Page 39 of Coveted By the Bear

She dragged a stepstool to the register, and I helped her scramble up onto the counter. She let out the most ear-splitting whistle I’d ever heard, and the crowd heading for the exit halted.

“Listen up, you small-minded nutsos. Yes, Mira works here. She is a great cook and a hard worker. I know you have predisposed notions about her, and no matter what I say, you will leave, anyway. But I run a spotless shop. She’s had a hard life, and I’m a little person. So what? Doesn’t make us any less able to make the best damned sandwiches you ever put in your pie holes.”

The majority of the crowd still filed out the door.

“Sandwiches are half off for the rest of the day. Tell your friends,” Opal sang after them.

To the townspeople’s credit, some of them stayed to collect their discounted meal. And some of them talked to me like I was a human being, which felt like a huge win.

“I’m sorry,” I told Opal as soon as the rush died down.

“Don’t you dare apologize for that,” she said before she smacked my butt and jerked her head toward the door. “You did good today. Now grab a sandwich and get on. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“If you have to let me go, I understand,” I said, giving her a way out of this.

“As soon as they figure out none of their friends sprouted demon horns from our food today, they’ll be back. They’ll have to get used to you sooner or later.”

****

Opal leaned back in her chair and chewed on a pen thoughtfully. “You going to the Founders Parade?”

I swallowed the last bite of my salad wrap and ripped a bag of potato chips open. A couple of them spilled onto the table, and I picked them up and popped them into my mouth. I snorted. “Why would I?”

“Well, why not? Have you ever been?”

“Yeah, I tried to go with my uncle one year. Let’s just say it was a memorable experience. And not in a good way.” I pushed the memory of Uncle Brady’s public, drunken fistfight, subsequent arrest, and night in jail out of my head. It had been one of many unfortunate adventures with my guardian. “Plus, I’d be uncomfortable sitting with all of the townies. I’m pretty sure they feel likewise.”

“You’ll come to the parade and sit up on the second story of the pie shop. It’ll be the best seat in town. The parade will go right past here. Oh! You could invite that McCreedy girl to sit with us.”

Sadey had bought sandwiches from the pie shop three times this week to show her support. She even managed to drag her father in over the weekend. By the shock on his face, I was pretty sure she hadn’t told him I worked here. From the dreamy looks Opal threw the man all during his lunch, it was obvious she had developed a crush on a McCreedy, too.

“You just want to lure Mr. McCreedy to your shop again,” I accused around a mouthful of chips.

“Can you blame me? That man is fine. I bet he tastes like licorice.”

I scrunched up my nose and pushed the rest of my chips toward her. “Gross.”

“Payday,” she said, tossing an envelope across the table to me. “Tell me you’re going to spend your money partying.”

“Yep. A paint party for one. I want to start painting the outside of the house tomorrow. I’m thinking red,” I said with a wicked grin.

“I approve. Of the color, not the painting party. I can’t name anything I would hate doing more.”

I stood and threw my trash away in the garbage can by the door. “Being elected mayor of an all-woman town?”

Opal squinted at me. “Touché.”

“See you Monday.”

She waved. “Enjoy your day off.”

My shift had ended a couple of hours ago, but I had stayed to help Opal close up. It was the perfect excuse to avoid Caleb. It was the last day before he started work back on the rig, and for the past week and a half, I had done a grade-A job of avoiding the man. From the way he cut out early every day, I thought he was probably playing a similar game.

I could tell he put in a full day’s work when I came home every evening. The house was coming along. New roof, plumbing didn’t leak, all of the rotted boards in the house had been replaced and were awaiting a fresh coat of paint. The gutters worked again, the chimney no longer sat at a forty-five degree angle, the horse’s shelter had been expanded into a small barn, and I didn’t fall through the holes of my front porch anymore, which now boasted a new swing. I couldn’t believe Caleb had done it all in such a short amount of time. I was suspicious he had brought help with him to finish what he had felt compelled to do before he started back to work. I didn’t even want to think about how much he had spent on materials or labor.

After I cashed my paycheck, I headed for the hardware store a couple of buildings down. Red wasn’t my style. Good thing, because the store only had about five colors of readymade paint in stock. The mixing machine had a sign across it in masking tape that read out of order. White was fine with me, and the shutters would look good in dark blue. I grabbed a couple of paintbrushes and paid for my wares. Pride filled me when I didn’t have to worry about having enough.

The man behind the counter looked over his glasses suspiciously at me. “Don’t take that cart out with you.”