Regardless, the second loop was the shops on Main Street, Little Creek Road, the courthouse, library, funeral home, and the church. I checked my cell phone time to make sure I was on target to get to the church to hear the announcement of the scholarship winner.
Most of the shops were just opening by the time I got around to delivering their mail. Pulling a cart full of Courtney’s packages slowed me down, but the fresh air was doing me some good.
Every time I thought about Grady or even the whole Florence-and-Zeke situation, I would suck in a deep breath and remind myself it was all going to work out. I wasn’t sure if I was lying to myself, but there was a niggling feeling that there was something not right in Sugar Creek Gap.
Luckily, Leotta was already teaching a class, which let me drop the mail in the basket next to her register. Tranquility Wellness was in their usual yoga class. I took some outgoing mail and replaced it with their incoming mail.
The Wallflower Diner was next to Tranquility Wellness, and it was exactly what I needed. A few carbs to give me a burst of energy and a refill on my coffee.
There was nothing special about the diner. It was a typical southern diner. When you walked in, there was a dingy bell above the door that made every single person turn to look, and they waved, even if they didn’t know you. The front of the diner had various size tables for the eat-in crowd. Then in the far back was the diner counter, where all the locals were holding what I liked to call their daily meeting, where they all gave their opinions and felt like they could solve all the world’s problems. My dad included. He was generally the loudest one, and his boisterous laughter filled the restaurant.
Behind the counter was the kitchen, where my mom could be found at any time of the day even though she had several short-order cooks. She was still good at barking those orders. And today was no different.
“I said, country ham and biscuits. Country ham!” Her scream echoed out of the open kitchen window. “Who wants city ham on a biscuit? No one!”
“I see Mom is in a good mood.” I gave my dad a hug around his neck when I made it back to the counter where he was sitting with his buddies.
“She’s been in a fit for the past day.” I didn’t like to hear that. He continued, “Vivian told her we couldn’t plant what we wanted to around the front of the condo since it was maintained by the lawn service, and according to the nursing home bylaws, all the plants were to be the same for uniformity. Vivian told her she could do whatever it was she wanted to do in the back, but what Vivian doesn’t know is that the back is one big giant flower garden already, with no room to spare.”
“It could be worse.” I hid my words underneath the smile on my face when I noticed Mom had seen me. I patted Dad to give him some reassurance it’d get better.
“There is my ray of sunshine.” She put her arms out for me to come around the counter and give her a hug. “I missed you yesterday. I mean, Monica is fine and all, but she’s not as chipper as you. We need your happy self on Fridays. So give her a Saturday or Monday.”
Even at fifty years old, I still got advice from my mom. I wondered if Grady thought that about me. I’d tried to keep my opinions to myself when it came to Grady, but I’m not sure if I was any good at it. Being a mother was hard. Being a mother to a grown man was even harder.
“She’s learning. But I did get a lot done on my dishcloths.” Mom knew I’d been working hard on trying to knit something so I could get better and knit a blanket for the baby before it got here, and not for its sixteenth birthday. “And I met my new neighbor.”
“New neighbor?” Mom hurried over to the kitchen window and took a plate from underneath the warmer light. She put it on the counter in front of an empty stool. “Sit.”
“Isn’t that someone’s breakfast?” I questioned her as she grabbed a mug and filled it with coffee.
“Who cares. I’ve got plenty more. I didn’t see you yesterday, and you can take a load off for a minute to visit with your mom.” She set the mug in front of me. The steam rose from the hot cup, and the familiar smell curled around my nose, giving me a warm sense of home.
The diner was always like my second home, outside of the farm. What I did for Grady, my parents had done for me. Only they traded me and Richard housing. We’d lived above the diner, and they lived at the farm, where I was raised.
The apartment was close to the post office for me, and Richard was a traveling salesman, so location was fine for him. Once I got pregnant with Grady, Mom and Dad insisted they needed to be near the diner and I had to have the farm to raise that boy. I’d played the same hand with Grady after I found out Julia was pregnant, only I had the house on Little Creek Road to move into.
“Good, because I’m starving.” The country ham and biscuits looked so good. Mom put the mustard bottle in front of me, knowing I’d be grabbing for it.
“Tell me about your neighbor.” Mom leaned her hip against the counter and snapped her finger at my dad when someone asked for a refill on their coffee. He jumped up and got to work.
“It’s Florence Gaines’s niece. She’s a teacher. . .” I started to say.
“Yeah. I met her.” Mom didn’t seem none too impressed. “She came in with Florence and Zeke yesterday.”
“Oh yeah. They stopped in Social Knitwork right before they came here. Florence bragged to high heaven about Zeke.” Through a mouthful of salty ham, I said, “You should’ve seen Harriette Pearl’s face. Heartbroken.”
“Those two make me sick.” Mom rolled her eyes out of disgust. “What on earth was Zeke thinking when he decided to take up company with Florence?” Mom wagged a finger before she took the dishrag dangling from the pocket of her apron and wiped down the counter around me. “Florence Gaines wouldn’t date Zeke Grey unless there was some sort of arrangement. And I’m keeping my ears open about that.”
“Are you talking about Zeke’s financial situation?” I asked and took a sip of the coffee.
“Mmhhmm.” Mom slid her eyes over to Dad and his friends. “Your father told me Zeke mentioned how he mortgaged his house to play in the stock market. Now, that’s what your father said, and he only gets half of everything he hears right, so I’m not really sure, but I have seen him going in and out of the bank a lot.” Mom nodded toward the front of the diner, which was just a wall of windows overlooking Main Street. The bank was catty-corner near the post office, so she’d have a good view of all things going on around town.
Trust me, my mom had her finger on the pulse of everyone’s comings and goings down Main Street, just like Harriette Pearl knew the comings and goings on Little Creek Road.
“I heard you and Dad have been hanging out at the community center on these grab-a-dates. Why didn’t you tell me about those fun outings?” I asked.
I’d heard enough about Florence and Zeke’s dating life, so I decided to change the subject.
“I didn’t tell you about the Elks doing those? Where has my mind gone? I don’t feel like I’ve seen you at all since you moved.” Mom was very dramatic and worried about me living in the home where someone had once been murdered.
“Mom.” I put the biscuit back down on the plate. “I’ve seen you every day. You know everything about me. It’s me that doesn’t know what y’all are doing.”