Lila frowned. “Jack?”
“Of course, Jack. He can’t wait to get out of here.” Tilly winced a little when she caught Lila looking at the old folks again. “Lila, I’m sure they can handle things.”
Lila bit back her first response,are you sure?Because the last thing she wanted was to chase off paying customers by arguing behind the counter.
The elderly couples began to shuffle toward them, chatting cheerfully. Thankfully, Tilly had already cleared the rest of her orders and Jack had joined her behind the counter to handle drinks.
“Lila, why don’t you introduce yourself?” Tilly suggested brightly. “Jack and I will take care of the rest.”
Lila pasted on her best customer-service smile as the group approached. “Hi there!”
One of the women, tall and thin with a dignified air, smiled warmly. “Hello, child! I’m Grandma.”
Lila blinked. “Um… okay! Nice to meet you, Grandma.”
A man beside her slipped an arm through hers and smiled kindly. He had half-moon glasses, wispy white hair, and a gentle air about him.
“Oh, aComfort!” said a petite woman with white curls and twinkling blue eyes. “How lovely! We’ve known Comforts in our day, haven’t we, Cyrus?”
The man next to her, white-haired, spry, with the same bright blue eyes, nodded. “Yes, we have! We’re Cyrus and Polly.”
“Hello,” Lila said, smiling. “Nice to meet you both.”
Another couple stepped forward. “I’m Irene, and he’s Wilfred,” said a shorter woman with salt-and-pepper hair. Her husband, tall and broad-shouldered with light brown hair streaked in gray, gave a friendly nod.
“Nice to meet you,” Wilfred said warmly.
Then came a burly man with a handlebar mustache and an Irish accent. “I’m Paddy,” he said, puffing up his chest. “And this is my wife, Mary.”
Lila’s eyebrows shot up. “Ah. The Irish connection,” she said, smiling. “Nice to meet you both.”
“So, did all of you work at the Clear Creek Inn?”
Cyrus shook his head. “No, Paddy and Mary weren’t there, but the rest of us were.”
Lila tilted her head, curious. “How long were you working on the place? I have to admit, I’ve never seen any of you around town.”
“That’s because we tend to keep to ourselves,” Grandma said matter-of-fact. “Besides, that old place needed so much work we were busy as bees just fixing it up. The only place you’d have seen any of us was the hardware store.”
That drew laughter from everyone, including a few nearby customers.
Lila couldn’t help but smile. “I see. Well, we’re happy to have you. I’m Tilly’s cousin. I noticed you were admiring our ancestor’s portrait.”
The little group turned to look at the painting on the far wall. “It’s a good likeness of her,” Grandma said, and immediately clamped her mouth shut.
“What Grandma means,” Doc cut in smoothly, “is that we’ve seen pictures of Pleasant Comfort before.”
“Oh yes,” Polly said quickly. “At the museum!”
“Yes,” Doc agreed. “The museum.”
Lila nodded. “That’s an interesting place. I haven’t been there in years.”
Wilfred glanced at the others, “We’re all from around here, at least, back in the day.”
“Really?” Lila said with interest. “So you’re related to the original Wallers, the ones who helped settle this place?”
The couples exchanged a quick look that could only be described aspanic disguised as politeness.
