Chapter 1
Colorado Springs, Colorado. Present Day…
“Oh, come on!” Mary was just finishing up going through one of the self-checkout kiosks at one of the local grocery stores when one of her crewmembers from the restaurant called her.
“Davie, this better not be a sick-call –”
“My Grandma Sharice died…”
Guilt…
“I’m, I’m sorry for your loss, Davie…I know you two were close. Didn’t you just see her in Chicago recently?” By this time, the thirty-something restaurateur had bagged up her small groceries and was walking out of the store.
“Yeah…stroke…”
Mary sighed heavily over her phone. By this time, she was hopping into her small SUV. “Hate to sound like an attention-hog in this conversation, but that reminds me I need to do a better job of watching my blood pressure! You’d think with me being a medical student I’d have more discipline than I do!”
“Oh, yeah, how’s that new health-watch doing for you,” the young voice asked, sounding a tad more upbeat.
A guffaw from Mary as she was now navigating the parking lot and was about to join the metal river of cars on one of Colorado Springs’ busiest streets. “It’s not that new…I got this baby on sale during one of those Savings Day Deals online!”
“Used, I’m assuming?”
“Oh, yeah…I made sure to get the highest quality—hey, it’s my health, right? And even then, I saved about fifty percent! It kind of bothered me at first that I was wearing something that someone else wore before me. You know me, bro; I stick to the box stores! But it’s working great!”
An uncomfortable silence in the short conversation. “Ok, Davie,” Mary said, deliberately resuming her somber tone to fit the original discussion, “I’ll call around and see who can replace you today. Wait…how much time do you think you need off?”
Apparently, the teenager was with family. Mary could hear lots of soft talking and ambient noises behind Davie on the phone. Someone must have told the inexperienced youth what to say in response to Mary’s question. “I don’t know; probably three days…”
“Done! You take as much time as you need, Davie.”
“Thanks, Mary.”
And the call ended.
