It was nearingthe dinner rush, so Nora figured chances were slim that she’d get much one-on-one time with Scarlett. The Campfire Café was a local favorite, and Scarlett was the second-generation owner who put her heart and soul into the dining establishment. She gave it her everything. Best of all, she was a hands-on manager who effortlessly stepped in to fill each cog in the well-oiled machine whenever necessary.
But tonight all cogs were present and at work, and when Nora stepped through the entrance door, she glimpsed Scarlett taking a deserved rest at the bar, a bright pink strawberry milkshake positioned on the Formica counter in front of her. Scarlett plucked the cherry by the stem to snap it off when she caught Nora’s eyes from across the restaurant, her mouth turning into a grin as she chomped on the treat.
This was it.Go time.
Nora waved in greeting and Scarlett returned the wave in instruction, patting the empty stool next to her as an invitation.
“Nora! So good to see you. Come over and join me,” Scarlett called above the conversations that ebbed and flowed throughout the space, creating a pulsing wave of chattering energy. A bell dinged behind the counter, chased by a hearty voice roaring,‘Order up!’In the back, the commercial grill sizzled and sent plumes of smoke toward the kitchen ceiling. The greasy haze dispersed just as quickly as it billowed.
Nora took a breath and hiked a leg up to sit next to Scarlett.
“Can I get you one? It’s hotter than blue blazes today, and this is just about the only thing that will cool me off.” Scarlett tapped the side of the tall glass with the tip of her nail. “We’re offering bottomless milkshakes and ice cream throughout this heatwave. I’m calling it Sweet Treats to Beat the Heat.”
“Clever. I like it,” Nora acknowledged as she joined the woman. “And I’d love a scoop of cookies and cream. Thank you.”
Scarlett flicked a finger toward a young waitress to relay the order.
Ice cream would be good, if only to keep Nora’s hands occupied. Her thumbs currently twirled in her lap, round and round like her insides that twisted in a similar knot. She clasped her hands together to keep from fidgeting. Her skin felt as though it crawled, like her actual nerve endings were right at the surface, trembling with anxiety that tried to leave her body however it could. She felt like she might yelp, but the words obeyed and came out as normal as she could make them.
“Scarlett, I actually came down here to talk to you.”
Scarlett swiveled to face Nora, eliciting a shrill squeak from the timeworn barstool beneath her. Nora’s shoulders shrugged to her ears in response. Goodness, she was on edge. Was a sugar rush from the promised ice cream a good idea? She feared the additional jitters would jolt her right off of her own chair.
Scarlett moved her dessert a few inches forward and played with the striped bendy straw between her fingers, jamming it up and down in the slushy cream. “You came here to talk to me? What’s on your mind?”
“I don’t know how else to start this other than to come right out with it.” With a large gulp of courage and a breath that strained her lungs like a balloon filled too full, Nora said, “I think I started the fire at the ranch house.”
The straw stilled. “What would make you think that?”
“Because I was there removing the bees that day. I use a smoker when I work with them, and I don’t remember having it with me when I left.” Each word was a guilty brick lowered to Nora’s chest, but a mark removed from J.P.’s name. That was the only thing that made it possible for Nora to breathe a little easier, despite the oppressive weight of blame.
She didn’t wait for Scarlett to fully absorb the information she’d just presented to her. Nora blathered on. “I’m so, so sorry, Scarlett. I don’t know how I could be so careless—”
“Careless?” Scarlett’s blonde ponytail swung at her back when she whipped her head from side to side. “Careless is the last thing I would call you. Nora, you wererescuingbees from our house. You were trying to get them out of there so they could continue to live and thrive in a place better suited for them. That’s not careless.”
“Maybe my intentions weren’t, but my actions were.”
“Listen,” Scarlett said firmly. “I know both you and J.P. feel guilty about what happened, but as far as I’m concerned, until they come back with a definitive source of the fire, it doesn’t do any of us any good to harbor unnecessary blame.” She drew in a long drink from the milkshake and dabbed at her mouth with the corner of a napkin lifted from her lap. “What’s that saying? Don’t go borrowing trouble from tomorrow?”
Nora knew the phrase. Grandma Kay had an embroidered Bible verse with the same sentiment displayed in a frame that rested upon the old upright piano. It was as if Nora could hear her sweet granny recite the words now, and the truth in them made her weary heart melt faster than the scoop of ice cream in her dish. To her surprise, thankful tears pricked the back of her eyes.
“Scarlett, I can’t tell you how much your grace and compassion in all of this means. It’s undeserved and so appreciated.”
“I don’t know that graceful is a word anyone has used to describe me,” the woman joked with a snort. “You haven’t seen me try to ice skate.”
“Well, you’re certainlyfilledwith grace, and that’s a trait few people have these days.”
Scarlett’s eyes squinted, her rouged cheeks pushing up from a grin. “I wouldn’t be so quick to say that, Nora. In my experience, most people gladly offer grace. Sometimes, they just need to be given the opportunity to do so.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Tillie was onboard.
So was April. In fact, the majority of Harmony Ridge had somehow caught wind of J.P.’s plan, and while that didn’t sit well with him for fear of ruining the ultimate surprise, it was nice to have some people in his corner. A backing of support that was altogether foreign.
He wasn’t alone in this anymore.
For the last few days, Tillie had come by the community garden to lend her hand with the construction. While she had a notable aversion to flowers in bouquet form, apparently that dislike didn’t transfer to wooden blooms. She’d been in awe of J.P.’s plans for the booth. She even threw the word “genius” around, which J.P. recognized as an exaggeration, but he would take the approval in whatever form she doled it out.
