CHAPTER TEN
“Oh, hey, Garrett,” called Sam, the young guy working at the host’s station slash to-go counter at Anchor Bistro. “Your food will be right up.”
Garrett wondered if the speed with which Sam recognized him meant he ate here too much. He ignored the thought. Anchor Bistro made a Reuben that was too good to pass up. He leaned back against the wall, listening to the soothing sound of a griddle hissing, while he waited for his order.
Garrett heard the door open behind him, and Sam looked up again.
“Hi, June,” Sam said. “Like I just told Garrett, orders are going to be up in a minute.”
“Sure thing,” June Caldwell said just as Garrett turned to face her. “Hey, Garrett.”
“Hey, June. How’s it going?” Garrett asked.
June was pretty in a young way that made Garrett feel old for thinking this woman, a mother and a widow, wasyoung. He supposed, however, that this was what came from knowing someone for a long time. Although the distance between early thirties and early forties wasn’ttoomassive, Garrett had known June when he was thirty and she was only eighteen or nineteen.Thatseparation had been immense, and he’d never been able shake the part of him that made him think of June as a nice kid.
She wasn’t looking particularly young at the moment, in fairness. She was wearing the plastic apron thing with the big pockets that he knew she wore when she cleaned houses. A pair of rubber gloves still hung out of one of those pockets, as if she’d forgotten they were there. She looked a bit weary, but that wasn’t uncommon these days. Losing her husband had hit her hard.
June was resilient, though. That much was obvious to anyone who met her. And she would do anything for her son, Benjamin.
June shrugged one tired shoulder. “Same old, mostly,” she said. “People are starting to think about cleaning rental properties ahead of tourist season, so that’s good in that it’s work, bad in that it mostly means a drive.”
One thing for which Garrett felt unquestioned gratitude for Magnolia Shore was the relative dearth of short-term rentals within town limits. They saw a rush of people when weather got good in the summer, it was true, but it wasn’t like some of the other towns up and down the Eastern Seaboard, which were practically overrun once beach weather hit.
Garrett was not a fan of strangers. Or familiar people, a lot of the time, butespeciallystrangers.
What was a blessing for him, however, was a weight on June, since she had to drive further for the much-needed work.
“That’s rough, kid,” he said, clapping her briefly on the shoulder.
June, however, shook her head and smiled. While Garrett supposed he found her sunny attitude commendable… he didnotunderstand her determination to remain cheerful.
“It is what it is,” she said. “But it’s not all bad. I just met Eleanor, the woman who moved into that house on Piedmont Street, and she’s lovely! Making a new friend was a good reminder of the nice things in life, and I think she’s going to be agreat addition to our community. She fit in perfectly when Diana had her over to dinner with a group of us. She didn’t even bat an eye when Miriam was being her Miriam-est,” she added with a chuckle.
Even Garrett had to laugh at that. Miriam Landers was a character, that was for sure.
“I noticed that big house had finally sold,” he said. “I guess this Eleanor person moved in there with her family.”
June pressed her lips together and shook her head. “Not to seem like a gossip, but no. It’s just Eleanor. I guess she’s going through a divorce and her son is grown, off at college. So she moved here herself, which I find just so brave.”
Garrett thought back to the cheerfully defiant woman who had come into his store, and her insistence that she was going to fix a sinkanda shelf.
“There’s a lot in that house that’s going to need doing,” he said.
June wobbled her head from side to side, like she was considering. “I cleaned up in there before Eleanor came in as the new buyer, and I think it has some serious potential,” she said. “The space is gorgeous, and there’s lots of natural light. I didn’t ask specifically or anything, but I don’t think Eleanor would have bought it if it didn’t pass inspection, so I bet most of the stuff that needs doing is cosmetic. I’m confident she can figure it out.”
Garrett barked out a short laugh. “In another life, you’re a real estate agent, June Caldwell,” he said. “That’s sure a nice spin you put on things.”
June gave a playful pretend curtsey. “Happy to help,” she said.
Just then, his and June’s orders both came up, so they approached Sam and paid for their meals. As they crossed the parking lot, they each shot one another a quick wave farewell.Garrett put the food on the floor of the front seat of his truck and pulled out of his parking space. At the edge of the lot, he hesitated.
From Anchor Bistro, he had two ways to get home. If he went left, he might shave off a minute or two. There were fewer stoplights on that route. If he went right, however, he’d pass Piedmont Street…
He went right.
It was likely fine, he told himself. He didn’t know this woman’s life. Maybe she had a friend who was a contractor who was helping her out. Maybe she was just nervous around new people and was actually a highly competent builder in her own right. He shouldn’t think that he had to poke his nose in just because he found out that the pretty, interesting woman didn’t have a husband.
This was the twenty-first century. He knew women could be just as handy as men. And the other reason for his curiosity, that he had found her attractive…
