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A Sojourner's Solace

By Jennifer Sienes

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Chapter One

Kate
Wasn’t it every girl’s dream to be surrounded by well-groomed, attractive male attention? My grandad used to say he’d prayed to God to surround him with beautiful women. Unfortunately, he didn’t specify and ended up with seven sisters, each one more pleasing than the last. Just like Grandad, the joke was on me. My companions were of the canine variety, and I often found myself tripping over them when their leashes got tangled. How cliché. A dog walker in Manhattan.
“I don’t understand you, Kate.” Melanie unknotted Hankster’s leash from Milo’s while I balanced on one precarious foot and kept a death grip on the other three dogs entrusted to my care. “A girl with your intelligence should find more meaningful employment. But no, you cavort with dogs and drunks.”
“One balances out the other,” I said. “Dogs are much more reliable than men, drunk or not, and often more fun to hang out with. But waitressing at the bar pays better.”
“Maybe.” Melanie stepped aside as I organized the menagerie. “But dog walking?” She wrinkled her nose as if in response to a foul odor. “Aren’t you a little old for this gig?”
I pinned her with a glare. “Did you come to keep me company or criticize? Because I get enough of that from my mother.” With Hankster and Milo on one side and Brewster, Knight, and Dillon on the other, I moved them forward with a “Heel” command. They walked in unison like well-oiled machinery until a fancy-schmancy poodle approached with its owner. Boys will be boys.
Once the chaos was contained, Melanie raised an eyebrow at me. “Like I was saying.”
“You know, Mel, not everyone has a college education handed to them like it was their right.” I nudged Milo, the leader of the pack, to continue forward and got back into a rhythm. “Nor do we all find Mr. Perfect, like you did.” Dillon stopped to sniff a fire hydrant, and I yanked him back in line. Walking down a side street in Manhattan with this bunch required every muscle and brain cell in my body. With the humidity and heat of mid-July, I sweated more than if I’d taken a spin class.
“Mr. Perfect? Please. Don’t even think about telling Dustin you think he’s all that. It’ll go straight to his head. You might want to consider settling for Mr. Good-enough, though. And you sure ain’t gonna find him working nights in a bar.” True to form, Melanie’s grammar took a dive when she talked about the one I worked in.
We’d had this discussion before, and as always, I had no comeback. She was right. But what was I supposed to do about it? Take out a fortune in school loans, quit my jobs, and spend the next four years chasing down a degree that might or might not prove useful? I was stuck in the mire of my own making with no way out that I could see.
“Let’s put this conversation on hold, okay?” I didn’t have the luxury of looking her in the eyes when speaking. It was critical that I focused on the sidewalk in front of us to gauge whatever shiny object might attract one of the dogs. “Besides, it’s too stinking hot to argue.” My arms were beginning to feel the burn of two-hundred pounds of canine muscle yanking on the leashes.
“Who’s arguing?” Mel sidestepped Brewster, the runt of the pack—a Jack Russel terrier with attitude. “I’m just worried, is all. I want you to be happy.”
My envious gaze drifted to Mel’s belly which was beginning to show definite signs of a baby bump. I was a little worried, myself. Did I really want to spend the rest of my life working dead end jobs just to make rent? I would have loved to be in love, but whoever ran the universe—whether it was some higher power or God—apparently had other plans. It was all I could do to keep up.
“You want to come by for dinner tonight? I’ll make that Greek salmon salad you love.” For Melanie to offer to make a meal was the epitome of an olive branch.
“I would except I have to work. Remember?” Was she already getting baby brain?
“We’ll make it early. Say 4:30.”
I did love her Greek salmon salad. “Dustin won’t mind?”
“Of course not.” She grinned. “He’ll supplement the early dinner with a bowl of ice cream before bed.”
I opened my mouth to answer when Hankster veered left to reach the cute Maltese across the street, and I had to do a quick shuffle to keep from tripping over the pack of dogs.
Melanie reached down for Hankster’s collar and pulled him in line. “You should get hazard pay.”
“Don’t exert yourself, Mel. You might put the baby at risk.”
“The whole point of me being out here with you is to get some exercise. The doctor said it’s good for junior and me.”
“I don’t think she planned on you wrestling with a seventy-five-pound dog.”
“So, about dinner.”
My cell trilled from where I’d tucked it in the back pocket of my shorts. I didn’t have a free hand to retrieve it or the coordination to multitask.
“You going to get that?” Mel pointed toward my back.
“They’ll leave a message if it’s important.” But even as I said the words, a pang of uneasiness washed over me. Mom was out of town with her latest boyfriend, so it couldn’t be her, could it? When she had a new fling, everything else faded into the background—especially me. It was an embarrassment for her to admit she had a thirty-four-year-old daughter. I didn’t think she was too put out that there was no one around to call her Grandma, either.
Melanie waved her hand in a “give me” motion. “I can see by the way you’re chewing on your lip you want to get it. Let me have these two.” She reached for Hankster and Milo’s leashes, and I released them into her care before retrieving my phone.
Unknown number. Probably a scam or marketing call. As the fourth ring trilled, I slid my thumb across the screen to connect it. “Hello?”
“Kate.” The voice on the other end broke off. “I didn’t think you were gonna answer.”
I frowned at Melanie and shrugged. “Who is this?”
“It’s Jack.” His voice cracked, and throat clearing came across the line. “You know. Your mom’s friend.”
The uneasiness escalated as my heart began to race. Jack had never called me before. Why would he be calling now? “What…what’s going on? Is my mom okay?”
“There was an accident.” He huffed and sniffled. “Traffic, cars everywhere. It was nuts. We’d just crossed the Hudson on Interstate 287.” His voice hitched along with my breath. “Going to Tarrytown, you know? Your mom, she really wanted to go to Tarrytown.”
“How bad?” I glanced at Melanie, a wrinkle between her brows. The dogs sat on their haunches, eyes pinned to me as if even they understood the seriousness of the situation. “Jack? How bad is she?”
“I’m sorry, Kate.” His voice broke on a sob. “She’s gone. She didn’t make it to the hospital. Massive heart attack.”
My stomach lurched, and a whoosh filled my ears. I dropped the phone and sank to the sidewalk, the bite of concrete sharp on my knees.
“Kate!” Melanie pushed through the dogs to reach my side. “What is it?”
How could Mom be gone? Dead? What was the last thing I’d said to her? Think. Think. But there was nothing. Why can’t I remember?
Melanie shook me. “What happened, Kate? Is it your mom?”
Tears pooled in my eyes, blurring Melanie’s features. “She’s dead, Mel. There was a car accident, and Jack said she had a heart attack.”
“Oh, Kate.” Melanie wrapped her arms around me and pulled me in for a hug. “I’m so sorry, sweetie.”
How could she be gone just like that? “What am I going to do now? She’s all I had left.”
Hands clamped on my shoulders, Melanie put enough distance between us to look into my eyes. “That’s not true, sweetie. You have me and Dustin. And lots of other friends. You’ll be okay, I promise.”
I shook my head. “There’s no other family, Mel. You don’t understand, because you have a mother and a father, and a sister and brothers.” Aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. I had none of those things. All I had was Mom.
And now she was gone.

Noah
A period of adjustment was necessary after twenty years in the service. Bell Buckle might’ve been known as an historic, quaint town in middle Tennessee, but I knew it as home. Even so, it’d be some time before I could shake loose from the structure and routine of the air force. Longer still until I’d not get my hackles raised by everyone in the family thinking they had a right to butt in where they didn’t rightly belong. It was what they did. The insulation of a couple thousand miles between us was no longer an option.
Pops had closed the restaurant to celebrate my homecoming a week after I’d returned. Didn’t make much difference, though. Customers who’d been patronizing the place for years were welcome to the party. Only difference was they didn’t have to pay for their meal. Mama’d been sure to have enough to feed the whole town of Shelbyville where they’d set up shop before I’d taken my first step. Good thing, too, because I’d never seen the place packed like it was that night. Free food was a powerful motivator.
Pops stood up and waved his hands. “I’d like to make a toast to my boy,” he shouted above the din. He held up a glass of sweet tea and waited for the crowd to quiet down. I had to chuckle. Pops never did imbibe, but he’d be sure to prove a toast had more to do with the words than with what was in the glass. “Welcome home, son. We pray this next chapter of your life is as worthwhile as the last. Wouldn’t hurt if you found yourself a proper gal, settle down, and give your mama and me a few more grands to spoil, as well.”
“Cheers!” Shouts and clinking glasses filled the restaurant while I groaned in response.
“Nothing like putting you on the spot.” Brent slapped me on the back. “Best be careful, big brother. Last time Pops made that toast for me and Amy, she ended up pregnant with the twins.”
“Not likely that’s gonna happen to me. Since the mess with Michelle, I’ve sworn off women.” That burn was bad enough to leave scars for a good, long time. Broke my heart and my bank account.
“Can’t hardly blame the entire female race for that one, bro. We all warned you about her.”
Before I could respond, Clara sidled up. Her brown eyes were the spitting image of Mama’s. “Hey, Noah. I was down at the high school yesterday getting my classroom fixed up and looked in on yours. If you want, I can help you get it ready.”
“Ready for what?” I took a gulp of Coke.
“Your students. Looks about as stark as a military base in there. You wanna engage them, don’t you?”
Brent nudged me. “Don’t listen to her. She helped Amy with decorating tips, and I ended up with pink roses in our bedroom.”
Clara threw him a glare. “The bedroom’s the woman’s territory, Brent. Always has been. Ask Mama if you don’t believe me.”
I held up my hands. “Whoa. Nothing’s changed here, has it? The two of you still tussle like a litter of pups.” I turned to Clara. “I’m teaching math, not English. I don’t need posters all over my walls for that.”
She rolled her eyes. “As fascinating as you are, Noah, I have to disagree. Clyde Jenkins was old school. Now that he’s retired and you’re stepping in, you need to freshen things up. I got a ton of ideas off Pinterest that would make your classroom really pop.”
Brent snorted. “Noah’s gonna command his classes with his military presence, Clara. He doesn’t need swag.”
“Swag?” She barked out a laugh. “Do you even know what swag is?”
“If you’re gonna bore me with the original 17th-century root word or some such nonsense…”
I slipped away, most likely unnoticed, my head pounding. Military housing was looking pretty good right about now.
“Hey, Noah. Welcome home.” One person after another gave me a slap on the back or a punch in the arm as I made my way through the maze of partiers to a quiet corner. A guy with a bigger head might mistake the crowd as evidence of popularity, but I knew Pops’ cooking was the real draw.
“Had enough already?” Amelia handed me a plate loaded with down-home grub. Mac ’n’ cheese, potato casserole, Boston butt, green beans with bacon, and congealed salad. The meal must’ve weighed a good five pounds. I could always count on my baby sister to smooth out what the other two ruffled.
I grinned in response and accepted the offering. “Sure doesn’t appear Brent and Clara have changed much.” I forked up a bite of potato casserole. “What’s with the two of them, anyway?”
“Birth order,” she said with a sigh. “They’re always bidding for attention as middle children.”
I bit back a smile and swallowed. “I see you’re making good use of that psychology degree.”
“Yes, sir.” She crossed her arms and lifted her chin. “Only need a hundred more hours of internship before I can move to the next level. Hoping to have my own practice inside a year.” Then her smile wavered. “Of course, now that Stu and I have a baby on the way, who knows?”
I slipped my free arm around her shoulders and planted a kiss on her temple. “You’ll figure it out. Not so sure how Mama and Pops are gonna do, though. They pushed us all to get degrees, and there isn’t anyone left to take up the slack here at the restaurant.”
“Mama says God will provide.” She shrugged. “Always has, so no reason to doubt it now.”
“There you are.” Mama swiped a damp curl from her forehead and blew out a sigh. “Why’re the two of you hidin’ away in the corner? This here party’s for you, Noah. You should be mingling.” She turned to Amelia. “And you, young lady, need to put your feet up for a good bit. I don’t know but I couldn’t have pulled this off without you, but we want to make sure that grandbaby of mine stays safe, and that means you need your rest.”
“I’m fine, Mama, really.” Amelia patted Mama’s arm. “Noah and I were just talking about how you and Daddy are gonna do without help. Clara will be back in the classroom in another week or so, and y’all don’t have enough employees around here since Cindy retired.”
“I’m putting up a sign tomorrow for another waitress, and your daddy’s got an ad going in the paper next week. We’ll get us some more help, don’t you worry yourself about that. Y’all got more important things to do than work in a restaurant, let me tell you. If we had to close down tomorrow, we’d be just fine.”
“Close down?” Amelia pulled back and threw a worried glance my way. “Who said anything about closing down? Is it that bad?”
Mama shook her head. “Of course not. You’re taking what I said all out of context. Don’t you start psychoanalyzing me, young lady.”
“I’m not, Mama, but you just said—”
“Not now, Amelia.” I made eye contact with her over Mama’s head.
Amelia opened her mouth to argue then snapped it shut and gave me a nod. “You’re right. We can talk about this after church tomorrow.”
“There isn’t anything to talk about,” Mama said. “Y’all are makin’ a mountain out of a molehill, for Pete’s sake.” She shook her head and mumbled, “I say one off-the-cuff thing and everyone’s up in arms.”
Once Mama was out of earshot, Amelia turned to me. “You think they’re gonna have to close the restaurant? I never gave it much thought before, but with all of us off doing our own thing, there really isn’t anyone to step in. They’re not getting any younger, Noah. They need more than waitstaff. They need someone to manage things for them.”
I stilled her hands with one of my own. “Stop fretting, Amelia. Aren’t you the one always telling others that it does no good to worry?”
She grimaced. “You’re right. Physician heal thyself and all that.”
“They’ll get some more help in here and things’ll be fine. I can pitch in on weekends and nights if need be until we get it figured out.”
The restaurant wasn’t just an income for Mama and Pops; it was their legacy. How many times had I heard Pops talk about passing it on to the next generation? Now that we all had careers, there was no one left to pass it down to. It was easy enough to soothe Amelia’s concerns, but she was right—unless something changed, they’d have to consider selling.

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