Page 76 of Five Alarm Love
“Come on, you’vegotten enough free snacks from the Yukon Valley Diner,” Lou said as she nudged her brother out the door and down the street on Thursday afternoon.
Gordy grinned.The guy had zero remorse.Everyone gave him goodies, and he loved it.
“Give me please,” he typed.
His uneven smile lit up the overcast day.That and his bright-orange safety vest he diligently wore on this thin frame when he went out walking.
Okay.Fine.He deserved the extra goodies.
As they strolled down the sidewalk, she breathed in the cool fall air this afternoon and zipped up her uninsulated jacket.A few leaves swirled over the street.People were out and about, getting supplies for the weekend.Yukon Valley’s Main Street was basically a slowed-down part of an Alaska state highway that ran through town.Gordy was a town fixture, making his daily walking rounds.
Until last spring when his health had taken a bad turn.
At least he was back out here now.
He stumbled on a piece of concrete, and Lou resisted grabbing his elbow.Let him do for himself, Dad always said.
Easy for Dad to say.This was her brother.She looked out for him like it was her job.
Until she couldn’t look out for him.
She could protect Gordy from tripping on pavement, but not the progression of his condition.
Genes.One of several links they shared.
Someone honked as they drove by, and Gordy gave a jerky lift of his arm.A couple walked out of Three Bears and headed in their direction, grocery bags in hand.
“Hi, Gordy,” Calvin Garrett said.Next to him was Deirdre Steen.
Their smiles and loose-limbed walk spoke volumes about their comfort with each other.They waited a few seconds.
Gordy pressed buttons.“Hello.”
“Hi, guys,” Lou said.
Gordy made a hollow noise and, with a halting step forward, rested a hand on Calvin’s shoulder in a half hug.He repeated the gesture with Deirdre.
“What am I?Chopped liver?”Lou said.“You’re over here giving out hugs to strangers and I don’t even get leftovers!”
He turned that big smile on her and leaned in, gently bonking foreheads and resting his thin arms over her shoulders as well.Lou dropped a quick kiss on his cheek.“Okay, you’re off my blacklist.”She shook a finger.“For now.”
Gordy didn’t even pretend to be scared.
When it came to him, she was a total pushover.
“You guys ready for the big day?”she asked.
Calvin exaggerated tugging at his collar.“T-minus one week until no more bachelor life for me.”
“You should be so lucky!”Deirdre laughed.
“Oh, I’m lucky all right.”His grin crinkled fine lines next to his eyes.His graying hair at the temples reminded Lou that these two weren’t young kids in love.
Calvin and Deirdre and her first husband had grown up together.Been friends.Calvin had drifted away from them.
Then Deirdre’s husband had died several years ago.
And now these two lifetime friends had reconnected.
