Chapter 11
A llison jumped at the sound of her back door creaking open. The sun had barely risen, casting a faint golden glow across the town. It was six thirty, and she wasn’t expecting anyone yet.
Kayla Thompson stepped inside with a gust of cold morning air, startling her.
“Oh my God, girl,” Allison gasped, clutching her chest. “I thought you were the homeless woman!”
Kayla froze mid-step, looked down at her leggings and oversized hoodie, then lifted an eyebrow.
“Well, I realize I’m not dressed to the nines, but homeless ?”
Allison laughed, the tension breaking. “Coffee’s done. Pour us a couple of cups, would you? I’ll be there in a second.”
Kayla moved toward the small kitchen counter in the back break room and began prepping their morning coffee.
It was a ritual now and one of the comforting routines of living and working in a town like Hollister.
Kayla’s little shop, built next to the bakery, was half seamstress studio and half secondhand boutique.
There wasn’t much she couldn’t mend or track down, and her store had become a staple in a town where convenience was king and Walmart was hours away in Spearfish.
While most folks would run down to Rapid or Belle if they needed something, having Kayla next door saved people time.
“So, why’d you call me homeless?” Kayla asked, passing a steaming mug to Allison’s side of the table.
“I didn’t call you homeless, silly,” Allison replied with a grin as she washed her hands at the sink. “There’s a homeless woman taking food out of my trash can.”
Kayla paused, cup halfway to her lips, then turned, brows raised. “Are you sure?”
Allison nodded as she dried her hands on a towel.
“Yeah. I saw her the other day. She disappeared before I could say anything, but I know what I saw. Seth saw her, too. I’ve been leaving real food in there at night, wrapped in plastic.
It’s always gone right after I put it out.
I haven’t caught her, but she returns the insulated bag.
It’s sitting by the bakery door every morning. ”
Kayla had fixed her the coffee, just the way she liked it. She sat at the small table and cradled her cup between her palms, warming them.
“Okay. Number one: Who’s Seth? Number two: I left for two weeks for that quilting exhibition in Chadron and a jaunt over to Minneapolis, so I’m completely out of the loop.
And number three: Someone took clothes out of my donation box.
” Kayla took a sip before continuing, “Not that I mind. I don’t make much off those secondhand pieces.
But I knew there were some clothes in there.
Alex told me someone had dropped a few items off, but he hadn’t sorted them into the store yet. When I went to check, it was empty.”
Allison frowned and chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully. “I put in a fleece-lined hoodie. An old one, but it was warm. Left it on top of the trashcan the second night. It was gone, too. It’s getting cold at night. Maybe she needed something else to keep warm,” she said quietly .
“Like I said, I don’t care. It just made me stop and go, wait, what? But if we’ve got someone homeless …”
She trailed off, eyes flicking to Allison. “Here? In Hollister ? I mean, how does that even happen? With the churches, the outreach stuff, people pitching in?”
Allison shook her head slowly. “I didn’t recognize her. Neither did Seth.”
Kayla lifted her hand in the air like she was in second grade, then took another long sip before she said, “Allison. I have a question.”
Allison laughed. “Yes, Kayla?”
“Who the hell is Seth?”
“Seth Hansen. Chester Hansen’s son. He came back to take care of Chester.”
Kayla’s eyes widened slightly. “Oh, that’s right! I heard he was coming back. But Alex said he thought Seth had to leave real quick after showing up? Something like that?”
Allison nodded. “Yeah. Had to go get his military working dog from back east. But both of them are back for good now.”
Kayla leaned back in her chair, cupping her coffee like a lifeline. “I needed this so bad.”
Allison took a sip of her own. The warmth spread through her. It was a needed hit of caffeine since she’d been baking since four thirty. These small breaks with Kayla were comfortable and part of her routine. They meant a lot to her, and she cherished the time with her friend.
“Anyway,” she said, “I told Ken about the woman. He’s going to have the deputy keep an eye out.
When Seth and I were talking with Ken and Sam at the diner, they wondered if maybe the woman came through with some people who passed through a couple of weeks ago.
Maybe she’s trying to get away from something or someone. ”
Kayla tilted her head. “Abusive relationship?”
Allison nodded. “That’s what Sam was thinking. I only got a glimpse of her, but she was covered in bruises.”
Kayla’s face darkened. “That kind of thing doesn’t happen much out here, does it?”
Allison thought of a few ranchers she knew with sharp tempers, but none who’d ever laid a hand on family, or at least not that anyone had ever dared say aloud.
“No. It really doesn’t,” she said. “And if it did , it wouldn’t stay hidden long.
” She blinked as she thought of the Koehlers.
Yeah, they were the exception to the rule.
Gregg was the only one still around; all he did was work.
That had been a messed-up family, for sure.
But they’d escaped their terror of a father.
Kayla nodded slowly, her expression serious now. “Well, if she’s here, she’s hiding for a reason. And we don’t turn our backs on people around here. You let me know if there’s anything I can do.”
“I will,” Allison said quietly.
Outside, the early morning sun finally began to lift over the eastern fields, casting light across the tiny town of Hollister. Shops were just starting to wake, their windows glowing with life, and in this quiet, connected community, secrets never stayed secrets for long.
“You know how people talk around here,” Allison said.
Kayla nodded. “Boy, do I ever.”
“Has Edna seen this girl?” Allison asked.
“I didn’t ask,” she admitted. “But if she had seen her, you and I both know she’d have been the first one here with the details.”
Allison chuckled. “That’s true.”
Kayla’s eyes lit with sudden excitement. “Oh! Do you know what I got?”
Allison narrowed her gaze, playful suspicion written all over her face. “Do I want to know what you got? ”
Kayla grinned. “I got a book on Bigfoot sightings.”
Allison blinked. “What?”
“Yup! All about where he’s most likely to be seen in the continental United States.
I picked it up while I was in Chadron. There’s this eclectic little store just off Main Street.
I wandered in, saw it, and couldn’t resist. Anyway, I’m going to have Alex leave it on Edna’s table one morning when she meets with Kate and the girls. I think it will be fun .”
Allison rolled her eyes as she finished wiping down the counter. “You know, I used to enjoy winding her up, but now? Sometimes it’s just sad. How could she actually believe there’s a Bigfoot?”
Kayla shrugged. “I don’t know. That last photo she showed us? It really did look like something. Maybe not Bigfoot, but not quite human either and definitely not just an animal.”
“It was a smudge on the lens,” Allison said dryly.
Kayla raised a triumphant finger. “It was a digital camera, Lucy . Explain that.”
Allison shook her head with a half-laugh. “I don’t have the time or the inclination to get into Edna’s Bigfoot conspiracy theories.”
“I do,” Kayla said cheerfully. “I think the woman has a great hobby, and honestly? We should support it.”
Allison grinned, relenting. “Speaking of support, how’d the quilting exhibition go?”
Kayla leaned back in her chair, hands wrapped around her coffee mug like it was gold, stars practically shining in her eyes.
Allison laughed at the sight. “Oh, no. I know that look.”
“Girl,” Kayla sighed, “there were so many new machines. Dozens of them. All doing the most fantastic things I’ve ever seen. I have to have one. Except … I need like five thousand dollars.”
“That’s all?” Allison teased.
Kayla huffed, but her eyes danced. “Not the point. But maybe I’ll find a used one online in a year or two.
Oh my goodness, it would change everything.
You should’ve seen what this one model could do.
It stitches the top and the bottom layers perfectly, has auto-threading, a bobbin sensor, and an overhead light that doesn’t cast any shadows.
None. Zero.” She paused, eyes misty. “One day. One day, I’ll get one of those fancy machines. ”
Allison lifted an eyebrow, her mind already turning. Alex had talked to her before about how Kayla rarely spent money on herself, and how she saved every spare penny, always pouring it back into the shop or her customers.
“What’s the name of it?” Allison asked casually.
Kayla launched into a detailed explanation about brand, features, model number, and stitch patterns, all of which made Allison’s eyes nearly cross. But her friend was in heaven, so she listened. Twice.
As soon as Kayla stepped out to open her store, Allison scribbled the machine’s name down on a slip of paper. She’d give it to Alex later when she dropped by Gen’s diner at lunch. He might not be able to afford the top model, but he did love to spoil his wife.
She had just finished arranging her last batch of golden, buttery croissants when the bell above the front door jingled.
Allison looked up and smiled. “Hey, Amanda.”
Amanda Marshall breezed in, her smile as wide and warm as the South Dakota prairie sky. Her long braid swung over her shoulder as she stepped inside.
“Hi, Allison! Do you have my order ready?”
“I sure do,” Allison said, heading into the walk-in cooler.
She returned with a large light purple box filled with freshly baked bread bowls, the yeasty scent filling the room .