Page 28 of Searching for Bristol
Her frown deepened. “What?”
“Everyone’s here to meet you. To let you know they’re glad you’re all right.”
She looked around and said, “But I don’t know…oh…is that the woman who runs the bakery?”
“Finley, yes.”
“And I recognize those older guys…they always waved to me from outside the post office.” She looked up at him again. “Are they really here forme?”
“Yup.”
“Shoot,” she said, and closed her eyes. “I’m gonna cry again!”
“No crying, Punky,” he chastised. “Here comes Sandra.”
The owner of the diner was very definitely headed their way. Rocky had stopped just inside the front door, but she wasn’t wasting any time. Sandra was in her forties, close to six feet tall, had beautiful dark, flawless skin, and her afro bounced with every step she took.
Bristol opened her eyes and saw the woman coming toward them. She let out an excited squeak, and it was a good thing Rocky was holding onto her tightly, because Bristol almost threw herself at Sandra as soon as she was close enough.
Being careful not to jostle her leg more than necessary, Rocky held her carefully as Bristol hugged the other woman.
“Thank you so much,” Bristol said into Sandra’s shoulder.
“I’m so glad you’re all right,” she replied.
The two women clung to each other for a long moment, the connection they had obvious to everyone in attendance. Finally, Sandra pulled back and gently wiped the wetness on her face with her fingers.
“Lord, I’m a mess!” she exclaimed. Then she started ordering people around. “Rocky, Bristol needs to sit. Go over there, I pushed a chair close to the booth so she could rest her leg. Watch it!” she barked as one of the waitresses came close to bumping into Bristol, as Rocky leaned over to place her on the seat.
“You’re hungry, right? Of course you are. Hospital food sucks. I’ll have something out in a moment.” Sandra turned to glare at everyone watching, clearly eager to meet Fallport’s newest resident, even if her stay would be temporary. “This isn’t a zoo,” she told them all. “Stop staring at the poor girl!” Then she walked toward the kitchen, mumbling to herself as she went.
Bristol giggled, and Rocky couldn’t help but smile back. He squeezed her shoulder then took a seat on the other side of the booth.
For the next fifteen minutes, Bristol held court. There was no other way to put it. Everyone came up to say hello, letting her know how relieved they were that she was all right. Slowly, the crowd in the diner thinned out as people headed back to their jobs and regular Thursday-afternoon routines.
“Glad to see our Rocky found you, girl,” Otto told her after introducing himself.
“Me too,” Bristol agreed for what had to have been the fiftieth time since arriving.
“From what I heard, you held your own out there though,” Silas said.
“I’d like to think so, but that doesn’t mean I’m not grateful I didn’t have to crawl all the way to the trailhead,” Bristol said.
“The people you were with should be whipped,” Art grumbled. “Don’t know what happened and don’t care. No respectable person leaves someone in the woods like they did.”
Rocky agreed, but he sat up straighter, ready to step in if Art got disrespectful. He liked the three older men, but they sometimes had a tendency to be too blunt, to the point of being harsh.
“Easy, Art,” Drew said, stepping in before Rocky could.
“Easy?” Art scoffed, turning his irritation on Drew. “You think it’s right for a young lady to come to town for a nice vacation, only to be left in the middle of nowhere? Hurt and unable to get back to the trailhead? And if she did make it back there, with no transportation?”
“Of course not, but we don’t know the circumstances, so we shouldn’t judge,” Drew said calmly.
“Oh, I’m judging,” Art mumbled.
Rocky was done with the conversation, and about to tell Art to cut it out, when he heard Bristol laughing from across the table. His gaze swung to her. She seemed highly amused by the conversation.
“Well, you’re right. Mike was a jerk. But I’m thinking he might like a whipping a bit too much.”
