The Settlement

by Ali Spooner

  “I need help and you need a job,” Emma said.

  “Thank you,” Serena said. “Thank you all.”

  †

  “Have you ridden on a motorcycle before?” Cadin asked as they left the diner.

  “Once or twice,” she answered.

  Cadin straddled the bike and reached for the spare helmet. Her thoughts immediately flew back to the last person to wear it and she thought it was time to call Lexie. She smiled and tossed the helmet to Serena. “Put this on then and hold on tight.”

  Serena caught the helmet and buckled it before climbing onto the back of the bike. She tentatively placed her hands on Cadin’s waist, but gripped her tighter when Cadin started the motor and drove away.

  †

  “I’m in the room next door if you need anything,” Cadin said. “Do you need to do some laundry to have something clean for tomorrow?”

  “I have a clean outfit in my bag,” Serena answered.

  “Have a great night then and I’ll see you at five thirty in the lobby.”

  “Thanks again for everything. I can’t wait to get a hot shower.”

  †

  Cadin sat patiently in the hotel lobby sipping coffee while she waited for Serena to arrive. Five thirty came and went with no sign of the young woman and Cadin began to worry the woman had skipped out on her. Then the elevator bell chimed and Serena came rushing out.

  “Sorry, I’m late, I had to dry my hair,” she said.

  Cadin stared, amazed by the transformation from a road-worn ruffian to the woman standing in front of her. The hot meal, a long shower, and good night’s rest had changed Serena’s appearance drastically. She had pulled her medium-brown hair back into a ponytail and her eyes sparkled with excitement.

  “Let’s roll,” Cadin said.

  †

  When they entered the diner, Meagan and Emma were waiting for them.

  “Meagan’s going to show you around,” Emma said as she poured Cadin a fresh cup of coffee.

  “Come on,” Meagan said and led Serena into the kitchen.

  “She looks completely different all cleaned up,” Emma said.

  “Your typical girl next door,” Cadin said.

  “Meagan was excited about Serena staying with us, so I guess today will tell the story.”

  “I hope she does well. She seems like a good kid.”

  Their conversation ended when the door chime sounded and the first customers arrived.

  †

  Cadin stayed for breakfast and then returned to the hotel after a stop to ship the phone to Terri and Lexie. It was still early morning, but she was sure at least Miss Betty and Terri were awake.

  She dialed Miss Betty’s number and waited for an answer. Terri picked up on the third ring.

  “Good morning.”

  “Hey, Terri, this is Cadin. I’m calling to check in on everyone.”

  “Cadin, I’m so glad you called. Lexie has been worried about you. We’re all doing fine. How are you?”

  “I’m doing great, thanks. Before I forget, expect a package in a couple of days. I’m sending you a cell phone so Lexie can call as often as she likes.”

  “Within reason though,” Terri said with a chuckle. “Talk to Miss Betty for a minute while I go get the sleepyhead out of bed. She’ll die if she misses your call.”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  “Hello Cadin,” Miss Betty said, taking over the phone. “I can’t begin to tell you how good it is to be home.”

  “I’m glad to hear that,” Cadin said. She could hear Lexie squealing as she ran into the room, her feet pounding on the floor.

  “Here’s Lexie, I’ll talk to you later. Thanks again, Cadin.”

  “My pleasure, Miss Betty,” she answered.

  “Hi Cadin,” Lexie’s sweet voice said. “I was worried about you.”

  “I’m sorry, but I got tied up with some things.”

  “Everything is okay though, right?”

  Cadin chuckled softly. “Yes, everything is good. What have you been doing?”

  “Brittany and I have been playing every day and she’s been introducing me to some of the other kids in town that we’ll be going to school with. I’m going to a roller skating party this afternoon too.”

  “Wow, you’ve been busy. How are things going at home?”

  “It’s great being here with Miss Betty. She cooks me breakfast every day. Yesterday she showed me how to make waffles.”

  “That sounds yummy. You can make me one when I visit.”

  “Are you coming back soon?”

  “I don’t know when yet,” she answered.

  “I hope it’s soon. I miss you.”

  “I miss you and everyone else.”

  “Please come home soon,” Lexie said. “Here’s Mommy.”

  “Hey Cadin, I’ve got to go to work, but I wanted to thank you again for everything you’ve done for Lexie and me. Things are really looking great for us here.”

  “That’s excellent news. I’m glad things are going well.”

  “Will you be headed our way anytime soon?”

  “I don’t really know yet, but I’ll let you know. Please show Lexie how to call me when the phone arrives.”

  “I will. Bye for now,” Terri said and handed the phone back to Lexie.

  “Bye Mommy, have a good day,” she heard Lexie say before she came back on the phone line.

  “Mommy says I need to let you go, but that we’ll talk again soon.”

  “Yes, we will. Have fun at the skating party. Don’t fall too much.”

  Lexie giggled. “I can roller skate, Cadin.”

  “Cool, I never could do it without bruising my butt,” she admitted.

  “I’ll be careful. I love you, Cadin.”

  “Love you too, Lexie. Bye for now.”

  Cadin sat on the end of the bed staring at the phone in her hand for several seconds. She hadn’t counted on being sad after talking with Lexie, but the sound of her voice made her heart ache. She decided to get out of the room and take a long ride before going to the diner for lunch and to see how Serena was doing.

  †

  Cadin turned left when she reached the crossroads heading out of town. As the sun rose higher in the sky the bridges disappeared as the bayous turned into cotton fields. Row after row of white cotton bolls were near fully developed soon to be split open in readiness for picking. In another month, the roads would fill with machinery as another season reached an end. Once harvested, the farmer would plow under the rich soil for planting winter wheat or some other crop, and the cycle would continue.

  When she reached the Big Muddy, she turned around and headed back for lunch. She was flying down the highway when a large shadow surrounded her bike. Cadin instinctively backed off the throttle and a crop duster shot ahead of her, the pilot waving as he banked and resumed the spraying of the cotton. She chuckled to herself and raced down the highway.

  She found a parking spot in front of the diner and looked inside to see Emma and Serena busy serving customers. She sat on the bike watching as they bustled around the diner, as if they had worked together forever. Smiling, she removed her helmet and walked inside.

  †

  “Welcome back,” Emma said as Cadin took a seat at the counter. “I take it you had a lovely ride?”

  “Yes I did,” she answered. “How did things go with you this morning?”

  “Very well here too, I think we will make a good team.”

  “That’s very good news. Did you tell her about the deal and the remodeling?”

  “Yes I did, and she’s excited to be working for tips. Would you mind if she went with us to Baton Rouge tomorrow?”

  “The more the merrier,” Cadin answered.

  “Are you ready for some lunch?”

  “I’ll wait until it slows a bit and eat with you two if that’s fine with you?”

  “I’d like that,” Emma said.

  “I’m going to walk over to the park and make a phone call,
but I’ll be back for lunch.”

  †

  Cadin found a bench under a tree and stretched out her long legs as she pulled out her phone and retrieved a business card from her wallet.

  “This is Renee,” a rich voice answered.

  “Hi, it’s Cadin. I hope I haven’t caught you at a bad time.”

  “Not at all, I was just catching up on some notes. It’s great to hear from you. Where are you?”

  “Bogalusa, Louisiana,” she answered.

  “What on earth are you doing there?”

  “It’s a long story,” Cadin said. “I’ll tell you about it some other time. How have you been?”

  Renee sighed. “Work has been crazy since I came back from the hunt, but it helps to stay busy.”

  Cadin sensed sadness in Renee’s voice. “Is everything all right? You sound down.”

  Renee hesitated to answer.

  “Renee, are you still there?”

  “Yes, I’m sorry. I don’t want this to sound desperate, but I wish you were close enough that we could get together this weekend.”

  Cadin felt a smile growing on her face. “That’s not desperate, that’s honest. I’ve been thinking about you this morning. I don’t know exactly when I’m headed home, but I do know I’d like to see you again.”

  “I look forward to that,” Renee said.

  “The next few days are going to be really busy for me, but I’ll give you a call this weekend if that’s okay?”

  “That will be perfect. Thanks for calling. It’s good to hear your voice.”

  “I’ll talk to you this weekend then. Goodbye, Renee.”

  “Goodbye, Cadin.”

  She slipped the phone back in her pocket and looked up at the clear blue sky. Things were falling into place here, and life was good in Greensboro. Content with the start she was able to make with the foundation, she decided it was time to start focusing on where she was going in her life.

  Cadin entered the diner just as the last of the lunch crowd was leaving. “What’s for lunch?”

  “The special was bacon cheeseburgers and fries, but you can have whatever you want,” Emma said.

  “Boy, now that’s an offer,” Serena teased and Emma blushed.

  “She’s knows what I meant, you goof,” Emma told Serena.

  “The special is fine. What goodness did Merry come up with today?”

  “The usual, and a chocolate silk pie I was hoping would last through the lunch crowd.”

  “Is that why you hid the last half in the kitchen?” Serena asked.

  Emma shot her a glare and then smiled. “You don’t have to tell everything.”

  “It must be really good pie. May I have a piece or are you coveting it for your own?” she teased Emma.

  “No, smartass, I saved a piece for each of us, but if you two keep this up, I might just eat it all myself.”

  “You would too, wouldn’t you?” Serena said.

  “Danged straight, I would. Let’s go get our lunch, and Cadin can pour some tea.”

  Serena followed Emma into the kitchen and she could hear them chatting away as they prepared their lunch plates. She smiled at how well the two were getting along, and knew they had made a good decision.

  “Something smells good back there. What’s for dinner?”

  “Toni is making lasagna. We’ll also have loaves of garlic bread and a fresh tossed salad.”

  “Count me in for dinner.”

  “Already have. Johnny will be here too. He called earlier to say he was coming to dinner.”

  “Are they still set to start the demolition in the morning?”

  “Yes, and he’s meeting the men from the shelter tonight to remove the tables and chairs.”

  “I think I’ll grab a quick nap then,” Cadin said as she was finishing off her portion of the pie.

  Emma looked at Serena. “Do you need a break?”

  “No, ma’am, I’m good. I would like to take a short break to visit that thrift shop across the street to pick up some clothes.”

  “There’s no need for you to buy used clothes,” Cadin said.

  “I’m used to it. That’s pretty much all I’ve ever had.”

  “Well, that’s about to change. Forget the nap, we’re going shopping.”

  Serena chuckled. “I did good on tips this morning, but not that good.”

  “Consider it a loan,” Cadin said.

  “There’s no use arguing with her, you won’t win,” Emma added.

  “Where is a good place to shop?”

  “There is a small shop at the end of the strip that’s good for blue jeans and tops.”

  “Is that okay to work in?” Serena asked.

  “Yes, we keep it pretty casual here.”

  “Cool, let me get these dishes clean and I’ll be ready to go.”

  “I’ll get them. You two scoot,” Emma said.

  †

  They found the shop easily in the small town and exited the store with six new pairs of jeans and a dozen shirts, new underwear, socks and two pairs of shoes. Cadin mounted the bike and then took the bags from Serena. “Let’s drop these back at the hotel,” she suggested as Serena climbed on the bike and took the bags.

  Cadin pulled up in front of the hotel. “I’ll wait here for you.”

  “I’ll be right back then,” Serena said and disappeared inside the hotel.

  “Thanks for helping me get some new clothes,” Serena said when she returned. “You’re a good person, you know that?”

  “Thanks, and you’re welcome. All I ask is that you don’t disappoint Emma. She’s a good woman.”

  “She loves you too,” Serena said, surprising her.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Her eyes light up and she smiles when she talks about you.”

  “That could just be gas,” Cadin teased.

  Serena laughed. “Face it, you can’t take a compliment.”

  Cadin tossed up her hands. “You got me, but Emma and I have a special friendship. There’s nothing romantic going on between us.”

  “Well whoever she is, I hope she realizes how lucky she is to have you,” Serena said.

  Cadin’s smile faded. “She did. We were both lucky for a time.”

  “I’m sorry for opening my big mouth,” Serena said, sensing she had touched a raw nerve.

  “You couldn’t have known about Missy,” Cadin said.

  “Will you tell me about her sometime?”

  “No time like the present.”

  Cadin climbed from the bike and led Serena to a seat outside the hotel. Cadin took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It was getting easier to talk about Missy, but the pain of her absence still hurt.

  “Missy was the best woman I could have ever dreamed of,” she started.

  Five minutes later, Serena was wiping tears from her eyes. She reached over and hugged Cadin. “I hope to find someone like that one day.”

  “You will, and when you do enjoy every minute you can together, because there are no guarantees in life.”

  “I will, I promise,” Serena said.

  “Let’s get you back to work then if you’re ready.”

  Serena wiped her eyes again and nodded. “I’m ready.”

  †

  Cadin ate dinner with Johnny, then as the crowd started to thin out, they wiped down the tables and chairs. They carried them out onto the front sidewalk to make it quicker to load when the shelter truck arrived.

  “There’s no need to spend a lot of time on the floor in here tonight. It’ll all be gone by tomorrow,” he said. “I do need you to clear off the counter though,” he told Emma. “We’ll get that one out of here and install the new. Charles has already begun working on the new counter and is excited for you to see what he’s come up with.”

  “I can’t wait,” Emma said.

  “I hope by the time y’all return from Baton Rouge tomorrow night, you’ll begin to see a huge difference.”

  “What do you hope to get done tomorrow
?” Cadin asked.

  “The first step is to get the counter, booths, and old flooring out. Once the flooring’s removed, the painter will start on the walls. Another pair will be working on the bathrooms, and as soon as the crew arrives with the equipment, they will start removing the old and installing the new.”

  “What will take the longest?” Emma asked.

  “The flooring is the most labor intensive, but we’ll throw four guys at it, so it will go faster. We have to give the adhesive a night to dry before we can put any weight on it, so it will be critical to get it down tomorrow.”

  “Do you still think you will be done in three days?” Meagan asked.

  Johnny grinned up at her. “You will be ready for a grand opening Monday as promised.”

  Cadin looked up the street and nodded. “Here’s the truck.”

  It only took thirty minutes to load the tables with everyone helping. “What about those booths, what plans do you have for them?” the man from the shelter asked.

  “We had planned to pitch them in the Dumpster. They would need major reupholstering,” Johnny said.

  “I have some men who would enjoy a project, and I have some fabric that was donated months ago that I need to get out of storage.”

  Johnny looked at Emma. She nodded and said, “Let’s get to it then.”

  The dining room looked huge with the furniture removed. “It looks so much bigger when it’s empty,” Emma remarked.

  “It will be all brand new and ready to go in no time,” Johnny said as the truck pulled away. “I’ll see you all late tomorrow then.”

  Emma turned to Cadin. “What time should we be ready to go?”

  “Serena and I’ll pick you up at seven, if that’s not too early.”

  “That will be great,” Emma said.

  Cadin watched Emma and Meagan walk to their car and turned to Serena. “Are you ready to ride?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” she said.

  †

  When Cadin parked the bike at the hotel, Cadin looked at Serena. “Pack your bags and we’ll load them in the rental car. When we get to your new home in the morning you can drop your stuff off then.”

  “That won’t be hard to do,” Serena answered. “Thanks again for everything,” she said as they reached their rooms.

  “You’re welcome. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  †

  Cadin showered off and slipped into a hot soaking bath. The water soothed her tired muscles and as she relaxed her head against the wall, her thoughts drifted to the last few weeks of her life. With the help of her new friends, she was able to establish the first expenditures of the foundation’s benefits in two small towns. Missy would be so proud of their accomplishments.