A/N: I am so sorry my updates take so long in coming. I've discovered in writing this story that I am a perfectionist :( and a bit paranoid. I can't put up a new chapter unless I feel totally okay with it. Thank you all for your patience, encouragement and reviews. Here's the next chapter. This is for Miss Kitten because she was so adamant. :):)
Chapter 4 – Dinner With The Cavanaughs
Mabel's was calming down, as it usually did around mid-morning. The early rush being over, the diner was left to those who just liked hanging out. One of those, of course, was Pete.
"Hey Jenny", he called out as he took a seat at the counter. After looking around a bit, he asked, "Where's that cute new waitress you guys finally hired?"
"She's off today", answered Jenny. She came up behind him and spoke over his shoulder. "What would Vanessa say about you checking out our new waitress? You remember Vanessa – your girlfriend."
Turning his stool away from the counter to face Jenny, "Vanessa knows she's my only girl. Besides a guy could look, for my sakes", Pete started to laugh.
Jenny just shook her head at Pete's lame joke while she wiped off a just vacated table. He just cracks himself up, she thought to herself; but she said to him sarcastically, "As long as you don't touch though right?"
"Yeah…. Where's she staying anyway?"
"Why do you need to know that, Pete? I would suggest", Jenny scolded, "you stay concerned about your girlfriend or maybe your best friend."
"He's still haunting this place, huh?" Pete kept twirling the stool around to follow Jenny as she worked.
"Every day like clockwork. He's at least eating something now."
"Yeah?"
"Yes. I don't know how she did it, but Alex has been able to get him to at least eat the French fries she brings over every time he's in here. Something finally getting his attention."
"Or someone", Pete insinuated with a raised eyebrow. "You know much about her?"
"No not really, except that she's a good waitress. I was hoping to catch up with her today. Mom wants me to invite her over to the house for dinner."
oO0Oo
"Thank you", said the deep and rumbling voice, as Jasper accepted the small bouquet of flowers he just purchased. It was the same bouquet of flowers he purchased every day; white daisies, pale pink roses, baby's breath, and all encircled by blue forget-me-nots.
"That girl of yours must be real special", commented Mr. Miller. Mr. Miller, an older gentleman, owned the flower shop just outside of town. There was a flower shop in Putnam, closer to Jasper's home; but here, aside from seeing him every day, no one knew him.
"Yes sir", Jasper paused. "She was. But she wasn't my girl." He then turned and left the shop.
oO0Oo
Alex hurried her way across the street, bundled up as tightly as she could in, what turned out to be, a most flimsy of jackets. She still wasn't used to such cold weather, and mistakenly not prepared for it when she began her travels. Upon reaching and entering Mabel's Table, she immediately welcomed the warmth the diner offered her.
"You have the day off, remember?" Jenny told Alex while still carrying several plates of foods to be served to a nearby table.
"I know, but a girl's gotta eat. And as I was told several times when I first took a room over there 'there is no room service'."
"That's great, because I was hoping to catch up with you today anyway."
"Jen", one of Mabel's regular customers beckoned.
"Hold on one second Ted. I'll be right with you."
Alex was still shivering a bit when she took a seat at the counter. Standing and leaning over the counter, she reached for the coffee pot. She poured herself a cup, sipping it slowly and hoping the hot liquid would quickly finish warming her up.
"Alex", Jenny called to her from the cash register. "Here's your change Ted…. Alex, Mom wants you to come to dinner tonight, okay?"
"Yeah?" Alex says questioningly.
"It's no big deal. My parents just want to get to know you better." Jenny paused, her mood briefly turning somber. "It's just with you…. With someone finally replacing…. Taking over for…. They just want to make sure you're okay here", Jenny finished with a resigning sigh.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yes. I'm fine really." And with that Jenny walked away, returning to her customers.
Already suspicious of this dinner, Jenny's change in mood caused Alex to be even more so. It was the second time in talking about this job, a job she took on the spur of the moment that Jenny's mood had taken a sudden dark turn.
oO0Oo
Alex fell in love with how everything was so close to everything else in Putnam. It took her only a few more minutes to walk to the Cavanaugh's house than it did to cross the street to get to the diner. Their home was a mere hundred feet behind Mabel's Table. It was a lovely home; warm and inviting. When Sheriff Earl and Mrs. Jo Cavanaugh met Alex at the door, they made her feel welcomed immediately. As well as everything seemed, however, Alex got the sense of vacant ness about the house; like something was missing or someone.
The Cavanaugh's led Alex towards the back of the house, through the kitchen which had the most delicious aromas wafting throughout. The back of the house had a screened in porch, where Jenny was busy setting up for dinner with the help of a blond-headed little girl who looked exactly like her. The porch was heated and it faced a small lake that was sparsely surrounded by baron trees, and sparkled from the light of the rising moon. It was beautiful. So inspired by the lake, Alex asked if she could come back sometime and photograph it from their back porch. They agreed and that was a good start for the dinner-table conversation.
Jenny and her little daughter, who insisted on helping mommy, started bringing dinner out to the back porch. After which, Jenny put her daughter to bed. Having been feed earlier in the evening and helping her mom, she was more than tired enough to fall asleep quickly and put up little fuss. Alex sat with Jenny's parents, Earl and Jo. It was Jo who began the conversation, as Jenny returned to join them.
"So Alex, photograph is a hobby of yours?" Jo Cavanaugh asked.
"No actually, Mrs. Cavanaugh", Alex started.
"Jo, please", she said as she began serving everyone a plate. Dinner was simple but delicious. Mrs. Cavanaugh prepared a hearty beef stew with lots of vegetables and a rich, dark brown gravy. Along with the stew, wide buttered noodles and a fresh green salad was served.
"Okay, Jo", Alex continued. "I'm actually a professional photographer. I shoot landscapes mostly, with the occasional portrait; should I come across an interesting subject." Alex allowed for the slight smile to cross her face as her thoughts went briefly to the shots she'd taken of Jasper the previous afternoon. He was definitely an interesting subject. No one noticed her momentary loss of focus and conversation as well as dinner continued.
"How did you become interested in photography?" Jo asked, settling into her seat after serving her own plate.
"My father was a photographer in the Air Force", Alex replied.
"Your father was a journalist then."
"No, I don't think so, not really."
"You don't think so?" Sheriff Cavanaugh, a bit gruff, joined in the conversation.
"No sir. My father died when I was young."
"I'm sorry", Jo offered her condolences.
"Thank you. But there's no need to be. It happened a long time ago and I've been all right for a while now."
"You never found out how exactly your father's photography was used by the Air Force?", again it was the sheriff that asked the question.
"No sir I didn't", Alex turned to face the sheriff directly. "I asked my mother about it once. She said my father didn't talk about what he did in the Air Force except to say that he worked with cameras. I inherited a couple of them when he died. I don't travel with them though."
"Do you get to travel a lot?" asked Jenny, her interest growing.
"Yeah, when I want to."
"How'd you end up in Putnam?" Jenny asked with slight disdain. "I mean you probably could have gone anywhere."
"It was totally by accident, or maybe it was fate. I was on my way to Boston, but with the trip taking so long and being so late in getting to this point, I couldn't spend another minute on that bus. So I decided I could spend a few days here, do some exploring, and take some pictures."
"You do know you've been here almost two weeks right?" Jenny said.
"Yeah I know." Alex chuckled. "But I like it here and I haven't had a chance to do any real exploring yet. Besides, I'm in no big hurry and the room I'm renting over the bus station is not so bad."
"If you're planning on staying in town any length of time, you might want to think about making more permanent living arrangements", Jenny suggested.
"That's probably a good idea. Maybe I can find a place where I can develop my pictures."
"We don't usually have professional photographers working as waitresses in our diner."
"I'm sure you don't Sheriff Cavanaugh. But you have a pretty busy diner, and Jenny seemed to be at the end of her rope when we met."
"She's right Dad", Jenny added.
"If you don't mind my asking Sheriff, why wasn't the job filled before I took it?"
"Because no one else wanted it."
"Jenny, please."
"Come on Mom. We should at least tell her."
"Tell me what?" Alex questioned. "Why didn't anyone else want the job? And I thought you said there wasn't much I needed to know." That last part was aimed directly at Jenny.
An uncomfortable silence fell over everyone for several long moments. Jenny was the first to break that silence. When she plunged forward, it was with an explanation undoubtedly painful for her and her family….
"I'm sorry", Jenny apologized. "I guess I did lie to you a little bit. You see, no one in this town wanted to work at Mabel's because no one wanted to take over Sam's job. I guess it's their way of showing respect for our family. I don't know." Jenny let out a long, sad sigh, looking off into nothing.
"Sam?" Alex asked trying to gently probe Jenny or anyone else at the table to continue. When it looked like no one would, Alex thought better of her question, or rather she thought better of asking it. Her mind was revving up though. Was this sleepy little town harboring a deep, dark secret; and did she really want to know it? She started, "Look, I'm sorry. It's really none of my business. I…"
"Samantha", Jenny continued suddenly. "My sister. She died last year."
At that admission, Sheriff Cavanaugh abruptly stood, "Another Ralston boy…", and left the dinner table, knocking over his chair in the process.
"Dad, that wasn't his fault", Jenny tried to reason with him as he retreated from the room. "As much as I wanted to blame him too", she went on, almost under her breath, to no one in particular.
"Earl", Jo called after her husband. When he didn't stop, she got up and followed him from the dining room, through the house to the front porch. He sat on the front porch steps, looking out over his property. The same place he sat and cried when he finally accepted that his "little girl" was going to die, and that she was prepared and ready for that eventuality.
"I am really sorry", Alex apologized again. "I didn't…"
"You didn't", Jenny interrupted her. After her mom followed her dad out, Jenny continued. "My dad really took my sister's death hard. He just couldn't understand how there was nothing that could be done for her. Even he as the sheriff couldn't stop it." Jenny's eyes glazed over and Alex intently waited for her to go on. She sounded like she really needed to get this out. "The cancer was moving too fast. The doctors said there were some radical treatments they could try, some harsh ones. At best, these treatments might slow down the cancer, slightly; but they wouldn't stop it. They said maybe two years, again at best; but that that time wouldn't be pleasant. More than likely it would be very painful. Sam refused to live the rest of her life that way. She wanted to have what life she could in the time she had left. My dad had a hard time accepting her decision."
"She sounds like she was a very strong person", Alex commented.
"I never thought she was until then…. My sister was very beautiful. She could have had the attention of half the guys in this town, if she wanted it."
"I take it she didn't want it?" Alex questioned.
"There was that and then there was Jasper. None of those guys were dumb enough to want to go up against Jasper", Jenny replied as she began to clear the dinner table.
"Jasper", was all Alex said to that. But as Jenny disappeared into the kitchen, Alex thought to herself, the mystery guy does have a mystery. So that's why he keeps coming to the diner every day. He's mourning Samantha. He's still mourning her.
When Jenny returned with two pieces of chocolate cake, Alex asked her, "Were they close – your sister and Jasper?"
"They'd been together ever since they were kids. Up until last summer when…"
"When the cancer happened", Alex tried to help her finish what she believed to be an obviously painful thought.
"When Kelly happened." It wasn't her sister's cancer she was thinking about after all. But Jenny's comment was still made with a certain amount of pain in her voice. She sat silently for a few minutes. She and Alex both did.
In the meantime, Jenny's mother returned. Her father, however, wasn't inclined to do the same. Jo Cavanaugh apologized for her husband and hoped Alex enjoyed dinner. Alex said she had and thanked her for her family's hospitality. Alex also apologized again for any pain or discomfort her questions may have caused and then suggested that maybe it was time for her to leave.
"Goodnight Mrs. Cavanaugh. Goodnight Jen", Alex said as she stepped out onto the front porch. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
"Wait", Jenny stopped her and handed her a piece of paper. "This is the address and phone number for the Arnolds. They have a room over their barn. I've only known them to rent it out once, but they might want to do it again. You should really check it out."
"I will. Thanks."
Alex left and headed back to her room over the bus station. She went to bed that night with several questions weighing on her mind. What was the relationship between Jasper and Samantha? Who was Kelly? And what did this Kelly person have to do with Jasper and Samantha?
(END OF CHAPTER 4)