a halt when a warm voice drew his attention to the entrance door.
The blonde...
Haley, he corrected himself internally.
Stepped through the door, her generous smile a flash of sun in a time of rain. The boys followed, their faces more relaxed and somewhat sleepy.
“Haley!” LuAnn followed with Maude McGinnity. Both women bore bags of covered food dishes, the aluminum foil squeaking protest as they moved. “We need a home for some of these leftovers and you and the boys are just the ticket!”
Just the ticket?
The Mayberry-type saying fit the day, the occasion, the people and Jamison, New York, the picturesque little town nestled in the heart of Allegany County.
Haley turned. Surprise and pleasure brightened her profile. She didn’t wave off the food or pretend not to need it. She helped LuAnn snug the packaged plates between tightly wedged items in the sporty red car, then hugged both women while the boys attempted to fasten their belts.
“Thank you.” She smiled at Maude, then LuAnn, grasping each woman’s hand in hers. “You have no idea how necessary this is right now. I had to use all my ready cash on last week’s deliveries, the bank hasn’t released the next draft on the loan as yet, and we need to have that final wing open next week.”
“I know.” LuAnn leaned forward, obviously understanding the woman’s thread of conversation while Brett drew a complete blank. “And if you need anything, anything at all...”
“A babysitter.” Haley lowered her voice and kept a grip on both women’s hands. “This unexpected development has me in a crunch. Tomorrow is Black Friday and my retailers expect me on site. My cousin Alyssa hooked me up with Rory Madigan—”
“A lovely girl.” Maude nodded approval. LuAnn’s quick blink agreed.
“But she’s an Irish dancer and has a feis this weekend in Buffalo. So I can use her tomorrow, but then there’s Saturday and Sunday that need coverage.”
“On a holiday weekend, to boot,” LuAnn added, concerned.
“And our Jessie is due to deliver any minute,” Charlie put in, “or we’d be glad to help out.”
Brett stayed still. Silent. He hadn’t meant to be part of this conversation and had every intention of ignoring his conscience. He’d spent the last two years living life alone. Quiet. In the background except for when it came to the fire department. Just him, the dog and an amazing room full of model trains.
He loved his volunteer firefighting job. Helping others. Battling fires. Covering inspections, as needed. Maybe he was always meant to be a battler and that’s why the army had fit so well.
Too well.
“We’ll figure it out,” LuAnn promised as Haley redirected Todd’s fingers to engage his car seat straps. A tiny “click” said they got it done. “You take the boys home, get them settled and I’ll see what I can come up with tomorrow. Okay?”
“God bless you, LuAnn.” Haley hugged the older woman, her crush of blond hair reflecting the dawn-to-dusk light. She slid into the car, waved goodbye, backed out of the parking spot with ease and aimed the car toward the interstate and Brett’s retirement-funded convenience store, but she raised a sweet hand as she made the corner turn, and her face—
Oh, that face—
Sent them a bright smile as if certain everything would work out in the end.
Brett only wished her youthful optimism held true. And just as dark thoughts seemed determine to resettle, a small, wriggling body stretched up in her backseat, peering out. The scrunched face caught Brett’s gaze through the darkened rear window. The little fellow relaxed into a wide grin. The corner light gave just enough gleam for Brett to recognize Todd’s features, his rounded eyes, cheeks and chin holding a hint of the baby he’d been not long ago, and the precocious preschooler he was now.
He waved at Brett. Just Brett. And somehow that tiny action, unprovoked, innocent and childlike, shoved those old thoughts aside. Way aside.
Brett smiled. Raised his hand.
The boy did the same, and in that moment Brett felt a gnarly old door tug open. It was his heart, rusted and worn, struggling to work free.
And it felt good.
Chapter Two
“Boss? You’re good?”
Brett nodded toward Steve Huber and Ramir Martinez, his two college-aged employees who got him through a crazy busy Black Friday at the Crossroads Mini-Mart. “Yes. See you guys tomorrow. And thank you.” He met each young man’s look with a smile of appreciation as he cleaned the narrow delicatessen area. “I don’t know what I would have done without you today.”
Steve grinned and Ramir offered a thumbs-up as they left. The young men came through in a pinch when Charlie and LuAnn’s daughter decided to give birth mid-morning. And with the new shopping enterprise recently opened across the street?
The Crossroads had set record sales figures today. And that was nothing to take lightly in tough economic times.
Brett had pretty much decided he hated the idea of destination shopping when the fancy merchants’ co-operative began stringing twinkle lights ad nauseam two weeks ago. But when their Black Friday business spilled over to his dolled-up convenience store directly across the two-lane road leading to I-86, he realized he might owe the developer an apology. And a thank you. Except for being a little short on workers, it had been an amazing day. And he’d felt good about being out here. Manning the store. Making special-order fast food along the deli wall.
He’d do a repeat performance tomorrow because Les Simmons, Charlie’s brother and their regular weekend fill-in guy, had become Allegany County’s first recorded case of influenza, so he’d be unavailable to help this weekend. With Charlie, LuAnn and Les all in absentia, Brett would be hands-on for a couple of days at least.
Charlie and LuAnn Simmons were friends, employees and pseudo-parents, the kind of folks who made things better by just being themselves. Seeking solitude in his bungalow home behind the store, he’d watched the sales numbers rise over the summer. That was to be expected as travelers and tourists tooled down I-86.
But now?
He directed his gaze to the newly-created enterprise perched on the southwest corner. White twinkle lights blinked along the roofline of the former furniture factory’s extended front facade, lighting antique-style cedar shingles with cozy brightness. Small trees winked in similar style, lining a parking lot that had been filled with cars until a short while ago. Customers had buzzed in and out all day, shopping nonstop. And some of those cars needed gas. Other shoppers needed food. Which meant the Crossroads did well.
The door opened. Brett turned.
Haley stood framed in the doorway, flanked by the two little boys, and if their expressions set the evening’s tone, she had a long night in store. Tyler looked mutinous and the littler guy... Todd, he remembered...clutched the same scruffy, black stuffed cat that had been a mainstay at dinner yesterday.
“It’s
