Kate Welsh - Small-Town Dreams and The Girl Next Door - Small-Town Dreams / The Girl Next Door

Her head ached. Her stomach burned. At least, she consoled herself, walking down the side of a road without sidewalks put her in no danger. Traffic in the booming metropolis of Mountain View was as nonexistent as foreign car parts.

Cassidy held out little hope that Irma’s Café would provide a decent meal. After all, it had been Earl Pedmont who’d recommended the place, and that didn’t inspire much confidence. But it seemed to be the only game in town, so she headed toward the flickering neon sign he’d pointed out. Though traffic along the country road was indeed no problem, the uneven surface was.

With the prospect of spending several days watching everywhere she put her high-heel-shod feet looming in her mind, she opened the door to Irma’s Café—and almost gasped aloud. Instead she stood there gaping because inside the unassuming concrete-block structure was a perfectly preserved fifties diner, replete with shining red counter and matching stools. Sitting opposite the counter was a row of cheery red-and-white booths.

Cassidy sniffed the air appreciatively and sighed. Until that moment her surprises that day had been anything but pleasant. Maybe her luck had changed. Maybe things were looking up.

“Don’t get too excited, Cassidy old girl, there was nowhere to go but up,” she muttered to herself as she went to put her hand to her throbbing head and noticed her grease-stained fingers.

As the bell over the door tinkled, an elderly woman stopped polishing the red faux-marble countertop and looked up. “Sit wherever you want,” she said with a friendly smile. “I’ll be with you in no time.”

Cassidy nodded gratefully and nearly staggered to the nearest booth. She sank down onto the comfortable red bench and put her clean palm against her forehead, closing her eyes, trying to decide what to do next.

Her car clearly needed more than the typical in-and-out repair she was used to having done. Should she have her grandfather send a car for her, or should she look for lodging? That was really no choice at all, since right then she didn’t even want to talk to her grandfather, let alone ask for his help in any way.

“Are you all right, dear?” a female voice asked.

She looked up at the elderly woman who’d called to her from behind the counter. To Cassidy, she looked like everyone’s great aunt. Round. Gray. Kindly. The fairy godmother in Cinderella come to life.

“My car broke down and I don’t know what to do next,” she confided to the woman for some unknown reason.

“You look like you could use a little repair yourself.”

Cassidy felt as if someone had wrapped a blanket around her cold spirit. Baffled by her reaction to the woman, Cassidy shrugged. “Oh, it’s no big deal. Just a monster headache and an ulcer burning a hole in my stomach.”

“How about a bowl of homemade vegetable soup, some crackers and a nice cup of herbal tea?”

Cassidy sighed. “Is the soup what I smelled when I came in here?”

The woman sniffed the air and chuckled. “I suppose it was. So how does that bowl sound to you?”

“Perfect. I’ll have the soup and crackers.” She thought for a second and added, “The tea, too.”

“That’ll just take a couple minutes. You need anything else, just holler for Irma.”

“I need to wash up.” She showed Irma her greasy hand.

“Earl?”

Cassidy nodded and even managed a smile. “I’d like to believe he did it by accident. After all, he’s got my car.”

“Oh, I’m sure it was an accident. He’s really a nice man. He’s just not bursting with social graces. The ladies’ room is just past the counter on the left.”

Cassidy stood. “Thank you, Irma. Earl also said to ask you about the Mountain View Hotel. It looks as if I’ll be in town for a while, so I’ll need a suite.”

“Mountain View Hotel? Is that what he said?” She chuckled. “Oh, he’s a card, that Earl. We don’t have a hotel here in Mountain View.”

Horrified, Cassidy stared at the woman. She’d given up on reaching the mountain resort of her daydreams, but she had to stay somewhere. “Then where will I stay? Earl made it sound as if I could be stuck here for days.”

“In summer I sometimes rent rooms at the parsonage. Sort of a bed-and-breakfast kind of arrangement. That must be what he meant. That tease! You’re welcome to stay with us, even though I don’t usually rent in fall or winter. I can adjust the regular rate for the off-season, or leave it and include three meals either here or with the family.” She named what Cassidy thought sounded like a very fair rate and described a room that didn’t sound like a luxury suite but at least sounded comfortable.

“That sounds fine. Can you tell me how to get to a local shop? I need to buy some clothes and personal items. This was an unplanned trip.”

Irma pursed her lips. “Hmm. Well, there’s The Trading Post across the road. You can stop and get personal items and underthings there, but as for clothing, there’s nothing in town open in the off-season except the church thrift shop. I’m sure you could get by with what you find there.”

Cassidy’s heart dropped. No little designer shop? No cute little mountain boutique? “A thrift shop?”

Irma didn’t seem to notice Cassidy’s hesitation. “It’s a little ways on up the road. Last building out of town. Our home is right next door. The shop’s in back of the church building. You can’t miss it. It looks like a little version of the church but a lot newer. My son built it last summer.”

Cassidy was appalled, but didn’t want to show it after Irma had been so kind. She felt small and petty to balk at wearing clothes from a thrift store. But this was the complete opposite of what she’d imagined, and she didn’t think she’d be able to wear something a stranger had worn and discarded. “A thrift shop,” she repeated.

“There are some really nice things. You’ll see.”

Nodding, Cassidy said, “I’ll go over after I eat. How long will it be before I can get into my room? Maybe if I sleep, this headache will go away.”

“I’ll call Josh and warn him that you’re on your way over. He and Henry can get the room ready by the time you get there. I’ll go get your soup and be back in a jiffy.”

“Hello, St. Luke’s Thrift,” Joshua said as he put the telephone receiver to his ear.

“Josh, it’s Ma.”

Joshua smiled. “Hi, Ma. I was just about to close up shop here and go in to wake Henry.”

“I need you to do a couple things for me. Make sure the ivory-and-lavender bedroom is all made up and sparkling. We’ve got a young lady coming to stay a few days. She’ll be needing some things from the shop, too.”

“Another lost soul?”

“Smarty,” she scolded with a smile in her voice. “She’s a paying guest, so, no, not lost in the usual way, but…”

Now Josh heard compassion enter Irma’s tone. Here it comes, he thought, and sighed. “But what?”

“Well, I guess that having enough money to pay your way isn’t everything in life. I’m not sure she’s real healthy, either, but I can see she’s not happy even when she smiles. You’ll see. She should be there in a while. I just gave her a bowl of soup and a cup of tea.”

Chuckling, Josh hung up the phone to once again help Irma give aid to a needy person. He wanted to tell her to worry about herself for a change. She worked too hard. Relaxed too little. But how could he try to curb her from bringing home her strays after all she’d done for him?

Of course, there wasn’t a thing amiss in the room Irma had asked him to see to, so after waking Henry, Joshua returned to the thrift shop to await the woman.

A few minutes later the bell above the door tinkled. Joshua looked up, not knowing what to expect. Then he just stared. He might not have known what to expect, but it certainly hadn’t been anyone like the young woman who entered and approached the counter. Joshua stood automatically.