Chapter 2 #3
Both he and Zander were attorneys, but Zander did all the courtroom stuff.
He’d do the research and write up what he’d found for his brother, so he didn’t have to go to the courtroom.
It wasn’t that he didn’t know how to be there when a trial was going on—he usually sat in the courtroom with his brother while he was handling the case.
Knox would get too nervous about going to the hearing and was terrified of messing up.
They worked well together, and both of them loved what they did for their firm.
After he was able to clear off his desk, he made his way to the kitchen.
He would get a snack about this time of day and wasn’t surprised when there were veggies and dip for him to eat.
It made him sound like he was a kid getting his after-school snack, but he burned a lot of energy when he was working and didn’t care who made fun of him because of it.
“I have a list of people that we can hire to replace the two who have quit working here with you.” Shirley, his cook, told him she’d make the calls if he wanted her to.
“That would be fantastic. I’m taking your advice and hiring three more rather than just the two, so that we have someone to work part-time.
I’ll let you decide on which person gets the part-time position.
They all three said they’d take what I could give them. ”
“Very good. I’m going to be narrowing it down to one more in the kitchen, too.
I need to retire soon, and having someone to just step into the role I’m creating will make it easier on you and your household.
” He said that he hated to see her go. “Well, now that I’ve broken my hip and have had it replaced, I want to work at home more.
It don’t bother me hardly, but by the end of the day, I’m hurting. ”
“Maybe you’ll see something in the person we hire, and you’ll stick around for a bit longer.
Not that I want you hurting, but we’ve had a good long time together.
” She told him that they’d had nine years of being cook for him, and she was going to miss him.
“I’m going to miss you as well. I will also miss your biscuits and gravy on Saturday morning. You make the best.”
“You just like my biscuits. I’ll teach the new cook how you like them.
Never would have thought of covering them in bacon grease when I bake them, but they sure are tasty.
” He was craving her biscuits then, but didn’t say anything to her.
She’d be whipping him up a batch when he knew that she had already made several loaves of bread for the rest of the week.
“You’re going to find you a girlfriend someday and forget all about me and my biscuits. ”
“Never. I might even have you come back to teach her how to make them so that I can have them when the cook has a day off.” She laughed with him, and he finished up his light snack. “I’m going to go see my brothers in a little while. Do you need anything from town?”
After telling him she had it all, he made his way out to his car.
It was getting chilly out now, and the trees had about lost all their leaves.
He loved the crunch of them under his footfalls, and the colors always reminded him that natural colors were the best. Most of his house was in the same colors as fall, and he wouldn’t change it out no matter what.
It was soothing to him, unlike the other tones that his brothers used in their homes.
Deciding to walk into town, he was nearly there when he noticed that someone was in the realtor’s office.
They had those big desk-to-ceiling windows in the place, which he never understood, to make sure that they looked busy all the time.
Instead of keeping out the sunlight, he thought that the place must have been flooded with light all the time, making it hard to read the computers.
That’s what he thought about every time he looked over to their building.
And the cleaning bill for all those windows must cost a fortune each week.
He found Demi at his restaurant and was glad to see that the Crockery Pot was still doing so well now that his brother had retired from it and was working at the school.
He cooked breakfast for the kids at the school every morning, and he seemed to be having a good time.
Just as he was entering the Pot, he noticed that he had his kids with him. He loved his young nephews very much.
“How’s it going?” He told him that they were just going out for ice cream.
“Mind if I join you? I have a couple of questions for your dad.” Martin said it was fine with him, and Teddy asked him if he’d done anything today that would allow him to have a treat.
“I have. Today I cleaned off my desk and got things filed away in the correct drawers. I feel really good about that.”
“Then you deserve a treat. Martin and I helped Dad by sorting out the potatoes that he got in. Some of them are bakers, and the others are going to be used for mashed. I love mashed potatoes.” He said they were his favorite, too, with lots of gravy.
“No, not gravy but butter. I love me some melted butter on my mashed.”
He loved it when the boys called Demi dad.
He wasn’t really their father, but you’d never know it to talk to them.
Mandy, Demi’s wife and aunt to the two boys, had come as a package deal when he met her, and he’d fallen in love with the three of them.
Every one of them loved the little family and loved to see Demi and Mandy handling them.
He’d bet at times they could be a handful, too.
They made their way to the ice cream shop on foot.
During the day, it wasn’t so cold out if you had on a jacket, but at night, when the sun went down, it was freezing cold.
Not really that cold, he thought, but cold enough to make you wish you were home and in bed instead of out in it.
The ice cream shop was busy when they got there.
“They’ll be closing soon. Not much sales in the winter for ice cream.
” He said he thought they’d be open year-round because they served hamburgers and other sandwiches, too.
“Not to hear them talk about it. I love ice cream year-round, but I guess they don’t make enough sales to warrant having salespeople around and the lights on.
They’re having a sale for the next couple of days to get rid of all the stuff that they didn’t sell this summer.
I heard that Friday was their last day open. ”
“Well, that sucks. I like coming here for a quick lunch.” The new owners had only owned the place for a year now and were doing a good job so far.
But he wondered if they were closed up for winter, how many sales they’d miss when people got used to buying ice cream for their homes.
It was much cheaper that way. Not as fun, but for sure much cheaper.
“I guess I’ll have to preorder from your place when I’m working late and need dinner when Shirley is off. ”
He told his brother that his cook was retiring soon because her hip was bothering her too much to continue working for him.
Knox said how much he was going to miss her meals, and Demi agreed with him.
He’d forgotten how many times his brother would show up for breakfast on his way to work in the morning.
Since getting married, he’d not been by once.
Also, he blamed it on cooking for school as well.
As they finished up their cones, they walked around the town.
Knox had been running on sidewalks since he’d moved here and did it every day.
Some of his brothers would join him sometimes when he was out, but not so often now that they were all married, but for him and Zander.
He missed them doing things with him, but he was glad for their Thursday night meals they had as a group.
Knox didn’t know what he’d do if they still didn’t do that.
“Have you had any word on the teachers? I was wondering how the open interviews were going.” He told him what he knew about the kindergarten teacher, but that was about all he knew. “Are they coming in and not passing the background check or what?”
“That’s it. Because we do such a deep background check, a lot of them aren’t passing the grade.
I’m glad that we do such a deep one; otherwise, we might get someone in there that we don’t want and can’t get rid of.
” He said he’d not thought of that. “Of the four we need to hire, I think that only two have passed the checks. Most of them have some kind of record in their background that prevents them from teaching at the school. I don’t know about you, but I’m happy for the deeper checks. It’ll keep the kids safe who go there.”
“I agree. My kids go there, and I’m thrilled about it.
” They talked about the upcoming holidays and what was going to be done.
Locke and Amy had gone all out in what they were doing around their home, and not to be outdone, the rest of them were trying to beat them.
Last he looked, Locke had more blow-ups than were on display at the local stores that sold them.
He wondered where he was getting them from.
He never got around to asking his brother his questions, but that was all right.
He’d get him next time he saw him. They weren’t that important anyway.
He needed to talk to Locke more, but since he was out of town this morning, he’d have to wait on him, too.
Oh well, he’d gotten out of the house some today, and that was always good.