"Always a pleasure," the older woman said. "I think she caught a squirrel yesterday, so she's pretty full of herself."
"Oh geez. At least she didn't leave you half of it, right?" Mitch asked, her nose wrinkling at the thought.
"Nope, I just saw a bunch of fur," Beth said with a chuckle. "Go on and get yourself a shower and some sleep. I'll see you next week," she said.
“Thanks, Beth, you’re the best.” Mitch gave her a quick salute and stepped off the porch and ambled to her truck.
Once home, she had a hard time deciding what she wanted to do first. But she ended up following her usual post-shift order when it ended on a fire and she hadn't slept in about thirty hours: shower, eat, sleep.
Knowing she had nothing edible in her fridge, she grabbed a beer and started heating a can of tomato soup. She put the stove on low and opted to take a quick shower instead of a lingering soak. She was just too tired.
She dried off, threw on a well-worn Bend City BlackJacks T-shirt and a pair of boxers. She ate directly from the pan as she flipped through her mail. The only thing that caught her eye was an invitation to one of her old high school friend's wedding.
She smiled thinking about Monica and the crazy, fun times they had in high school. It’d been too long since they’d seen each other. She set aside the invite so she could follow up on it and then wondered if Lilly had gotten one too. "Geez, Mitchell, you almost went twenty-four hours without thinking about her. Progress," she mumbled, too tired to properly chastise herself. After ten years she still thought of the woman daily and she wondered if it would ever not be painful.
She’d really thought Lilly was it for her and it threw her completely off course when it turned out she wasn’t. She had been so afraid to put her heart out there again, she decided it was just easier to ignore it, pouring it into her job, her dog and her friends instead.
She shook her head to clear it, too tired for such deep thoughts and downed the rest of her beer, finished her soup and put the pan in the sink to wash later.
"Come on, Ellie," she called. The dog came bounding up the loft stairs and plopped down on the pallet bed with a happy huff.
"Oh, that's nice," Mitch groaned as she crawled into her bed and pulled the covers up to her shoulder. She was asleep before her head settled on her pillow.
Chapter 2
Lilly jolted awake, confused until she realized it was her phone ringing. She rolled over to her nightstand and picked it up and squinted at the caller ID. She didn't recognize the number, but the area code was from Bend City, her hometown. She noted the time and her brows furrowed.
"Hello, this is Lilly Tan," she answered hesitantly.
"Lilly, this is Mark Jones. I manage your Aunt May's bar," the man said.
Lilly felt her stomach drop. "What’s happened?" she asked before a lump formed in her throat. There was only one reason for him to be calling. She pushed down the dread that was already surfacing so she could concentrate on his next words.
"Well, your aunt is in the hospital, and she asked for you..." he said.
She fought to keep from crying as she asked him for the name and number of the place her aunt was. She thanked him for letting her know before ending the call so she could get herself together. She had to begin making arrangements to fly back to California.
She knew the last time she'd visited, six months ago, that her aunt was markedly slower, but figured it was just because she was getting older. She didn't want to believe it may have been due to her being sick. She knew if she'd asked, her aunt would have waved off any concern. Like most older women, May hated people to make a fuss over her. She was the one to take care of everyone else. If Aunt May had asked Mark to call her and have her come home, she knew it was serious.
Aunt May had been running the bar with the help of Mark for the last ten years and May had always joked that when she passed away, she would will the popular bar to Lilly. She shook her head at the thought as she pulled out her small carry-on. She stared at it a moment and then pulled out her bigger suitcase, not knowing exactly how long she'd be gone.
After texting her assistant to let her know she'd be out on a family emergency, her finger hovered over the contact button for Jaycee, her girlfriend. She'd bought only one plane ticket without thinking and now she felt guilty. But she reasoned that it made sense. They'd been dating for less than six months and she didn’t think her first trip to her hometown should be in such solemn circumstances. She thought about just texting her, but dismissed the thought immediately, knowing that would be a shitty move.
She pressed the phone icon, put it on speaker, and set the phone on her bed while she went to her closet.
"Hey, babe, everything okay?" Jaycee asked, her voice rough from sleep.
Lilly grimaced when she realized how late it was. Mark had called her in the later evening on West Coast time, waking her up. She looked at the time on her phone. 11:30 p.m. Damn.
"Sorry, to wake you Jay. My aunt May is in the hospital and I'm going to go see her. Got a flight out for tomorrow morning," she said.
"I'm sorry, honey. I'll call work and--" Jaycee said and Lilly could picture her sitting up in bed, light brown eyes awash in concern.
"No, that's okay, I think Kate's going to need you here." She didn’t want both her and Jaycee to be away from the office right when they were hitting their busy period. It was going to be all hands on deck for the next month or two.
"Oh, okay. You sure you don't want me to come with you?"
Lilly smiled at her thoughtfulness. "I'll be okay. Thanks for offering though," she said as she crossed the room to her chest of drawers.
"All right. Well, call me when you get there? I'll come out if you decide you want me with you."
"I will, thank you. I'll call Kate at work in the morning--" she said but was interrupted by Jaycee.
"Don't worry about a thing. I'll take care of it all. Just concentrate on being with your aunt."
"Thanks, Jay," Lilly said. She knew she didn't have to worry, all three of them kept a pretty tight ship. "I'm just gonna finish packing and then go back to bed for a bit.”
"Of course. Need a ride to the airport?" Jaycee asked.
Lilly found she couldn't say no to the open, concerned tone. "That would be nice. Seven thirty okay?" Lilly asked after a quick calculation of traffic and her flight time.
"Sure. I'll pick up some coffee too."
"You're the best. See you in the morning.”
"Try and get some sleep, Lilly. Bye.”
Lilly gave the ride share driver a nice tip after he set her large, heavy suitcase on the curb in front of Sunnyside Home, her aunt’s assisted living place. She rolled her eyes at her poor planning as she watched the driver pull away. She should have had him drop her at her aunt's house so she could leave her suitcase there. She sighed and lugged it up the five steps, huffing when she looked to her right at the ramp.
"Wow, Lilly, did you leave your brain in Atlanta?" she muttered as she pulled the suitcase up to the door and pushed the handicap button with a sharp 'ha!' when it opened automatically.