Page 50 of Spring Showers

As they viewed their hard work, behind them, vehicles crested the road, honking their horns. A convoy of pickup trucks, heavy bulldozers, and backhoes came down the road and stopped in front of the barn.

Pa led the way from the cab of his blue pickup. Parking beside Leo’s red truck in the drive, he climbed out and rubbed his hands together. “I brought help.” Pa turned and helped out an older woman with silvery white hair pinned into a knot at the top of her head. America hopped down from the passenger side door and waved them over.

“What is all this?” Leo asked and gave America a quick kiss on the cheek. “How did you get here? I thought the big bridge washed out.”

“It held. And thank goodness it did, or we wouldn’t be here to help you, but I see you got a start without us.” Pa pointed over his shoulder at the man driving the bulldozer. “Look who came to help. Be nice.”

“Will you look at that?” Leo said and shook his head.

“That’s right. Your brother, the mayor, called this morning and asked how the city could help. And here he is with the full power of Elizabethtown.”

Leo’s eyes were wide, and his brows raised like mountains on his forehead.

“What am I missing?” Grant asked.

The older woman pushed the men aside and bobbled her head back and forth as she spoke. “Hi, I’m Carol. I live in town, and I know everything about everything. So, here’s the short of it. Leo here used to be the mayor of Christmas Cove, and his brother, John, is the mayor of neighboring Elizabethtown. Let’s just say they aren’t exactly best friends, so when Christmas Cove was incorporated by Elizabethtown, Leo lost his job, and his brother won.” She looked at Leo. “Does that about cover it?”

“Just about,” Leo said without taking his gaze off of his brother.

“You should be glad,” Pa whispered, leaning into Leo’s side. “This is the first real test of the new city agreement. And here they are, doing what needs to be done.”

“I suppose I should go give my thanks, then.”

“And marching orders,” Pa added.

As Leo got everyone squared away with assignments, the big equipment got to work. A dump truck emptied new, crushed gravel for the road and driveway. Another digger cleaned up and widened the hand-dug trench. A crew of townsfolk walked the grounds and picked up debris and trash.

Above them, the sun shone bright and hot, and the air was thick with humidity and hope. Before long, more people arrived. The Foundry was teeming with helpers. Chainsaws whined and made easy work of the fallen trees. Some people fixed roofs, while others ripped out soaking drywall from inside some of the cabins that hadn’t fared as well as hers. The carpets were cleaned and bedding stripped.

Thandie helped where she could, and the day passed by quickly. The chef had put out a spread of food on buffet tables just inside the propped open barn doors, and Thandie was determined now, more than ever, to track him down and make a proper introduction. Starving, and ready to eat a whole cow, she made her way to the dumpster with a final load of debris piled high in the bike cart before marching into the barn.

Just outside the barn doors, Leo talked with America, who was holding a plate of food. Seeing the food only made Thandie’s mouth water more. She walked by them, not wanting to be sidetracked by their serious-looking conversation.

Passing the food, she flew through the saloon-stylecucinadoors, which bounced off the door frame and nearly took her out when they rebounded. “Hello?” she sang into the sterile room. “Chef? Are you in here?”

From the open walk-in refrigerator, sounds of plastic food bins scraping and hitting against each other were followed by grunts, and what sounded like cursing echoed against the stainless-steel surfaces.

“Chef?” Thandie said and came around the corner. “Chef?”

He turned, startled, and removed his earbuds. “Out. Go out of mycucina,” he said in a cute Italian accent while shooing her back towards the door with exaggerated sweeps of his arms.

“Wait. Chef. Stop,” she said and pushed back against his shoulders. “I’m Thandie. I work here.” She waited for her words to sink in, and a sheepish grin pulled his cheek up on one side. “I wanted to thank you.”

“Yes, of course, Thandeka. Celiac like Alfonso, no?” Alfonso reached out and took her hand between both of his, shaking them up and down in a wild manner.

Through a giggle, Thandie said, “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“And me to you.” Letting go of her hand, he turned and walked back to the walk-in. “This is all bad. All of it.”

“The food?” she said and peeked inside, where he was throwing items into surplus cardboard boxes. “When the power went out?”

“I do not know. I dislike very much this, how you say? Tossing out?”

“Yes, I think that is the right word. Let me help you. I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think.” They sorted the last couple of crates on the floor, and Thandie used the moment to get to know him a bit. There was one question that she was eager to know the answer to. “Can I ask you about supper on the first night? It seemed you made dishes from the guests’ preference sheets?—”

“Yes. I did. What is the question?”

“Did you intend on making the foods that people indicated that they don’t like?”

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