by S. L. Baum
Sam had dug around every social media site he could think of and discovered no trace of Krista. He was able to find work records; being in the medical field had made that part easy to track. She’d worked at two hospitals and two clinics in four different cities since she’d completed her training. Sam could see no good reason for a girl to move around that much in only a few years unless she was hiding something or running from something. Either way, the whole thing smelled wrong to him.
“You serving beer yet?” Pete asked.
Opal shook her head. “Pete, you know that’s not happening.”
“No, sir. We do not serve beer. Bill’s Bar is across the way if you’d like to imbibe,” Sam answered and then looked at Opal with a raise of his eyebrows.
“Good answer, Sam. Imbibe. Perfect for those passers through that don’t know better,” Opal told him.
“I was just testing him. I’ll have a root beer,” Pete said, stressing the word.
Sam turned from Pete to Krista. He caught her eye for just a second before glancing down at his order pad. “And what can I get for you?”
“Lemonade, please.” Krista gave a quick answer as she picked up the menu card from the counter and brought it up to cover her face.
Sam turned around to get their drinks and Pete caught her attention. “What’s going on?” Pete mouthed.
“Ask him,” Krista mouthed back and pointed to Sam.
Pete shrugged. “Hey, Sam.”
Krista grabbed his arm. “Don’t you dare,” she hissed in a whisper.
“Yeah?” Sam turned to face them again and set their drinks on the counter.
“I was just wondering,” Pete started.
Krista kept her menu card up, hiding her face from Sam, and gave Pete her best I’m going to kill you look.
“Well, I was just wondering,” Pete repeated. “How are those online classes going for you?”
“They’re good. A ton of reading, a few papers, and the ever-present exams… I’ll have it finished up in no time. Why? You thinking about going back to school?”
“Nah. Not me. But Krista might be.”
Krista whipped the menu away from her face and looked at Pete. “What? I never said that.”
“What? You’re not? I could have sworn I heard Doc talking to you about getting some pre reqs out of the way so you could eventually go to nursing school.”
“That was all him. I didn’t start that conversation, he did.”
Sam looked at her with a smug smile on his face. “Some people don’t have the fortitude to go to college. It takes a lot of work, you know.”
Krista smoothed her hands across the counter. “Some people are quite happy and content in their chosen field. Remember, there are no small jobs, just small people. Every single part of an engine is needed for it to work properly, from the tiniest gear to the biggest shaft.”
The smile disappeared from Sam’s face. “Am I supposed to be the small person, or the big shaft in your eloquent analogy?”
“Either fits,” she quipped. “I’ll have the meatloaf with mashed potatoes and the grilled corn. Thanks.”
“Yeah. Meatloaf sounds good to me too, but I want the meatloaf sandwich. Oh, and curly fries,” Pete added.
Sam opened his mouth, wanting to say something about the big shaft comment Krista had made. He was pretty sure she was calling him a dick. His brain was filled with comebacks… I’m not a big shaft but I have one, I’ll show you a big shaft, I’m sure you wouldn’t know a big shaft if you saw one… but he closed his mouth. He didn’t want to stoop to that level. And, if he was willing to admit it to himself, he was sort of being a dick. “Great choices. I’ll put your orders in.”
Opal followed Sam over to the counter to make sure he’d written everything the way her father liked it, and then watched him as he clipped the ticket to the wire.
“Now you just shout out, new order, and Daddy will get going on it,” Opal told him.
“You really should think about nursing school,” Pete told Krista, once Sam had turned away from them. “It’s just like what you do now, but amped up some, and just, well, more. Or pick a therapy and do something like that. Respiratory therapist, physical therapist, I don’t know. There’s just something about you. I get the feeling that you’re not where you’re supposed to be. Job wise, I mean. I’m rambling, and you’re not even paying attention, I’ll shut up now.”
Krista unfolded and refolded the napkin in front of her; it was calming, for some reason, and she wanted to remain calm. “Look, Pete, I appreciate the vote of confidence. Really, I do. But I am not telling you to reach beyond nursing to become an NP, a PA, or even an MD. You’re Nurse Pete, and you’re happy with that. I’m your assistant and I’m happy with that too.”
“But you could do so much more to help people, and I can see how much you want to do that, how much you care for the patients,” Pete pushed.
“The things I can do for sick people, for dying people,” Krista began, but then quickly snapped her mouth shut. She wasn’t going to expand on that, she couldn’t.
“Exactly,” Pete said, satisfied that he got his point across. “Think about those things.”
“I’m good, Pete. I’m happy. I promise,” Krista said with resolve. “So, you kicked a little girl, did you?”
“We are not going there,” Pete warned. “Not even a little.”
“How about your love life? Are we going there?” Krista asked.
He scowled. “Still nonexistent. Perils of living in a small town. You have to go outside the boundaries to find fresh meat.”
Opal walked over to him, leaned down, and rested her elbows on the counter. “The meat in Cedar Creek is plenty fresh. You calling all the single people in this town old and rotting?”
Sam raised his hand. “I’m not old.”
“Neither am I. And I smell damn good, no rot here,” she added.
“You do smell good,” Sam agreed.
“Opal, you smell amazing. I wasn’t even suggesting…” Pete left the sentence unfinished, frustrated by how his meaning had been twisted.
“Well I’m definitely old,” Doris, the librarian, chimed in from where she sat at the end of the diner’s counter. “Seventy-six on my next birthday. But I’m still kicking. No rot here, either.”
“You can chuck us in the old category as well,” the male counterpart of the grey haired couple sitting at a booth near the front window called out.
“Getting older every year!” his wife added with a huge grin.
Krista still hadn’t asked their names, although she’d seen them around occasionally. She was pretty sure they lived in one of the smaller cottages down the road from Abe.
Pete shook his head. “No offense, Sam, but you’re not my type. Opal, you’re out of my league. Doris, you look amazing; keep kicking. And, Stanley, you and Irene would never appreciate a third wheel in your very longstanding relationship. Though I’m tempted.” He winked back at them.
Stanley and Irene. Krista made a mental note of the names.
“How am I out of your league?” Opal asked.
Pete leaned back, putting some distance between them. “Have you looked at yourself lately? Foxy pink Opal, with the curves, and the, and the…the everything. Plus, Trucker Larry would kick my ass if I even tried.”
“Lawrence? He moved back to Biloxi. Cedar Creek is entirely too far from his route now,” she told him. “Foxy? Who says foxy anymore?”
Pete puffed his chest out just a little. “I do.”
“Nurse Pete, you should try asking me out some time. You’re a little on the young side, but I might actually say yes,” Opal said and then smiled at him as she stood up straight. She walked through the swinging door into the kitchen, glancing back to wink at him before she disappeared.
Pete turned to Krista. “Did that just happen?”
“That. Just. Happened,” Krista confirmed.
“Man, I’d work on that if I were you.” Sam kept his voice low and glanced behind
him, into the kitchen. “The entire five years she has lived here – and this is from what Adeline told me – she has never even hinted at wanting to date someone local. Adeline thought it had something to do with a seriously messed up break-up that led to her relocating to Cedar Creek and them buying this diner.”
“How messed up would it have to be, to make someone move out of town?” Krista wondered aloud.
Sam looked at Krista. “When you lose your anchor, your reason to stay, sometimes it makes sense to pack up and go.”
Krista knew he was referring to Opal, but she had the feeling he was talking about himself. The day after she’d moved into Abe’s guesthouse, Adeline had finally filled her in about Sam and the reason he was living with his great-uncle. Sam had lost his anchor and that was why he was in Cedar Creek. For the first time he was a full-time resident and not simply a summer or holiday visitor.
For just a second, Sam’s face softened as he let the good memories flood into his mind. But even though it felt good to think of his mother, the pain always followed. He wondered when the day could come, when that sharp pain would lessen to a dull ache; he knew it would never completely leave him. How could it? His whole life had always been just him and his mom. How could she be gone?
Krista watched Sam’s face. She saw pain flash through his eyes, but then he shook his head, wiping the emotion away. “Anyway, Pete, that was an open invitation. Don’t let it pass you by.” Sam turned back to the kitchen at the sound of Jim’s bell. He grabbed the two plates waiting for him and walked over to Stanley and Irene’s table with them.
Pete sat stiffly, processing the information. “You really think so?” he asked Krista.
“You are thick, Pete. Try asking me out, I might say yes… yeah, I really think so!” Krista poked at his side. “Talk to her before we leave.”
“I couldn’t. My palms are starting to sweat already. I swear I can feel my heart rate increasing!”
“Call her later tonight, after they close, when you feel calm,” she suggested. “If not tonight, then soon, like in the next day or so. Otherwise she’ll decide that you just aren’t interested.”
“I’m more than interested. I can’t think about it anymore, it’s messing with my mind. Let’s talk about you. What’s the deal with you and Sam? He keeps looking at you, and they aren’t exactly the good kind of looks.”
Krista glanced over her shoulder and saw Sam talking to Stanley and Irene. “He seriously thinks that I’m only here in Cedar Creek to try to get myself in Abe’s will, or to scam him out of his money, or to rob him blind or something. He’s done nothing but make mean accusations and he won’t stop staring at me like he wants me to poof! Disappear,” she told him, keeping her voice low.
Pete turned around. “Sam, seriously?” His voice was the opposite of low.
“Seriously, what?” Sam asked as he went back behind the counter.
Krista punched Pete in his thigh, but Pete didn’t even look at her, he kept his eyes on Sam. “You seriously think that Krista is out to rob your great uncle and has managed to dupe the entire town into thinking that she is a genuinely nice person?”
Sam’s face went into deer-in-headlights mode. He didn’t know what to say. “What?”
Opal came out of the kitchen, her hands covered in floury piecrust. “What?”
“Apparently our old friend Sam, here, has accused our new friend Krista of being in Cedar Creek with the sole purpose of removing Abe’s money to stuff her own pockets,” Pete stated. “And we are all so blind to her ways, or are just too stupid to see it, but he’s smart enough to have figured it all out!”
Sam leaned against the back counter. “I never said that, exactly. I never called anyone stupid.”
“But you’re right and we’re all wrong, or at least blind?”
Opal put her hands on her hips. “Sam! That’s a terrible thing to accuse her of.”
Krista cringed and tried to sink into herself, wishing she’d kept her mouth shut. “I can’t believe you’re doing this, Pete. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Yes, you shoulda,” Opal told her. “Sam, explain yourself.”
“Oh, come on,” Sam said with a laugh of disbelief. “Nobody thinks it’s strange that this young oh-so-sweet girl moves into town, makes instant friends with everybody and starts immediately working for Doc, without having a goal in mind? Then she just happens to move into my uncle’s guesthouse. She thought Abe was all alone and would fall for that pretty face. It’s a perfect set-up for her to take advantage of him. Well, he’s not alone. He’s got me.” Sam shook his head. “I won’t let him get hurt.”
“I’m not out to hurt your uncle!” Krista exclaimed with a sigh and leaned forward, resting her forehead on the countertop.
“The girl is not out to hurt your uncle!” Adeline repeated.
Krista’s head popped back up. “Where did you come from?”
“Jim let me in through the back door,” she explained. “Now, Sam, I’ve been talking with Abe and this suspicious mind of yours has got to stop. Your uncle likes her, the sheriff likes her, the doc likes her, I like her. And we are all wise old souls that have been around the block a time or two. We know the good people from the snakes, believe you me. She might be able to fool one of us, but not all of us.”
Opal wagged a finger at Sam. “Krista is a nice girl. I won’t have you bad mouthing her.” She looked at her doughy finger and frowned. “You made me come out here a mess. I’ve got to clean my hands,” she grumbled and went back into the kitchen.
“I’m pretty wise myself,” Doris piped in from where she sat at the end of the counter. “I don’t suspect her of duplicity.”
Jim came out from the kitchen to stand next to Addy. “Sam, I think you’ve got the wrong idea about this girl.”
Pete put his arm around Krista’s shoulders. “She’s not the kind of person who would work over an old guy, or anyone else. I couldn’t even begin to imagine her doing something like that.”
“How can you people know that?” Sam shot back. “We don’t know anything about her.” He waved his hand at Krista.
“You don’t know anything about anyone!” Adeline told him. “Nobody does. But you can use your instincts to get a feel for someone. You can tell things about them by the way they walk, talk, and act. She’s an honorable girl, Sam. I knew it from our first conversation. I promise.” Adeline walked over to where Sam stood and placed her hand on his shoulder. “I wouldn’t let anyone take advantage of Abe, none of us would. I’m the one who suggested the guesthouse. So if she’s there to steal his money, then I guess I’m in on it. We’re scheming together.”
“I know you would never do that to Abe.” Sam looked down at his feet as he spoke, unable to face Adeline.
“You’re right, I never would. And she’s not out to do it either. Just trust me. Trust your uncle. He’s a smart man. Wouldn’t be the man he is if he had a habit of trusting the wrong people.”
“I know, it’s just…” Sam brought his head up and looked at Krista. “Why are you here?”
“I’m not really sure,” she answered him, honestly. “I just am. And for the first time in a really long time, it feels right. It doesn’t feel lonely. So, for now at least, I plan to stay.”
“I’m still not sure I trust you,” he told her.
“I’m not sure you have to,” Krista sighed. “But I’d appreciate it if you could try not to look at me with such contempt.”
“Does it show on my face?” Sam asked.
“It does,” Krista answered.
“Be nice, Samuel,” Adeline told him. “I’ve known you since you were born, and I’ve always told you the same thing I tell everybody. You don’t have to like everyone, you just have to be decent to them.”
Jim nodded his head in agreement before he returned to the kitchen. “Order’s almost ready.”
Adeline gave Sam a squeeze before she went over to sit beside Krista. “I’ll take a coffee, Sam.”
Sam for
ced his face into a smile. “Right away.”
“Thank you, Addy,” Krista whispered.
“Happy to do it,” she whispered back.
Sam kept himself busy after that, avoiding conversation with everyone. Not one person brought up Krista’s relationship with Abe or anything else about the whole awkward situation, which she was grateful for. As far as she was concerned, it never needed to be discussed again. The only thing that would please her more would be if Sam’s suspicions had been erased. But Krista was pretty sure he wasn’t ready to trust her yet.
Chapter Seven
Marlene Richardson was curled in a fetal position on her bed. In basic terms, your heart is failing you, Marlene. You won’t survive without a transplant. Her mind kept trying to remember the entire conversation from the day before, between her and Ben and the cardiac specialist in Greenville. She needed another heart; someone else would have to die so that she could live. But it wasn’t as simple as that. But with your increased risk of right ventricular failure, you may not be a good candidate. Someone else’s heart would be wasted on her; there were better people out there. Ben had argued for the doctor to find something else, anything that would work. He had pleaded with the man to save his wife’s life. There are further tests we can do. Some therapies and certain medicines may increase her chances.
Increase her chances. For Marlene, that said it all. There was only a chance she could live.
Ben was downstairs crying. Marlene could hear the sobs coming from her strong, yet entirely helpless, husband and it tore at her soul. He couldn’t fix this problem and it was killing him. He’d left her up in their bedroom, because he didn’t want her to see him cry. He should have stayed, she thought. Hearing the man’s sorrow was worse than if he’d broken down in front of her. All she could do was picture him after she was gone: alone, sobbing, with no one there to comfort him. The whole thing was too terrible for either of them to process. Marlene berated herself for putting off the move back to Charleston earlier in the summer. At least there he’d have had his family around him when she expired.