Chapter Forty-Eight
“Hi, Terry.” Jamie kissed the young woman’s cheek. “It’s been a while. Sorry, I couldn’t stop and talk more when you were here with your great-grandfather.”
“That’s okay.” She smiled, flipping back her curly auburn hair. “It’s nice of you to invite me. I was glad to get out of the house tonight. I love my mother, but she’s a terrible cook and her meat loaf is more like a cinder block.”
Jamie had to laugh. “That bad?”
She shook her head, her hair bouncing. “You have to pour a ton of that store bought gravy on it just so it’s moist enough to swallow!”
“Well, tonight it’s just hamburgers and hot dogs and store-bought sides.” Jamie pointed to the diner. “There is no kitchen in there, and the one upstairs is tiny.”
“Not to mention, he really hasn’t had the time to cook.” Joesph extended his hand. “I’m Joesph, by the way.” He scowled at Jamie.
“Oh, sorry. This is Mike Jones and he’s been helping with the renovations.”
“Oh, I know Mike. He comes into the hardware store.” She gave Mike a quick hug. She looked tiny next to him. “And I’m fine with hamburgers and hot dogs.”
“Uh, Salzy... don’t you want to offer Terry something to drink?”
“Oh... right.” Salzy looked flustered and blushed bright red. “Would you care for something? We have a lot of German beer, and Bud Lite... oh, and water.”
“Or I could be persuaded to make you a martini,” Joesph offered, smiling as he lifted his own martini.
Terry laughed and sat on one of the benches. “I’d like to try one of those German beers if you don’t mind. I’ve never had a martini, and right now a cold beer sounds good.”
“On it,” Salzy raced towards the diner.
“It’s already so hot, and it’s just spring.” Terry lifted her long curly hair off her neck. “I can’t imagine what summer is going to be like.”
Joesph sat next to her. “It’ll be like living in hell, I think.”
“It’s a good thing that we’ll have new air-conditioning,” Jamie added. He watched Mike connect the bottle of gas to the new grill, his big thighs bulging.
“When do you think the diner will reopen?” Terry asked.
Jamie pointed to Joesph. “You’ll have to ask him. He’s in charge.”
“Twenty-one days is the plan.” Joesph glanced at Jamie. “Don’t forget you need to run an ad for more staff.”
“Damn. I had forgotten. I also need to call Christine. See if she won’t move down here and do the new pastry station.”
“Do you think she will?” Joesph asked before he took a sip of his cocktail.
“I hope so. Maybe I should look for a place for her and the new kid to live. That might be incentive enough.”
“Oh, I know of a place,” Terry said as she accepted the beer Salzy had brought her. “Grandpa Harold has a few rental properties, and one is about to come vacant. It’s a nice house too.”
“How big is it?” Jamie asked.
“It’s a three bedroom, two bath place. A practically new kitchen and both bathrooms have been redone. Fenced in front and back yard. It’s a nice neighbourhood too.”
“Sounds perfect.” Jamie lifted his beer towards her. “Could you get some pictures so I can show Christine?”
“Grill is ready to go,” Mike announced as he sat next to Jamie.
“Thank you,” Jamie said and nudged him with his shoulder as he sat down. “Is that a hint that you’re hungry?”
“I am,” Salzy said, still not taking his eyes off Terry.
“There’s a surprise,” Joesph said, rolling his eyes. “Jamie, is there anything I can help you with?”
“Yeah, there is.” Jamie stood up. “If you could bring down some paper plates, napkins, and silverware, that’d be great. Oh, and serving spoons if you can find any.”
Joesph stood up. “Good timing, I’m ready for another one of these,” he said, holding up his martini glass. “Thank you for this, by the way”
“The pleasure was all mine,” Jamie said, bowing slightly. He looked at Salzy and pointed. “You’re responsible for all the sides. But don’t bring them out until I’ve got the grill going and the burgers are almost done. No sense in letting ’em get warm.”
“What can I do,” Mike asked.
“Not much for you to do.” Jamie was already following Joesph up the steps to the apartment.
“I’ll come and keep you company then.” Mike started towards the staircase.
“Oops,” Jamie said, turning towards the big man, Joesph already inside the apartment. “Could you bring up the hamburger? Salzy can show you where he stashed it.”
“So... he wants to keep you company,” Joesph said as he poured vodka into his glass.
“Would you just hush up.” Jamie sighed. “That man is...”
“That man is hot, is what that man is.” Joesph gave Jamie a sideways glare. “You’re as stubborn as an ol’ mule. Can’t you just admit you like the man?”
“Here he comes.” Jamie pulled out a mixing bowl and scowled at it. “I’ve got to wash this. Move over.”
“Here’s the meat,” Mike said as he lifted a bag. “I brought the hot dogs too.”
Joesph just about dropped his martini glass as he roared with laughter. “Oh... that’s too good.” He almost stumbled as he left the small kitchen. “I need air.”
“What did I just walk into?” Mike asked, looking confused.
Jamie looked at the muscled man, then lifted his arm, waving the length of Mike’s body. “Here’s the meat?”
Mike blushed beet red. “Oh. I didn’t mean it like that.”
Jamie walked over to him, his hand out for the bag. He didn’t stop until he was within an inch of Mike’s body. He took the bag, his eyes never leaving Mike’s. When he had the bag in hand, he reached up with the other one and pulled Mike’s head down and kissed him.
It was a soft and gentle kiss, but Mike pulled Jamie into his body and deepened the embrace. The kiss quickly became passionate, sucking the air out of Jamie’s lungs. Then Mike abruptly ended it.
“Oh, holy hell,” Jamie whispered. “You sure can kiss.”
“I’ve wanted to do that... for a while.” Mike’s thumb traced a line along Jamie’s jaw. “You kiss good, too.”
Jamie stepped back and out of Mike’s arms and cleared his throat. “You still have to take me out.”
“It would be a pleasure and an honour, kind sir.” Mike gave a grand bow.
“Oh brother,” Jamie said, laughing. “Right, for now, I need to get these burgers made up.”
Mike came up behind Jamie as he dumped the hamburger meat into the mixing bowl. “I am hungry, and not for just food.” Jamie could feel the heat radiating off the man behind him.
* * * * *
“Here we go,” Jamie said as he set the burgers and hot dogs down on the picnic tables. “Enjoy.”
“These smell so good,” Terry said, leaning forward, her full breasts covering the edge of the table.
Jamie sat down across from her and saw Salzy’s eyes, as he also noticed where her breasts were. “I may have cooked more than I needed to, but we can have leftovers for lunch or dinner tomorrow.”
Mike leaned over close to Jamie. “How about tomorrow night, I take you to dinner?”
Jamie blinked hard, not listening to a thing that Joesph was saying. “Where to?” He turned towards Mike.
“How about I take you to the same place I took Joesph? You can see what is considered upscale here.” Mike breathed heavily into Jamie’s ear. “Kill two birds with one stone? You can see what Joesph was talking about.”
Jamie couldn’t help but shiver, and his mouth went dry. “Okay.”
“Isn’t that right, Jamie?” Joesph said slyly.
“What?” Jamie blinked hard before he could focus on Joesph. “Sorry. I missed that.”
“I was telling this delightful young lady that you may take over the town of Columbus. The cuisine part of it anyway.” Joesph had a way of lowering his eyelids, making him look like a cat about to devour a mouse, as he looked at Jamie.
“Do what?” Jamie shook his head. “Uh, no, I’m not.”
“Oh really?” Joesph lowered his head. “Never say never, and I, Joesph Collins, say that you will. It may take some time, but I have no doubt in my mind that you will. Just remember that I’ve known you for a very long time.”
“That would be fantastic,” Terry said. “I know that compared to the rest of you, I’m just a country bumpkin, but I would really like to experience a nice place to go to.
You know, not just the Copper Kettle. It’s like.
.. only old people go there or for some kind of special occasion, and. .. it’s just sooo old.”
“You hit the nail on the head, girl,” Joesph said as he lifted his martini glass. “The food was okay, but it was so old fashioned. Old and tired—two things you never want to be said about oneself.”
“That place hasn’t changed one bit since I was a little girl, and the only time I ever went there was for someone’s birthday or my high school graduation.”
“You can tell those desserts weren’t homemade. That chocolate cake was... almost tasteless and dry.” Joesph’s face scrunched up. “Now, if you’ve not had Jamie’s chocolate cake, you are in for a treat. Girl, it’s better than sex. Well... almost.”
Jamie took the martini glass from Joesph’s hand. “And on that note, I think that Joesph may need to go to bed.”
Joesph looked at Jamie. “You’re no fun.”
“Nope. I’m not.” Jamie stood up. “Come on, I’ll get you tucked in.”
“Lord help me,” Joesph looked skyward. “I’m not even thirty and I’m going to bed before ten o’clock.”
“I need to go too,” Terry said as she stood up. “Thank you so much for a wonderful evening. It’s been a long time since I was able to just let my hair down. Living with my parents is such a drag.”
“Why don’t you move out on your own then?” Mike asked. His look was genuine.
Terry sighed. “My parents are really old fashioned. They think that a girl should live at home until she’s married. And really, it’s just easier to go along with them than try and fight them, and there are advantages of living at home.”
“Like?” Salzy asked, having been mostly silent the entire night.
“I don’t have to pay rent, so I can save up my money.
I never have to do laundry. My mother keeps telling me I don’t do it right.
The downside is that I eat dinner with them most nights, and as I said, my mother cannot cook to save her own life.
I don’t know how my father has stayed sane all these years. ”
“Good night then,” Jamie said as he pushed a very tipsy Joesph towards the stairs. “We can do it again sometime.”
“I’d really like that.” Terry smiled at the pair. “It was nice to see you, Mike, away from the store.”
“I agree. It’s been fun,” Mike said.
Terry turned to Salzy and kissed him on the cheek and gave him a brief hug. “Thank you for inviting me.”
“Uh, yeah. Of course.” Salzy stood there stiffly. “I hope... we, uh... can do it again. Soon.”
“I hope it’s very soon,” Terry said, smiling up at Salzy.
Their eyes locked for a long minute.
“Very,” Salzy finally muttered.