Copyright © 2020 James Russell Stoakes
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http://JamesStoakes.com
“There’s less than a week left until our first guest arrives,” Sarah said.
“We’re ready,” Alice said calmly as she checked the ham. “This will be ready in fifteen more minutes,” she said.
“I hate to eat and run, but I have to be at work at three,” Sarah said.
“There’s plenty of time,” Alice assured her. “It’s only noon now!”
“I’m just nervous. I was told that today is one of the busiest days at the market,” Sarah revealed.
“I can imagine so,” Alice said as she set the table. “The day before Thanksgiving will be mobbed with people who are anxious to have a perfect holiday.”
“I’m sorry!” Sarah said, rushing to help Alice. “I’ll try not to ruin this.”
“You won’t ruin anything,” Alice assured her. “There are a hundred and one things that can go wrong at a holiday dinner, but I don’t believe you will be the cause.”
A car pulled up outside the house and drew Alice’s attention; the loud, leaky exhaust announced its arrival. “Kevin is here!” Alice exclaimed.
“Kevin?” Sarah wondered as Alice rushed from the dining room to the angry knock at the door.
“Kevin! I wasn’t expecting you, but I’m so glad you could join us, I’ve wanted to talk with you.” Sarah could hear Alice say to her son.
“I bet,” Kevin said brusquely. “What’s this crap I hear about Oak Grove reopening?” He made no effort to enter the house as he questioned his mother.
“Oh!” Alice excitedly explained, “Sarah and I have partnered, and we expect our first guest next week!”
“What the hell are you thinking?” Kevin hollered and pushed his way inside, “and who the hell is Sarah?”
Not liking the tone of his voice, Sarah moved quickly to the kitchen. “I am,” she said loudly.
Once face to face with Kevin, Sarah recognized her former boss, and he recognized her.
“You!?” they both screamed at each other. They both took an aggressive step towards each other but were intercepted by Alice, who stepped between them with her hands up.
Confused, she asked, “You two know each other?”
Kevin spoke first while Sarah stood still and grit her teeth. “She used to work for me,” Kevin said angrily to Alice. “What are you doing here with my mother?” Kevin shouted at Sarah.
“Kevin!” Alice said sternly. “Lower your voice, now.”
“I will not!” Kevin shouted again. “Be reasonable mother, she’s obviously trying to take advantage of you somehow.”
“That’s a lie!” Sarah screamed, losing her temper. “If anyone’s motives should be questioned, it’s yours.”
Alice turned to face Sarah. “Could you wait for me in the dining room, Sarah?” Alice asked.
Sarah was going to protest but thought better of it. With a glare at Kevin over Alice’s shoulder, she turned and walked to the dining room without another word. She sat and nibbled on some olives that sat on the table in front of her while Alice and Kevin spoke.
When Alice turned towards Kevin, he recognized the look on her face, and involuntarily took a small step back; she was as angry as he had ever seen her. “As I said, Kevin, we need to talk.” There was a long pause before Alice spoke again. “I’ve been to the bank and taken control of my account back. You no longer have access to it,” she explained.
“Why the hell is that?” Kevin yelled, shocked, and confused by her revelation.
“I reviewed the account transactions with a bank manager, and he recommended the move,” Alice explained, “as a safety measure.”
“Safety from what?” he asked, still confused.
“From abuse,” she said.
“From abuse,” Kevin repeated quietly as rage set into his face for a moment and then passed as quickly as it came. He turned and exited the room. He pulled the door, and it slammed shut as he nearly flew down the steps to his car. Alice watched as her son departed. She knew. She knew what he had been doing, and it was killing her inside. His car’s loud exhaust seemed even louder as he sped away.
“Are you okay?” Sarah asked. Alice had not noticed her entering the room behind her.
She quickly wiped away a tear that had began to form in her eye. “I’m fine,” Alice lied. The timer on the stove went off before Sarah could respond. “Dinner is ready!” Alice said cheerfully.
“My dad said he would help put up the sign tomorrow,” Sarah said. “My mom will be shopping. She loves getting a good deal, so she’ll be trying to get all her Christmas shopping done.” She put another piece of ham in her mouth.
“That’s great!” Alice said. “How does your father feel about your involvement in this,” she asked.
“He was a little leery at first. He recommended that I think it through before committing too much of my resources,” Sarah answered and then smiled. “He said he trusted my judgment and would help any way he could.”
Alice retrieved a slip of paper from her apron and slid it across the table towards Sarah.
Sarah swallowed. “What’s this?” she asked.
“I told you that I would repay you for the groceries that you have been bringing me,” Alice said. “Joe told me that you paid for the oil. I included that as well.”
Shocked, Sarah asked, “How long have you known?”
“Not long,” Alice said, “Joe let it slip while he was working on the heater in the cabin.”
Picking up the check, Sarah looked at the amount written on it. “If I reinvest this into the business, would we have enough to get a second cabin outfitted?”
“I thought you needed a car,” Alice reminded her.
“I’m making due,” Sarah laughed. “Another cabin would bring in enough money to set up another. We could have three cabins running for the winter.” Sarah slid the check back across the table.
“Optimistic,” Alice said. “There’s only a few days until the first of December.”
“We could pro-rate any time that is lost from the season,” Sarah suggested.
“I’ll call Joe first thing tomorrow,” Alice promised.
“And I will update the listing for the cabins,” Sarah said.
“No need,” Alice redirected. “I have several names and numbers of people who called and wanted to rent. I’ll call them in order and find out if they are still interested.”
“As good as rented,” Sarah smiled.
Joe honked and waved as he drove past Sarah and a man he presumed was her father. They had a pickup truck backed up, through the snow, to the edge of the sign and were working from inside the bed of the truck to attach a new sign to the existing structure. “That’s going to look real nice,” Joe said to the little pug sitting in the passenger’s seat. He was surprised to see Alice bundled up and exiting her home as he pulled up.
“Hey, Alice,” Joe called out as he exited his van. The pug energetically bounded from the vehicle and ran towards Alice.
“Hi, Joe,” Alice said before leaning down to the dog. “Good morning, Pugsley,” she said to the excited dog. “Are you up to this?” she asked. “We really appreciate you getting this done right away.”
“It’s not a problem,” Joe said. “Your partner is quite inspirational.”
Looking towards the pair working on the sign, Alice said, “Her enthusiasm is quite contagious.”
“So, where did we end up? Are we outfitting one or two units today?” Joe asked.
“Two,” Alice happily reported. “Both are rented out and need to be available as soon as possible.
“Both? Already?” Joe asked, surprised.
“Both,” Alice repeated. “We could rent more if we could outfit them quickly enough.”
“Your credit is good with me,” Joe said as he removed tools from the side panel of the van. “I can give you thirty-day terms if you need. The only problem is that these are the last two heaters I have in inventory. I’d have to order more for Monday if you decide to go forward.”
“Let me discuss it with Sarah,” Alice said. “If she agrees, we will probably want one more unit done right away.”
“That’s fine,” Joe said. “I just need to know by noon if you want more installed on Monday.”
Alice nodded and began to carefully walk up the driveway towards Sarah. She could see they had already pried off the raised letters and made the sign flat. Mr. Mitchel was tacking a piece of wood to the bottom edge with a hammer. Sarah was moving one of the signboards closer, but the slight wind was fighting her, and she gave a slight shriek as she lost and recovered her balance. Her father helped her position the sign in place before he added the three remaining borders to secure it.
“That looks great!” Alice called over to the pair.
“Thanks,” Mr. Mitchel called back. “Just a few more screws, and this side will be done,” he reported and began inserting screws with his drill.
Sarah jumped down from the truck, “I’ll be right back,” she told her father. She tromped through the snow out to the driveway while smiling at Alice the entire time. She turned and looked at the sign. “It looks better than I had thought it might,” she said to Alice.
“I was able to fill two units from our waiting list,” Alice said.
“That’s great!” Sarah said, dancing in place.
“Joe has offered us thirty-day terms if we want to do another unit,” Alice informed Sarah.
“Thirty days to pay him?” Sarah said. “Hmm. Do you think we can get another cabin rented?”
“I do,” Alice confirmed. “We would only come up short if the renter backed out before paying us, but I’m fairly confident I can find another if needed.”
Determination crossed Sarah’s face. “Absolute worst case, I would have to invest some more of my savings, but it would be worth it. The more satisfied people we can get through here, the quicker the reputation of our little enterprise will spread.”
Laughing, Alice said, “I thought you might say something like that. I’ll let Joe know it’s a go on the fourth cabin.”
The truck fired up, and Mr. Mitchel began repositioning it on the other side of the sign.
“Back to work,” Sarah said and began walking back through the snow.
“It really does look nice,” Alice said again before beginning her walk back to the house. “Make sure to bring your father in for some tea before he leaves.”
“He’s a coffee drinker,” Sarah said with a laugh. “Black.”
“Coffee then,” Alice said. She felt like she was starting to get a chill. “I should have dressed warmer before walking out here,” she thought to herself.
Peeking in on Joe, Alice, waited until he was done with a power tool before she spoke, “One more cabin, Joe. Do you think it will be done by the end of Monday?” she asked.
“It shouldn’t be an issue,” Joe said. “I’ll call and make sure the parts are here Monday morning.”
“Excellent!” Alice said. “I’m going to go in and warm up. Hopefully, I can have it rented out by the end of the day.”
Joe laughed. “It looks like Sarah’s enthusiasm is rubbing off on you.”
“It does seem so, doesn’t it,” Alice agreed before departing for the warmth of her home.
“A check is fine,” Alice said into the phone as she waved Sarah and her father in the door. “We will see you next Saturday, then. Goodbye.” As she hung up, Sarah grinned at her.
“Already?” Sarah asked.
“Already,” Alice confirmed with a grin of her own.
“The sign is finished,” Sarah said, grabbing a couple of cups from the cupboard. She poured a cup of coffee for herself and her father. “After we enjoy some warmth, I’ll go out and stake the snowmobile trail for our visitors to follow to get to the main trail,” Sarah announced.
The group moved to the dining room, led by Sarah. “What are you going to do about parking?” Mr. Mitchel asked.
“What do you mean?” Alice asked. “Each cabin has a parking spot.”
“I would assume that your clientele will have trailers. Where will they put them?” Mr. Mitchel asked seriously.
“I see,” Alice said. She thought in silence for a moment before pointing out the window. “Do you think we can use that area over there? It’s flat and connected to the driveway. It’s a grassy area we used to use for a picnic area.”
Mr. Mitchel looked out briefly. “I should be able to open it up fairly quickly,” he said. “It might get muddy in the spring and need repair.”
“It should be okay,” Alice laughed. “It’s always had good drainage. There are a lot of small rocks in the soil there. At least that’s how I remember it. We could barely grow grass there.”
“I met Sarah’s friend, Alice, today,” Mr. Mitchel said as he sat down at the table.
Mrs. Mitchel was ladling out a bowl of soup that she had just finished making. “I was hoping that you would meet her. What do you think?”
“She’s in her early sixties and in good health,” he said as he lifted his spoon and blew on the contents. He smiled as he put it in his mouth.
“You know that’s not what I meant, Bill,” she laughed as she sat down with her own bowl.
He smiled and took another sip of the soup before answering her, “She’s nice, Karen. A strong woman. You can be proud that your daughter has chosen her as a friend,” he said.
“She’s nice?” Karen asked. “What kind of assessment is that?
“What do you want from me?” Bill asked as he continued to eat. Then, inspired, he said, “You should meet her. I’m sure you would like her.”
“You think so?” Karen asked a bit curious.
“I do,” Bill said. “She reminded me of you at times.”
“How so?” she asked.