Cozy Creek

by K M Morgan

  Victoria looked like talking to her son was nothing but a big inconvenience. “What do you want?”

  Tony had none of his mother’s personality traits. In most ways, he was the exact opposite of her. He was an awkward, meek, bespectacled aspiring comic in his early twenties with a full beard and enough neuroses to fill up a year’s worth of therapy visits. The two didn’t even look alike. He must have gotten a lot of his genes from the father he never knew.

  Tony walked around like a tortoise that had never come out of its shell. It made sense, considering that he grew up in the shadow of Victoria’s oversized personality. There appeared to be a shortage of love in their relationship, almost as if Victoria viewed her son as a burden to carry.

  Tony replied softly. “Did I come at a bad time?”

  Victoria scoffed. “You act like there’s ever a good time.”

  Tony grimaced. “That being said, I do need to talk to you.”

  “Can it wait?”

  “Not really. It’s about the schedule tonight.”

  “Fine. Just spit it out.”

  Tony was clearly uncomfortable with being put on the spot like this. The last thing he wanted was to be rushed. At the same time, he knew if he didn’t get his words out quickly, his mother would just move on to the next thing. “Well, I’m not on the schedule.”

  “That’s because I’m giving your act a rest,” she replied.

  Tony fumbled not only with his emotions, but also his response. “What? But why?”

  “It’s time your act goes on hiatus.”

  “For how long?”

  “We’ll see.”

  “How could you do this?”

  “Your material is weak,” she blurted out. Victoria then paused for a moment. Most people would try to do some backtracking right now. Not Victoria. She took a different tack.

  “This is a business decision. So suck it up and stop taking it as some personal affront.”

  Tony did just the opposite. He couldn’t look more hurt in that moment. “I’m your son. I can’t imagine anything more personal.”

  Instead of responding with sympathy, Victoria acted like a martyr. “This isn’t my fault. You put me in an awful position here. People hate your jokes. Your act has been costing this club money, and I just can’t have that anymore.”

  “Why do you have to be so harsh?”

  “It’s a tough business. You may not see it this way, but I’m doing you a favor by being brutally honest.”

  “You’re right. I don’t see it that way,” he replied.

  “Well, I don’t have time for anything but the truth. Besides, it’s better to hear it from me than someone else.”

  Tony shook his head. “No, it’s much worse. I’m your son.”

  “And that’s the only reason you were on that stage in the first place. With material that lousy, no one else would have given you a shot. Now get your act together. You’re a Ryan. Start behaving like one.”

  Victoria then walked away, leaving Tony to pick up the pieces.

  Chapter Six

  If that last conversation wasn’t shocking enough, the fireworks were about to continue. Just as Victoria made her way towards the stage, her business partner, Andrew Brown, approached with paperwork.

  Andrew was an excitable, stressed-out man in his midfifties with too many inches around his waistline and too few hairs on his head for his liking. Whereas Tony Ryan’s problem was speaking up for himself, Andrew Brown’s was trying not to blurt out every thought that came to his mind.

  “We have a real problem here,” Andrew said.

  Victoria exhaled. “What else is new?” She then turned to Andrew. “It’s going to have to wait.”

  “Stop trying to push this conversation off. You’ve been avoiding me all day.”

  “I’ve been busy.”

  “Make time. The profits are slipping,” Andrew pointed out.

  “It’s the dead of winter. Of course we’re making less money than during tourist season,” Victoria reasoned.

  Andrew shook his head. “It’s more than that. I’ve been going over the numbers. We’re making less than now than at the same time last year. The good news is, I have some fresh ideas to turn things around.”

  Victoria was completely dismissive of him. “Good for you.”

  “You can’t just blow me off. You have to listen to me.”

  “Andrew, you’re supposed to be a silent partner.”

  “I was until you started costing me money. This is my business too, and I’m not going to let you run it into the ground,” Andrew declared.

  Victoria put her foot down. “I’m the boss. What I say goes. And I’m not changing anything. Got it?”

  Andrew stood his ground. “This isn’t over.”

  “Yeah, it is. You just refuse to admit it.” Victoria turned and began walking away. “It’s time for my smoke break.”

  Andrew glared at her then sighed before trudging away.

  ***

  Chloe and Hope couldn’t believe what they’d just seen. Amazingly enough, it wasn’t over.

  On her way to the backstage door, Victoria spotted Hope Callahan and Chloe.

  Victoria zeroed in on Hope. “What are you just doing standing around?”

  Hope didn’t want to say anything that would set her boss off any further. At the same time, she didn’t want to let herself be walked all over, either. “I’ve been waiting to get the go-ahead to leave. I should have clocked out about an hour ago.”

  Victoria approached. “Right. That’s not going to happen tonight. I had to give Isaac the boot, so you’re going to be taking his place tonight collecting the cover charges at the door.”

  Hope tried to argue. “But you can’t—”

  Victoria shut her down. “I wasn’t asking, I was telling. That was an order. Now, get back to work.” She then turned her attention to Chloe. “And you, get out of here. It’s employees only in here.”

  Victoria then walked through the backstage door to take her smoke break.

  Chapter Seven

  When the backstage door closed behind Victoria, Hope let out a huge groan. What a night, and it was far from over. She wasn’t the only one who was frustrated. Chloe knew Hope’s boss was a serious witch, but she’d sunk to a new low.

  “That was some reality-TV-level drama,” Chloe said.

  Hope lowered her head. “Yeah, Victoria is on a rampage, all right.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Not as sorry as I am. As you can tell, I’m going to have to cancel girls’ night out.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Just take care of yourself.”

  “Victoria is lucky I have rent to pay. Otherwise, I’d so be out of here.”

  “It might be time to look for a new job.”

  Hope scoffed. “In the off-season? I’d have better luck winning the lottery.”

  “Well, just hang in there.”

  “You, too. Thanks for putting up with all this. I promise we’ll reschedule girls’ night out soon.”

  “Don’t worry about that right now. Take care.”

  ***

  Like that, both Chloe and Hope’s evenings were headed in different directions than they expected. As Chloe exited the club and walked back to the parking lot, she felt so bad for her friend. Hope was a good person, she deserved better than this. Unfortunately, bad jobs seemed to always find ways of continually getting worse.

  Chloe sighed.

  So much for girls’ night out, which was ironic, because Hope looked like she needed one more than ever.

  As Chloe made her way back to the parking lot, she realized the drama still wasn’t over. When Chloe reached her car, she saw Victoria Ryan was in the middle of another confrontation just outside the backstage door.

  As an interesting twist—this time Victoria was the one being chewed out. The woman yelling at her was Leah Manning, Victoria’s old best friend. The key part of that was ‘old friend,’ seeing as how they hated each other’s guts now. Le
ah used to be married to Ben Harrington, Victoria’s ex-boyfriend. Victoria’s relationship with Ben ended Leah’s marriage. Apparently, to this day, Leah hadn’t gotten over it.

  Chloe was too far away from the conversation to hear the specifics. That suited her just fine. Chloe couldn’t wait to get out of there and head as far from the lunacy as possible. She pulled out of the parking lot, knowing immediately where she wanted to go next.

  Chapter Eight

  Chloe thought she’d be sipping a cocktail with an old friend right now. Instead, she found herself nibbling on a slice of pie across town. Her taste buds were just as happy, but her heart sure wasn’t. She felt really broken up about the situation Hope Callahan was caught in.

  The night had gotten out of hand in a hurry. She couldn’t remember the last time things had spiraled out of control that quickly. Chloe was trying to piece together how the night had gotten away from her like that.

  It was amazing how much havoc a bad job could wreak. Hope had to find another line of work. She couldn’t carry on like this. It would break her back.

  If the actual work wasn’t bad enough, the real killer was how it turned the rest of Hope’s life upside down. Hope spent too many hours a day at that club. More than she spent at home. Not to mention, all those hours were a long time to be miserable day in and day out. There was an added problem. Hope didn’t just have the kind of job that she could clock out from and not think about again until coming in the next day. The emotional scars of the club carried over to her personal life.

  Hope’s terrible experience at work made Chloe think about her own job in a whole new light. Chloe loved selling cosmetics, but even she had rough days at work sometimes. They all paled in comparison to what Hope went through on a daily basis. That was why Chloe was racking her brain to think of a way to ease her friend’s pain.

  Shannon McGraw couldn’t help but notice Chloe’s head firmly lost in the clouds.

  “Usually, pie makes you feel better by now,” Shannon said.

  Shannon wasn’t just the owner of the pie shop. She was one of Chloe’s other old friends and a wise pie-tender, generously dispensing sage advice.

  Chloe took another bite of her slice and tried to make sense of the craziness.

  “I’m still a little rattled,” Chloe answered.

  “I can tell. And here I was just feeling guilty about missing the girls’ night out.”

  Originally, Shannon was supposed to join Chloe and Hope for the ladies’ night. As a business owner, it was hard for Shannon to get away. In this case, that was a good thing.

  “You’re lucky you missed it. You don’t need that kind of drama in your life,” Chloe insisted.

  “Who does?”

  “Good point.”

  “Poor girl. Hope has never had the luck of the Irish.”

  “No, she has the bad luck of a degenerate gambler,” Chloe replied.

  Hope’s name was quite fitting. In life, some people had all the luck. Things went right in bunches. Struggle never seemed to find them. Hope wasn’t one of those people. For whatever reason, life seemed to make Hope do everything the hard way. At every turn, she had to hold on for dear life, it seemed. It was as if the universe were trying to test her to see if “hope” really did spring eternal.

  “At the same time, the great thing about life is that things can turn around when you least expect them to. The future isn’t written in stone. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?” Shannon said.

  “I certainly don’t. I can’t even tell you what I’m going to do with the rest of my night.”

  Shannon seemed confused. “Really?”

  Chloe nodded. “I’m just taking things one bite of pie at a time.”

  “What a slice-half-eaten thing to say. Keep your chin up—the last time I checked, you still have another half slice of pie left, and it has a serious chance of being delicious. Now, the night is still young. Who is to say it won’t be great?”

  “That’s one way of looking at things.”

  “Only, you’re obviously looking at things the other way.”

  “Look, I’m sorry I’m not exactly great company right now.”

  Shannon didn’t give up. “Come on, Chloe, this isn’t like you. Sure, ladies’ night went up in flames, but you could always pay a house call to that doctor you’re dating.”

  “Actually, when he heard tonight was girls’ night out, he decided to go see some apocalyptic movie.”

  “What a weird twist of fate.”

  Chloe nodded. “If I’ve learned anything tonight, it’s that the only thing you can expect is the unexpected.”

  Almost on cue, the universe sent another surprise Chloe’s way. Of all the people to enter the pie shop at that moment, Chloe’s grandma didn’t even make the list. Yet Grandma Betty walked in, looking like she could pass for someone in her late fifties instead of early eighties. Betty had an undeniable verve to her. Grandma Betty was joined by three other women in their early eighties, each looking like they weren’t going to let their age stop them from taking on the world.

  When Betty spotted Chloe sitting at the counter, her eyes lit up.

  “It seems that great minds really do think alike,” Grandma Betty said.

  Chloe looked surprised. “What do you mean?”

  “It turns out we both had an irresistible craving for pie.”

  “I’m not sure it’s great minds, but rather hungry stomachs growling alike.”

  “I’m going to stick with my saying. It sounds more flattering, and at my age, I’ll take all the compliments I can get,” Grandma Betty insisted.

  “Either way, it’s good to see you,” Chloe said.

  Grandma Betty then zeroed in on the slice of pie on Chloe’s plate.

  “So this is where the party is,” Grandma Betty remarked.

  Chloe looked confused. “What party?”

  “Are you kidding? With a pie that tasty, tell me there isn’t a party going on in your mouth.”

  Chloe smiled. She always got a kick out of her grandma. Through thick and thin, Betty never failed to have a good attitude. That really resonated with her granddaughter, especially at a time like this.

  Shannon’s mind went off in a different direction with Betty’s comment.

  “Every slice is like a party in your mouth,” Shannon repeated. “That would make a great slogan for the shop.”

  Grandma Betty went into bargaining mode. “It’s all yours…in exchange for a free slice for everyone in my party.”

  “Deal,” Shannon replied.

  Betty celebrated. “I’ve still got it after all these years. You can take the woman out of the sales department, but you can never take the sales department out of the woman.”

  “So true. Now, what flavor would you like?” Shannon wondered.

  Grandma Betty bit the corner of her lip. “Talk about a brain buster. How do you expect me to choose just one?”

  “Why stop at one?” Shannon asked.

  “Trying to upsell the retired saleswoman, huh? I just want you to know I’m on to your game,” Grandma Betty said.

  “Is that a no?”

  “Are you kidding? My sweet tooth wouldn’t allow me to turn down a proposition this delicious. What’s the point of being eighty-two if you can’t enjoy the finer things in life?” Grandma Betty said.

  “Is this what qualifies as the finer things?” Chloe wondered.

  “Let those rich folks have their big houses and fancy-schmancy cars. Give me a group of dear friends and a slice of pie, and I’m in heaven,” Grandma Betty answered.

  “Speaking of, it looks like you have your whole book club here. I thought you ladies preferred going over to Mabel’s house to throw back some cocktails and tell jokes while pretending to talk about books,” Chloe explained.

  “We decided to take our octogenarian show on the road for a wild girls’ night out,” Grandma Betty revealed.

  Chloe got quiet.

  Shannon became curious. “Really? So, what’s on t
he agenda?”

  “Throwing caution to the wind. After indulging our sweet teeth, we’re going to storm the retirement villas for a little shindig with some of the most eligible widowers. I have a feeling there will be some dancing, and maybe even a little romancing.”

  Shannon smiled. “That sounds like fun.”

  Grandma Betty then noticed the troubled look in her granddaughter’s eyes.

  “You look down, honey. Are you okay?” Betty asked.

  “Life has just thrown me a few curveballs tonight,” Chloe replied.

  “Then throw them right back. Life is too short not to have a good time,” Grandma Betty insisted.

  Mabel Joyner, from Betty’s book club, then got off her phone and grabbed Betty’s attention.

  “That was Will Brennan. They’re starting early over at the villas,” Mabel revealed.

  “We don’t want to miss any of the action,” Grandma Betty said. She turned to Shannon. “Can we get our slices to go?”

  Shannon nodded. “Coming up.”

  “Bless your pie-baking heart,” Grandma Betty said.

  ***

  When Betty and her book club left the shop, Chloe suddenly had plenty to chew on.

  “Your grandma is still a spitfire,” Shannon said.

  “She’s more than that. She’s inspiring. I mean, here she is at eighty-two, living it up. Meanwhile, I’m just sitting here grousing. There’s still plenty of night left, we should make the best of it,” Chloe suggested.

  “That’s great in theory, but you know I can’t leave the shop unattended,” Shannon replied.

  Instead of getting bummed out, Chloe instead got inspired. “Wait a minute, that’s it.”

  Shannon was confused. “That’s what?”

  “The answer to this Hope Callahan drama.”

  “Would you care to fill me in a little?”

  “Hope hates her job at the club, and you’re always stuck working nights because you have no one else to close. You should hire Hope,” Chloe explained.