Mornings on Main

by Jodi Thomas

  The door chimed and Jillian rushed in with the winter wind. She stopped the moment she saw him and hesitated, as if unsure how he might react to her.

  “Morning,” he said, as he did every morning.

  “Morning.” She relaxed. “I know I’m a little early, but I wrote another three articles last night and couldn’t wait to give them to you.”

  “I’ll take them with me and let you know if I can use them. Everyone is talking about the last one I put on the blog.”

  “Good.” She smiled and he took a moment to study her mouth before looking away.

  Not something he should notice. They weren’t even friends. Might never be, but it might be worth a try. He could handle friends with a woman. For a short time anyway.

  “You’re welcome to come with Gram and me for lunch.” He always asked. “We’re headed a few miles out of town to a Mexican place she loves, though all she ever eats is quesadillas.”

  “Thanks, but I’ll work through lunch.”

  He tried not to look disappointed. The Autumn Acres bus pulled up out front and their conversation ended.

  After lunch, any chance to talk was quickly forgotten. By the time Connor had Gram back in the shop and helped her strip off a few layers of coats, Joe Dunaway had slipped through the unlocked shop door. He stopped long enough to turn the closed sign over to open, as if he thought of himself as the designated flipper.

  Connor greeted the retired teacher. He had the feeling the old guy thought the quilt store was really a Starbucks in disguise. He rarely went a day without Gram’s coffee. He even had his own mug in her tiny kitchen.

  “Got any coffee, Jeanie?” he asked Gram as he leaned on the counter like it was a bar.

  “Of course, Joe.” She made no move for the cups in the kitchen. “Did you tell my Connor about your new invention?”

  Joe lowered his voice. “No. Haven’t had a chance. Have to be careful, Jeanie. Make sure no one is around to steal it. Loose lips sink ships, you know.”

  “What invention?” Connor doubted it could be any dumber than the last twenty inventions Joe had come up with since he retired. A few months ago he’d invented a birdfeeder that attached to a telephone pole. Said since everyone was using cell phones they wouldn’t be needing phone lines so he’d thought of a use for them. Only hitch was getting seed that high.

  “You’re going to like this one, boy.” Joe had known Eugenia long enough to call her Jeanie. And Connor, no matter how old he was, would always be “boy.”

  Gram lost interest in Joe’s great invention and followed Jillian as she disappeared into the tiny kitchen to put coffee on.

  Connor waited. If he was going to listen to details of one of Joe’s inventions, he’d need caffeine to stay awake.

  The little man was developing a kind of hobbit look. Hair seemed to be growing in every direction from every exposed square of skin. Everything he wore was at least two decades out of style but intelligence, or maybe mischief, still sparkled in his eyes.

  Joe cleared his throat and straightened. “I’ve been thinking. You know how hard it is to sleep on your back with your feet sticking up?”

  “No. I sleep on my side.” Connor held little hope that his answer would earn him a get-out-of-one-invention-lecture free pass.

  “Well, if you did, you’d know how the blankets cramp your toes when you’ve got them pointed straight up. Colder it gets, more blankets and more cramped toes. So I got this idea. Doesn’t take much in materials or time. Just canvas and some eight-inch poles, maybe longer for those with big feet.”

  Connor nodded as if following a logic that long ago had gone rogue.

  Joe lowered his voice. “I’m calling them Toe Tents. You put them under the covers at the bottom of the bed. Slip your feet in and your toes can wiggle all night without being cramped.”

  “Brilliant!” Connor shouted. Joe had finally come up with an invention dumber than Tele-Birdfeeders.

  Joe smiled, scratching his beard. “I knew you’d like it. I figured I’d cut you in for a share, son, if you’d let me set up in one of those old barns on the other side of the creek. If I remember right, your family owns them and a few are still solid enough to be of use.”

  “No one ever goes over there.” Connor’s family did own the worthless piece of town. From the thirties to the early sixties there had been several small businesses. A barrel shop. A furniture store that made rockers and coffins. A repair shop that could fix anything from toasters to TVs and a small winery that shipped as far as a hundred miles away. One small storage shed had even been used to weave Angora rabbit fur into yarn. But that was long ago, before Connor was born.

  His dad had told him the businesses died one by one when the chain stores came in. Folks could buy another radio or toaster cheaper than having one repaired. If Joe wanted to use one of the buildings, he’d be the one man in town who’d know if it was safe. Joe Dunaway knew everything about the building industry. He’d spent his summers in manual labor. Said it kept his mind sharp to work with his hands. He could have been a big-time contractor, but he’d chosen to teach.

  On the bright side, Connor had gone from being called boy to son, so he was moving up. Maybe he could listen at least until the coffee arrived.

  Joe didn’t seem to notice Connor was only half listening. “People will go over there when the big orders start coming in for my Toe Tents. You might want to tell the city to repair the roads. I’ll put a big sign out so the locals don’t have to pay postage. Once it takes off, I thought I’d reopen one of the factories and hire some of my friends who’ve been sitting around for years.”

  Connor patted the old man on the back. “When the orders start, I want in. Tell you what. You pick what place you want, and I’ll lease it to you free for six months.”

  “I’m not asking for anything free. I got this niece who’s got a houseful of kids, and she buys everything online. She says she’ll help me get set up with a website next week. I’ll cut you and her in for ten percent right from the start.” Joe thumped his fist on the counter letting Connor know he wouldn’t budge on the deal.

  Connor agreed. Ten percent of nothing was still nothing.

  Jillian brought out two cups of coffee and seemed interested in Joe’s idea. She’d probably heard every word from the kitchen. She also called the old guy by name, so this must not be Joe’s first time to stop by.

  When she started asking if the Toe Tents came in different colors, Connor slipped out the door and carried his coffee and her short articles across the street. If he was lucky, he’d have a few hours to work on a short story explaining history through a time-traveling warrior’s eyes. Kids would probably like that.

  Since Sunnie was a baby, he’d been compiling a collection of stories about famous battles that changed history. His main characters were the Roman warrior and his dog. They saw the fighting and how each battle changed the world. They were searching for the secret to end all wars.

  Of course, it occurred to Connor that if they found it in the series, it would end his series. Then he’d have to come up with another idea.

  His stories were about as likely to get published as Joe’s Toe Tents were to be stocked on the shelf at Walmart, but his writing gave him direction. A mission. A small doorway he could step through and out of his life, if only for a few hours a day.

  After lunch he always dropped Gram back at the shop, then drove to his house already thinking about the walk with Jillian that evening. On the days Gram didn’t leave for lunch, he’d walk to work or drive the pickup. She’d finally reached the age that she had trouble climbing into the old Ford. If Connor had his choice, he’d walk everywhere, but the pickup was for hauling and the Audi was for Gram, so he owned two vehicles he didn’t really want.

  When he wandered back to Main, he took the creek route. He liked stomping through tall grass. Getting his boots muddy. Enjoying the e
scape. The World War II battle he’d been writing about danced in his mind as he worked off a few calories from the three-enchilada plate he’d finished off at Lennie’s Tacos and More.

  He thought of telling Jillian about how much he loved the wild nature park that ran though town, but he figured she’d just lump him in with Joe—another crazy person in the stop-off town for her. So he went back to his office and tried to concentrate on work.

  After four hours of struggling with paperwork on several small farms the family business leased out, he closed the office. If he increased the rent, the farmers would suffer. If he didn’t, taxes would eat him alive. Somehow in the past fifteen years since he took over the Larady family books, he’d managed to keep the balance relatively even, but that wouldn’t be possible in the future.

  At five, he ignored the chill in the air and darted across the street with a biography of Patton under his arm and an empty coffee cup in hand.

  Jillian laughed when he walked in. “It’s too late for a refill; I’ve washed the pot.”

  “Too bad. I could use another cup.” He walked past her, set the cup in the kitchen sink and returned. “Is Gram about ready? The Autumn Acres bus will be here soon.”

  “Of course I’m ready, Danny, it’s closing time.” Gram stepped from the office.

  He met Jillian’s glance and shook his head slightly, silently telling her not to mention that Gram had called him by his father’s name. “She does that sometimes,” he whispered when Gram was busy turning the sign over for the night. “It doesn’t matter.”

  Connor didn’t miss the understanding in those blue-gray eyes. There was a wisdom there, as well. A knowledge of living many lives, maybe, or simply the loneliness of living one.

  Jillian helped Gram with her coat. “Paulina came in for a few more purple fat quarters for that new quilt. She told us that tonight, after dinner, the high school choir is putting on a ’50s songs concert at the Acres. She wanted to make sure Gram would be there.”

  Gram nodded. “And we’ve got good seats. I told Joe that if he wanted a seat in the front row with us, he’d better manage to show up on time.”

  “Whose date is he for the night, yours or Paulina’s?”

  She huffed. “Mine, I guess. Paulina has been swearing since she was twelve that she’d never date. How she ever managed to marry three times is beyond me. Come to think of it, I’d best sit between them just in case lightning strikes again. Joe’s old heart probably couldn’t take it.”

  Connor smiled as he walked Gram to the bus. He loved the way her mind always wandered into a story. Bending, he kissed her check. “I love you, Gram.”

  “I love you, too, Connor.”

  She’d remembered his name. It was a good day.

  When he turned back to the store, he noticed Jillian was locking the door.

  “Ready?” she asked as she turned to face him.

  “Ready,” he answered, thinking he’d been waiting all day for these few minutes they shared. He offered his arm as if they were in an old black-and-white movie.

  Hesitantly, Jillian placed her hand around his elbow and began to tell him all the details of Joe’s dream of being a Toe Tent king. The old guy swore his ideas came to him while he was daydreaming about camping.

  Connor listened, but mostly he just enjoyed the walk. He liked the easy way their steps matched and how her words never seemed in a hurry, like some folks talk as if rushing the clock. In a few more days it would be March and almost time for spring. Then, maybe, if she was still around, they’d slow their pace.

  The air had stilled and the evening glowed in sunset’s last light. The smells of winter drifted near: wood fireplaces, the last scent of dying sagebrush. This was his favorite time of year. Spring might be for dreaming, but winter was for reflecting.

  “I was afraid you’d be staying late tonight,” he said as they walked through leaves rushing nowhere in the wake of each passing car.

  “Why? Did you think I needed to? The work still seems overwhelming.”

  “No. I’m glad you didn’t put in longer hours tonight. Too great a time to walk. But if you’d like to come in on a Saturday morning or Sunday afternoon, I could offer to help.”

  “That would be great. I could move twice as fast with photographing if I had help with the layout.”

  “You’ve got a nice camera.”

  She nodded. “I bought it a few years back when I was a Realtor’s assistant, and I found I couldn’t leave it behind when I moved on. I never seem to get pictures developed though, just store them on my laptop and keep on taking more.”

  He grinned. She’d finally told him something personal.

  When they reached the gate of the bed-and-breakfast, she broke the comfortable silence that had drifted between them for a few minutes. “I’ve been talking too much.” She hesitated. “If you want to come in, Mrs. Kelly always leaves cookies out in the parlor.”

  Connor was too surprised by the invitation to answer.

  Her words quickly filled the silence. “I’ve been waiting all day to hear how you like my latest articles. It might just be for the community blog, but I’m thrilled about writing something others will read.”

  “Oh, of course.” He felt like a fool for even thinking she’d invite him in for some other reason. She hadn’t even hinted at flirting with him. “I’d love to talk about them, and cookies are one thing I never say no to. But you’ll have to promise to cut me off after two.”

  He followed her to the parlor. He’d been in the old home a dozen times, but it never seemed as inviting as it did tonight. Low flames in the fireplace. The smell of gingerbread drifting from the kitchen. Jillian removing her coat as if settling in for a chat.

  She made him a cup of hot cocoa to go with the cookies and they talked about her writing.

  “I’d like to submit a few to one of the big papers in the state.” Connor was comfortable talking business. “Who knows, someone might pick them up. If they did, they’d pay far more than the twenty dollars I can afford.”

  “You really think someone would want them?”

  “Sure. I loved the story of the Orlando quilt I read this afternoon. A girl driving cross-country every year to visit her grandparents and seeing all the sights through a child’s eyes. Then, as an adult, she quilted from her memory. I loved the picture of her Yellowstone block with the bear as tall as Old Faithful.

  “And, Jillian, you’ve got the pictures to go with each story. I’d think that would be a real selling point in a human interest piece.”

  She laughed with excitement, and the sound made him smile.

  When he reached for his fifth cookie, her hand covered his. “I have to cut you off, Connor, I promised. You still have to walk home. Any more cookies and you’ll have to roll.”

  He turned his hand over and held her fingers. “Thanks. I have no restraint.”

  Standing, he drew her up with him. “Okay if I send the articles? I think you’ve got a chance of making some money. Plus, if one of the big papers does pick it up, the articles might draw people to the county museum to see the quilts.”

  “You think I might make as much as Toe Tents?”

  He liked that she was so tall. He could look into her eyes. “Probably not,” he teased.

  A thump came from just above their heads.

  “The ghost?” he whispered.

  “Probably. Mrs. K is in the kitchen. I hear old Willie now and then. He likes to move around about the time the clock strikes midnight.”

  They both laughed.

  Reluctantly, he let go of her hand and walked to the door. “There are always strange sounds in a house this old. See you tomorrow.”

  “See you tomorrow,” she answered.

  To his surprise, she followed him to the porch, and he didn’t have to turn around to know that she watched him as he walked away. She had
been standing in the same spot every night as he glanced back, just before he turned the corner.

  He closed his hand tightly as if trying to hold the warmth of her fingers for one more moment.

  In his thirty-seven years, he’d never learned to weigh his feelings. The important ones, the unimportant ones. Not for women anyway. He could be polite, even funny sometimes. He could pretend to notice they were flirting, but he was never sure how to react.

  But with Jillian, it was different. If she stayed around long enough, he might start to feel something for her, and it was his experience anytime his heart got involved, even slightly, it was bad news.

  6

  Sunnie Larady glared at the woman who had invaded Gram’s shop for the past few weeks. Jillian James looked nice enough, but she had to be up to something. No one under forty spends all day in a quilt shop. Jillian was almost as old as her father. She was tall, a few inches less than six feet, and she looked intelligent.

  So if she wasn’t crazy, she must be up to something.

  Sunnie knew her height because she measured everyone by her own height, hoping one day that all the people in the world would all grow half a dozen inches, then she’d be normal. The school counselor said she reached her elevation early, but how did she know? At sixteen, she might still be heading up.

  Forget that worry. Right now Sunnie saw her mission clearly. She needed to keep an eye on the stranger.

  Why had Dad hired someone to go through the dusty old inventory anyway? Maybe Gram was forgetting things. All old people do. That didn’t mean Gram needed a keeper.

  The woman couldn’t be planning to rob the place. No one in their right mind would steal from a quilt shop.

  Jillian looked up from her notes and smiled at Sunnie. “Shall we begin?” she asked, as if they were going on a great adventure and not simply counting quilts.

  “I want to help, but I don’t want to bother any of Gram’s things.” She was Eugenia Larady’s only great-grandchild. It was her duty to protect Gram’s stuff. “This place is like the cemetery. It’s okay to clean up, but I don’t think we should be moving the quilts around, or Gram might think she’s lost something.” It was ten after nine and Sunnie was already bored.