November Rains (A Year in Paradise Book 11)

by Hildred Billings

  Except Elaine Hadley was not white.

  “Mmhmm,” Meadow said, as if she could read Frankie’s mind. “Kinda cute, huh? You can still see the glassy-eyed look of positivity and optimism in that youthful demeanor. She must be a new business owner. Hasn’t been knocked down by The Man yet.”

  “I hadn’t said anything,” Frankie insisted. “But… damn. Was not expecting that.” She continued to stare at Elaine, who was nothing but big smiles and firm handshakes as she introduced herself to the other members of the Chamber of Commerce. Her black hair was asymmetrically cut, a striking style choice in a small town that may not have been conservative in all ways, but certainly was in style. Today, however, Elaine had worn it back in a clipped ponytail that swept her bangs across her forehead and showed off the slender jawline that kept Frankie’s eyes coming back for more indulgence. Petite red earrings dangled from Elaine’s ears and beautifully clashed against the light gray blouse and blue jeans that could be dressed up for a Chamber of Commerce meeting or dressed down for a run to Wal-Mart.

  “Do you think this town can handle three black women running their own businesses?” Meadow asked. “Or do you think Facebook is already blowing up about how we’re all gunning for fake woke points?”

  “I don’t really know what that means,” Frankie said, “but since my brother talks about that stuff all the time, I guess I’ll agree with you.”

  Meadow wagged a happy finger in Frankie’s direction. “That brother of yours is damn smart. Get him his degree and him outta here faster than he can say… oh, hey!” She turned on a thousand-watt smile as Elaine strolled up to them, hand extended for introductions. “You must be Elaine! This is gonna sound totally weird to ask you the moment we meet, but what kind of straightener do you use? Your hair is amazing!”

  “Thanks!” Frankie almost had whiplash from how quickly her head whipped back the moment Elaine spun around to show off her do. My God. So much energy in one person. Meadow was right. Either she hasn’t met The Man, or she laughed in his face before punching it! Paradise Valley wasn’t prepared for someone like Elaine? Heck! Frankie wasn’t ready! They had yet to exchange a single word, yet this woman was already a hurricane of endless possibilities and a zest to settle right in with her brand of Whatever. “I don’t remember the brand name right now, but I could totally swing by the flower shop later and let you know! But don’t tell me you’re thinking of touching that ‘fro! It looks great on you!”

  “Aw, thanks! I straightened it like yours until a couple of years ago when I was like… why? Let’s do something different!”

  Frankie glanced over Elaine’s head and realized they had completely lost the other members. Don’t mind us and our Black Hair talk, folks. The moment words like “afro” and “straightener” popped out of their mouths, the locals resumed their conversations about freshwater fishing and the stoplight possibly going up at the highway junction outside of town.

  “You must be Frankie,” Elaine finally said, bringing attention back to the woman who felt like she was in the middle of a media frenzy. “The deli, right? Everyone’s been telling me I need to stop by and eat there.”

  Meadow had to nudge Frankie to get her to respond. “Oh, yeah. Right. That’s me. Frankie. I’m also on the board for the Chamber of Commerce, so I guess I should shake your hand, huh?”

  “Absolutely! I’m on a mission to spread the germs all over this meeting!”

  It took Frankie a moment to realize that Elaine was joking. When she finally did, her awkward chuckle was accompanied by a limp shake of the hand. Elaine’s grip was strong enough to rip Frankie’s hand off her arm, but she didn’t mind. If anything, it reassured her that she wasn’t the only one in town who knew how to arm wrestle.

  “Pleasure to meet you,” Frankie said. “You own the new café down on Meadow’s end of town, right?”

  “Yup! Tea & Thyme. I’d love to tell you about it later and pick your brain, but I think the meeting is about to start, right?”

  That was Frankie’s cue to usher everyone into the meeting room, where people sat in rows of folding chairs while the board took a place at a table beneath an American flag. The walls were adorned with photos of old storefronts, beginning in the days of Cedar Plains, the town that was eventually absorbed into the lesbian commune that sprung up next door. Seeing “Taylor’s Feed & Grain” transform into “The G-Spot Bar” was a trip every time Frankie entered the room where serious business talk took place.

  After the meeting was called to order and the minutes from October were read, Eugene stood up and announced that there was a quick order of business to announce.

  “We have ourselves a new member of the Paradise Valley small business community.” After the whoops and claps ended, he continued, “Let’s extend a hearty welcome to Elaine Hadley, who opened her new café this weekend! Too bad Heaven’s not here. We could give her a good ribbing about a little competition!”

  Elaine stood up, still smiling and waving to everyone who so graciously clapped for her attendance. “I just wanna say,” she began, off the cuff, “that I don’t consider myself direct competition to Heaven, who was really helpful when I was searching for a good place to open my new teashop. On that note, Tea & Thyme is the name of my new business, and we focus on tea, handcrafted drinks, and lots of homemade goodies. Our launch was this weekend, as Eugene mentioned, and it did so well that I’m thinking of marketing every weekend as the grand opening!”

  The laughter that filtered through the crowd may have been genuine, but Frankie could only think of one thing as Elaine sat down and received a compliment from the man sitting next to her.

  Not direct competition? Is she nuts? That’s like saying Heaven and I don’t ever compete… except Elaine’s a bigger competitor! God, so that was unfettered optimism bubbling in Elaine’s body. She’s not going to last one year with an attitude like that. A positive personality was one thing. Not realizing common business sense was completely another.

  Frankie had to contain her sigh, however. As the woman who stood out the most at the table, she had to keep her demeanor completely nonplussed. Otherwise, she would be the subject of much petty discussion for the next two weeks, and she was tired of offering free entertainment to the bored denizens of Paradise Valley. A hard lesson Elaine would probably learn in the coming months.

  I’ll have a front row seat. Great.

  Chapter 6

  ELAINE

  The high from opening weekend came to a crashing flatline once Wednesday rolled around. Elaine had taken the hit on Tuesday to attend the Chamber of Commerce meeting, where she was welcomed so warmly that she wondered what had ever kept her back from following her dreams. Yet when she reopened in the late afternoon, hoping to catch people as they got off work, she was surprised to discover that most people did not have time for tea on a workday. Monday had been a fluke. Veteran’s Day… A great weekend for opening a new hangout spot. Not so great for giving her realistic expectations for what a typical Monday was like.

  Wednesday, though? Wednesday was absolutely devastating.

  Oh, she wasn’t completely without customers. A glimmer of hope appeared before her when two old ladies popped in and said they heard there was good tea and cookies to be had. Elaine was more than happy to serve them and threw in a free cookie on top of the other two they ordered. I have so many leftover from Tuesday that I already have a Day-Old basket. She kept a firm attitude by reminding herself the first month was a huge learning experiment. Trial and error. That was it. This time next month, she would have a good idea how many cookies to make each day so she didn’t have too many leftover.

  However, those two old women were the only customers she had that day. They didn’t compliment her. Nor did they tip. The only words exchanged after Elaine delivered their order was confirmation that they were satisfied. After that, they disappeared into Main Street.

  Several hours later, Elaine was ready to smack her head against the register and chastise herself for ever thin
king she could make a go of this. No, don’t get bogged down in this. You’ve got this. You just need a little more marketing. When she realized her time was better spent cleaning up and closing early, Elaine gathered a few fliers from the office and went for a walk. Aside from taking her mind off things, it was a good excuse to check all the places she had hung up the older fliers.

  She was dismayed to discover that half of the fliers had already been removed from the community boards around town. The bank had unceremoniously ditched her flier, along with several others, into the trash. “Oh, yes,” the teller told her. “We do that every start of the week. Keeps things clean, you know. You can put up a new one if you want.”

  Why? So it could be torn down again? Well… it was better than nothing, Elaine supposed. At least this time she could give it a more prominent spot on the board.

  The one at the supermarket was half torn and contained a handwritten comment that “nobody cares.” Elaine took heart that hers wasn’t the only one with similar treatment. Kids. It has to be some of Christina’s classmates. That’s what she told herself.

  The library’s was still up and looking the same as when she put it up a week before. However, before she could pop in and say hello to the librarian, the announcement was made that the building was about to close at five. That was in five minutes, by the way.

  Elaine trudged past the city hall and firehouse. The familiar scent of lattes and baked goods lured her to Heaven’s Café, which was packed with customers. Unlike Tea & Thyme which, now that Elaine thought about it, might not be in the best location. I’m way out on the end of town. This place is so centrally located. The café was small, but cozy. The seating was cramped, but ample. People crowded around the counter and hung outside on the sidewalk to chat and groan about work. Dogs greeted one another while on their evening walks. Students did their homework by the bathroom while couples stole a few minutes for themselves by the windows. This is it. Elaine entered with a little renewed skip in her step. This is what I want for my business. She wanted to be a central location for the denizens to frequent whenever they wanted some peace and quiet or to meet up with friends. She wanted book clubs in her loft and study groups guzzling coffee. If Heaven could do it, why couldn’t Elaine?

  “Hey, hon!” There was the woman of the hour, in her green apron and her frizzy hair pulled back into a ponytail. “What can I get you? Oh! You’re the new girl, aren’t you? Opened the teashop down the block?”

  If she was bitter about it, she didn’t let on. Why would she be bitter? We’re not competitors. There was decent distance between their businesses, and they focused on totally different things. That’s what Elaine told herself as she looked around Heaven’s and thought, This is what I want!

  “This might sound really weird,” Elaine said, while a short line formed behind her, “but would you mind if I put up one of my fliers on your event board in the back? I’m having a grand opening promo going on all month, and…”

  “Of course! Love to help new businesses around here. Go ahead and tack it up over by the bathroom. By the way,” Heaven leaned against the counter, “I hear that your cookies might be better than mine. I might have to come by and take a taste test for myself.”

  Elaine let out a sigh of relief. “Please do! While I’m here, can I get a decaf to go?” She really shouldn’t be spending money like this until she was more certain of her income, but she wasn’t about to look ungrateful to Heaven, who paid her a small favor by allowing the Tea & Thyme flier to go up on the board. Elaine took care of that while waiting for her coffee.

  “Another coffee shop, huh?” an older man in a baggy sweatshirt said. “We really are turning into Portland around here.”

  He muttered that while looking right at Elaine, who had the strange feeling there was another layer to that comment than what the old man said. She left as soon as she had her coffee.

  The evening was early at that time of year. Elaine looked across the darkened street and caught the lights at Frankie’s Deli going out. I should go over and say hi, probably. Elaine had half a mind to cross Main Street and rap on the front door, but discovered at the last minute she didn’t have the gall. Frankie had been nothing but pleasant to her at the Chamber of Commerce meeting, but like with the old man inside Heaven’s Café, Elaine had the distinct feeling that there was something she wasn’t understanding.

  People were nice, but a little fake.

  They expressed interest in what she was doing, but rarely followed through with their promises.

  The more Elaine considered her situation, the faster she hurried home, a few fliers still gathered in her arms.

  Chapter 7

  FRANKIE

  Frankie didn’t hurt for an exciting life. Putting in the hours at the deli, relaxing at home, and occasionally driving up to Olympia to visit her parents was enough excitement for her. Hell, when she was Dominic’s legal guardian while he was a minor, she got plenty of excitement from the PTA meetings (suddenly, she understood the drive to not show up to meetings of which she was a critical member) basketball games, soccer games, and oh sweet Lord forgive her… the track matches. The only thing that had kept Dominic from doing cross country was his commitment to soccer, an attraction Frankie would never understand. It must have been because his best friends loved soccer.

  As for a social life, she got plenty of socializing at the deli, since every Tom, Dick, and Jane wanted to shoot the breeze about the latest minutiae happening in Paradise Valley. Because of the massive TMI that always walked through her door, Frankie knew every detail of the goings-on in any one person’s personal life. Assuming they regularly came into her shop or, Heaven help her, somebody’s best friend or resented family member came in to buy this or that.

  Ask me how I know whenever a kid around here is going through puberty… She rarely saw the Youths since Dominic graduated high school two years ago, but she heard all about them. Sometimes, Frankie swore the middle-aged men coming in to buy their lunches gossiped more than the girls across the street at Heaven’s.

  By the time she got home, Frankie only cared about recharging. Sometimes, she talked with Dominic until he ran off to play his games or do more of his homework. Most of the time, however, she kept to herself for the few blessed hours she had without anyone buzzing in her ear. Some people called her an introvert, which she gathered meant that she had to “recharge” after lots of socialization. Or it meant she never socialized. One or the other. She never heard of an in between.

  Personality tests were a waste of time, though. The only contact with the outside world Frankie had after she got home from a long day at the deli was via her phone, which was usually in her face while she “watched” Netflix.

  “Does Viola Davis ever get older?” Frankie texted Z while watching re-runs of How to Get Away With Murder. She wasn’t ashamed to admit that it was one of her favorite shows, and the fact it starred Viola, one of her favorite actresses of all time, was a big reason. “I’ve been crushing on her for twenty years now. I’m not convinced she ages, and it’s not only because the black don’t crack.”

  She put down her phone and rubbed her eyes. Turned out that momentarily impairing her eyesight still didn’t make Viola Davis look another year older.

  A green light flashed at the top of her phone. That was either a notification of Z replying to her, or she had a voicemail. Since her phone hadn’t recently rung…

  “Viola’s pretty great, yeah.” Such a lackluster response wasn’t usually like Z, who wasn’t afraid to gush about whatever hot woman they talked about at the moment. She’s unabashedly gay like that… Frankie knew that there were enough black lesbians in the world for them to start their own commune somewhere, but it still felt like striking gold whenever she met one, online or not. Why do you think Z and I have been online friends for so long? Still, it had been a monumental moment when Frankie agreed to exchange phone numbers so they could text. Never actually speak on the phone, though. Oh, no. That would be too much for
Frankie, who preferred to keep more of her personal details to herself. Yet did she recognize that Z could easily look up who she was using nothing but a phone number? Duh!

  Hence, the monumental step.

  “You okay?” Frankie texted. “I feel like saying ‘Viola Davis is hot’ is an invitation to make you send me a parade of emojis.”

  “I’m fine. Just stressed. I told you I had the big opening of my business this weekend, right? Ah, I didn’t really listen to you. I didn’t consider that the opening weekend might do a little too well, especially on Veteran’s Day weekend… my Monday did better than I anticipated, and here I am on a Friday, bummed that I can’t reach half of those levels again.”

  Frankie chuckled. “It’s only been a week! You can’t blow it out of the park on the first try. Didn’t you say you opened it in a small town? It takes a while to build up trust with the locals, especially in a small town. You really hinge on word of mouth, especially in the tourist off season. Ah, it’ll be okay. Here’s hoping that the people who came to see you opening weekend have told all their friends. Have you looked at your ratings yet?”

  “No. I didn’t have any as of Tuesday, and I’ve been too scared to look since. I’m being really down on myself. It’s not like me, though. I don’t like being down. The usual stuff I like to do isn’t cheering me up, either. Doesn’t help I’m too tired by the time I close up shop. Even if nobody came…”

  “It will improve. I’m sure of it.”