Her Forever

Sadie

True to Chad’s word, 45 minutes later and a quick drive on the north side of the town, a small dirt road headed up to my cabin. MY cabin! I was squealing with excitement. I felt like some 5-year-old girl that was told they could stay up late and get ice cream.

I parked right out front, but not even a few seconds later, I saw a black SUV pull up, and a few sasquatch men come out. Why is everyone so TALL!?

I stood by my jeep, feeling tiny at this point, and a man in his mid-20s stepped onto the gravel.

“Sorry to intrude on you miss, we just don’t get many new people in town.” He sauntered over.

“You are the mayor?” He chuckled, as well as did the other men there. Apparently, I didn’t get the joke. He was definitively young, especially for a mayor. Not a single wrinkle appeared on his face.

“Yes, I am. I’m Mayor Adrien Blane. Welcome to Pineville Creek. He held out his hand for me to shake. I took it, and he gave me a once over.

“I’m sorry. If I had known you all were so protective of town, I would have called and let you know of my arrival. I knew people didn’t move to the area much, but didn’t know that would be a problem.”

“It’s no problem, miss?” Oh, right, I never gave him my name.

“I’m sorry, it’s Sadie, Sadie Summers. My aunt was Maria Holbrooke.”

Everyone started looking at one another, and a moment of grief passed through their eyes. Had they known her?

“Miss Sadie,” Mayor Adrien said, “you said, was, is she no longer with us?” I stared at the ground, trying not to let any tears fall.

“She passed away two weeks ago. She’s always been sick for as long as I can remember.” I said solemnly.

“Maria lived here for a few years, along with her husband. We were really good friends,” his throat bobbed. “May I ask what happened?” He looked genuinely concerned and hurt. If a stranger asked me how she died, I would have told them it was none of their business. However, he seemed like he knew her, and I needed to make friends, anyway. So, I told him,

“I never met Jeremy, her husband, but.. Maria,… she died of a broken heart.”

We talked for a few minutes more, mostly about the town and the facilities. Mayor Adrien told me repeatedly how welcome I was and if I had any problems to contact him with the card, he gave me. I honestly felt very welcomed, and I no longer had that uneasy feeling like I did back at the motel.

I grabbed my bags and a few boxes from the back of the Jeep and headed inside. This place would need a lot of love and care to get it back to its original glory.

There was furniture. However, it wasn’t properly stored. Dust, animal droppings, spiders, bugs, and I really hoped there weren’t any other nasty little critters somewhere like snakes. I shivered at the thought.

It was only noon, so I headed into town to pick up some supplies with money I received from Maria’s life insurance policy. I could probably live off of it for a few years if I really wanted to.

Once I bought my cleaning supplies and some food to stuff in the fridge, I decided I was too lazy to go home and cook something. A trip to the local diner would be best. I could get a feel for the town and how the people are.

Are they all insanely large and tall?! Several families walked by my Jeep, some staring at the strange new vehicle sitting in the lot. Kids were screaming, running inside and mothers holding onto babies. The men were something else. Raging testosterone was hovering in the air.

I opened the door to the diner, and I knew something was off. Several customers were complaining, kids were screaming, plates were crashing in the background, and no hostess was to be found. The entire atmosphere was a hot, sticky mess.

The hostess was running back and forth between the kitchen and the tables; it looked like they were down servers. She took a glance over at me and yelled, “I’ll be with you in a minute!” She hurried away, flustered.

I could just walk away right now. I was not wanting to start a job so soon after working for so many years. Internally, I sighed. You know, I would probably get bored staying at the cabin and doing stuff on my own, anyway.

After my internal battle, I decided I was going to help.

The hostess ran back to her stand, sweating and fidgeting with the menus. She was looking down when she said, “Just one today? Or are you waiting for friends?” As soon as she looked up, I saw the confusion on her face. She’s never seen me before and rarely dealt with strangers.

I smiled at her and held out my hand. “Hi, I’m Sadie. I just moved here today.” Might be best to share that information so people would be OK with the idea of someone moving into this town. “Don’t worry, I talked with your Mayor and he said I could.”

She stared off into space for a moment, but quickly shook her head and looked up at me. “Oh, well, welcome! Just one menu, then?”

“Listen, is your manager here? Ya’ll seem short-staffed, and I’ve got some experience waiting tables, and I’m more than happy to help. No need to pay me or anything, just wanting to help. I understand how it can be.”

She glared at me. She glared at me! It was like I was a puzzle she was trying to figure out. “Listen, I’m not trying to upset you; I’m just trying to help. I’ve got eight years of experience.”

As if out of nowhere, a girl about my age walks up with a name page of “Rebecca” and manager written underneath. Rebecca looked exhausted. Her auburn hair was out of place, her mascara was smudged, and sweat dripped from her brow. Her voice had sounded almost defeated when she spoke.

“I will take any help you can give me.”

With that, I smiled. I felt like I might get some friends here after all.

Wait a minute. I didn’t even ask if I could help. Rebecca just knew. Maybe she heard from the back?

“Give me your notes from your orders; I’ll take care of the rest,” I directed the hostess. “I’m Lela, and thank you. Truly.” She smiled. I nodded and got to work.

Luckily, the tables were numbered, and Lela had done a great job of organizing her notebook. I got several stares and questionable looks, but that didn’t deter them from ordering and finally being happy with their service. I was the only waitress in the diner, and I worked my tables quickly, carefully, and full of personality, just like I used to at my old job.

However, unlike my old job, there was never really a lull or break in between meals. It was a constant, steady flow as people got off shifts from work. There was also no payment taken from the tables. Rebecca told me that the hostess took care of it at the beginning of the meal. Strange, but OK, considering everyone knows everyone in this town, and I guess they just have their own system.

As lunch went to dinner, and finally just after 8 pm, things died down. I could really feel the pain in my feet. I couldn’t remember the last time I even sat down, let alone used the restroom. As the last customer left around 8:20 pm, Rebecca and Lela came to me as I bussed my last table.

“Sadie, I just want to say thank you. I’m not sure how we all would have done it without you today.” It almost looked like Rebecca wanted to cry; she looked defeated and depressed. Failure was written all over her face.

“Rebecca, it happens in this line of work. You will have bad days and the people you work with. It will get better. At least there is the business to be had; I haven’t worked that hard in a long time!”

“Yeah, it is always like that. We are the center of town, and people usually come here for three meals a day.”

“That’s insane,” I whispered. People usually go out to eat as a treat at my old job, not every single meal! They both sat down in the booth with me, with a wary look in their eyes.

“Our town is unique, Sadie, and I’m sure you can already tell.” I nodded.

“Right now, I’m actually on an internship for management, and I’m supposed to be running it for a few months. Some people think I got the internship under “special circumstances.” She put in air quotes. Three of our waitresses called in sick today just to make me sweat. I’m happy Lela stayed.”

Lela puffed out her chest. “I will always stay by your side, Rebecca! You uh, manage well!” Rebecca smiled and grabbed her hand to hold.

After a moment, I finally spoke. “Listen, I wasn’t planning on getting a job at a diner again, but I would really love to help. It seems you both are in a bind, and I can help as much as I can. If you want me to, that is.” I looked back and forth between them.

“We would absolutely love your help, Sadie!” Rebecca squealed. “But if you don’t want to, we understand.”

“What do you mean, I just offered my help?”

“Well, I’m just management; I am not in charge of payment and signing of checks, really… we also don’t accept tips from the customers.” Rebecca’s voice had trailed off. I have never heard of that. At one point when I was a manager, I took care of payroll and hiring people, but I guess each restaurant is different. I’ve got plenty of money to take care of myself with; doing some good for the community might get me in their good graces, anyway.

“Rebecca, Lelah,” I started, “I will stay as long as you need me.” My heart warmed at their smiles. Lelah jumped up and spoke, “Oh, I think the three of us will become the greatest of friends!”

“I certainly hope so!” I said with a laugh.