His first smile broke through his expression with the sun through the tree line. As if it were possible, the sunlight enhanced the handsomeness of his face. “Welcome toDawson Premium Cuts & Farm, Staff Sergeant,” he said with an even yet softened voice.
I decided to return his trust with a smile. “Thank you for having me.”
By 0620, we started our work.
Rosebuds Diner . . .
This morning’s work was so rewarding. I never imagined that farming could be so peaceful. I didn’t get to ride a horse, since I never had, but I was able to mount one. Dawson and I broke a few more smiles through the morning.
After a little work on the farm, we went to the butcher shop, where I formally met his brother, Vince, and his father, Carl. Carl was a Vietnam vet. They both were very respectful men.
The butcher shop was another world from the farm. In my mind, cattle went to the butcher to get butchered, hence the word. It was so much more than that. Dawson taught me to respect the livestock for the life that they gave for our nourishment. When we were on the farm, he took care of the cows like they were going to live forever. He was gentle with them. When I asked why, it was so simple for him.“They know what their end is. There is no reason to not respect them on their way there.”
The way the Dawson men moved through the shop was orderly. He let me know that the locals mainly came in for the steaks, roasts, and jerks. They took online or phone custom orders with a 40 percent deposit. While we were there, a few customers came in. I stood by while he interacted with them. He wasn’t ‘customer service nice,’ but he wasn’t mean either. It was clear that the townies knew his mannerisms well.
“What’s good?” I asked Dawson as we sat in a booth at theRosebuds Diner. The hostess referred to the booth as his regular.It sat in the back corner and faced the door. He was right when he said that it stayed busy. It made me think that there might have been a lot of unemployed people in this town, or everyone took lunch at the same time.
He didn’t look at the menu before he responded to my question. “If you like burgers, try the Angus burger, cheeseburger, or bacon cheeseburger. The beef comes from us, of course. The bacon comes from the local pig farm.”
“I like burgers. Are their fries good though? Is there like a potato farm around here too?” I asked. It was like they had a farm of every kind around here.
He tittered softly. “There actually is. The fries are fresh cut.”
“Vic, how are you?” Mrs. Cook asked. When she turned to face me, her smile dropped. I guess she was still salty about my comment this morning. “Miss Winters.” Her attention went right back to Dawson. She asked what he wanted, and we gave her our orders.
After she walked away, Dawson’s eyes slitted. “So, what was that about? She’s usually chipper with everybody.”
“Her sons said something sexually inappropriate to and about me this morning. Her reaction was boys will be boys. My reaction was to infer that when her sons were either killed or jailed because they raped someone, that she would say the same thing. I guess she didn’t appreciate my sentiment.” I recalled the story in a robotic fashion.
He studied me for a moment before he burst into laughter. It was unexpected. “What the hell, Winters? No wonder she looks like she wants to slap you.”
“Well, it would be in her best interest not to. The first day that I checked in, she mentioned their sheriff run-in. That told me all that I needed to know about them. When she made the boys will be boys comment, that told me all that I needed toknow about her.” I was not a fan of teenage boys to begin with. I did not tolerate unruly teenage boys.
He chuckled for a moment longer. “Unfortunately, her sons are nuisances and a thorn in this town. Their father left a few years ago with one of their employees. The boys were already going off the track, but when their father left, that was when they completely went off the track.”
My eyes bucked a little. I could understand why they would go off track. That had to be a pain like no other. “Are both of your parents from here?”
“Yep, born and raised. A lot of the people here families have been here for generations. They were high school sweethearts,” he revealed.
Before either of us said anything else, our food was brought out by another waitress. She placed our food in front of us. “Hey, Vic, you look good today. Who is your friend?”
My head tilted to the side. “It may work better if you introduce yourself. Once you do that, then I will introduce myself, if that is what I want to do at the time. That is how it usually works,” I said flatly.
The young lady’s titties deflated a little. She looked between me and Dawson. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any disrespect.”
I nodded. “No apology needed, just changed behavior. My name is Minnow Winters, and you are?”
Her head bucked back a little at my crassness. I probably could have been nicer, but when you did that, women thought that you wanted to be friends. “My name is Jessica. Vic and I dated in high school.”
I wasn’t sure why she thought that was relevant for me to know. My stare at her was blank before it cut to Dawson. He gazed at me for a moment before he turned his attention to her. “It was nice seeing you, Jessica. How’s your husband, Greg?”
I chuckled quietly. That was crazy. She gave me a jealous ex-girlfriend attitude when she had a whole husband. I wished my husband, if I ever got one, would introduce himself as someone’s ex-boyfriend from high school. That shit was just as insignificant as the high school diploma once you got a degree.
Jessica shifted on her feet. “Um, Greg is doing good. I’ll tell him you said hi. Y’all enjoy.”
She rushed off like she had ants in her pants. There was nothing for me to say, so I just took a bite of my burger. Dawson was right. With food still in my mouth, I said, “Oh my God, this is so good.”
He laughed when I smacked my hand over my mouth. I didn’t mean to speak with food in my mouth. My manners were questionable sometimes, but I wasn’t uncivilized. “I told you. One day, I’ll invite you to dinner so that you can taste one of my steaks. You’ve never had a steak until you’ve had one of mine.”
