Mr. Lumber put on his jacket. When he opened the door, the wind howled and the snowdrift fell inside. “I’ll clear the driveway, Miss Evie. Even with a four by four, that fancy car ain’t going nowhere.”
“It’s not necessary.” Evie started to stand, but Mr. Lumber held out his hand. “I’m clearing it anyway; you might as well sit and have some dessert.”
Muriel got up from the table and returned with a homemade pie. “Is that apple?” Evie asked.
“You bet it is.” Muriel handed her a knife and pie lifter.
Evie smiled. “Today I learned that my grandmother’s first boyfriend’s favorite pie was apple.” She cut into the dessert. “Who wants a piece?”
Everyone raised their hands. “Should I serve one for Mr. Lumber too?”
Muriel put her hand on Evie’s shoulder. “He might be out there for a while. I’ll put his in the fridge.”
I’d only known Evie for a few days, but I could tell that she was uncomfortable. She was a kind woman, one who liked to do things for other people—not the other way around. I admired that in her, but also wished that she’d let people help her a little more.
Evie put a piece on a plate and handed it to Muriel. She put it in the fridge and returned to the table. “Is that Gary you’re talking about? Your grandmother’s first boyfriend?”
“No.” Evie cut into the pie with the edge of her fork. “Her first boyfriend was a guy named Clarence. He was the captain of the Bobcats ten million years ago.”
Muriel chuckled. “I remember Clarence. I was just a little girl, but everyone in town talked about him. He was the star player. I forgot that he was with Janie all those years ago.”
“What happened?” Evie rested her elbows on the table and set her chin on her knuckles.
“Yeah, what happened?” Henri perked up. “This sounds like it could be a book.”
“Well…” Muriel took off her glasses and polished them with her apron. “I think that he was drafted into the war.”
Evie’s voice was soft. “Poor GJ.”
“Oh, honey.” Muriel patted Evie’s hand. Your GJ is a tough old bird, but she was even tougher when she was young. She had a great life with your grandpa Gary. Her heart was just too strong compared to his.”
“Gary died of a heart attack?” Henri asked.
“Dropped dead while he was pumping gas into his car.” Muriel was an interesting mix of kind and caring and horribly blunt.
Henri took out a notepad and scribbled on one of its pages. “It just goes to show you that you never know what could happen.”
“Gotta live every day like it’s your last one.” Muriel nodded. “Mr. L and I tell each other one thing we like about each other every night before we go to sleep.”
“I’m definitely putting that in a book.” Henri scribbled some more into her notebook.
We finished up our pie and I stood to clear the table. “Don’t you dare.” Mrs. L pushed me back into my chair. “I’m making some coffee. You’re my guest.”
I guess I was more like Evie than I thought. Having someone be this nice and do things for me was foreign, and I didn’t know if I liked it.
Henri looked up from her notebook at Evie. “How was Nutmeg. It looked like you two got along well.”
“She’s a beautiful horse,” Evie gushed. “One of the best I’ve ridden in a long time.”
Henri smiled. “She likes to gallop. Jack is the only one comfortable doing that, so I’m sure that Nutmeg is in heaven with you. As a matter of fact, she comes from a background of skijoring. I’m sure she would love to enter the contest on Monday.”
Evie put her hand to her chest. “Are you asking me to ride Nutmeg in the skijoring event?”
“I sure am.” Henri scraped the last few crumbs of crust off her plate and licked her fork.
“I would love to do it. I’ve never competed in that particular event, but I’ve done a lot of barrel racing. The only thing is, we don’t have a skier.”
Henri picked up her pen, something that seemed to be anervous habit. If she wasn’t holding something else, like a utensil, that pen was in her hand. She tapped it on her chin. “Leave that with me, I think I might have just the person.”
