what she gratefully felt was a second chance here in this wonderful, tiny dot-on-the-map town less than a year ago, Tina had applied herself to the business of rebuilding her life and making something of herself so that she was able to provide for her eleven-month-old son, Bobby.
To that end, she’d taken those last three missing credits that allowed her to finally get her undergraduate degree. From there she’d begun work on her accounting degree, taking online classes whenever she could. She had a ways to go yet, but the point was that she was getting there and it felt as if everyone in Forever—not just her older sister, Olivia, and her brother-in-law, Rick, who also just happened to be the sheriff in Forever—was supporting her, cheering her on, pitching in when she needed help.
Why else would so many of the store owners suddenly turn to her to “help” them with their books? She knew that Miss Joan was behind that. The woman was certainly as sharp as they came and she could easily handle her own books, but Miss Joan had handed that off to her. Granted that the woman had her hands full, running the diner that was Forever’s only decent place to eat, not to mention that it was also the last diner available for a good fifty miles to any traveler driving along the highway.
The latter fact was how she and Don, her son’s father, had happened upon Forever, because they’d needed to stop for a meal. They’d also left Forever—and Bobby—in their rearview mirror the same day. She hadn’t had much of a choice in that. It was during this sudden road trip that she’d realized Don was really, certifiably crazy. And that, depending on his whim, he’d destroy all three of them.
She’d been too in love with Don in the beginning to see that. But she was well aware of it that day. And she’d turned out to be right. Don had tried to kill them both by driving his car into a tree.
Luckily, he’d only succeeded halfway. Don had died, she hadn’t. And, after an emotionally rocky start, she finally began to live when she came out of her coma. That was all thanks to Olivia—and the caring, nurturing people of Forever.
As far as Tina was concerned, Forever was a perfect name for the place because she intended to stay here Forever, just like her older sister had. Moreover, this was the perfect place to raise her son—a place where everyone knew him and kept an eye out for him, just the way they kept an eye out for all the other children who lived here.
It didn’t get any better than this, Tina thought. She supposed, in some people’s opinion, it could be improved upon by introducing a little romance into her life, but she definitely didn’t have time for that. Nor the inclination, either. Falling in love with the wrong man had almost ruined her life and had very nearly killed her.
As far as she was concerned, let the others, like Olivia and Mona, Rick’s sister, have their romances. She’d had enough of so-called “romance” to last her a lifetime. Maybe two.
Walking through the diner, she hurried to the back before the tempting aroma of apple pie got to her and she stopped to have a piece. Nobody made apple pies like Miss Joan.
“Hey, wait up,” Miss Joan called out just before she managed to reach the rear of the diner and the small, cluttered room that Miss Joan referred to as her “official” office.
Stopping, Tina turned around and glanced toward the owner of the diner. Miss Joan beckoned for her to come over, which she did.
“Where are you going?” Miss Joan asked.
Puzzled, Tina answered, “Your office. To do the books. The way I always do every Wednesday. Why?” She looked around again and spotted her sister and Rick at the far end of the diner. “Is something wrong?”
Rather than answer her question, Miss Joan responded with one of her own. “Did you forget?” The knowing look on the woman’s face told her that she already had the answer to that one.
Tina thought for a moment, but couldn’t come up with anything. “What is it that I forgot?” Tina asked.
Miss Joan gestured around toward the other occupants of the diner. The place got progressively crowded. It was three o’clock and although she always did a healthy business around lunchtime, this was past the normal lunch hour. At three the crowd should have thinned out considerably, remaining that way until business picked up again for dinner. But right now, there were no empty seats except one at the counter that Miss Joan had placed her own marker on, reserving it for someone.
Otherwise, the place was packed. The way it was whenever Miss Joan decided to throw a party and celebrate.
Was that what was going on?
It had been a hectic morning and for a second, Tina drew a complete blank. And then, just like that, it came back to her, a conversation she’d had with Miss Joan just last week. With her ninety-mile-an-hour life, she’d lost track of things again.
“Oh, that’s right. The town’s finally getting a doctor. Was that today?” Tina asked as she looked around the place again. She made eye contact with several people, who nodded in response.
Miss Joan came around from behind the counter and slipped a deceptively thin but strong arm around her shoulders.
“That’s today,” she confirmed, then clucked as she shook her head. “You’ve got too much on your mind these days, Baby Girl,” the woman told her affectionately. “Being a mom to that handsome boy of yours, helping out your sister, doing the books for half the businesses in town. Pitching in here whenever one of the girls calls in sick and I’m shorthanded. Not to mention working on that accounting degree. You don’t have time to sleep, much less have a little fun. No wonder that brain of yours is so overloaded. There’s hardly any room in there for a new thought,” Miss Joan lamented.
“You’ve gotta slow down before you burn the candle not just at both ends but down the middle, too,” Miss Joan went on. “You don’t have to do everything all at once. Learn how to kick back once in a while,” the older woman advised.
“Now, sit yourself down,” she coaxed, holding on to Tina’s hand and leading her over to the stool she’d placed her sweater on earlier. She swept it off the seat, leaving it on the counter. “Have a little something to eat. Stay for the party.” Miss Joan leveled a penetrating look at her, second-guessing the thoughts that were going through her head. “Those books in my office aren’t going anywhere,” she promised. “They’ll still be there for you to go over in a couple of hours from now. Or even tomorrow if you can’t get to them today.”
The diner was her last stop of the day. It was here that Miss Joan and the waitresses took turns looking after her son while she worked. She felt good about that. Bobby certainly didn’t lack for attention and she had no concerns about leaving him here. But in the end, the little boy was her responsibility and she needed to finish the books in order to be able to take care of him by the end of the day.
“But Bobby—”
“—is very happy where he is,” Miss Joan assured her. To prove her point, she gestured toward the far end of the diner.
Bobby was playing with two of the waitresses. The women all took turns playing with him during their breaks and when there was a lull in business. Miss Joan pretended to look the other way. When it got busy, she took over caring for the boy. She made it seem completely effortless. It didn’t hurt that the boy had taken to her from day one.
Any further protests that Tina might have had to offer were curtailed because, just then, the front door opened and Joe Lone Wolf walked in. He was followed in by another man.
Another
