by Elena Aitken
“Hello.” Archer waved a hand in front of her face. “Earth to Sammie. Are you in there?”
She shook her head and narrowed her eyes. “Of course I'm in here. I was just thinking about something for a minute.”
“You're going to get yourself in trouble, filling that pretty little head with thoughts.” Sam sharpened her tongue, ready to spit back a sharp retort, but the smile on her friend’s face gave him away. She tossed a pencil at him instead.
“Assault with a deadly weapon.” He caught it deftly and tucked it behind his ear. “Well, a weapon anyway. But I’m serious—you shouldn’t worry so much. You’re going to get those lines on your face.”
“Worry lines? They’re given that name for a reason.”
“Whatever. They’re not hot.”
Sam laughed. She had to. There was no one quite like Archer. With his big burly appearance, and his penchant for hanging out in the forest to shoot things, most people assumed he was a tough guy. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. The shell might be hard, but on the inside, Archer was one of the sweetest, most sensitive men she knew. She also knew from firsthand experience, he was also fiercely protective of those he cared about. And once Archer declared him her unofficial big brother when her own brother died along with their mother when they were teenagers, and her father had become more or less useless, she’d had a protector for life. Which had proved to come in handy once or twice.
“One day you’re going to make some girl very lucky,” she said. “Imagine, a man who’s worried about wrinkles. So selfless.”
Archer held up a hand in protest. “Wait a minute. I never said anything about selfless. If you get all wrinkly, I’m going to have to look at that all day.” He shuddered and Sam wished he was closer so she could smack him.
“What’s up, Arch?” As much as she was enjoying the break from her stress, she still had to figure out a way to cut costs. Again. And that wasn’t going to happen if she was sitting here chatting.
“I need more money.”
Sam resisted the urge to hit her head against the table.
“There is no—”
“There must be. You’re the only pub in town. This place is packed every night.”
“If what you mean by ‘packed’ is a handful of tables, yes. We’re packed every night.”
“That’s packed for Cedar Springs.”
“It’s not enough.”
Archer tilted his head and gave Sam a look that told her he knew there was more to her stress than she was letting on. As awesome as it was to have someone who knew her so well, it was also a royal pain in the ass at times.
“Sammie.” He used her nickname. “What’s going on? We’ve pinched pennies before, but our regulars have always been enough to keep the doors open.”
She tapped her pen on the notebook in front of her. “Shouldn’t you go stir that stew or something?”
He tilted his head and waited.
Sam stared at the ceiling. There wasn’t any point fighting him. Archer was a lot of things, and stubborn definitely topped that list. “We need a new roof.” She sat straight and stared at him. “And the furnace probably isn’t going to make it through another winter. Don’t even get me started on the air conditioner. We better hope for a mild summer, or the few customers we have are going to be eating outside.”
“They’d like that,” Archer mused. “It could be a selling feature. We have the best views in town.”
“Not funny.”
He reached for her hand. “It’ll be fine.” His voice turning serious. “It always is. You’ve done wonders with this place and this will work out, too. You’ll see. What’s the most crucial thing?”
“The roof.”
“Then get it done. I’ll call in some favors with my buddy Bruce. He’ll give you a good deal. You have enough money for that, right?”
She did. But that’s all she had, which would be fine if it wasn’t for the Equinox festival that was less than a month away. Although it was the town that put on the festival, traditionally the Grizzly Paw was the headline sponsor, providing all the food, the entertainment, and of course, the venue. If she got the much-needed roof, there’d be nothing left to put on the party that the people of Cedar Springs deserved.
Sam nodded. “You’re right,” she said after a moment. “If Bruce can give me a deal, that would really help.” There was no point telling him about the festival—he’d only worry, and both of them stressing about something there was absolutely no help for didn’t seem like a good use of energy.
“So it’s settled then?”
Sam looked up into Archer’s smiling face. That was the thing about her long-time friend, and one of the many reasons she loved having him around. He balanced her. Sam managed a smile. “It’s settled.” She nodded. Logically, she knew she needed the roof. It was the right choice. She’d just have to figure everything else out later.
Read the rest of Summer of Change, now!
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Residing in the Alberta Foothills with her husband and twins, Elena escapes to the mountains as often as possible and can often be found sitting by the lake plotting her next story.
Besides her fiction projects, Elena has been published in multiple Chicken Soup for the Soul anthologies, as well as the Seal Press anthology, How to Put a Car Seat on a Camel- and other misadventures traveling with children.
To learn more about Elena Aitken and her other books, please visit www.elenaaitken.com
Twitter - @elenaaitken
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