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“Well, as I said, I was on my way out to LA and had to take a detour, and voila, flat tire!”
“Will they be able to get it fixed soon?” she questioned.
“Not until after the new year. I guess I’m here until then.” I shrugged. “So, Fred was telling me that Brooke is gone away or something.”
Melinda nodded her head, a look of sadness lining her face. “Yes, she’s closed down the diner until after the new year. It’s her mom.”
“What happened?” I questioned, lowering my cup, wishing at that moment that I could be there for her, and wrap my arms around her and not let her go.
“The cancer is back. It’s not treatable, and the doctors don’t think she has much time left. They wouldn’t let her leave Paris, so Brooke has flown there.”
My heart sank and immediately my mind went to when she told me about her mom the last time. It had upset me to know that she’d dealt with that all on her own, and here she was going through it again.
“She was heartbroken. She did everything she could to help her mom the first time. When I told her we’d manage, she simply shook her head and told me not to worry about it. That it didn’t matter,” Melinda said, her voice low. “So, I called and canceled everyone’s orders for New Year’s, and yesterday I went over and posted a note on the front window notifying everyone the place would be closed until further notice. I have no idea when she’s coming back.”
I looked down at the mug I held in my hand, at the steaming hot coffee, trying to think of something we could do for her.
“I’ve never seen her so depressed,” Melinda said, worry lining her face.
“Did she give a reason as to why she just wanted to close?” I questioned.
“You know Brooke, she didn’t want to ruin everyone’s holidays. She’d made it so that every employee got to take the time off they wanted to be able to spend with family. She’s so selfless that when I looked at the schedule, I noticed she would have been working every day. I offered to take her spot, but again, you know her.”
“When does she come back?” I questioned.
“Well, it’s supposed to be around the third, unless something changes.”
I nodded my head, an idea already populating in my mind. I slowly began to smile. I had a few days here in Willow Valley. I wasn’t going anywhere until my car was fixed, and I’d enjoyed working there.
“Melinda?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you have the keys to The Crispy Biscuit?”
She nodded, giving me with a curious look.
“Well, I was just thinking. I’m here until after New Year’s. What if we were call all the staff, still go by the schedule she’s written, and see if we can’t figure it out. We could manage the diner until she returns.”
“Geez, Tristan, I don’t know. That may piss her off.”
I shrugged. “If it pisses her off then I’ll take the heat for it. It was my idea.”
“Well, I’ve already canceled all the orders, and even put Baking Crate on hold.”
“Do you still have those orders?”
“Of course!” Melinda said, glancing over to the small table where an open book sat beside her laptop.
“I say we undo everything and work together. Get those orders out for Brooke and show her that she too can rely on people.”
Melinda looked at me as if I were crazy. Then as the idea floated through her mind, she began to smile. She got up off the couch, grabbed her laptop and her book, and came back over and sat down. Quickly, she passed me the phone, and I began calling the people who had ordered while she reactivated the Baking Crate account and got in touch with the staff.
Brooke
It was only a matter of time. Those words kept running through my head as I sat in the waiting room of the oncology department. This was not the way I’d thought I’d be spending New Year’s Eve. In the few days I’d been here, her health had declined, and they were giving her a few days at best.
I swallowed the last little bit of coffee and crunched up the paper cup. My father had needed to take a break from the hospital; he was exhausted, so I’d left him back at the hotel. He hadn’t slept, and said he too wasn’t feeling well. The last thing I needed was to lose them both, I thought to myself.
