Chapter 3 - The Lakeside #2
“Well, let me get back to the kitchen.” He turned to Robby. “Sit down and eat that salad. Margie said you looked rough. She wasn’t kidding. I’ll send extra dinner rolls out with your walleye. You eat ‘em. Don’t you guys slow down long enough to eat?” He walked off muttering.
Robby sat down. “Now I know I’m home — iceberg lettuce. At least there’s fresh radishes and blue cheese. Charlie’s is the best anywhere.”
Grace looked across the table at him. “Fifteen?”
“What? Oh. It was a joke. Maybe a bad one. I should have said sixteen.”
“Oh, thanks. Much better. Why do you say that?”
“Has no one ever commented on your attitude? You’re what my mother would call ‘sassy.’”
“Maybe.”
They finished their salads in silence, mostly looking at the lake.
Margie appeared at the table balancing two plates and a red, plastic basket of rolls. “Here you go. Dig in.” She looked at them and turned around, smiling.
Robby looked down at his plate. “I’m way past ready for this.”
It was a quiet meal. Grace insisted on paying, and as she got up, Robby said, “Fine. Too tired to argue, but I’m going across the street for a walk before it gets dark. It’ll help me sleep. You want to come?”
Grace turned around. “I’m tired, too. It’s been a long day. I’m going up and read till I fall asleep.”
“Okay.” He stood up. “Suit yourself.”
Grace put her hand up and tried to pull her hair back. “Beside the lake?”
“Yeah.”
*******
Grace pushed the door open. “Wow! It got cooler.”
Robby was standing in the open doorway. “The breeze is coming off the lake. I’ll go back up and get the jackets.”
“But mine’s in my room.”
“I’m not gonna steal anything.”
“It’s locked.”
Robby raised his eyebrows.
“Why’re you making that face?”
“I guess I don’t think of this as a hotel, or a high crime district . . . Can I have the key?”
Grace felt in the back pocket of her jeans, pulled out the key, but hesitated.
“I’ll give it back, don’t worry.”
Once in their jackets, they crossed the empty street and walked about fifty feet to where small lake waves were rippling across the rocks scattered on the shoreline.
Robby bent down and picked up a flat one and skimmed it across the water until Grace lost sight of it. “I’ve never seen anybody do that.”
“Skip a stone?”
“That far.”
He laughed. “I’ve been doing it all my life.
Besides, that wasn’t great. The world record is about four hundred feet.
” He turned. The breeze was in their faces, and he saw Grace’s hair blowing out behind her and noticed her earrings, some kind of leaping silver fish.
He started walking. “So. Tomorrow. I’m going to Olsson’s.
You want a ride? They’ll hold your groceries till Thursday.
You’re gonna need some unless you’re planning to eat all your meals in the lodge? ”
“No, I’m not planning on that, for sure.
I’m on a budget. So, I guess I’ll need groceries .
. . for a week, at least . . . maybe two.
I admit, I didn’t think this part through.
I just wanted to get here. The lodge owner said he’d help me find another place if all his reservations hold, and I don’t want to stay there after Memorial Day.
I was pretty desperate by the time I spoke to him.
I wasn’t finding any vacancies between the opening of fishing season, tourists, and now people looking for a safe place.
He’s putting me in a cabin they’re remodeling until something else opens.
” She looked at Robby. “People are nice up here.”
“Because they have to depend on each other. No one’s keeping score — they know at some point, they’ll need help, too.
It’s always been that way . . . for some people, more than others.
” He looked ahead. “Okay. Both of us need groceries. And I need boots. I must’ve left mine somewhere.
” He looked down at Grace. “You need anything else?”
“Something to read. I like holding a book. Is there still a bookstore?”
“Still? You didn’t say you’d been here before.”
“It’s not important.” She turned away and lifted her chin, but Robby put his hand on her arm and stopped her.
“Look. I don’t know why you’re so touchy.
I don’t really care if you’ve been here before.
Just making conversation. Not trying to pry.
” She looked down at his hand still on her arm.
He removed it. “You really have an attitude. Maybe fifteen was generous.” They walked on.
Robby took a deep breath. “There is a bookstore, if it’s open.
There’s also a public library, if it’s open.
You could get a card if you’re planning to be here that long. Anything else?”
“No.”
They’d reached the end of the crescent beach where rock sloped into the lake and eventually disappeared under the surface.
They turned and walked back in silence. Now the breeze was at their backs, and Grace had to keep pushing her hair away from her face.
They crossed the empty street, and Robby put his hand on the cafe door.
Grace turned to him. “I’m sorry. I was rude out there.
You’ve been helpful, and I’m grateful. I’m just trying to stay focused and not get distracted. ”
Robby began to smile. “Am I a distraction?”
“I don’t know.” She shook her head tiredly and looked away. “I think you might be trying to be.”
“What is it you’re trying ‘to stay focused’ on?
Grace stared out at the lake and finally back at Robby. “Getting a life. In the past, I’ve failed miserably at that . . . I wonder if I know how.”
“Sounds like an empty life.”
*******
She came downstairs around 8:00 the next morning.
Again, Robby was seated at the end of the counter talking to Margie, this time over a mug of coffee, wearing an unbuttoned red plaid flannel shirt over a yellow t-shirt.
Margie looked Grace’s way as she entered the dining room. “Good morning. How’d you sleep?”
“Very comfortably, thank you. I cracked the window, so I could hear the lake, crawled under the covers, and didn’t know a thing till the alarm went off.”
“That’s what we like to hear, but I’m surprised about the window. ‘Thought you’d get cold, being a Southern girl. You must have your dad’s blood. I’ll get you a mug.”
Grace sat down and looked over at Robby. “Good morning.”
“Morning. I didn’t sleep as well as you.”
Margie walked over with a mug and a fresh pot. She poured Grace a cup and topped off Robby’s. “You guys hungry?”
“Yes.”
“Well, we’re known for our breakfasts.” She was looking at Grace. “Or Charlie is. He cooks it. I just serve it. What’ll it be?”
Robby took a careful sip of his coffee, put it down, slowly swirled in a little more sugar, and took another sip, listening to Grace order eggs over easy, bacon, hash browns, and cranberry juice.
Margie turned to him and raised her eyebrows in question.
“Same, with toast or dinner rolls from last night. Those were good.”
“Thank you.” She looked at him and said, “Now go sit at that corner table, where the sun is. Your voice might be better, but you don’t look healthy.”
He got down and motioned Grace to go ahead. There were no other customers. Fishermen were in their boats by now. Grace sat where she could see the lake. Robby sat in the sun. “You talk. My brain’s not in gear yet,” Robby said, raising his mug to his lips.
“I need to make a list—”
“Let me guess: So you can stay focused?”
Grace pursed her lips. “Seriously, it’s not home, where if you forget something, you just go back and get it.”
“True. I need pencil and paper — forgot to plug my phone in.” He got up, walked toward the kitchen, and returned with one of Margie’s order pads and a pencil.
“That’s not very big.”
Robby looked at her, then down at the pad and began flipping to a clean page. “Believe me, I’ve written entire songs on paper smaller than this. Good ones.”
“Well, hush my mouth,” Grace said in an exaggerated Southern drawl. He looked up at her then, smiled and shook his head. They made lists and ate. Robby wanted more coffee. They decided on the library first, then boots, then groceries. After they had done all that, Robby would leave for home.
By the time they got in the truck, it was after 9:30. They were masked. Robby drove the few blocks to the library, pausing in front of the building. There was a line. “There’s a sign on the door. You go see what’s up. I’ll turn around and grab that parking spot — they’re leaving.”
“Okay.” Grace hopped out.
She figured it was Covid-related. She didn’t get to the door before an elderly woman told her, “Covid. Six at a time. Ten-minute limit but they’re being flexible, depending on the line.
After the lockdown, online only, so ebooks.
There’s an outside repository. The line’s moving fast.” She thanked the woman.
There was no traffic. She strolled into the street and stood in the sunshine, waiting for Robby to park.
He did and she motioned for him to come. They almost went right in.
By the time they left there, it was nearly 10:30, but Grace had books and a card.
Next, boots. The department store was also operating on a scaled-back basis.
They walked in. The man behind the counter looked up.
“Robby! Guys, look who’s here!” So Grace walked to the back of the store, where she could see women’s apparel and wandered around, first looking at shirts, then indulging her weakness for socks.
She was looking through those when Robby found her.
“No boots that fit — maybe next week — but there’s an outfitter at the end of the street.
I’d like to take a look there, so maybe I won’t have to come back. ” Grace nodded.
She was through the front door, when the man behind the cash register spoke to Robby. “Good to see you, Robby. Thanks for coming in. Good to know fame hasn’t changed you.”
“Thanks, Ralph. Good to come home.”