Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

“This will not work out,” I said out loud when Victor showed up with a U-Haul containing all my belongings. I had successfully avoided going into town for the last three days, but my old driver derailed my mission to become a hermit by showing up unannounced at my grandpa’s trailer. Victor stood there smiling at me, and it was creepy. All I ever saw him wear washis classic black suit; him standing in our dirt driveway in jeans and a sweater was psyching me out.

“ Mi ni?a , since you needed your stuff back, I told Mr. Hill I was taking my vacation early this year. I couldn’t bear to see it there in boxes...” Victor pointed at the massive truck in our driveway. He drove my stuff all the way from San Francisco just so I could have it back sooner. I wanted to say thank you, but I couldn’t do it with the golf ball stuck in my throat. I wanted to cry. Instead, I hugged the Cuban man tightly. When people did nice things for me, it was hard to accept. It always made me sentimental.

“You didn’t have to go through all this trouble, Victor,” I mumbled once I had composed myself.

“It’s the least I could do. So many times, mi ni?a, I wanted to tell you, but it wasn’t my place, and I couldn’t bear to break your heart. That Friday I decided not to pick you up, knowing you would find Mr. Hill with his mistress.”

That’s all it took for my resentment toward Vic to subside. I told him to give me a second while I changed. All I had packed to come here was my work clothes, which were a little too much for small-town errands. These past few days, I’d been chilling in my jammies since it wasn’t like I was going anywhere. When I walked into the trailer, I found my grandpa snooping through the kitchen window.

“Tell me that’s not the man you left behind,” he grumbled.

“Ew, he’s old. He could be my father.”

My Grandpa made a noise, completely ignoring my cringing. “Well, you never know. What do you call them—candy daddies?”

“You mean a sugar daddy? You should really go out more.” I pinched Gramps’s cheek before grabbing his hand to take him to meet Victor—you know, so he could make sure he wasn’t my “candy daddy.” When we made it to Victor, the back of the U-Haul was already open.

Holy crap.

The size of the truck should have been my first warning, but apparently, I wasn’t thinkingclearly .

“All this crap yours?” Grandpa asked while he looked at the truck in horror.

“I didn’t even know I owned this much stuff,” I said, a little horrified and in awe. The truck was huge—according to Vic, it was the biggest they had. I couldn’t even go in there and look. It was full from top to bottom. The movers had played Tetris with my stuff and succeeded.

“It’s okay. I can just go to the hardware store and ask for one of those movable sheds. No biggie.” I dismissed my grandpa and Vic’s dubious stares. I went inside to get my stuff before heading into town, thinking I would at least have help unloading later. When I came outside, I asked if they were ready to head out. Grandpa said no. I was flying solo since Grandpa was going fishing, and since Victor was here on vacation, my grandfather said I shouldn’t put the man to work. He was right, so I told Grandpa to take Victor with him.

Victor was excited to be in Wisconsin. Our town wasn’t huge, but it was beautiful. With a national park and Lake Superior on the coast, it was a sight to see, especially in the fall.

“You’re sure Old Red won’t break down on me, right?” I asked for the fifth time since getting in the truck. Grandpa didn’t bother to answer this time. He was more worried about my heel getting stuck while shifting gears. Like I said, I only had my work clothes, and Grandpa made sure to tell me I looked like a prissy. To be honest, I was also a little scared my red Christian Louboutin stilettos might get stuck as well. Well, moot point now, I thought as I drove away. When I got to town, I was thankful that Old Red didn’t break, and even though I was craving a cup of coffee, I had other pressing matters now. Also, Old Red would fit better stationed in front of Pete and Son’s than it would in front of Emma’s Coffee.

When I walked into Pete’s, it smelled just like I remembered—a mixture of wood, metal, and pine fragrance. I let out a relieved breath when I saw the handsome man behind the counter.

“Hey, Bear, long time no see!” I couldn’t help to smile at my old friend Jake Carson. His dad owned the shop and wasn’t a fan of mine; neither was his younger brother Clark.

“ Holy shit ! Freya, girl, is that you?” Jake came out from behind the counter. He was still tall and muscular, reminding me why we called him Bear. Back in high school, he was a hell of a linebacker; getting hit by himwas the same asgetting attacked by a grizzly.

“Bear… I can’t… breathe.” I patted his back until he put me down. “I’m glad you’re here and not your dad or Clark. I don’t think they would have been as welcoming.”

“In their defense, it was your fault Clark’s new car got crashed.”

“But the damage got paid for.Anyway, I need your help. I have a problem.” I needed to steer the conversation away from the past. “I need one of those portable sheds, not the wooden ones but the other ones.”

He looked at me like he had forgotten how crazy I was. “You mean a plastic shed?”

“Yes. ”

“We don’t carry many of those. Not real popular around these parts. They aren’t as resistant to the snow as the ones made from wood. What size do you need?”

“A big one?”

“How big is big?”

“There’s a huge U-Haul truck parked in front of Grandpa’s lawn that is bursting with boxes. I need a place to store them ASAP.”

Bear whistled, and it didn’t make me feel any better. When we got to the aisle with the plastic sheds, none would do.

“I could order you one, but I think it’s better if you got one built. They are a little pricier, but they can do it in a few days. Have you talked to Rusty? He knows guys that can have it done by Saturday.”

I grimaced when he said Rusty’s name. Rust was my brother. I had no idea what to say to him. At leastmy grandpa got a goodbye, but Rust got nothing but radio silence. I would hate me if I were him.

“I don’t mind paying extra. Get me the biggest one you have,” I mumbled while my mind went to Rusty. When Bear told me to give him a few and he would put the material in my grandpa’s truck, I left for my caffeine fix. When I walked into Emma’s Coffee, the first thing I did was look at the wall to see if there was a new quote. True friends are never apart, maybe in distance but never in heart. Well, didn’t that just hit me right in the feels? Damn these quotes were spot-on with my life. When I walked up to the counter, Emma had her head resting on the table with her arms over her head .

“Hey, Emma, are you okay?” I poked her head, causing her to jump back. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” I said when I noticed her panicked expression.

“Oh no, it’s okay.” She fixed her cute yellow apron. “What can I get you?”

“I don’t know. I want something strong today, something to get me through the day, the week, this year.” I pulled up a nearby stool and sat down in front of the register since there were no customers.

“Here. I think we can both use an Americano right now.” I grabbed the yellow mug she handed me and drank with gusto. “How do you choose what quote to write? Do you write one every day?”

Her smile was sincere but tired when she looked at the wall. “At first, I did it, but one day I was so busy I forgot. My first customer of the day noticed, and when I had no clue what to write, he grabbed the chalk and wrote his quote of the day. Since then, the first or the second customer write it.”

I couldn’t help but smile along with her. That was awesome. “Tell me what has you so drained?” I pried.

“I’m exhausted. I’m here at the crack of dawn, and I leave around midnight trying to get everything ready for another day.”

“Why don’t you hire someone?”

“I did, but since they are in school, it’s after school and on weekends when they help me out. I tried hiring someone for the morning shift, but that didn’t work out too well.” She made a face .

“Who did you hire?” I asked out of curiosity.

“Layla Vanhorn.”

I snickered at the thought of Layla Vanhorn as a barista. Homegirl was a total princess back in school. I couldn’t imagine her cleaning tables at all.

“She wanted me to give her a raise, and she didn’t even do any work, complained that she ended up smelling like caffeine after her shifts, and flirted with all the single men.”

“I can see how that affects your business,” I mumbled.

“Yeah, I think Iwill have to take a loss and raise the wage.”

Don’t ask me why or how, but my mouth just did its own thing.

“I can help you. I’m up early. I can come at rush hour. That way you aren’t too tired. It’s not like I have anything to do. I’m prettysure I’m driving Gramps nuts by now.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I knew I couldn’t take them back, especially when I saw the smile on Emma’s face. I was trying to avoid people, not get a job in the favorite and only coffee shop in town. The only way I could get more in everyone’s faces would be by going to church on Sunday.

“That would be awesome, but the pay—”

I waved my hand at her. I didn’t need money. I still had a few weeks left on my vacation, so that wasn’t an issue yet. “I’m just helping you out, and in return, I get free coffee. You feed my addiction, and I’ll ease your load.”

“Deal.” We clinked our mugs in agreement.