As word got around town that we were modernizing the store as well as the inventory of clothing and work footwear business picked up substantially. After receiving a good report on Earls background check we felt comfortable enough to provide him with keys to the building and the combination to the small safe where we kept the cash register drawer. Elka would go through the receipts at the end of each day and then get the drawer ready for the next morning. It never held more than $150 to start the day.
That first week we were so worn out at the end of each day we did little more than have a meal, shower and sleep. Cindy had given us a long-term rate and told us to stay as long as we needed. Something that did change was Elka’s demand that I kiss her goodnight, and good morning the next day. Our attire regulations per se also began to relax dramatically when we w ere in the room. It was nothing for us to see one another in just underwear. One morning she quickly shot from the bathroom bare from the waist up, grabbed a bra, smiled at me and closed the door.
I soon found out what the small three-sided building in the back lot was for. It was where the Amish tied their horses when they came to shop. What I hadn’t seen from outside the fence when we were looking was that there was a small stock tank with an automatic watering system for the horses. I remember thinking, yup, old Clarence had considered just about everybody through the years. Including the large number of Amish farmers coming into the area.
Listening to the Amish women talk while the men bought supplies Elka had an epiphany. The closest place to buy sewing materials including fabric was forty miles away. Amish women seldom talk to a man, but they will talk with other women. By the end of the second week Elka knew what the ladies wanted, had Earl consolidate a portion of the store for sewing items and fabric, then placed an order. Because we were willing to pay extra for expedited shipping we had everything save a few notions in the store by the Tuesday following.
It was also the week that Clarence asked if he could head out sooner than we had talked about. He had found a senior citizen park that had a lot available if he could be there in two weeks. Everything at the farm had been cleared out and he was sleeping in the camper. We talked about it a lunch, agreed we should cut him loose and see how quickly we could get contractors busy at the house.
Our plans to move upstairs didn’t pan out, the water pipes were in need of replacement, the floor in the bathroom needed to be replaced and the apartment was still wired with an old 60 amp fuse box. The rest of the building had been completely upgraded but never the upstairs and since no one lived there Clarence never gave it a second thought.
Having the extended term rates at the motel helped dramatically at that point. Though we used the room for nothing more than sleeping and showers it became like home in a weird sort of way. Elka’s need for closeness had increased as well. The first night she crawled under the covers with me I was about to say something when she whispered.
“Shut up and hold me lars. Just hold me.”
Sunday morning we would load our laundry into the truck and spend the next two hours conversing as we waited on the machines. It was on one of those mornings that I brought up what Cindy and I had talked about a few weeks earlier. Sitting close enough that our bodies were touching she took my hand and kissed it. There were things about my younger sister by a whole two minutes I never knew, but liked.
“How would we do that though Lars? Neither of us has any skill in the kitchen, much less a family type restaurant. It would be a flop and waste of money, speaking of which, our sales are more than twenty percent higher than Clarence’s were this time last year. We’re making money baby, why risk it?”
I let go of her hand, put my arm around her shoulder, pulled her tight, tilted my head back and sighed. She had a point, an extremely valid point. Then I heard her soft voice.
“Unless. Maybe we should talk to that Ruth lady and see if she would be willing to run the place. Not have to cook, just run it and hire whoever she wanted for the kitchen.”
I went into default mode, I bent my head kissed the top of hers and said softly.
“Excellent idea, see, there’s one more reason why I love you so much.”
Then I caught myself. “You know what I mean. Right?”
She smiled, softly stroked my cheek with the back of her fingers and cooed, “I know what you mean, because I feel the same way.”
Just then the buzzer on the dryer went off. Saved by the buzzer, we folded the last load, put the baskets in the truck and went for an early lunch. Lo and behold who should we run into but Ruth and a younger version of her at a table toward the back. She motioned to us to join them as they hadn’t yet ordered. The younger version of Ruth was her daughter, also a chef working in a 3 star hotel on the east coast home for a visit and desperately trying to find work nearby to be closer to her mother. We looked at each other, then the two of them, and grinned.
Ruth broke the silence. “What? What are you guys grinning about? Tell me.”
My darling sister answered, “Would you two be willing to sit with us after the meal and talk?”
Ruth answered, “What’s wrong with here and now?”
It was time for me to enter the conversation. “Not here. Too many ears. The store is closed on Sunday, no one will be able to hear us there. Would you two be willing to follow us there after we’re through eating?”
Ruth looked at her daughter Sylvia, raised her eyebrows and waited. Syl as she preferred to be called uttered one word. “Sure.”
At the store I told them we were speaking speculatively and anything discussed would need to remain between the four of us. They agreed and we proceeded to talk about what Cindy had said. Neither uttered a word as they sat listening, when we were done explaining our vision Ruth looked at Syl, who nodded and then asked.
“Can we see the building?”
For the next 90 minutes we watched as they walked every foot of the establishment making notes along the way, both mental and written. We were sitting on a pair of rickety chairs left over from the long ago nonexistent pizza place when they walked up to us.
“Are you guys still staying at the Sunset?” We nodded. “Give us a few hours to mull this over, why don’t you guys have dinner with us and we’ll talk more. Sylvia give them our address.”
Sylvia huffed, “Mom, it’s Syl.”
Ruth chuckled, “You may be Syl to everybody else, but you will always be Sylvia to me. Give her the address, we need to get home and start prepping. Six o’clock, sharp. Beer, wine, or whatever?” she asked.
Elka spoke first, “Milk for him at the meal, a beer afterwards probably. Water and a beer for me as well please.”
Not another word was said as they turned and walked from the building. Elka looked at me and smiled.
“That went well, I can hardly wait to hear what they have to say this evening.”
I gave her a wondering look, “What makes you think it went well? They didn’t say a thing about it to us.”
“I know because I’m a woman and I know how other women think. Besides, I watched their facial expressions and body language while you were checking that goofy phone. I’m telling you Lars, you better be buckled in tonight, those two have ideas we never thought of.”
As we were locking up we were approached by a woman with a small girl. Both looked disheveled, unkempt and dirty. With shame in her eyes she asked, “Mister would you have a dollar we might have? She’s hungry and all I have is a dollar thirty-seven in change.”
I looked at her with sadness, “What about you ma’am, aren’t you hungry?”
“Yes, yes I am but her needs come before mine.”
Elka took her hand, “Where’s your stuff? Do you have any belongings?”
“Um, they’re hidden in a bag by the bakery. We were too late to get bread yesterday, we haven’t eaten in two days.”
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