“I’d want firm numbers in ten days. I need time to order the proper cuts and smoke things appropriately. Do we need to do a tasting?”
“Just did.” Kimberly’s smile said she thought Josie’s food passed with flying colors. “Awesome, as usual.”
“Crazy Leon doesn’t let just anyone into his kitchen on the bayou, nor does he release you into the food prep world without making sure you can actually do the job.”
“You worked for Leon?” Daryl hiked both brows, surprised at the mention of one of the barbecue greats. “My mama went to school with him back in the day. She said he was born with a spatula in his hand and a nose for combination elements.”
Josie laughed. “That’s him, all right. I worked for Leon for eight years before I realized I couldn’t handle one more Cajun summer. Not when Canandaigua Lake was calling my name. I relocated here about four years back, and we’re doing okay.”
“That makes three of you that came home,” Amy noted.
Kimberly turned. So did Drew, Daryl and Josie.
“Kimberly, Dad and you,” she continued, looking up at Josie. “It must be a pretty nice place to be if you all end up coming back, right?”
“Except we’re only here on temporary consulting assignment, and Kimberly’s here because her dad is sick,” Drew explained. “Only Josie came back on a permanent basis.”
“There must be something that calls people back, Dad,” Amy argued. “You read it in books all the time. You see it in movies. As if people kind of need to get away, but they leave part of themselves there. In their hometown. And then they come back.”
* * *
The kid had made a great point, so why were her words so tough to hear? Maybe because they were true. Kimberly slung an arm around Amy’s shoulders in a half hug.
“I like your sentimental side,” she told her. “The opposite of your dad. And you know something I’ve discovered?”
“What?” Amy looked up, interested. So did Josie and Daryl. Drew drew his brows together, frowning. Because she thought him dispassionate? Or because Amy was sentimental?
“I forgot how nice this town is. The funny stores and mix of tourists. The traffic around The Square, the endless parade of people at the beach and the five old guys who hang out on the corner of Market and Vine, smoking cigars and playing cards while they watch the world pass by.”
“You’re making a group of feisty old men into a selling point?” Skepticism marked Drew’s words. “That’s a stretch.”
“It’s Grace Haven.” Kim shrugged. “I think when you’re away you get used to a new normal and you forget to appreciate how cool the old normal was. That’s all I’m saying.”
“Well, Pretty Polly sure thinks enough of those fellows to make sure she strolls down Center Street every morning at nine-fifty. Unless it’s raining or a blizzard,” Josie offered, grinning.
“You get blizzards here?” Amy’s voice hiked up. “We get a little snow once in a while in Jersey, but I’ve always dreamed of snowy winters. Sledding. Skating.”
“Shoveling.” Drew looked unamused. He stood and turned toward the door as if he couldn’t wait to escape. “Josie, nice meeting you. I’ll look forward to hearing from you.”
“We’ll look forward to it,” Kimberly corrected him. “You’ve got my number, Josie.”
“I’ll be in touch,” Josie promised. Kimberly would have to be blind not to see her cousin’s look of amusement. Amused at her? Drew? The whole situation?
At the moment, she wasn’t finding Drew humorous, approachable or all that friendly, and that was gonna make for a long five weeks.
Amy likes Grace Haven.
Drew got that. Amy had a case of small-town-itis, wishing for roots, although the snow lament was only because she hadn’t stood in the school-bus loop for ten minutes in a snow squall, freezing to death, or shoveled dozens of driveways to make a few extra bucks. Her snow info had been pretty much relegated to nonstop Christmas movies on the inspirational channel, hope and dreams decked out in red, green and staged snow. So she was loving the thought of her father’s hometown, while Drew was taking a deep breath with every old face he saw. In their eyes he read the timeline. They remembered him ramming around town, him and Dave, best buds, always together.
And Dave was gone.
He dropped Kim at the office and drove the SUV around to the Country Inn. As he exited the car, Kimberly’s words came back to him. He hesitated, glanced at Amy, then pulled out his phone to get the number for the bed-and-breakfast. On this point, Kimberly was right. If Amy was going to be in town for more than a month, it made no sense to have a hotel room on the highway when they could be right in the walking district. He called the B and B to check on vacancies and when the owner heard the time frame, Drew thought she squeaked in excitement. “Six weeks?”
“At least that. And we’ll pay in advance.”
“We’ve got room,” the woman declared. “I can have it ready for you about seven tonight. Is that all right?”
“Perfect.” He turned to Daryl as he hung up the phone. “You okay with staying here at the inn?”
“I am.” Daryl smiled down at Amy. “I think Amy will love living in town, in walking distance to everything—”
“As long as she follows my rules,” boomed Drew in a voice meant to scare her silly.
It did no such thing. She grinned up at him, looped her arm through his and hugged it. “I’ve never been able to walk anywhere on my own. Ever. Not in New Jersey, not in Manhattan. This is like a dream come true, Dad. A normal life, even if it’s just for a little while.”
It wasn’t a dream come true for Drew, but that wasn’t important now. Amy was important. And Shelby’s wedding, keeping it flawless. If he had to face old demons, then it was time to face them. He thought he’d come to terms with Dave’s death, he’d have argued the point if asked, but coming back to Grace Haven and seeing old sights, sounds and people cut deep.
Maybe they’re supposed to.
He ignored the internal twinge and tossed Daryl a burner phone. “Let’s switch things up again.”
Daryl pocketed the phone and headed inside. Drew checked his watch, saw they had over two hours until the B and B could accommodate them and pointed Amy to the car. “Hop in. I’m going to give you the grand tour.”
“Really?” Excitement lit her voice, as if trolling around a one-horse Finger Lakes town was some big deal.
“Yes.”
“I’ll love it, Dad!”
Her eagerness made him smile. Top to bottom, stem to stern, she’d be in her glory because Grace Haven, New York, was small-town perfection. Safe, beautiful, historic, inviting... You name it, Grace Haven had it. Depth of beauty, something not every old town could claim.
His words brought Kimberly’s face to mind. The beautiful Gallagher girl... That’s how he’d always thought of her, once she’d gotten past the pesky adolescent awkward stage.
She was still pesky. But she’d only gotten more beautiful, and how was he supposed to not notice that?
He didn’t have a clue.
He took Amy on a rolling tour of the town, then paused by the water park. “If you cause no trouble tomorrow, we’ll get an evening pass and spend tomorrow evening here,” he promised.