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“I rent from M Johnson Inc., and I haven’t had any issues.” Anderson leaned toward him across the desk.
“That’s who bought the building. We’ve been there since before I was even born, and now we are going to have to move. Or I am,” Rafferty said, trying not to sound as depressed as he felt about it.
“Well, if your dad is really retiring, maybe you want to join me over here,” Anderson suggested from out of nowhere.
Ruth rushed into the room as if she had been listening to them, which he was sure she had been. Her hands were on her hips, and her voice unwavering as she stated, “No way is he working here. I’ll be out that door if he comes in it. I won’t spend my days with him.”
“Ruth, it was just an idea.” Anderson turned his attention to Ruth.
Rafferty could tell that he didn’t like that he had upset Ruth. He appreciated how much the man was into the woman. She had it for him just as badly, but for a lot longer.
“We could be co-workers, Angel. It would be fun. You, me, and Andy, a trio of insurance fun,” Rafferty couldn’t help himself from teasing her.
“I’ll quit. In fact, why don’t you just think about how my quitting would affect you because I’m leaving right now. Have a good weekend!” she yelled through the door at them as she walked out into the cold.
Anderson panicked at the woman leaving without her jacket on. It was, after all, freezing outside. Rafferty wasn’t too worried about her. Within seconds of her angry exit, she’d be home in her apartment right above them.
Her retreat meant she wouldn’t help him. And without Ruth, he had no way of convincing Mia of anything. There was no way she would give him the time of day without someone else’s encouragement. He had to get Ruth to help him. She was his only hope.
CHAPTER3
Mia kneweveryone in town felt sorry for her when Betty said she could clean up the mess of Damion ‘walked to class until the eighth grade by his mom’ Paulson. Betty never volunteered to clean anything, and since she came with the place when Mia bought it, she was sure Betty had never cleaned before.
But after the pitiful dumping that Mia got, Betty was willing to do it. Which meant it was worse than Mia had thought. Much worse.
Betty enveloped her into a tight hug with too much menthol and too much old lady boob for Mia’s liking, but she accepted it. Because her life was in the crapper.
“You go see your mama, baby. She will make you feel better,” the woman stated in her ‘pack a day since time began’ gravelly voice.
The only answer Mia could give her was a nod as she headed for the back of the café and her jacket. No way was she going to her mother’s, though. Her mom thought Damion was her last chance to catch a decent man. There were so few of those around.
Pulling on her jacket, she headed out the door. After a decade of working at the café and a few of those owning it, she didn’t bring anything but her coat with her anymore. Her purse was left at home because it was just a building away, and she never needed it here.
The bitter cold assaulted her as she walked out the back door and shoved her hands into her coat pockets. She had forgotten her mittens this morning, and she was paying for it now. Hurrying, Mia headed for her apartment, where she would spend the rest of the day on the couch with a good bottle of whiskey and a good movie or two. Which was all way better than dating Damion “scared of rabbits” Paulson.
Coming up the alley, she saw there was almost nobody on Main Street this afternoon. It seemed the temperatures were keeping people from being out and about, which was fine by her. Across the street, she could see Ruth Kennedy sitting at her desk in front of the big insurance office window.
The woman was looking the other direction, so Mia didn’t wave. Sometimes when she was looking out, Mia would wave, and Ruth would sometimes wave back—more often in the last few weeks since they had started a book club together. Before that, it was more hit and miss, but mostly miss and ignore.
Admittedly, Ruth had been one of the original members, her and Tess Thorn, who was the president of the bank. But Mia had found her way in by providing a location and encouraging everyone to keep coming back, even when the location changed to Ruth’s apartment. Mia would’ve loved to have had it at the café forever, except the booze flowed too freely for her little café. Due to the city council being old busy bodies, the location had to be moved before the town discovered what made the club so much fun.
There were six members in all since Mia had forced her cousin to go. Mostly because she didn’t know Tess well and what she knew of Ruth wasn’t very encouraging for her to stay a member. Mandy Nordskov was loved by everyone, and nobody would kick her out of a book club, or her cousin who had kindly invited her to join.
The other two were quite a bit younger, and Mia was sure that neither would return to another meeting since they spent their lives avoiding each other. But Hazel May and Natalie Beckett kept coming back week after week. Sure, they said nothing to each other, but Mia was convinced they would work things out one day. It was her goal, so she knew it would happen.
Walking in front of the clinic between the café and her apartment, she saw her cousin sitting at the reception desk. The town was too cheap to actually hire someone to fill that spot, so Mandy had to be the receptionist and nurse practitioner all in one. So far, Mandy had been at the job for a few weeks and had time for it all, but Mia was encouraging everyone she knew to go to the clinic. A successful clinic made a healthy, happy town.
Pushing her way into the clinic, she wanted to say it was because she wanted to talk to her cousin, but it was because it was too cold to go on without a little stop to warm-up. The hot air hit her, and she breathed deeply for the first time since she left the café.
Mandy’s blonde head came up from looking at the computer and smiled at her. “Business or pleasure?”
“Is a checkup business or pleasure?” Mia demanded. Neither were actually very descriptive of what could happen in this place.
Mandy’s blue eyes went to the computer, and she started to type. “Do you have an appointment?”
“No, I don’t have good enough insurance to make appointments. Appointments are for those with fancy insurance. My insurance only covers me asking my cousin hypotheticals over Sunday dinner.” Mia leaned against the counter and loved that her cousin laughed at her joke. Okay, maybe a joke, but mostly real.
But Mia knew Mandy hadn’t been overly happy to move back to her hometown. Mia hadn’t pushed for details because she was happy Mandy had moved back. Mandy was one of four siblings, and only her brother lived in town until Mandy had found her apartment. The other sisters were off living in the big city. Well, two different big cities. It was the same for Mia’s sisters. Of the six of them, only two still lived in Landstad, and Kipling was only there because she was in high school. Since she was a senior, Mia knew she would soon be gone as well.
