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“Hello, we haven't formally met but my name is Clara.”
“I'm happy to meet you, Clara. I have to say I was expecting Beth to come back.”
“Oh yes, Beth. Beth came into the store and asked if we had Brian Cholan's number, and we didn’t. She was looking for one of the board members to see if they had the number and they weren't at the store, but someone said that they were at the park. So, she ran over there to get the information from them at the park and she should be back in about ten or fifteen minutes.”
“You said ten or fifteen minutes to go to the park?”
Clara laughed. “Well, it's kind of funny. You see, when Beth came in no one knew who she was and then she kept saying she was looking for a man. Then all the men in the store stood up because it's the breakfast crowd, you know. Then when she said she was looking for Brian they all sat down. Then after that she had to say, hey I'm looking for his number, when again a couple of the guys gave his number to her ‘cause there were three Brians in the place. So now she's going to the park because somebody said that any of the board members she's looking for were all having their morning cup of coffee in the park, so one of them should know it.”
If it had been any other time Jessica would have been laughing but right now she was just about ready to cry. “Clara, do you have a phone?”
“Oh, yes I do,” she said with a chipper smile.
Jessica looked at the young lady as she fumbled around in her apron looking for her phone. It was time for a change of plans. When Clara handed the phone off to her Jessica dialed Beth’s number.
The phone rang a couple of times and then finally Beth picked it up.
“Hello, who is this?”
“Beth, it's me, Jessica.”
“Oh, my goodness, Jessica, you will not believe what is going on. I've almost got Brian's number and as soon as I get it I will go ahead and call him when I'm on my way to you.”
“What's the problem, Beth? And what's all that noise that I hear going on in the background?”
“It's the board members.”
“What?”
“It's the board members, they're all trying to figure out what the number is.”
“Why are they trying to figure it out? Why can't they just look at their phones?”
“Well, they would look at their phones, but they left them all with their assistants because they don't need phones when they're walking around in Peace. According to them they can walk wherever they need to go and there's no need to have a phone.”
“Brian is on the outskirts; this is not exactly what I would call walking distance. Beth, put this phone on speaker and then get me closer so I can hear what's going on.”
“Okay, hold on.”
Jessica waited knowing that she could bring order to these men and one of them should be able to help her get Brian’s number. As the phone was put on speaker, she could tell right away. The arguing going on between the board members was running rampant.
“I remember that boy's number better than any of you and I'm telling you it starts with a six.” Those were the words that Jessica heard from what sounded like Retro.
“You are right, there is a six in the number but it's not what it starts with. It's what it ends with, the first number is seven.” Jessica couldn't identify who it was, but she knew right away that no one really knew the number sitting at the table.
“Beth, take me off speaker.”
As she was being taken off speaker, she could hear the other board members in the background saying is that Jessica, I bet you Jessica will know what the number is.
“Beth, I need you to walk past the park and go to Lars’ house, he will have Brian's number. Brian was the one who called him and sent him over to fix this place.”
“I'm on it, girl.”
It was after she hung up with Beth and then smiled at Clara that she realized that she was going to miss breakfast with Brian. She would have called Beth back, but it was better that she got to Lars and saw if Brian was running late. Certainly, Brian wouldn’t go off before she couldn’t call him, right? He had to have enough faith in her that she would choose their love over money, right?
Jessica held on to the idea that if she didn’t show up, he would come through the front door at any time and see her laid up on the floor unable to make the trip to him. Not even five minutes later Clara’s phone rang.
“Hold on,” Clara said.
