When we fall, p.24
When We Fall, page 24
“Be right back.” Maddie tucked her pencil into her apron and disappeared.
I turned my head to stare out the window at the central parking lot, which was flanked by the trees that had given Kings Grove its name. The sun had risen hours ago, and the sky shimmered with late-spring heat. It was going to be a hot summer. The Post Office and grocery store sat directly across the lot from the diner, and as I sipped the coffee Maddie placed in front of me, I watched a familiar little silver Subaru pull into a spot directly in front of the grocery, and felt my heart tick up a notch.
Harper.
She popped out of the driver side in jeans and high-heeled sandals, a loose floral blouse tied at her waist making her look very “city” for the landscape. I watched, unable to look away, as she leaned back into the car to reach for something, and I had a hard time swallowing my coffee as her legs and butt swiveled as she reached. I didn’t like admitting it, but Harper was damned attractive, and this particular view only cemented my opinion.
When she’d retrieved her bag, she stepped back out of the car and closed the door, turning to look around her. If she’d grown up here, she was probably curious about all the changes. Kings Grove had grown slowly over the last decade or so. I know I’d been surprised when I’d come back here two years ago.
Harper’s dark hair bounced in curls around her shoulders and down her back, and mirrored aviator shades covered her eyes. Her perfect little lips stood out, even at this distance, painted a deep plum color.
“Oh Lord, what is that?” Adele had spotted Harper out the window. “Princess, is that your sister? She dresses like you did when you first came up here.”
“Not everyone with fashion sense is related to me,” Maddie scolded, coming back to my table to look out the window. “Oh, she’s cute,” she said admiringly. “Who is that, I wonder?”
“That’s my renter,” I said.
Maddie’s head spun and she stared at me. “Is it now?” I could hear the wheels turning in her head. “Well, she looks like a very nice girl,” she said. “With excellent fashion sense.” She added this last part loudly, looking at Adele, who turned away muttering, “she’s gonna break an ankle… no common sense…”
Maddie sat down across from me after retrieving my eggs from the kitchen. “Tell me about her.”
I started eating, and said through a mouthful, “I don’t know much. Got here last night. Likes coffee.”
“She does, huh?” Maddie waggled her eyebrows, almost like she knew Harper had been by my house this morning in her pajamas, like she thought there might be more to things than there was.
“Don’t get ideas.”
“I have no ideas.”
“You always have ideas.” I swallowed some coffee and gave my sister a focused stare. “I mean it. No ideas.”
She smiled and shrugged. “She’s going to work at the Inn, right?”
“I didn’t interview her, Maddie.”
“She’s living in your house—didn’t you get any references or anything?”
“A couple. A Mr. Franklin and his friend, Mr. Franklin.” The money had been enough for me originally, but now I was kind of curious about my renter. Though I didn’t want to tell my sister that or I’d never get her to stop digging up details and Harper would never get a moment’s peace.
She tilted her head and then her mouth dropped open. “Mr Franklin? Oh my God, are you ten?”
“Her money’s good. All I need to know.”
“And?”
I put down my fork. “I’m trying to eat.” This was our game. I got annoyed at my sister’s persistence, and she repeatedly kept me from sinking into my own isolation. Maddie was the only thing keeping me afloat some days. I wished I could tell her how grateful I was for her. But deep chats had never been my thing, so instead I bantered when appropriate and stayed close the rest of the time.
“Just tell me what else you know and I’ll get back to work and leave you in peace.”
“You’re so nosy.” I swigged my coffee and leaned back. “She grew up here until she was seven and then her parents split. Says her dad is still here, but I don’t know who he is. Last name Lyles.” I stood, dropping money on the table. It felt ridiculous to tip my sister, but I did it every time.
Adele had crept nearer as we talked, pretending to wipe down the booth next to us. When I said “Lyles,” she gasped lightly and then turned and bustled back to her podium when I stood. “What do you know?” My sister asked her.
“What?” Adele was not very good at playing dumb.
“Who is she?” My sister pressed. Adele and Frank had been up here for years. It was no surprise they knew who Harper really was.
“Well, I don’t like to gossip,” Adele said, pursing her lips, her little eyes betraying her excitement.
“Bullshit,” I said through a fake cough, and my sister tried to stifle a laugh. Adele liked to gossip very much and everyone knew it. We stood near the door of the diner, Adele at her podium trying to decide whether to share what she knew.
I shook my head. “I’ve gotta get to work. I don’t have time for this. See ya.” I pushed out the doors into the warming morning, wishing my mind wasn’t screaming at me to stay and find out what I could about Harper.
It was better this way. I didn’t need to know anything about her, other than that she was paying rent.
Plus, there was no way Maddie would let Adele off the hook. If I really wanted to know, she’d tell me. Hell, she’d probably tell me either way.
I drove the truck out the back of the parking lot past the Palmer offices and down the dirt service road to the site of the Inn’s outpost restaurant. It was rising up impressively from the forest, with a huge deck as the main feature. Some ingenious engineering would allow a windowed wall to enclose the deck in bad weather and during the winter months, and stay open to the air in the summer. Inside would be a state-of-the-art kitchen and a winter sports rental and repair facility. The place was mostly bones at this point, but it had been progressing quickly and had a good chance of being ready for the Maddie’s wedding reception at the end of the summer.
“Hey Cam,” Chance Palmer strode around the side of the structure, approaching the truck. “Everything good?”
“Yeah, sorry I’m late.”
Chance shook his head, his toothpaste commercial smile spreading across his face. “No worries, man.” He turned back toward the structure as I pulled my tools from the back of the truck. “Can you keep an eye on the deck planking today, and see if we can get that railing up around the edges? We need to reinforce it over here where it’s going to be external to the main building so it can handle a lot of snow.”
“Pretty optimistic,” I commented. Kings Grove hadn’t had a lot of snow in a lot of years.
“One day this drought will end, man.”
I nodded. Chance clapped me on the back, and I got to work, clearing my mind of small dark-haired women and mysterious mountain stories, to focus on the physical exertion that felt like it saved my life some days.
* * *
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When We Fall by Delancey Stewart
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