AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jessica looked at Beth to see her shaking her head and a dismal sigh escaping her.
“Oh yeah, this is going to be an adventure like we’ve never done before. I think we may even have enough clothing to cover all of the surfaces, so we’ll be fine.”
Jessica could have collapsed from relief when Beth nodded. “I think those emergency clothes will come in handy.”
Jessica looked at Brian who stood with his hands over his chest looking at her with a look she couldn’t decipher.
“Well, do you have any other good news to deliver?” she asked him.
Brian looked around the place once more and then shrugged.
“I don’t have any good news, but when you are thinking clearly, I’ll be at the B&B.”
Chapter Three
In the beginning Brian thought this assignment would be the death of him. He realized as he tied his sneakers for his morning run that it was more of a needed vacation and time to re-evaluate what he wanted. So far the town of Peace had lived up to its name. As he jogged, he let his mind wander and take in the lullaby of nearby water and the cacophony of sea birds looking for breakfast. As he was going along he was cataloging where stores were. He saw a bakery, a tackle store and a supermarket.
The supermarket was called Marla’s Kitchen. It was the chalkboard on the outside of the store that identified it as a supermarket. The board broadcasted sales that were going live today. The sign sported sales saying, “Patterson beef on sale, Molly’s fresh, brown, hen eggs and Fresh Pork from Calder Farms.” The signage itself would have made Brian stop but curiosity had him wanting to see how the inside looked.
He walked into what could have been an all-natural boutique store. There were chairs, a small kitchen to the side and when you walked toward the back of the store, you could see aisles clearly marked, ‘fresh’, ‘packaged’, ‘import’, and ‘perishable’. The walls were stocked with handmade packaged teas, herbs and spices. As he looked down one of the aisles, he saw the refrigerator section.
This would be a paradise for up-and-coming couples looking for a rustic feel with real food and a quaint atmosphere. This wasn’t the place he could imagine Jessica settling in. He wondered if she had slept in her suit. When Brian thought about Jessica and her friend, he could admire her conviction, but he didn’t think that conviction would have gotten them through the night.
If he had been thinking, he would have asked the front desk at the B&B if they had called for a room yet. He remembered he had passed her application over for having too much experience. Brian thought maybe that had been a mistake. Even the little interaction that had gone on between them had made him aware that she was an asset in any department. He was going down the aisle marked fresh when he heard her voice.
“I’m looking now. Just because it says fresh doesn’t mean the cow is grass fed. Let me keep looking and then I’ll meet you back at the Shell.”
Well, that answered one question. She wasn’t at the B&B. He couldn’t believe she was looking for a label that said ‘grass-fed’. It was towns like this that only knew grass-fed. He heard her ruffling through packages as she murmured aloud.
“How do they not have the ingredients listed on what is preserving the meat or a date? This has to be against some regulation,” Jessica said frustrated.
Brian stepped out of the aisle. He couldn’t believe she was actually looking for city packaging in Peace. He wasn’t sure why she was here. When he thought about it he couldn’t recall seeing a kitchen to cook in at the Shell.
He walked up behind her and reached next to her to get a package of sausage. She didn’t move at all or acknowledge him. What single woman ignored a person when they were standing behind them. Brian didn’t know how she managed on her own. She didn’t look over her shoulder when he was sure she could hear him, and she was still turning packages looking for ingredients as if it were a game of concentration. This morning she was in business casual culottes and a white top. It was still business clothing in the eighty-degree weather. He had waited long enough to be acknowledged.
“You won’t find any ingredients on the packages, and I think it’s pretty safe to say it’s grass-fed.”
She turned and looked at him skeptically.
“So, no comment means a yes? Is that your premise?”
Brian shook his head. Somehow she managed to get under his skin with less than ten words. It was like she was a part of that old show,Name That Tune. The show would have people claim they could name the tune with just five notes. He knew if Jessica was on that show it would be called, Under My Skin.
“Did you move somewhere with a stove?” he asked as he took in the blue culottes that hovered around her mid calves. “I know there isn’t a stove at the Shell. Even if there was, the locals would turn it off for safety.”
“You’re right, there is no stove, but we do have a hot plate and a portable generator.” Brian saw her brighten as she told him of her conquest. “We’ve persevered in the face of adversity and being abandoned by my supervisor.”
Brian grunted. “Did you figure out who the footprints belong to on the dressers?”
“Yes, it was a family of very friendly raccoons. They were quite cooperative as long as we let them out of the window and allow them to come back.”
He had to stop the smile that threatened to come out.
“Mr. Cholan… I —”
He looked at Jessica trying to get some words together. She didn’t do any of the tricks that so many women had tried with him. If anything, he could see her trying to make herself bigger.
“I came here to help. I could reach out and —”
