Page 15 of Candy Canes & Caroling

Don’t get me wrong. Bells Pass has plenty of problems. All small towns do, but lacking community interaction was not one of them. That was why I was surprised by how inaccessible the town truly is. It probably shouldn’t have surprised me, considering the buildings were built before the ADA even existed, but the lack of effort to be inclusive by everyone did surprise me. It wouldn’t take much to make things easier for Irving or anyone who wanted to frequent their establishment.

Lost in thought, I almost tripped on Star when they stopped, and I didn’t. “Oh, sorry, Star,” I said, barely missing his paw with my shoe. “Let me get the door.”

“No need,” Irving said, his voice holding enough shock that I swung my attention to the front of the building where an accessible door plate was fixed to the exterior wall near the door.

“Well, look at that,” I said, my heart filling with pride and gratitude to Ivy for stepping up and setting an example. “I think you ought to be the one to push it.”

We both moved out of the way of the door and he hit the button. When it swung open, even Star looked startled by the change of routine. I waited for Irving to roll through the door and followed him in. Ivy was standing at the counter but turned when she heard the bell ring.

“Irving!” she exclaimed, running around the counter to hug him. “I was hoping you’d be in today for the nachos.” She stood back up and hugged me next. “Hi, Hazel. Glad you guys stopped in.”

“Me too,” Irving said, pointing behind him at the door. “That’s new.”

Ivy giddily clapped her hands. “Shep installed it last night. I had no idea how inexpensive they are now!” She dragged the wordnowout long enough that she had to take a breath before she finished speaking. “I asked Cameron if there was money in the grant fund to install accessible door openers on all our buildings. When he told me how inexpensive they are, and how easy they are to install, I couldn’t order them fast enough. Hopefully, Shep and Mason can install the one on the Bells Pass Bakery door tonight.”

“That’s wonderful, Ivy,” I said, squeezing her shoulder.

“I can’t express my appreciation enough,” Irving said, patting Star on the head when he sat beside him. “I won’t lie. It isn’t easy moving about the community. There isn’t much accessible, but with food as good as yours, I’m always willing to figure out a way.”

Ivy put a hand on her hip and shook her head. “Well, you shouldn’t have had to. That’s on me. I didn’t realize how simple it would be to retrofit the restaurant to make it more accessible. When you compared your chair to your legs, I realized I needed to do better. I wouldn’t want to be separated from my legs while eating dinner!” We all laughed because how could you not? The image alone was enough to make you giggle.

“To be honest, the biggest reason I want the chair next to me is that I often get tired of holding myself up on the seat. I need to get back into the chair to have support for my legs and back.”

Irving explained his reasoning quickly and efficiently without making people feel bad about the situation. There were a lot of people who could take lessons from him on how to problem solve without causing more problems.

“That makes sense,” Ivy agreed. “I should have thought of it myself.”

“Cut yourself some slack, Ivy,” Irving said. “You’ll never think of all the different needs someone might have, and that’s not your job.”

“You’re right, but it is my job to make sure my patrons can come in and enjoy a hot meal with a friend. So, follow me.”

Ivy turned and walked toward the back of the diner. I shrugged and motioned for him to go ahead. When we got to the back, Ivy pointed at booth six. “I hope you enjoy your meal.”

“Ivy!” Irving exclaimed as he rolled his chair under the newly lowered table. “This is perfect.”

“It took some time to get the lowered booth seats in,” she explained, motioning at the two new booth cushions.

I slid into one and set my bag down. “And it’s still comfortable for me.”

Ivy gave me a finger gun. “Exactly. Everyone is welcome at The Nightingale Diner, and I want everyone to be comfortable. In fact,” she held up a finger and dashed between the swinging doors. She wasn’t even gone long enough for me to say a word to Irving before she returned with a contraption in one hand. She lowered it to the ground next to Irving’s chair and pointed at it. “Even our furry friends should be comfortable. That will at least keep him up off the floor in the winter when it’s cold and wet.”

“Ivy,” Irving whispered, clearly touched that she would not only adapt the restaurant but also think of Star. “This is too much. You are the very best of Bells Pass. I hope people know that.”

“Oh, stop,” she said, brushing her hand at him. “I’m just trying to set the example of how to be a decent human being for my kids.”

“Kids?” Irving asked with a brow in the air.

“We’re thinking about it,” she said with a wink. “In the meantime, the rest of the booths will be replaced by Thanksgiving.”

“Star, rest,” Irving said, pointing at the new bed, and Star happily jumped up and settled down.

“Rest of the booths?” I asked with confusion. “What’s wrong with the rest of the booths?”

“They’re not accessible,” Ivy answered, as though I had just asked a stupid question.

“Ivy, all the booths don’t have to be accessible,” Irving clarified. “Your restaurant is small enough that one accessible table meets the ADA requirements.”

“Maybe it meets the ADA requirements, but it doesn’t meet the Ivy Lund requirements. These booths are ready to be replaced. We do that every five years anyway, and now that I know how easy it is to make them accessible, they will all be that way. I can’t have just one table accessible. If someone else is sitting at it when you or someone else comes in who needs it, you end up waiting. You shouldn’t have to wait for a table, and moving people in the middle of a meal complicates things. If all of the booths are accessible, that will streamline everything. Since I can’t make the counter seating accessible, hopefully, no one will report me to the ADA if the rest of the seating is.”

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