Chapter Sixty
Jamie watched as the larger pieces of equipment was unloaded from the delivery truck.
The crew of four men were sweating profusely, and it wasn’t even noon yet.
Jamie oversaw the placement of every piece.
He was glad he’d thought ahead and arranged for an electrician and plumber to come that afternoon to make sure everything was hooked up and working.
“Here, have some water,” Salzy said as he pushed a glass of ice water into Jamie’s hand. “Think I should offer some to those guys?” Salzy nodded towards the four men who were squeezing in the new stove through the back door of the diner.
“Sure. I think there are bottles of water in the walk-in.”
“Joesph did great with getting that tile down and the kitchen painted as fast as he did. I doubt anyone could have organized that any better.”
“And that’s why I got him that voucher for that spa.” Jamie turned to look at Salzy. “He’s the best.”
“Think he’ll do okay... you know, work wise here?”
“I do. Once word gets out, he’ll be inundated with work.” Jamie drained half the glass of water in one go. “Have you seen how the painters are going out front?”
“Yeah,” Salzy answered. “I think they’re almost done. It looks great.”
Jamie nodded. “The new signage is supposed to happen tomorrow.”
“What about all the chairs and counters?”
“Day after tomorrow.” Can’t be soon enough for me.
“Hello?” A voice called from the other side of the delivery truck. “Anyone here?”
“Over here, Christine. Other side of the truck.”
A moment later, a woman, pushing a stroller, came into view from the front side of the truck. “Jamie!”
Jamie rushed towards the woman, then pulled her into a big hug. “You made it!”
“I did. It wasn’t a bad drive at all. All up, it wasn’t quite two hours.” She hugged Jamie back. “Sweet pea here slept the entire way, thank goodness.”
“Christine Schroeder, I’d like you to meet Jesus Miguel Santos Salazar, or Salzy for short.”
“Hi, how are you?” Christine did what she always did: she hugged him like he was a brother. “Nice to meet you. My, but that’s quite the name.”
Salzy, being who he was, hugged her right back. “Same here. I’ve heard so much about you already. You can thank my parents for the name.” He nudged Jamie with his shoulder. “You think you can make a better apple pie than this one here?”
Christine laughed. “Maybe we should have a bake off?” She grinned at Jamie. “It’s so good to see you.”
“Same here. Don’t mind Salzy, he doesn’t actually work here.”
“What the hell, man?” Salzy nudged Jamie off balance. “What have I been doing for the last three plus weeks?”
“Okay, he’s been helping me out, which I greatly appreciate.”
“I didn’t get a spa day,” Salzy grumbled.
“Oh, this is going to be fun,” Christine said, laughing. “I knew I’d made the right decision.” She picked up the infant, wiping its mouth. “I’d like to introduce you to Charles Edward Schroeder.” She held the baby out to Jamie.
“Wow,” Jamie said as he took the infant. “He’s already so heavy.”
“Yeah, he’s growing by the day.”
Salzy leaned over and pushed the small cap back a little. “Look at all that hair! How old is he?”
“He’ll be two months in three days.” Christine simply beamed. “He’s been the best baby. He sleeps most of the time. The rest of the time he eats, poops, and gurgles,” she laughed.
“Lucky you,” Jamie leaned in towards the baby. “Babies always have the best smells.”
“I know, right?” Christine took the baby back. “Can I see the kitchen? Please? I’m so excited!”
“Me too. Sure, let me give you the grand tour.” Jamie noticed that the four delivery guys were taking a much-deserved break, guzzling down bottles of water they’d obviously brought with them.
Jamie led the way through the back door of the diner.
“Everything should be hooked up by the end of the day and ready to go.”
“Oh... wow.” Christine looked at the new kitchen equipment and then through to the dining room. “You’re doing almost the exact same design as the Peasant.” She looked at Jamie. “This is going to be fantastic!”
“That’s my hope.” Jamie turned towards the rear wall. “This will be the baking/pastry station.”
Christine ran her hand over the new stainless-steel table, with its protective covering still on it. “This is nice. Well thought out.”
“We have our own dedicated ovens here,” Jamie pointed out. “And there will be another bench here”—he motioned— “it’ll be my biscuit table.”
“It all looks good, Jamie. You’ve done a wonderful job. Of course, I didn’t see it before, but this is like a brand-new restaurant.” Christine looked around again. “I can see myself in here.”
“Thanks, I did put a lot of thought into it. Of course, Joesph had the final say on everything from the kitchen to the dining room.”
Christine laughed. “Oh, I’m sure he did. Where is he?”
“I’m coming. I’m coming!” Joesph shouted from the outside.
“I’m here.” He announced as he ran through the doorway.
“Quick, give me a hug, beautiful.” Joesph wrapped his arms around Christine.
“It’s so good to see you.” He held her at arm’s length, looking her up and down.
“Are you sure you just had a baby? It doesn’t look like it.
” He hugged her close again. “So, introduce me to the wee one.”
Christine showed Joesph the baby in her arms, still asleep.
“He is stunning!” Joesph cooed over the baby. “I’m so happy for you, Christine.”
“I hope you’ll come down from Atlanta often and see us.”
“Oh... about that,” Joesph said, then cooed at the baby again. “I’m going to move down here. I’m opening up my own place here.”
“What?” Christine looked shocked. “You? Move here? Not live in Atlanta?” She looked at Jamie. “Is he sick? I thought he hated small towns.”
Jamie laughed. “Well, Columbus isn’t exactly small anymore. Besides, he may starve to death if I’m not there to cook for him.”
Joesph stood up and glared at Jamie. “You do realize that there are other restaurants in Atlanta, don’t you? I would not starve. I can make a sandwich at the very least.”
“And where would you get biscuits and gravy?” Jamie asked, “Or apple pie à
la mode? Or homemade ice cream? Hmm?”
“Hush up. No one likes a smarty-pants.” Joesph turned back to Christine. “How long are you down for?”
“Just the day. I have an appointment to see the house that Jamie found. I love what you’ve done here, Joesph. It’s brilliant.” She glanced towards the dining room. “It looks like an upscale diner.”
“That’s exactly what I was going for. Thank you, kind lady.” Joesph did a little bow.
“What time is your appointment?” Jamie asked.
Christine looked at her watch. “In about twenty minutes. Do you know how far it is from here? How long will it take to drive?”
“The house is closer to the middle of the town, so you should probably be on your way soon. I don’t think it will take that long, but if you’ve never driven there, you’ll want more time.”
“I hope it won’t be a twenty-minute commute every day,” Christine said, a slight scowl on her face.
“No. I’d say it probably wouldn’t take you more than ten minutes to get from there to here,” Jamie quickly added. “And the location is great. So close to any and everything you’d need.”
“Did you find out about childcare?” She asked as she shifted the baby to the other arm. “Here, you hold him for a minute. My arms are starting to ache.” She pushed the baby towards Joesph.
“Oh, no. I don’t do babies. They scare me. I’m always afraid I’ll drop them.”
“I’ll take him,” Salzy said, holding out his arms, a big smile on his face. “I love kids.”
Christine handed little Charles over to Salzy. She did watch closely, however that he held the baby’s head correctly. “I see you’ve done this before.”
“Yeah,” Salzy said, rocking the small child in his arms. “I got a lot of practice from my eldest brother’s kids.” He looked up. “He started way too early. Now he’s got five.”
“Five!” Christine exclaimed. “I can’t ever imagine having that many kids. I think I’m more the one-and-done type.”
“Yeah, there is a set of twins in there.” Salzy pushed the lightweight blanket away from Charles’s face. “He is a very handsome baby.”
“Thank you.” She looked at her watch again. “I guess I should get my butt in gear and get a move on.” She hugged Joesph again, kissed his cheek. “I’m so glad you’re going to be here.”
“Me too.” Joesph hugged and kissed her back.
“Jamie, I can’t thank you enough for all this.” Christine pulled him into a tight hug. “I think this is going to be perfect for me.”
“I’m glad it’s all working out,” Jamie replied, returning the hug. “Have you got your GPS set up for the house?”
“I do. I programmed it in before I left Atlanta.”
“Here ya go, little fella,” Salzy said as he gave the baby back to his mother. “I’ll see you around.”
Christine looked closer at Salzy. “You do have a way about you... it’s... calming. I get good vibes from you.”
“I’m the good vibe guy.” Salzy smiled, then kissed the baby’s little head.
Chritine chuckled. She nodded at Jamie. “Well?”
“Well, what?” Jamie asked, puzzled.
She tilted her head towards Salzy. “Anything I need to know?”
Joesph busted out laughing, especially at the look on Salzy’s face. “Oh, no, my dear. Poor Salzy is straight. Jamie has... well... another beau you might say.”
“Oh, really?” Christine focused solely on Jamie. “I could tell something was up, I just... couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Now it makes sense.”
“Are you some kind of mystic or fortune teller?” Salzy asked, looking excited.
“No, not really.” Christine looked back at Salzy. “I just get these... feelings about people.” She put her forefinger to her temple. “I can kinda see... things. I’ve never been able to explain it, really. I just can tell.”
“That’s handy.” Salzy smiled.
“It certainly has in the past.” Christine laughed. “Okay, I’m going now. You guys going to be here for a while?”
“I’ll be here all day, darling. When you’re done, come and tell me all about it,” Joesph said as he held the screen door open for her. “We can have some tea.”
“I’ll be here until about five thirty or so,” Jamie said.
“This one,” Joesph said, tilting his head towards Jamie, “has a date!”
Salzy snickered. Jamie slugged his upper arm, but only hard enough to knock Salzy off balance.
“Ow.” Salzy frowned at Jamie and then slugged him back.
“Ow.” Jamie turned to face Salzy. “I didn’t hit you that hard.”
“Paybacks can be a bitch,” Salzy huffed.
Christine laughed. “Brothers. Just like brothers. I didn’t see it at first.”
Salzy smiled broadly. “Yeah, brother.” He slung an arm over Jamie’s shoulder. “We’re family.”