Chapter Sixty
Jamie watched as thelarger pieces of equipment was unloaded from the delivery truck.The crew of four men were sweating profusely, and it wasn’t even noon yet.Jamie oversaw the placement of every piece.He was glad he’d thought ahead and arranged for an electrician and plumber to come that afternoon to make sure everything was hooked up and working.
“Here, have some water,” Salzy said as he pushed a glass of ice water into Jamie’s hand.“Think I should offer some to those guys?”Salzy nodded towards the four men who were squeezing in the new stove through the back door of the diner.
“Sure.I think there are bottles of water in the walk-in.”
“Joesph did great with getting that tile down and the kitchen painted as fast as he did.I doubt anyone could have organized that any better.”
“And that’s why I got him that voucher for that spa.”Jamie turned to look at Salzy.“He’s the best.”
“Think he’ll do okay...you know, work wise here?”
“I do.Once word gets out, he’ll be inundated with work.”Jamie drained half the glass of water in one go.“Have you seen how the painters are going out front?”
“Yeah,” Salzy answered.“I think they’re almost done.It looks great.”
Jamie nodded.“The new signage is supposed to happen tomorrow.”
“What about all the chairs and counters?”
“Day after tomorrow.”Can’t be soon enough for me.
“Hello?”A voice called from the other side of the delivery truck.“Anyone here?”
“Over here, Christine.Other side of the truck.”
A moment later, a woman, pushing a stroller, came into view from the front side of the truck.“Jamie!”
Jamie rushed towards the woman, then pulled her into a big hug.“You made it!”
“I did.It wasn’t a bad drive at all.All up, it wasn’t quite two hours.”She hugged Jamie back.“Sweet pea here slept the entire way, thank goodness.”
“Christine Schroeder, I’d like you to meet Jesus Miguel Santos Salazar, or Salzy for short.”
“Hi, how are you?”Christine did what she always did: she hugged him like he was a brother.“Nice to meet you.My, but that’s quite the name.”
Salzy, being who he was, hugged her right back.“Same here.I’ve heard so much about you already.You can thank my parents for the name.”He nudged Jamie with his shoulder.“You think you can make a better apple pie than this one here?”
Christine laughed.“Maybe we should have a bake off?”She grinned at Jamie.“It’s so good to see you.”
“Same here.Don’t mind Salzy, he doesn’t actually work here.”
“What the hell, man?”Salzy nudged Jamie off balance.“What have I been doing for the last three plus weeks?”
“Okay, he’s been helping me out, which I greatly appreciate.”
“I didn’t get a spa day,” Salzy grumbled.
“Oh, this is going to be fun,” Christine said, laughing.“I knew I’d made the right decision.”She picked up the infant, wiping its mouth.“I’d like to introduce you to Charles Edward Schroeder.”She held the baby out to Jamie.
“Wow,” Jamie said as he took the infant.“He’s already so heavy.”
“Yeah, he’s growing by the day.”
Salzy leaned over and pushed the small cap back a little.“Look at all that hair!How old is he?”
