled at on the phone in some call center… and then coming ‘home’ to Mimi’s until she could get a place of her own. “And you’re really sure about this? Because I don’t know how long it will take me to find a place to live or…”
“You have a place,” Mimi interrupted. “You have everything you need – and all you need to do is decide to give small-town living a try.”
“It’s a really small town,” Heidi chided and then added, “with no cell service…”
“Yet,” Mimi amended, and the two looked at each other again. “Time brings change, people come and go, and someday we’ll have one of those precious cell phone towers you are hoping for… but when that happens, we lose a little of what makes Fate special.”
Swallowing, Heidi realized how true her words were – and her eyes looked around the room, touching on every corner once more, before looking at Mimi’s expectant face. “I’m in.”
“I knew it,” the older woman beamed. “Let’s grab a bucket and start cleaning up this mess.”
“Now?”
“No time like the present – and we need to check those fryers. Those portals to hell take at least two hours to heat up in the morning and another two to cool down in the evenings…” Mimi muttered, walking off toward the back, before shouting over her shoulder like a little ninety-pound general with bright white curly hair.
“Get to moving, Heidi! Time’s a wasting!”
Chuckling, Heidi gave a mock salute and dropped her purse on one of the dusty tables, rushing to join Mimi, where she had disappeared around a corner, and all sorts of clattering was heard. It was going to be quite the adventure – that much was for certain.
It wasdusk by the time they left the café – or at least that’s what Heidi decided it was. Every bone in her body ached, every digit on her extremities was either raw, skinned, nicked, or grazed painfully… and Mimi wasn’t much better. She might look fragile, but the woman probably led the charge over the hill at D-Day. She never stopped, never complained, never stopped barking orders or giving suggestions – and both of them were ready to collapse from the staggering amount of work they’d done today.
Every dish – washed.
Every surface – scrubbed.
The old remnants of food, debris, and anything that wasn’t already gone from when the café had closed were now bagged up and in the dumpster. Mimi must have made thirty phone calls to people she knew, pulled so many strings, and before they knew it, the utilities were on. An electrician, who was a cousin of Rory Jacobson, the bartender, came by to change out plugs and test the wiring. Matt Kingsley, a plumber for the town, came by and flushed the lines and checked the gas. Everything was falling into place, and what should have been an entire week’s worth of labor, well, it all happened today.
And her body knew it.
Heidi pulled the truck up in front of Jack’s house and spotted two things immediately – her car – and Jack, waiting. As she turned off the truck, he stood up and moved quickly toward his grandmother’s side of the truck, tossing her an apologetic look that she immediately waved off. He was right to go to Mimi’s side first because the woman was already nodding off.
“’Bout time my two ladies showed up,” he said teasingly. “You know I can’t cook, Mimi.”
“Oh my gosh, have a darn sandwich,” Mimi muttered aloud, making them all laugh in unspoken understanding – only to see a glimmer in Jack’s eyes. He was up to something.
“But Ididgrab barbecue in Yonder, if you want a baked potato for dinner?” he offered knowinglyand wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “C’mon and let’s get you comfy. I’ve got them in the oven so they’ll stay warm.”
Heidi watched him make his way slowly with his elderly grandmother and eyed the two of them. He was doting on her like she was fragile – and if she hadn’t seen the staggering amount of work that the woman had done today with her very own eyes, she would have normally agreed. Mimi had an iron backbone and believed in hard work, which made her take another look at Jack. He was still wearing his uniform, though disheveled now, and his shirt was untucked. The man had been worried – and hadn’t bothered to change. That much was obvious… and sweet.
“Heidi,” Jack called out over his shoulder, “If you’ve never had barbecue stuffed taters, then you are in for a real treat. It’s so good it’ll make you slap your neighbor – except my neighbor would smack the crap outta me…” and he chuckled, exchanging a look with Mimi, who simply laughed wearily in exhaustion.
As she followed them in, fatigue dragged at her. Dinner was thoughtful and delicious, but the speed at which they all inhaled it was dreadfully rude. She was ready to sleep like the dead, and her borrowed bed was screaming her name from the other room within minutes of that first bite.
Mimi was the first to push her plate away. “Jack, can you…?”
“Yeah,” he interrupted gently, his voice full of worry that was easy to see. “I’ll put everything up if you want to go to bed. I’m not going to pretend that I understand the rush with you women, but I’ll help in any way I can.”
Heidi nodded, her mouth crammed full as she chewed simply to keep from fawning over his sweetness, those kind eyes, and all of this sense of ‘family’ that they were drawing her into. She never expected any of this, never anticipated anyone choosing her, standing up for her, helping her out ofthe sheer goodness of their hearts – not when she was used to fighting, clawing, or negotiating every scrap of her life before. Looking at her plate as Mimi got up and Jack mumbled a quick, “I’ll be right back” before quickly following the older lady, she stared at her potato as if it was a divine sign from Above on what was wrong in her life – and how things could be different.
It was a potato.
She was getting misty-eyed over a stupid baked potato… and Jack. Turning, she looked toward him in the distance and saw him scoop up his tiny grandmother before carrying her into her bedroom, setting her on the bed. He kneeled before her, talking softly, before nodding. The man was just so sweet, so kind, so gentle, and she didn’t want to jump right into another relationship after Joe – which was the only reason she’d pushed any of this away. How could she imagine spending her life with someone or giving someone a chance, when it felt like she was clawing her way up from the bottom… and it was a long climb – alone.
Swallowing her bite, she saw Jack stand up and back out of his grandmother’s bedroom, shutting the door behind him, before he rubbed his face with both hands in obvious concern… and then, it was gone. Slipped behind a mask where he kept his deepest thoughts – just like her. They both put up a front to hide a fragile and scared heart, but she saw it, she recognized it, and knew it.
His eyes met hers, then he rubbed his neck in a signal of silent embarrassment, before looking away. Stepping toward the kitchen, he grabbed Mimi’s plate and put her dinner in an empty plastic butter container with a lid, quickly shoving it in the fridge as Heidi simply stared at his back, watching him. Moments later, he picked up his own plate – paused – and then finally lookedat her once more.
