Carol was at Lula's before she even had to be for her morning shift. Jacqui came in early too and they greeted the kitchen staff as everyone got set up. The job situation at Lula's Diner was never really a stressful one. The doors theoretically opened at seven, but if everyone was ready to go they could open as early as six thirty. Early wasn't a problem at Lula's, it was late that got her annoyed.
And so by ten minutes to seven, Carol and Jacqui had the coffee going and they opened the doors to the small diner, waiting for the morning work crowd to trickle in. Early mornings consisted mostly of those that would stop, quickly, for a cup of coffee and a one of the pastries or doughnuts that were famously handmade by Lula herself the night before.
That was the real morning rush since those people never even sat down. They'd just come to the bar, make their order, take their food and rush out the door. Whoever wasn't manning those people had the old timers and the retirees. They were a much laxer crowd, trickling in whenever they pleased, often sitting in the same places. They'd start with coffee, always, ask if the papers had been delivered yet, eventually they'd order some early bird special plate or an omelet and they'd sit around reading the paper, drinking cup after cup of coffee, and swapping stories with each other. That crowd would linger around until it was almost time for the early lunch crew.
Days at Lula's were pretty predictable, to say the least, but then again most everything in Sweet Junction was predictable.
Jacqui took the counter for the morning and Carol went about passing out cups of coffee to all the familiar old faces that trickled into the diner. Mostly it was old retired men, escaping for some little amount of time from their wives, and a good number of them knew her because they'd known her parents and known her grandparents. They were always full of smiles and good mornings.
"Mornin' Carol Ann," Dale Horvath said as she put two cups of coffee on the table.
"Good morning, Dale," Carol said. "Where's Irma?"
Dale and Irma always had breakfast together. Every morning like clockwork. They'd come into the diner together and at first they wouldn't talk much, just sit and stare at each other, each of them preparing their coffee with the same concentration a soldier used to prepare himself for battle. They were never ready to order breakfast when you came around the first time, and usually not the second time either. They wanted to finish that first cup of coffee before the breakfast order went in, even though it never varied. Both of them always got eggs, scrambled, bacon and grits. Dale always ordered a pastry of some sort and that only varied because what Lula prepared the night before was unpredictable. Irma would harass Dale about the pastry and his weight and he would ignore her comments, but that got their sparse breakfast conversation started. They'd chat about one thing or the other until the plates came, eat in silence, and then they'd share the paper, silently passing each other one piece after another, speaking only to point out things that they wanted to be sure the other had seen, even though they read the same thing. Once the paper was done, they'd finish their coffee, pay for breakfast, and leave with Dale always stopping to hold the door for Irma to pass through.
Carol thought Dale and Irma's routine was precious. It made her day to watch them eat breakfast together. She thought it was a lovely little routine. Jacqui commented on their silence a lot, and sometimes Carol thought Jacqui saw the silence as something negative. The silence in Jacqui's view meant that they didn't have anything to say to each other. Carol saw it as they didn't have to say anything to each other. The difference was a subtle one, perhaps, but it changed entirely the way the quiet was interpreted.
"She'll be along in a minute," Dale said. "She got stopped outside. Ran into Ruth Honeycutt. Ruth's showing her pictures of her grandkids, and you know Irma, she's a sucker for babies."
Carol smiled. Dale and Irma had never had kids and Carol wasn't sure why. The grapevine of Sweet Junction had a good number of reasons to offer, but Carol tried to make it a point to listen to very little that the grapevine had to say.
"Well, I'll let you decide what you want, then," Carol said.
"Paper come yet?" Dale asked.
Carol glanced toward the door where the large stack of papers usually sat once they'd been delivered. Most mornings the paper came even before they opened, but sometimes things got jammed up at the press and the paper might be a little tardy. Today was apparently one of those days.
"Not yet," Carol said. "I'm sure it won't be long."
"What kind of pastries did Lula make?" Dale asked.
Carol smiled. He was already gearing up for the conversation with Irma about whether or not he needed that pastry.
"Strawberry, blackberry, and there's another back there that we think is maybe apple cinnamon, but it might be pear," Carol said. That was the thing about Lula. She made the pastries and the doughnuts, but she didn't label them. If you wanted to know what it was, you had to smell it and taste it if that failed. There were a good many of the morning crew that were willing to be guinea pigs for the cause, of course, declaring that Lula never made a bad pastry, but Carol and Jacqui both had decided they'd wait on the cinnamon scented treat until someone who was more inclined to test it came along.
Dale nodded, smiling. He was more than aware of Lula's culinary habits.
"Probably pear," he said. "Lula's pear trees were loaded down and if she canned any of them then she's got more than enough to feed the whole diner for a couple of months."
Carol heard Jacqui say something and turned quickly. The papers had arrived and more people were trickling in now. Irma squeezed through the doors with a few of the others making their way in for breakfast and Carol waved slightly at her.
"Papers are here and Irma's here," Carol said. "I'm going to pass out some more coffee and I'll be back around with your paper and to take your order."
"Take your time," Dale said with a chuckle. "We don't have a very busy day today."
Carol smiled and started back to the back to get more coffee cups for the incoming wave.
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"So you're buying one of those houses? Those are nice. I went over there and looked at them when they finished up the first couple," Jacqui said, leaning against the counter and picking at one of the pastries. Carol was picking at one too and glancing out at the diner to make sure that none of their breakfast lingerers looked unsatisfied. This crowd didn't really need to be actively waited on. They disliked when you interrupted their reading of the paper or their conversations and if they wanted something you could see them looking toward the counter or holding up their coffee cup to let you know that they required your attention.
"They are really nice," Carol said. Admittedly there were a lot nice homes, but they tended to be closer to the center of town in what the wealthier people of Sweet Junction liked to refer to as the "Historic District" though the homes outside of town were just as old and simply not as well kept up due to the manner in which the people that lived in them typically earned their livelihoods. "You're going to have to come and see it when it's done. I'm getting sort of the V.I.P. treatment or something because of Michonne."
"That's right," Jacqui said. "She's dating Tyreese Scott, right? The man who's responsible for the project?"
"Sure is," Carol said. "You know he bought out what was left of Ed's business? It's one of the reasons that I'm able to get the house so soon. There wasn't much to buy out, but between that and Ed having to sell the house to pay for some taxes he owed on the business, it's untied a little of the money quicker than we thought."
"I'd heard he had the monopoly on things around here," Jacqui responded, "but I didn't know the details. What's he like?"
Carol shrugged a little. She'd had a couple of dinners with him and encountered him more than once with Michonne, but she didn't really feel like she was an authority on the man. He seemed nice and Michonne liked him, which Carol supposed was all that mattered. He liked her girls and that meant a lot to Michonne.
"He's a good guy, I think. He hasn't seemed to mind much the idea of the instant family," Carol said.
"Says a lot about a man," Jacqui said. "Did I tell you about my new bathroom?"
Carol shook her head, smiling.
Jacqui lived in her parents' old house which was a pretty nice little house. She'd moved in there to take care of her mother, but her mother had since gone to live at Sunnyside Retirement Home and Assisted Living. Thanks to Jacqui's father being retired military and leaving behind a little money, Jacqui could afford the help with her mother who had advanced Alzheimer's and therefore was more than Jacqui could handle on her own and still hold down a job.
Jacqui was dating a man named Theodore who happened to work for Tyreese, but other than that she was pretty much as alone in the world as Carol was. She didn't have siblings, her father had passed on, and her mother didn't recognize her even though Jacqui religiously went three times a week to have dinner with her at the home.
As a result, Jacqui was an avid do-it-yourselfer and almost always had some project or another going on at her house. Carol liked hearing about Jacqui's projects. They always excited Jacqui and Carol was always impressed, trying to imagine doing the things on her own that Jacqui seemed to accomplish. Sometimes she got help from plumbers and electricians and the like, but a good deal she struggled through on her own. It was a source of pride for her and Carol thought it well should be.
"You'll have to see it," Jacqui said. "I've redone almost the entire thing and two days ago they came and put in the new tub for me. It's a claw foot tub. One of the prettiest things I've ever seen. Got it at an auction over in Hammond. Theodore had a friend over there that heard about the auction so he asked me to go with him. I knew I wanted something nice, but the moment I saw that tub I knew it was what I had to have, you know?"
Carol chuckled.
"Yeah," she said. "I know what you mean. Sometimes you know what you want, but sometimes you don't know until it's right in front of you. I'm sure it's beautiful, though."
"It is," Jacqui said. "I just got a few more touches and that master bathroom is going to be like a sanctuary."
Carol knew that Jacqui had been working on that bathroom for as long as she'd been working there and it had been a work in progress long before that. Carol knew, though, that if you were doing anything big like that on a budget like they had, you had to be patient and know it would come together a little at a time. It was a lot like her plans with Andrea for the salon.
"I'm sure it's going to be beautiful," Carol said. "I'd love to see it when you're ready to show it off. You'll have to come and see the house when I move in too."
"You know I'm going to come and be nosy," Jacqui said with a chuckle. "I love looking at people's houses. That's how I get some of my best ideas."
Carol noticed one of the customer's glance in their direction and she excused herself for a moment, grabbing up the coffee pot since it was likely only a coffee emergency. She was correct, of course, and she glanced at the clock gauging how much longer they had before they needed to concern everyone in the kitchen about the impending arrival of the lunch crowd.
"So how are the classes going with you and Andrea?" Jacqui asked, taking the coffee pot from Carol when she returned and setting about brewing a fresh pot.
"They're going well," Carol said. "If you're interested you should see about doing it. We're talking about trying to open our own salon. Buy one of the businesses in town that shuts down. Really make it happen, you know? Three of us going in on it would make it a whole lot easier."
Jacqui chuckled.
"You know, I thought about doing something like that once. I like doing hair for my friends and all, but I just don't know if I could afford the classes…and there's work," Jacqui said.
"They're not that expensive. I could get you all the information. The place does it at a sort of work at your own speed thing. We're doing the whole thing in eighteen months total, but you can speed it up. I think they said ten months was pretty much the fastest you could do it all in. We might try to get in a little extra time here and there and knock a month or two off," Carol said.
Jacqui was quiet and Carol watched her set the coffee to brewing and rearrange the uneaten pastries in the case behind the counter.
"Running a business in Sweet Junction," Jacqui said. "Wouldn't that be something? I don't know, though. You're not scared it's a risk?"
Carol shrugged.
"It's all a risk, isn't it? It could be a good paycheck, though. And if there's three of us, at least you aren't taking the risk alone," Carol said.
Jacqui looked at her like she was thinking hard.
"If you could get me the information on the classes," Jacqui said, "I might consider it."
Carol smiled.
"Couldn't hurt to look, right? I mean Lula's isn't exactly going anywhere," Carol said.
"You got that right," Jacqui said with a chuckle. "This place sure isn't going anywhere."
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"I took him the order today," Carol said. "He's going to let me know, but it's at least going to be another month. I still want to look, though."
Carol was a few feet ahead of Daryl, walking through the park at a slower pace than Lincoln seemed to think was acceptable. She laughed a little at the puppy that bounded ahead of her, occasionally slowing himself down simply because he ran out of leash and his only other option was to hang himself.
"So ya gotta whole month," Daryl responded. "Why ya wantin' ta go lookin' at furniture when ya ain't gonna buy nothin' for a month?"
Carol turned around, walking backwards for a moment. Daryl hung back from her, looking around as he strolled. She loved the park in the evenings because there were always people out with their pets and their children. It was full of laughter and voices and people just enjoying being outside before the weather was really too cold to make it enjoyable.
But even when the weather was cold she was excited about it. She knew that every year they put up Christmas lights in the park and this year she was going to take Lincoln out walking in the cold to look at them. Ed never liked going out much in the evenings, at least not with her, so she hadn't been out there since before they'd married. She hoped that Daryl liked looking at Christmas lights, or at least that he would be willing to humor her.
"I'm going to look, Daryl, to see if they've got any good deals. That's all. I'm only getting a few must haves for the place and then I can add to it as I go. I've got to have a bed, Daryl…and a couch and dining room table would be nice. I don't think that's really going overboard with the furniture," Carol said.
They'd been talking about her desire to go to some consignment shops in neighboring towns to see if there was anything nice for the house. She simply didn't have the money to furnish the whole place. In fact, she didn't have the money to do much in the way of furnishing at all, but she thought that if she started with a few basics then she could build from there, and the consignment shops would probably have some nice old furniture.
"I don't care if what'cha wanna buy, Carol, but it don't make much sense ta just go lookin' at it if ya ain't got a place ta put it," Daryl protested.
"Fine," Carol said. "You don't have to go with me, Daryl. I can go all on my own. I just thought you might want to spend Saturday with me and that's what I'm doing on Saturday, but if you'd rather stay home and do something else then be my guest. I'm not forcing you to look at furniture."
"But ya ain't even got the house ta put it in yet!" Daryl protested.
Carol chuckled and turned back toward him again, Lincoln dragging her forward.
"I can put it on hold, Daryl. Make small payments on it until I have the house and then I take it there. That way I get what I want instead of having to buy everything in some kind of panic when it's time to move in and I don't have any furniture at all," Carol said.
She turned back around then and continued down the path, her eyes darting over the people who were walking here and there and a couple of little kids that were playing not too far ahead. Lincoln, who spent a good deal of his time walking with his nose to the ground as if he was hunting something instead of strolling through the park, noticed the kids and howled at them. Carol shushed him, scolding him about being rude and barking at strangers on their walk.
"Leave him alone," Daryl called. "Least he's startin' ta bark a lil' like a hound and less like some kinda yippy dog."
"He's a baby!" Carol called back, trying not to laugh at Daryl's insistence that Lincoln's bark was not what it should be yet. "His bark will change when he's not such a baby."
Daryl grunted behind her. She turned again, looking over her shoulder and smiling at him.
"Why don't you come up here and walk beside me, Daryl? Are you afraid someone's going to see us together?" Carol asked.
Daryl chuckled.
"Nah," he said. "Got a better view of ya ass from back here."
Carol stopped then, pulling Lincoln to a halt and the dog looked at her before bounding back toward her to see what had stopped their parade through the park. Daryl caught up with her then, laughing a little. He put his arm around her waist and dropped his hand enough to squeeze the very ass he'd been ogling while she'd been explaining the idea of layaway furniture to him.
"Daryl, there are kids around," Carol said.
He grinned, but he behaved and slid his arm up, wrapping it around her waist. He pushed her forward a little and they continued along the path, this time side by side.
"I reckon I'll go with ya ta look at furniture," he said. "'Cept we gotta go Sunday 'cause I'm workin' on Saturday."
Carol smiled at him. She leaned in and they stopped a moment to exchange a quick kiss before continuing on.
"I'm glad you're going with me," she said. "And that's fine. I'm off both days. Maybe, I'll make you something really nice for dinner Saturday? We could have a special evening or something at home?"
Daryl grinned.
"Ya just wanna talk," he said. "That's all ya wanna do, woman."
Carol raised his eyebrows at him.
"Fine, Daryl, we don't have to talk at all on Saturday if you don't want to. I wouldn't want you to feel put out," she said.
She purposefully chilled her voice a little and made a face at him. She turned her head, watching Lincoln and knowing that Daryl was already regretting his joke.
"I was joshin' ya," he said. "I like talkin'…"
Carol chuckled. She wasn't really annoyed in the first place, but Daryl's stuttered words made it impossible to pretend she was. She turned to face him, grinning.
"I know you were teasing," she said. "Don't worry, Daryl, I'm sure there will be plenty to talk about."
Daryl smiled at her and wrapped his arm tighter around her waist, pulling their hips almost together as they walked.