sorry?”
“Eventually, after many, many years of feeling horrible for burning their memories. It was after I figured out I didn’t need their approval that I could finally apologize and mean it. Even better, I forgave them . And I saved a picture so I’d never forget where I’d been and how far I’ve come, and so I never go back. We make mistakes, Mira. We learn, we change what we can, and we forgive ourselves, as hard as it is. That’s life.”
I felt an interior weight shift. It didn’t go away, but it didn’t feel so heavy anymore. “You’re a wise woman.”
“You’re not so bad yourself.” She treated me to a smile like balm and packed up the picture. On the way back downstairs, she also offered some juicy gossip. “By the way, you know the new family at New Millennium Bible? The Holier Thanthous?”
“The Meales?”
“That’s them. You’ll never guess what happened this morning. Their daughter, Alicia, the one who looks like a young Lynda Carter?”
“I wouldn’t go that far, but yeah.”
“She was in this morning. Nancy caught her stealing a bag of biscotti. Can you believe that!”
Nancy met us at the bottom of the stairs at the mention of her name, wiping her hands on her apron. “Yah, caught her red handed. And do you know what she said to me? She said she was just putting it into her purse so it’d be easier to carry to the counter.”
“You didn’t believe her?”
“That’s like the lion telling the antelope it’s just going to clean its hind end. I told her I was going to call the police, and she threatened me with the Liberty Law School. Said it was started by Jerry Falwell and was turning out lawyers only too happy to deal with people like me.”
I smiled for the first time that day. “Coffee shop owners?”
“I guess. That one is wicked.”
That about summed it up, as far as I could tell. “So what’d you do?”
“Let her go. We don’t need the trouble.” Nancy straightened her apron, squeezed Sid’s hand, and headed back to the front counter. On her way, she hollered over her shoulder at Sid. “Did you ask her yet?”
I looked from Nancy to Sid. “Ask me what?”
“A favor. I know you’re busy with two jobs, but we’re hoping you can open up the Café tomorrow. Nancy’s sister is having surgery in Fargo later today, and we want to stay overnight so she isn’t alone.”
“Anything serious?”
“Not too bad. Just gallstones. She doesn’t have any other family close by, though, so we want to be there.”
My dearth of family felt sharp for a moment, but the pang was replaced by my bounty of friends. “Of course I’ll open up. I can’t promise to do any baking, though.”
“We’ll have it all stocked up for you, and a sign saying that the fancy coffees will need to wait. We’re planning on being back by 10:00, so you’ll be able to skedaddle to the library before Mrs. Berns turns it into a house of ill repute.”
“Perfect.” As I collected keys and opening instructions, I warmed inside. Action felt good, as did helping my friends. Sid was right. I needed to fix what I could, starting with finding that dirt on the Meales I had yet to uncover. It was bad enough they were messing with the library—I wasn’t going to let Alicia mess with my friends, too. I had promised Ron I would head out to New Millennium Bible Camp this afternoon to check out the Creation Science Camp, and my very innocent reporting for the Battle Lake Recall would be a perfect cover for some earnest snooping. Once I tipped that playing field, I could work on repairing my garden.
Sid gave me an overview of the till before sending me on my way with a free, sun-dried tomato and Greek olive cream cheese bagel and some parting words.
“Hey, you know why Lutherans hate premarital sex?”
“Why?”
“They’re afraid it’ll lead to dancing.”
I left ten pounds lighter and decided to take advantage of my lunch hour to visit 4Ts and place another check in my “good
“Eventually, after many, many years of feeling horrible for burning their memories. It was after I figured out I didn’t need their approval that I could finally apologize and mean it. Even better, I forgave them . And I saved a picture so I’d never forget where I’d been and how far I’ve come, and so I never go back. We make mistakes, Mira. We learn, we change what we can, and we forgive ourselves, as hard as it is. That’s life.”
I felt an interior weight shift. It didn’t go away, but it didn’t feel so heavy anymore. “You’re a wise woman.”
“You’re not so bad yourself.” She treated me to a smile like balm and packed up the picture. On the way back downstairs, she also offered some juicy gossip. “By the way, you know the new family at New Millennium Bible? The Holier Thanthous?”
“The Meales?”
“That’s them. You’ll never guess what happened this morning. Their daughter, Alicia, the one who looks like a young Lynda Carter?”
“I wouldn’t go that far, but yeah.”
“She was in this morning. Nancy caught her stealing a bag of biscotti. Can you believe that!”
Nancy met us at the bottom of the stairs at the mention of her name, wiping her hands on her apron. “Yah, caught her red handed. And do you know what she said to me? She said she was just putting it into her purse so it’d be easier to carry to the counter.”
“You didn’t believe her?”
“That’s like the lion telling the antelope it’s just going to clean its hind end. I told her I was going to call the police, and she threatened me with the Liberty Law School. Said it was started by Jerry Falwell and was turning out lawyers only too happy to deal with people like me.”
I smiled for the first time that day. “Coffee shop owners?”
“I guess. That one is wicked.”
That about summed it up, as far as I could tell. “So what’d you do?”
“Let her go. We don’t need the trouble.” Nancy straightened her apron, squeezed Sid’s hand, and headed back to the front counter. On her way, she hollered over her shoulder at Sid. “Did you ask her yet?”
I looked from Nancy to Sid. “Ask me what?”
“A favor. I know you’re busy with two jobs, but we’re hoping you can open up the Café tomorrow. Nancy’s sister is having surgery in Fargo later today, and we want to stay overnight so she isn’t alone.”
“Anything serious?”
“Not too bad. Just gallstones. She doesn’t have any other family close by, though, so we want to be there.”
My dearth of family felt sharp for a moment, but the pang was replaced by my bounty of friends. “Of course I’ll open up. I can’t promise to do any baking, though.”
“We’ll have it all stocked up for you, and a sign saying that the fancy coffees will need to wait. We’re planning on being back by 10:00, so you’ll be able to skedaddle to the library before Mrs. Berns turns it into a house of ill repute.”
“Perfect.” As I collected keys and opening instructions, I warmed inside. Action felt good, as did helping my friends. Sid was right. I needed to fix what I could, starting with finding that dirt on the Meales I had yet to uncover. It was bad enough they were messing with the library—I wasn’t going to let Alicia mess with my friends, too. I had promised Ron I would head out to New Millennium Bible Camp this afternoon to check out the Creation Science Camp, and my very innocent reporting for the Battle Lake Recall would be a perfect cover for some earnest snooping. Once I tipped that playing field, I could work on repairing my garden.
Sid gave me an overview of the till before sending me on my way with a free, sun-dried tomato and Greek olive cream cheese bagel and some parting words.
“Hey, you know why Lutherans hate premarital sex?”
“Why?”
“They’re afraid it’ll lead to dancing.”
I left ten pounds lighter and decided to take advantage of my lunch hour to visit 4Ts and place another check in my “good
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