Chapter 1 ~ Birdie
Red, orange and yellow. Leaves of various colors drifted slowly across the walkway to Birdie’s small, three-bedroom house. She lived there with her mother and two younger siblings. Her father hadn’t been in the picture for a couple of years now. Birdie didn’t miss him. He was an unhappy man who made those around him just as miserable and unhappy as he was. They were better off.
“The bus is here!” Birdie shouted from the kitchen. On the counter were two brown lunch bags.
Glory came bounding into the room. Pigtails bouncing and a happy smile on her youthful face. She was the complete opposite of Darren. He came, dragging his feet, looking sour and sullen.
Smiling, Birdie handed a lunch bag to Glory.
“Thanks, Birdie,” said Glory.
Darren took the second bag. He opened it and sneered at the contents. “I’ll get my own lunch.”
“Mom already told you, we can’t afford to buy your lunches anymore,” Birdie said.
Darren dropped the bag on the counter and made for the door. “I said I’ll get my own.”
“Take the lunch, Darren. I’m not in the mood,” said Birdie.
She picked up the bag and shoved it against his chest. He shrugged it off.
“I don’t want it!”
“Darren, why do you always gotta be so mean?” asked Glory.
Darren didn’t answer her. He grabbed his coat from the coat stand and shoved his arms into it.
Birdie looked at him with narrowed eyes. She had half a mind to throw the lunch at his stupid head. But you know what? If he wanted to starve today, then so be it. There wasn’t time to argue with him. She didn’t have time to drive his sorry ass to school today if he missed the bus.
“You guys have a good day at school, alright? Mom’s gonna be workin’ late again tonight, so I’ll bring some dinner home from the diner,” she said.
“Do we get apple pie again for dessert?” asked a hopeful Glory.
“I’ll see what I can do.” Birdie smiled. She gave Glory a kiss on the top of her blonde head then looked at Darren, who was already on his way out the door. She suppressed the urge to sigh.
With her coat on, Glory put her arms through the straps of her backpack and followed her older brother. Birdie could only hope that Glory stayed as happy and sweet as she was right now. In just a couple of years, she, too, would be a teenager. Darren was bad enough; Birdie didn’t look forward to dealing with two irritable teen siblings.
She watched the two of them climb onto the bus and when a cool gust of wind hit her, she shivered and shut the door. Winter was on the way and she wasn’t ready for it. Why couldn’t summer last longer?
With her siblings off to school, she returned to the room she shared with Glory to get ready for work. She slipped into her work uniform. It was a white shirt with the diner logo and a light blue skirt. Her wavy brown hair was pulled into a bun with a few strands stylishly left dangling down to frame her face.
She grabbed her purse and was halfway down the hall when she heard her mother’s voice.
“Are you off?” she asked from her bedroom door with a sleepy look in her eyes.
“Yep. There’s a blueberry muffin on the counter, if you want it for breakfast,” Birdie said.
“I forgot about that,” said her mom with a yawn.
“Oh, could you put Darren’s lunch away? He wouldn’t take it with him.”
With a sigh, her mom nodded her head. “What’s he gonna eat then?”
“Beats me. I didn’t have time to argue with him.” Birdie frowned.
“Well, you be careful on your way to work.”
“I will,” said Birdie.
“Love you.”
“Love you too.”
Birdie left the house and wrapped her arms around her chest to protect herself from the cool morning air. On the drive to work, she listened to the pop station. Despite the chilly air, the sun was creeping up on the horizon and the sky was a clear blue.
It was a beautiful day in Heart’s Peak, Colorado.
She parked her car around the back of the diner. It was a small building set right off of a busy interstate. The front of the building was typical of a diner, with large glass windows and a poster advertising a homestyle country breakfast. Inside, there was a bar that ran central down the long room with stools for customers to sit and eat. Booths were placed along the walls with a few tables filling the rest of the open floor space.
Lottie’s Country Diner wasn’t a big and flashy restaurant, but it was quaint, warm and welcoming. It also had the best home cooking around. All recipes either Lottie herself came up with or were passed down generations in her family.
“Hey there, you,” said Trula as Birdie came through the door. In the back room, Trula was putting her things away in her cubby. She was a middle-aged lady with a bulky frame and curly brown hair that was peppered with a bit of grey throughout.
“Good morning.” Birdie greeted her with a smile.
“Ain’t no good morning to me. I barely got a wink of sleep last night. Benton was snoring like a freight train!”
“I thought you got him those nasal strips?” asked Birdie as she was hanging up her coat.
“I did but he ain’t usin’ em! Says they make his nose feel funny,” Trula complained. “I’ll show him funny. When I cut his nose off in his sleep, then he can tell me how funny it feels!”
Birdie laughed. “I don’t think butchering your husband in his sleep is such a good idea.”
“Oh, I ain’t gonna cut his nose off. But I’m telling you, Birdie, you could hear him for miles. He sounds like a dog that’s lost his favorite bone. Maybe I should just shove a sock in his loud mouth.”
Birdie grinned and deposited her purse in her cubby. “Worth a try. You’re not gonna go to jail for that at least.”
The two of them laughed and exited the room. When they reached the bar, Birdie went about making sure everything was clean and tidy, while Trula handled the register. She was putting bills into their rightful place when Wyatt came through the front door.
“This cool weather has got my arthritis flaring up something fierce,” the old cook said. His arms were wrapped around his chest and he brought his hands together, rubbing them back and forth.
“I think it’s gonna warm up this afternoon,” Birdie said. She was adding fresh sugar packets to the containers that were getting low.
“Boy, I sure hope so,” said Wyatt. “Won’t be much good as a cook, if I can’t use my hands.” He shuffled towards the bar and disappeared into the flappy doors that lead to the kitchen.
Emeline was the last to arrive. She came in a few minutes after the diner opened.
“I’m so sorry! Merrit did not want me to leave him at daycare this morning!” she said. She quickly rushed behind the bar and tied on her apron.
“It’s fine. You’re only just a few minutes late. No one has even come in yet,” Birdie reassured her. “Did you get him settled down?”
“No. It was a nightmare, Birdie. He was crying and reaching for me, and I just about died on the spot.”
“Aww, that must have been awful but I’m sure he’s fine now,” Birdie said. She could only in part imagine what that was like. She took care of her siblings on a daily basis, and she had watched each of them grow up, but it was different being a big sister than it was being a mom. And poor Emeline was only 21. Just one year older than Birdie herself.
“I hope so,” sighed Emeline. “I’m gonna call and check on him a little later.”
Birdie gave her friend’s shoulder an affectionate pat. Emeline had been through a lot. She got pregnant straight out of high school and her boyfriend left her to raise the baby on her own. Her parents weren’t much help either. Birdie had both sympathy and admiration for her. It was no easy task raising a child alone. Birdie knew about that firsthand when her dad walked out on her and her family.
“He’ll be fine. He was probably just having a mood,” Birdie said.
“Yeah, he’s been having a lot of those lately,” said Emeline solemnly.
“They don’t call it the terrible twos for nothing.”
Just then, Lottie appeared from the back. Birdie hadn’t seen her all morning. Usually Lottie was all smiles and sunshine but today, she had a grim look on her face. Instantly, Birdie and Emeline knew something was wrong.
“I need everyone to gather around real quick. I got an announcement to make,” said Lottie, loud enough for all of them to hear.
Birdie shared a look of worry with Emeline. The two of them stepped out from behind the bar. Trula appeared not long after, followed by Wyatt and lastly, the busboy, Tanner.
Birdie didn’t know what Lottie was about to tell them, but she had a terrible feeling that it wasn’t good news.
