Page 6 of Mine For The Winter

“Excellent.” Lyle stuffed the rest of his sandwich in his mouth and she peeled the skin off her banana.

It wasn’t exactly paradise, but maybe school wouldn’t be so bad. At least there were two people here that didn’t hate her.

* * *

“Hey sweetie!” Dolores said to Kelly as she pushed the door to the Tavern open, bustling inside. Her face was flushed and she still had her apron on, Cold Fingers Café emblazoned across the front. She was wearing Christmas tree earrings, and there were gingerbread men printed on her apron. Dolores loved Christmas, especially when it brought in all the tourists.

Dolores had run the café for as long as Kelly had lived here. As a kid, she’d go in there with Kris and Lyle and they’d rifle through their pockets to get enough change to buy a hot chocolate with all the toppings. She could still remember their orders. Kelly had insisted on having it straight up, because the chocolate was sweet enough. Kris would have extra whipped cream and Lyle would get the whole hog. Whipped cream, marshmallows, and dustings of shaved chocolate.

The boy had been a sugar freak.

“What’s up?” Kelly asked her, looking up from where she’d been scrubbing the counter with a spray and cloth. The Tavern had been busy all afternoon, and she knew it would be crowded this evening, so she was using the lull between services to make sure everything was spotless. She was still a little annoyed at herself for tripping earlier and spilling groceries everywhere. This took her mind off of it.

“I’ve been waiting for you to come into the café. Don’t you want a coffee?”

Kelly hadn’t been into the café for weeks. She was stashing the money for her daily caffeine injection into Cole’s Christmas gift fund. “I’ve given up coffee,” she told Dolores.

Dolores blinked as though Kelly had told her she was giving up on life. “You? Giving up coffee?” She shook her head. “Never thought I’d see the day.”

“I’m trying to get healthy.” Kelly shrugged. “I’m not getting any younger.”

“You look pretty healthy to me,” one of the guys at the counter growled. Kelly lifted a brow at him and he physically shrank back.

She’d worked at the Tavern before she was legal to be serving alcohol. First as a kid helping her dad out during the weekends and holidays. Then when she left school she started working here full time. It was her second home. One of the constants in her life. Like her dad and Cole, and Winterville itself.

And now she ran the place. And she didn’t take shit from anybody. Even ones giving back handed compliments.

“Anyway, that’s not why I’m here,” Dolores said, breathless. “Have you heard?”

“Heard what?”

Dolores looked to the left and then to her right, as though she was a spy and needed to make sure the coast was clear. Then she lowered her voice enough that Kelly had to crane her neck to hear her.

“Guess who’s back in town?”

“Who?” Kelly asked.

“I just told you.” Dolores frowned.

“No you didn’t. You said ‘guess who’s back in town?’” Kelly said, trying not to smile. Dolores loved to gossip and though Kelly loved it less – especially since she’d been the object of Winterville gossip for years – she still loved Dolores. Everybody did. She was the town’s grandmother now that they no longer had Candy Winter around. She knew everyone and everything that went on here in town. The only thing she didn’t gossip about was herself, or her supposedly secret relationship with Charlie Shaw.

Funny that.

“I said Kris is back in town,” Dolores said pointedly.

Kelly stopped cleaning, her hand frozen as it grasped onto the cloth. She looked up, trying to keep her face expressionless. “I’m sorry?” She must have misheard.

“Kris Winter,” Dolores said slowly, like Kelly was hard of hearing. “He’s back in town.”

Kelly’s heart slammed against her chest. “He’s here? Now?”

“Yes, now. He’s at the Inn with his family. I heard one of the waiters talking about it when he came in after his shift for coffee.”

Her heart wasn’t slowing down. If anything it was faster now, a constant hammer against her ribcage. She hadn’t seen Kris Winter in more than a decade.

Not since that day. The one she never wanted to think about again.

Her hand shook as she picked up the spray again, pressing the trigger to moisten the cloth. “That’s nice,” she said, keeping her voice even. “I bet North and his family are happy.”

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