Page 11 of Tacos & Toboggans
“Okay, one thing at a time,” she said. “We can figure this out without you driving back and forth to Saginaw.”
“Do you have a magical apartment to rent somewhere?” I asked, giving her a lip tilt as I poked at the cinnamon roll.
“Maybe not, but I have a town full of friends, and we all have houses. There’s always room for one more.”
“Ivy, no,” I said, turning to her. “I don’t want to put anyone out. Besides, it could be months. There’s no way I would ask anyone to do that for me.”
“Why?” she asked, her head tipped in question again.
“Well, I’m not their responsibility. I could always move to a different city and find work as a server. That said, I want to keep working here, so it's my responsibility to figure out a way.”
“That’s fair, but as your employer, I also don’t want to lose you, and I know that driving back and forth to Saginaw will be trying and dangerous. Do me a favor?” she asked, and I nodded. “Let me do some legwork on this today while you’re closing on the house. You’re stressed, sad, and scared, which is understandable, but I don’t want you to be. We got you here and won’t leave you out on the streets. What have I told everyone for years?”
“If we’re ever in trouble or need a place to land, we should come to you. That’s the reason I’m here this morning. I couldn’t hide that I didn’t have a place to go, but I also didn’t want you to think I wasn’t trying to find a solution.”
“It would never cross my mind that you weren’t,” she said, rubbing my back. “You’ve done nothing but try for years, so take a deep breath, have breakfast, and know we’ve got your back.”
With a nod, I leaned my head against her for a moment. “Thanks, Ives. You are the best nightingale Bells Pass has ever had. Today will be hard, and I didn’t want this discussion hanging over my head while signing away my past.”
“Your grandmother was everything to you, and while you’ve grieved her loss, this is still so hard. Would you please allow someone to go with you? There’s no reason to face it alone. We all need a little support sometimes.”
“While that’s true, it will take less than ten minutes to sign the paperwork and be done, so I don’t want to waste anyone’s time. I wouldn’t turn down a friend who could help me move the rest of my things to storage beforehand. My appointment with the lawyer is at ten in Saginaw.”
“Absolutely,” she assured me, pulling out her phone. “You eat. I’ll text.”
“Ivy, it’s five a.m. Who are you going to text this early?”
Her fingers were already flying across the keyboard when she answered. “Well, the girl gang, of course.” Then she blew me a kiss, which relieved all my anxiety about the day.
Chapter Five
Thus far, the day had been long, sad, and strangely uplifting. There had been a knock on my door at eight a.m., and I opened it to Gabe and Heather on my doorstep with their daughter, Joy. While I played with Joy, they loaded the last of my belongings into Gabe’s SUV and carted it two miles to the storage unit I had rented, where they unloaded it. I told Gabe it was above and beyond the whole 'serve and protect' oath he took as a police officer, but he insisted he wasn’t there as an officer of the law, but as a friend. It’s what friends do for friends, he’d said.
By the time they left, I had to head to the lawyer’s office to sign the paperwork. After saying my final goodbyes to the house and my grandmother, I was ready to leave just as another car pulled up. It was Indigo Garland, the manager at the Bells Pass Bakery. She’d become a close friend over the last few years, and she insisted on driving me to Saginaw to have a little girl time. I saw it for what it was, but I was too grateful to argue. Driving back to Bells Pass after signing the paperwork would be hard through tears, and I didn’t see any reason to let pride stand in the way of kindness when it was very much appreciated.
The appointment took even less than the ten minutes I’d planned, proving it was surprisingly fast and easy to sign awayyour past. All I could do was hope the new family who bought the house would make it a home. Their daughter used a wheelchair, so the modifications already in the house were necessary and appreciated. That was the only reason I hadn’t fought the sale. Someone needed that house, which Yaya would have wanted if I couldn’t be the one to own it. While I wanted to stay and hold onto the memories we’d made there, it was time to find a new way forward and a new future. It wouldn’t be easy, but hopefully, in the end, it would be a fresh start that I needed, both for myself and my business.
When we returned to Bells Pass, Indigo had taken me to the office of the only lawyer in town. Ivy had asked him to review the bills I still had to pay for Yaya’s care to see if there was a way to negotiate a lower balance. Nervously, I apologized for taking up his time because there was no way I could afford his hourly fee. Instead of sending me on my way, Lance had waved my words away and assured me it was pro bono and there would be no arguing. He promised it wouldn’t take long to contact the few creditors that wouldn’t be paid off with the sale of the house and see what he could do. While he couldn’t promise anything, he would try to get the balances manageable enough that I could pay them off over the next year. That was more than I could ask for, so I handed over the paperwork and left him to the job with his assurance that he’d let me know as soon as he had a plan worked out. Something told me it would take more time than he let on, but I wasn’t in the business of insulting people who were trying to help me.
Which was how I came to sit in a chair at Heather and Addie’s salon. Heather had given me a facial, and then Addie had washed, trimmed, and styled my hair. It was a new home, new me kind of thing. Well, it would be if I had a home, but it was time for a trim, so who was I to turn down a little pampering?
“Everyone has been so wonderful today,” I said as Addie fluffed my hair and pulled the cape off my neck. “There’s no way I can repay you all.”
“You don’t have to,” Addie assured me. “This is what you do for friends when they’re going through something difficult. The little bit of time each of us took from our day to offersupport wasn’t a hardship. I would venture to say we all needed it as much as you did.”
With a smile, I shrugged on my sweatshirt and hugged her fiercely, thankful to everyone who had helped me see that I didn’t have to go through this alone. We walked to the counter to pay, but she refused to let me. “Addie, you have to let me pay you for the product at the very least,” I said, holding up the bag of goodies she’d pressed into my hand.
“I have to do no such thing, and I won’t. Consider it a housewarming gift.”
“If only I had a house,” I muttered. “I do appreciate it, though. It will certainly be better than the tiny bottles of shampoo at the hotel. Speaking of which, I’d better head back to Saginaw for the night. I could use some time to decompress.”
“Stop at the diner before you leave,” she said, opening the door for me. “Ivy texted that she needs to talk to you.”
“I know she’s working on finding me somewhere to stay. Ivy is fabulous, but there’s no way she could find a place in,” I checked my watch, “nine hours. That would take a miracle worker.”
“Well, she is a nightingale, so don’t count her out just yet. She’s probably planning to send some food with you, so make sure to stop.”
“Will do,” I promised before I leaned in for a hug. “Thanks again, Addie. You’ve all helped me get through the day that I dreaded in the best possible way. For that, I’ll be forever grateful.”
