“Never.I might even have you come back to teach her how to make them so that I can have them when the cook has a day off.”She laughed with him, and he finished up his light snack.“I’m going to go see my brothers in a little while.Do you need anything from town?”
After telling him she had it all, he made his way out to his car.It was getting chilly out now, and the trees had about lost all their leaves.He loved the crunch of them under his footfalls, and the colors always reminded him that natural colors were the best.Most of his house was in the same colors as fall, and he wouldn’t change it out no matter what.It was soothing to him, unlike the other tones that his brothers used in their homes.
Deciding to walk into town, he was nearly there when he noticed that someone was in the realtor’s office.They had those big desk-to-ceiling windows in the place, which he never understood, to make sure that they looked busy all the time.Instead of keeping out the sunlight, he thought that the place must have been flooded with light all the time, making it hard to read the computers.That’s what he thought about every time he looked over to their building.And the cleaning bill for all those windows must cost a fortune each week.
He found Demi at his restaurant and was glad to see that theCrockery Potwas still doing so well now that his brother had retired from it and was working at the school.He cooked breakfast for thekids at the school every morning, and he seemed to be having a good time.Just as he was entering thePot, he noticed that he had his kids with him.He loved his young nephews very much.
“How’s it going?”He told him that they were just going out for ice cream.“Mind if I join you?I have a couple of questions for your dad.”Martin said it was fine with him, and Teddy asked him if he’d done anything today that would allow him to have a treat.“I have.Today I cleaned off my desk and got things filed away in the correct drawers.I feel really good about that.”
“Then you deserve a treat.Martin and I helped Dad by sorting out the potatoes that he got in.Some of them are bakers, and the others are going to be used for mashed.I love mashed potatoes.”He said they were his favorite, too, with lots of gravy.“No, not gravy but butter.I love me some melted butter on my mashed.”
He loved it when the boys called Demi dad.He wasn’t really their father, but you’d never know it to talk to them.Mandy, Demi’s wife and aunt to the two boys, had come as a package deal when he met her, and he’d fallen in love with the three of them.Every one of them loved the little family and loved to see Demi and Mandy handling them.He’d bet at times they could be a handful, too.
They made their way to the ice cream shop on foot.During the day, it wasn’t so cold out if you had on a jacket, but at night, when the sun went down, it was freezing cold.Not really that cold, he thought, but cold enough to make you wish you were home and in bed instead of out in it.The ice cream shop was busy when they got there.
“They’ll be closing soon.Not much sales in the winter for ice cream.”He said he thought they’d be open year-round because they served hamburgers and other sandwiches, too.“Not to hear them talk about it.I love ice cream year-round, but I guess they don’t make enough sales to warrant having salespeople around and the lights on.They’re having a sale for the next couple of days to get rid of all the stuff that they didn’t sell this summer.I heard that Friday was their last day open.”
“Well, that sucks.I like coming here for a quick lunch.”The new owners had only owned the place for a year now and were doing a good job so far.But he wondered if they were closed up for winter, how many sales they’d miss when people got used to buying ice cream for their homes.It was much cheaper that way.Not as fun, but for sure much cheaper.“I guess I’ll have to preorder from your place when I’m working late and need dinner when Shirley is off.”
He told his brother that his cook was retiring soon because her hip was bothering her too much to continue working for him.Knox said how much he was going to miss her meals, and Demi agreed with him.He’d forgotten how many times his brother would show up for breakfast on his way to work in the morning.Since getting married, he’d not been by once.Also, he blamed it on cooking for school as well.
As they finished up their cones, they walked around the town.Knox had been running on sidewalks since he’d moved here and did it every day.Some of his brothers would join him sometimes when he was out, but not so often now that they were all married, but for him and Zander.He missed them doing things with him, but he was glad for their Thursday night meals they had as a group.Knox didn’t know what he’d do if they still didn’t do that.
“Have you had any word on the teachers?I was wondering how the open interviews were going.”He told him what he knew about the kindergarten teacher, but that was about all he knew.“Are they coming in and not passing the background check or what?”
“That’s it.Because we do such a deep background check, a lot of them aren’t passing the grade.I’m glad that we do such a deep one; otherwise, we might get someone in there that we don’t want and can’t get rid of.”He said he’d not thought of that.“Of the four we need to hire, I think that only two have passed the checks.Most of them have some kind of record in their background that prevents them from teaching at the school.I don’t know about you, but I’m happy for the deeper checks.It’ll keep the kids safe who go there.”
“I agree.My kids go there, and I’m thrilled about it.”They talked about the upcoming holidays and what was going to be done.Locke and Amy had gone all out in what they were doing around their home, and not to be outdone, the rest of them were trying to beat them.Last he looked, Locke had moreblow-ups than were on display at the local stores that sold them.He wondered where he was getting them from.
He never got around to asking his brother his questions, but that was all right.He’d get him next time he saw him.They weren’t that important anyway.He needed to talk to Locke more, but since he was out of town this morning, he’d have to wait on him, too.Oh well, he’d gotten out of the house some today, and that was always good.
Chapter 3
Elaine knew that her background check would come back clean.She’d never even had a ticket in her life, much less anything else that might ding her.So she didn’t have any problem signing a one-year lease with the realtor on a two-bedroom place that even had a washer and dryer set up.Not that she could afford herself a set, but someday she might.All she had in the way of furniture was an air mattress and a laundry basket for her clothing.So long as she was set with those, the rest could come later, she told herself.
She had fifty-two dollars left to her name until she got paid.That was after she’d gotten a full tank of gas to drive back and forth to school.Even if something happened and she didn’t get the job, she did notice that the pizza place was hiring, and she could do that for a while.She just needed her checks to come in from the army so she could afford groceries, too.
Making the call again, she was surprised when someone knocked on her car door and found that it was a woman whom she didn’t know.Asking her to wait a moment, she finished up her confusing call and finally hung up.They were still looking for the reason that she hadn’t been paid, but they had the checks now.Telling them that she needed them only had her more frustrated.They needed to find out the reason for the mess-up, and that was why they were holding off on sending them out.
Getting out of her car, she smiled at the woman.She didn’t know her, but figured that she just wanted her to move her car or something.Not that she was parked illegally or anything, but some people were like that.She asked her what she could do for her.
“My name is Shipley.Well, it’s really Candace Shipley, but I go by my last name.”She’d heard the name before but didn’t know the person or even if this was her.“I think we might well have worked together out of the country.”
“On the front line.”She nodded and grinned.“I never actually worked with you, but I’ve heard of you.It’s a small world.How did you know where to find me?It’s not like I’ve advertised that I have an address yet.”
“My brother-in-law did a background check on you, and it hit the Washington office where I was stationed from.I do a little work for them now and again, but nothing like going to the front line to operate.How’s it going?I couldn’t help but overhear that you were having trouble getting your last checks.The same thing happened to me.”She said that it’s been four months now, and she still hasn’t gotten her checks.“They’re giving you the run around, I’m betting too.”
“That’s right.And I could really use the money.”She wondered why she was able to talk to her about this and realized that she’d somehow gotten her to the little Dari Twist that was across the street, where she’d been parked.“I’ve eaten already, but you go ahead.”
“You’ve not eaten, and it’s my treat.”She felt a little of her temper get the better of her, so she let out long breaths until she had some control over it.“Feel better?I’m going to get some information from you, and we’ll see about making a couple of calls to get your checks to you today.I have just enough pull to get it done.”
“If you can do that, I’ll look over the fact that you bullied me into coming here.”The menu was sort of sparse, but she was able to get a hamburger with some fries.Shipley got the same, but instead of a bottle of water, she got herself a milkshake.They finished it off while talking about her leaving the service.“I’ve been out for four months, and I was able to get that last check before leaving, then nothing.They said it was a computer glitch, but I don’t know.It’s taking forever.Now they tell me that they’ve got my checks, but can’t send them out until they figure out what has happened.Like I said, I could really use the money.”
“No kidding.Let me make a call.”While she was on her cell phone, she looked around the littlearea.There were a lot of teenagers hanging around the place, and she wondered if this was the spot to be in the summer months.Then she realized that they were selling ice cream at a discount and figured that was why they were here.She didn’t listen in on the call that Shipley was making, even though it was about her, but did keep an ear on it so that when she finished talking, she could get the information that hopefully she could use.“Do you have an address?”She rattled off the new one that she’d gotten just this morning.
“I’ve also got a post office box, but they said they’d not mail them to that.”She nodded and continued with her call.Elaine decided that since this was on her way home, she might make use of their lunch menu in the summer months to save on cooking.She hated to cook more than she hated being without money.When Shipley got off the phone, she was grinning.“You got them mailed to me.”
“Yes, you’ll get them in the morning.I made a call to the vice president.He’s married to one of the other women’s sister.They’ve been married about a month now, and it’s wonderful having that contact.”She said that was impressive.“It is, isn’t it?I’m so glad that I could help you.My husband’s name is Dusty Erickson.”
