Chapter 6

The cabin is cozy and small, the door opens into the living room and kitchen. A three-cushion couch with a wooden coffee table lining one wall and the kitchen on the other.

A small two burner stove and sink left little counter space. Two tall narrow cabinets served as the pantry.

Up the stairs a large space with two dressers and the bed. The loft overlooking the kitchen and the bed up against a window with a perfect view of the lake.

Laila is ecstatic. “This is amazing! This whole space to ourselves. No five other girls in our room, no shared bathroom and no snoring.” She said excitedly.

“Well, I still have to deal with your snoring.” I joked.

I had no sooner made it upstairs then a knock came at the door.

Rushing down the stairs, pulling aside the little curtain and looking through the small window in the door. Tommy was outside holding a large tray covered in tin foil. I had completely forgotten he said he was going to make ribs.

I quickly opened the door and tried to help him with the tray, but he insisted on bringing it in himself.

“At least let me pay for this.” I said. About to take off upstairs to grab my money.

“CeCe mentioned something about taking you into town after work tomorrow for some clothes and food. You save your money for that.” Tommy said waving his hand.

I uncovered the food on the counter. A big plate of ribs and some kind of fried potatoes squares filled the pan.

I grabbed one of the ribs and took a bite, flavor exploded in my mouth as the meat fell off the bone. “This is the best thing I’ve ever eaten.” I said my mouth still full of food.

Tommy just laughed. “People don’t drive all this way for nothing.” He said with a wink before heading towards the door. “Come on by for breakfast in the morning. You’ll need it if you’re going to keep up with CeCe.”

I ate until I felt sick, it was so good I couldn’t stop myself. Finally, I had to wrap up what was left and put it in the small refrigerator to keep from eating more.

Taking a long hot shower, it felt wasteful as I had taken a bath earlier but the juices from the ribs ran down my hands and arms and got all over my clothes.

Wrapped up in a towel I laid down next to the clothes I still hadn’t put away and fell asleep almost instantly.

When the alarm woke me, I looked over to see it was a quarter after seven. I wasn’t sure what time Tommy had expected me but I didn’t want to be late.

Wiping the gunk from my eyes I noticed my pillow was wet. I had slept hard, the kind of sleep where you don’t move or remember dreaming. A spot of drool covered my pillow and my arm ached from sleeping on it.

I rummaged through my things to find someone to wear. “Do I not own anything that doesn’t have holes in it.” I sighed.

“Well, we used to have this amazing red tank top and black yoga pants but.” Laila smirked.

“Whatever! Those needed to be purified by fire anyway.” I giggled.

Throwing on a pair of jeans that are a size to bigger and a t shirt I ran out the door.

Going down the path between my cabin and the back of the house I could see the lights on and their shadows moving around.

“I hope we aren’t late.” I said.

Reaching the back door, I gently knocked. Hustled tip taps of feet told me CeCe was half running to the back door. “Common in sugar.” She told me.

The whole house smelled of vanilla and fresh baked cookies. My mouth watering as she led the way into the kitchen.

A big pile of pancakes stood in the center of the table. Three place settings were laid out and a half a dozen different kinds of jams and jellies along with two kinds of syrup.

“Help yourself, don’t be shy.” CeCe told me. “Tommy and I are just finishing getting ready and we’ll be right in.”

Taking two pancakes, I didn’t want to embarrass myself the way I did with the ribs. I couldn’t tell them I ate half of what he gave me which should have been enough to feed a family of six.

Pouring some syrup on and cutting a bite sized piece I took a small bite. I couldn’t stop the delighted moan that escaped me. “Ok this is the best thing I’ve ever eaten.”

Tommy’s voice came from behind me before CeCe came back in and sat down. “It’s like you’ve never had real food before child.” He laughed before squeezing my shoulder gently and sitting down with us.

“Don’t you pay him no mind. He loves to cook and eat.” She said gently patting his belly.

“I can’t thank you enough for everything.” I said as I continued to shovel food into my mouth.

CeCe looked at me and her eyes became sad. “Well, you see Tommy and I bought this place after our girls passed away. We were trying to get away from it all but it seems like life has other plans for us.” She said with a smile. “Every time one of you kids comes through Tommy swears it’s the girls sending you our way for help.”

We finished eating and cleaned up before CeCe took me into the restaurant to start opening. She showed me where everything is and she started me on rolling the silverware into napkins. Placing them by the menus when I was done.

It was almost eight o’clock and a small line of cars had pulled in waiting for us to open.

CeCe showed me how they made the coffee, ground freshly every morning and put a fresh plate of cinnamon rolls in the oven to get started. She opened the doors at eight am on the dot and around twenty people came in ready to eat.

“Now you just stick with me until you get the hang of it, I’ll turn you lose on your own table when it slows down and you’re ready.” She told me.

CeCe floated around from table to table grabbing orders bringing coffee and food. A few hours passed and it began to slow down. I helped clean up and grab dishes even filled a few coffees.

Just before 11 an older gentleman and a lanky younger man came in and sat in a booth down at the end.

“This one is yours sugar.” CeCe said with a smile.