However, if I’ve learned one thing over the years working in dentistry, it’s how to put the nervous at their ease. “Why don’t you grab a coffee and we can go over the figures together?”
It’s only once he’s nodded his agreement to this and walked up to the counter that I realize this will have me stuck eating cherry pie in front of him. This is never a simple task, with me often ending up with cherry juice running down my chin.
The thought alone is enough to have me signaling the server and asking if she can put the pie in a bag for me to take away. That my request takes her by surprise is clear, as my habit was to eat it while enjoying my coffee.
It’s at that moment Tyler turns back up and I can see when comprehension makes itself at home on her face. I guess she’s seen it all in her time, with her sweeping the plate up without another word.
If I’ve surprised Tyler, he says nothing when he sits on the bench seat next to me, rather than in the chair opposite.
On seeing my subtle pulling to the side, he explains, “This will make it easier for us to look at the figures together.”
Yeah, and do a complete number on my hearing anything you say.
In the end, it’s not as bad as I’ve expected with Tyler going through the figures professionally and answering all my stupid questions. Despite my having no experience with what’s involved in a job like this, this time I’ll trust my gut.
It’s something I should probably have done when I first dated Mitchell.
There’s also the fact Alice at the Rose Haven confirmed it was her who’d phoned Lucky Break on my behalf. She’s a fan of the team after they’d fixed the ceiling in her room, with her charmed by Tyler, in particular.
I therefore have no hesitation in telling Tyler that I’m happy for Lucky Break to proceed with the work as outlined. I even reply to his email confirming this in writing.
That done, he’s a man on a mission, jumping to his feet and talking about lumber. After a distracted, “I’ll see you Monday bright and early,” he’s on his way.
With no word from the utility company, I decide I may as well visit Alice at the Rose Haven. As well as thanking her for recommending Lucky Break in a roundabout way, I enjoy listening to her stories. I’ve heard things from her about Nanna Dot that I’d only suspected.
On leaving Skye High Pies, I’m holding two of their famous cherry pies. It doesn’t take long to drive to the Rose Haven, as with most destinations in Coogan’s Break.
It’s funny, but when I was growing up here, I thought Coogan’s Break was quite the metropolis. On driving through the gates at the Rose Haven, I decide I like my home town being smaller. San Francisco could swallow a person whole and not bother spitting them out.
My having phoned ahead, Alice is waiting for me in reception, greeting me warmly, and not just because of the cherry pies. Nanna Dot had been a friend of hers, and Alice considers me family, having none of her own nearby.
“Come on, sweetie, we can have coffee in my room. It’ll be quieter there, and we can catch up aboutthings.”
Honestly, the old girl was as good as hopping from foot to foot in her eagerness to see how things had gone with Tyler. As is often the case with older people, her manipulations had been as subtle as a sledgehammer.
Only once she’s made us a French press of the ‘good stuff’, do I rattle through everything that happened. I leave nothing out, knowing from experience with Nanna Dot that it was a waste of time. While some thought the old missed a lot, I wasn’t one of them.
If I’d left anything out when catching up with nanna, she’d know, and set to grilling me harder than an IRS agent. That woman had missed nothing. It’s no wonder she and Alice had gotten along so well.
By the time I’ve finished, Alice is beaming, and I can’t help but laugh. My laughter soon dies when I face reality.
“Yes, he seems like a nice man, but that’s all. And anyway, I’ve still got things to sort out with Mitchell.” For a second, I fall silent. “Because of… It won’t be easy finding a man happy to settle for what I can offer.”
There’s no need to go into further detail, because I suspect Alice already knows. When I’d met with the home’s manager after nanna’s passing, she’d told me they’d miss Dot, especially Alice, with the pair, “As thick as thieves.”
It’s a given Alice will be all too familiar with my inability to conceive. It’s only with hindsight I see it was this that had devastated me more than the break-up with Mitchell. Could it be his town polish had blinded me all those years ago? Should I have looked deeper than the packaging? I’m busy thinking back on Tyler’s, ah hem, packaging when Alice stops my dirty thoughts in their tracks.
“Tyler’s wife died after giving birth.”
As bald and out of the blue as this statement has been, I drop my pie back on the dainty plate Alice had insisted was necessary. “What?!”
As she tells me what had happened, I don’t move a muscle for fear of interrupting. Not usually one to gossip, I instead hang on her every word.
Surely women dying in childbirth was something that happened in third-world countries? But apparently not. While reading all those negative pregnancy tests had been devastating, it must pale compared to what Tyler had faced.
“And the little girl? Where is she now?”
“His mom looks after her, mostly. Meanwhile, he works every hour god gave him, saving up for that girl’s college fund.” She takes a sip of coffee before continuing. “He’s a lovely man. Your Nanna Dot had a bit of a soft spot for him.”
