I made a mental note that I would bring her out for a lunch break at home later that day and maybe take a long lunch, so she had plenty of time to run around with me. I might even take her up the mountain a ways and let her run through the trails.
Instead of hopping up, grabbing some breakfast bars, and heading to the truck with Lily, I went to the fridge and pulled out eggs and bacon. Lily knew instantly that something was up, but I figured she would also be appreciative of the breakfast she was going to get too.
This thought brought me right back to Helen and her offer to teach me how to cook. Just when I thought I was done being frustrated by that whole situation, my brain found a way. I shook my head and tried to shrug it off. She would get in touch with me when she could. Until then, there was no reason to worry about what our status was or where all that was going. It wasn’t like I was going to meet anyone in the meantime.
I cracked the eggs into the pan and fried up the bacon, eventually getting Lily to sit beside me in the kitchen, patiently waiting for me to drop something. When I didn’t, she backed up and watched me with her big doe eyes as I made my way to her bowl and plopped in a good helping of eggs and bacon. When I walked away, she attacked and began stuffing them down in a hurry.
“Yeah, I’m hungry too,” I said. In my pocket, my phone rang, and I reached in to grab it. Initially, I thought it might be Helen, but she didn’t have my number. Not unless Rebecca gave it to her, but I figured if she had, she would have told me.
The call was coming from my uncle, the only person in my family that seemed to understand me. He was also the person who helped us fund our little logging venture and, therefore, was a VIP investor.
“Hello?”
“Everett?” he asked. “Hey, bud, how are you?”
I smiled. “Hey, Uncle Harry,” I said. “I’m good, about to head into work, but I got a little time. How about you?”
“Oh good,” he said. “I’m great. Tinkering around doing nothing in my early retirement.”
I laughed. I doubted he was doing nothing. Uncle Harry was known for always getting into something.
“Good to hear,” I said.
“Indeed,” he said. “Actually, I called with a specific purpose today. I was wondering what you would think about me coming down and checking out your company and Ashford. I still haven’t been down there.”
“I think that would be great,” I said excitedly. “I’d love to have you down here. If you want, you can stay with me. If not, there’s a hotel down here not far from where I live.”
“I don’t know. Maybe. You know how I am about not wanting to bother people,” he said.
I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me. Uncle Harry kept odd hours, something that bugged my parents when he lived with them for a brief time just so he could be nearby. He also wasn’t the neatest person, which was why he had a housekeeper that came by to pick up after him every day. She was a sweet lady, but Harry kept her busy.
“Well, I don’t mind either way,” I said. “When are you thinking about coming?”
“Soon,” he said. “Don’t know exactly when yet but soon. I’ll let you know as soon as I figure it out.”
We chatted for a little while longer before I hung up. I was genuinely excited to see my uncle and have him come down and check out our logging business. I was proud of what we had accomplished and knew he would be too. Of everyone in my family, he was the only one who seemed to understand the value of a hard day’s work with his hands, even if his money was made investing.
Plus, having Uncle Harry come down would distract me from thinking about Helen. Anything that could provide a distraction from that would be welcome as far as I was concerned.
20
HELEN
I could just leave it.
That was the thought running through my mind late in the morning as I stared at my car in the parking lot of the hotel.
The thought was only in my mind because I was in a state of elation about finally finishing the sale of the condo and the extra zeros in my bank account. I had an intense desire to just say to hell with it, buy a flight to Knoxville, rent a car to get home, and then just buy something else. I had the cash. I could theoretically do it.
But I had already earmarked a good portion of the money that wasn’t technically hitting my bank account until the next day. Mostly, it would go to updates to the diner. The more I got that done, the more I made sure it was a success and that it didn’t strictly need my presence to make it work, the faster I could get on with my own life.