Travis's Gift, page 2
Libby wasted no time. She put her purse away, washed her hands, and began the process of making dough for both the donuts, and the biscuits. About ten minutes later she heard the lock on the front door rattle and looked up to see Constance arriving for her morning shift and unlocking the door.
“Morning!” Libby called out as soon as Constance stepped inside.
“Morning, Libby. Whooo! It’s cold out there!” Constance said, huddled in her winter coat, while she locked the door again.
“Yes, it is. Already turned the heat up a little and I have the ovens going. Should be toasty in no time,” Libby said.
“What do you have on the agenda for today? I see you have the biscuits and the donuts covered. Anything else you need me to do other than the standard?”
“If you could handle the standard morning routines, that’d be great. Once the breakfast rush is over, we’ll get lunch started,” Libby said, kneading dough for the biscuits.
“On it,” Constance said, taking a stack of small paper bags over to the donut case which sat beneath the register. She began writing on each bag, flipping it over and going on to the next bag. ‘Day old donuts, 3 for $1.00’
“How many are left from yesterday?” Libby called out when Constance finished loading the donuts and setting them up on the counter beside the register.
“Only five bags,” Constance said.
“Well, that’s not bad. Just over a dozen,” Libby said.
“Not bad at all. And I’m ready for the fresh ones whenever you get them done,” Constance added.
“Shouldn’t be long now. The biscuits are in the oven, and I’m starting on the donuts.”
Constance did a quick walk around the convenience store side of the business and made sure there was nothing left undone from the previous night. Then walked over into the diner side and made sure all the salt and pepper shakers, ketchup bottles, steak sauce bottles, etc. were filled.
Once she was done, she went into the kitchen and got the drip pans and racks ready for the bacon and sausage, and checked the grill. She went into the refrigerator and retrieved the bacon and breakfast sausage then went back into the kitchen and started opening the packages and placing strips of bacon on the grill. Constance glanced over toward Libby and watched her taking donuts out of the hot oil before placing more in the oil to cook.
“So, I heard Lucas last night. He was out running for most of the night,” Constance said.
“Really? That’s a shame. I hate that he didn’t sleep well,” Libby said.
“Did you two have a fight or something?” Constance asked.
“What? No, of course not. Why?” Libby asked.
“Because you haven’t been around as much in a while. I think he’s lonely.”
Libby smiled sadly. “No, we didn’t have a fight. We still spend time together. I just don’t think it’s a good idea to spend the night at his place as often,” Libby explained.
Constance turned the bacon slices sizzling away on the grill, filling the diner with all kinds of yummy scents. “I wondered for a while if you two were a thing or not,” Constance commented.
“I did too for a little while. But, then I realized he deserves his Mate. Unfortunately, I’m not her,” Libby said.
“I don’t think he cares. I’ve heard that some species choose their mates, not recognize them on sight.”
“That’s true, from what I understand,” Libby answered.
“I believe that Kodiak Bears are one of the species that can choose their mates,” Constance continued.
Libby smiled to herself. “I believe you’re right.”
“Then….” Constance said, trying to lead Libby to the same conclusion she had.
Libby scooped the last of her final batch of donuts out of the oil and placed them on paper towels to dry. She looked over at Constance and smirked at her. “Playing matchmaker?” she asked.
Constance shrugged innocently. “Seems that two lonely people, who enjoy each other’s company, don’t have to be lonely.”
“In most cases, you’re right. But, in this case, it’s better to not let him get too attached,” Libby said.
“Because of Travis?” Constance asked.
“Is there anything you don’t know about?” Libby asked, chuckling.
“Very little. So, where does that stand? The thing with Travis I mean?” Constance asked, smiling wide.
Libby shook her head, and smiled. “I’m not sure. But at least he doesn’t run from any building I happen to be in any longer. And he doesn’t snarl at me, then pretend I don’t exist. So, there’s that.”
“Is that what you want, Libby? Travis?” Constance asked.
Libby thought about the question, before shaking her head. “I don’t know anymore. I just want to be happy. I’d like to not feel like my heart jumps into my throat every time I see Travis. I want to be free from it all, I think. And it’s not fair to lead Lucas on when I’m not even sure what I want.”
“Travis may want what you do, or so may Lucas,” Constance said.
“Unfortunately, I’m not sure how much I even have to offer to anyone anymore. That part of me shut down a long time ago. I’m not even sure it exists. Lucas needs someone that’s able to give him her everything… that’s just not me.”
“I understand that more than you know,” Constance said, putting mounds of bacon onto the rack above the pans to let them cool and drip the rest of the bacon grease into the bottom of the pan.
Libby moved to a different station on the work surface behind her and began to glaze, frost and decorate the donuts. The timer went off for the biscuits and Constance reached out to turn it off. “I got it,” she said, taking pot holders in hand and removing three huge pans of biscuits from the oven and setting them to cool. She reached for a pot of melted butter and dipped a silicone brush into it before brushing the melted butter liberally over each pan of biscuits.
“I’m going to fry some of the sausage in the cast iron skillet so I can use the drippings to make country gravy when I’m done. Other than that, I think we have most of the items we prep in advance finished.”
“Sounds good,” Libby said, busily decorating the chocolate frosted donuts with red, green and white sprinkles.
“Very pretty,” Constance said, looking over at the Christmas themed decorations Libby had put on the chocolate donuts.
“Thanks. Not sure I’m ready for all this Christmas, but it is what it is,” Libby said.
“Hmm,” Constance responded, deciding that a change of subject would be best about now. “Are we still doing the meatloaf and mashed potatoes for the lunch special?” Constance asked.
“Yes,” Libby said. “I didn’t see any changes on the board, so unless Richie said something to you, it’s still meatloaf.”
“I can’t wait for lunch, it’s one of my favorites,” Constance said.
Libby nodded. “It’s one of Travis’s favorites, too. I’m sure he’ll be in today for it,” she said, not even noticing she’d brought up Travis and one of his favorite foods.
Constance glanced over at Libby and smiled to herself. Libby may not be consciously aware of what she wanted, but Constance had no doubt that Libby’s subconscious certainly knew. “Take heart, Libby. Christmas time is a time of miracles. Anything could happen before the New Year is upon us,” Constance said happily.
Libby nodded noncommittally. “I stopped believing that a long time ago. But I keep it to myself because I know how much Maia loves the holidays, and the kids get so excited. It’s okay, though, I get through it just fine.”
A knock sounded on the glass front door and Libby looked up. “There’s Lowell. I’ll let him in,” she said, wiping her hands on her apron and walking toward the door.
“Morning,” she said, as she turned the lock and stepped back to allow him to enter.
“Morning, Libby,” Lowell answered.
“We have some fresh, hot coffee if you want it,” Libby offered, locking the door back behind him.
“I’ll have some hot cocoa in a moment as well,” Constance called out.
“You putting the cinnamon and vanilla in it like you usually do?” Lowell asked.
“I am,” Constance answered.
“I’ll wait for the cocoa, then. Thank you,” he said as he walked into the back of the convenience store to get the push broom and spray cleaner so he could get the pumps cleaned and ready.
“He’s a very nice man,” Constance said as Libby went back to her donuts.
“He is. Instead of concentrating on my love life, maybe you should find out if he would like to have coffee or something with you,” Libby suggested.
“Oh, no! He’s only a few months after losing his wife. And I’ve got my hands full with Moe, anyway. I wasn’t looking for a relationship, but he’s about swept me off my feet.”
“Yeah, men’ll do that to you,” Libby mumbled, lifting the tray of finished donuts in preparation of taking them over and putting them in the display case.
“I can get those for you,” Constance answered.
“I got it, you make better gravy than I do. You do that, and I’ll get the donuts put in the case,” Libby answered.
“Deal,” Constance said.
~~~
Maia rolled over in bed, luxuriating in the feel of the silky, smooth Egyptian sheets Riley had bought her when she’d given birth to Sebastian. He’d gotten her three sets, and though it had been four months, she still smoothed her hands and legs over them each time she lay down, and woke up. With a lazy smile she looked over toward the window and her eyes widened when she sat bolt upright in bed as she hurriedly untangled herself from her beloved sheets. “Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!” she repeated over and over again. The sun should not be this high in the sky. It should be rising, but still not quite up. She’d overslept, big time!
Maia ran directly into Cristie’s room. Cristie’s bed was pulled up neatly and her slippers were on the floor beside her bed. Maia looked over at the hook on the wall where Cristie’s backpack usually hung, but the backpack was gone. “Daddy must have taken her,” Maia mumbled to herself as she spun on her heel to rush to her son’s room.
“Sebastian?” she called out as she hurried to the side of his baby bed. She looked down at him. “Mommy’s sorry, little man,” she said, reaching for him.
Sebastian lay on his back, gurgling and cooing at the mobile hanging over his bed. The moment Maia appeared, he let out a squeal of happiness and reached his arms out toward her. He was a very patient, even tempered little boy, unless you had food and he didn’t. Then you better hurry up and get him food, or give him yours, or he’d release a scream the likes of which could burst eardrums.
“I’m so sorry I overslept,” Maia said, lifting him into her arms. The moment she held him against her chest he snuggled into her, grabbing her hair in both hands while he grinned toothlessly at her.
“I can’t believe Daddy didn’t wake me up when he left,” she said. “Let’s get you changed, then we’ll have breakfast before our bath, okay?”
Maia carried Sebastian down the stairs, bouncing him and making silly faces as she went. He laughed so much he gave himself hiccups. When she walked into the kitchen, he figured out it was time to eat and started whining.
“I know! I know. Here, let’s get you situated,” she said, strapping him in his highchair while she went for the grits, and eggs. Maia quickly scrambled some eggs, then made a couple of packs of cheese grits. It was less than ten minutes before she sat down in front of him with his breakfast and began feeding him. While only four months old, he was a shifter and had strengths and nutrition needs human children didn’t. When he finished his first small plate of food, Maia stood up to get a little more for him, and pour herself a cup of coffee.
As she reached for the coffee pot, she noticed a post-it-note on the pot. “I took Cristie to school. Let you sleep in. Love you, baby.”
Maia smiled and pulled the post-it-note off the coffee pot and stuffed it in the pocket of her pajamas so she could put it with her keepsakes later. She had all sorts of notes and trinkets Riley had given her throughout their time together, and this note would get added to them.
Maia sat down with Sebastian’s second helping of food and sipped her coffee.
Sebastian reached for her cup.
“No, you can’t have coffee. But, here, I have some apple juice for you,” she said, holding a cup so he could try to sip from it. He was already wanting to sip from cups instead of bottles. The only time he wanted a bottle was if he’d hurt himself and wanted soothing.
Sebastian sipped the apple juice and sat back satisfied that he was drinking from a cup like Mama was, before opening his mouth and waiting for her to feed him more breakfast.
Soon as they were done, Maia lifted him from the highchair again. “How about a bath now?” she asked.
She climbed the stairs to the second floor again and sat him in his infant carrier while she ran a bath. Maia turned around to take him out of the carrier and noticed that his head was almost at the upper edge of the carrier. “Boy, you better quit growing so fast! You’ve almost already outgrown that carrier.”
Sebastian babbled at her and waved his arms. He loved taking his bath and knew that was exactly what his Mama had planned.
“Let’s go get cleaned up and see what we’re going to do today. We still have a little bit of shopping to do, but I’m not sure I feel like going out today. Sound good to you?” she asked.
He squealed with delight when she lifted him from the carrier and began to undress him.
“Be a good boy, and we’ll see if we can find something fun to do today,” she told him as she sat him in the baby bathtub and began to pour tepid water over his little shoulders.
Chapter 3
Scotty got up and pulled his clothes on, grabbed his backpack and walked into the living room. The scent of coffee hung in the air, but the coffee pot was turned off and unplugged. He stuck his head in Travis’s room, but his brother obviously wasn’t in there. Realizing that Travis must have had another sleepless night, he opened the front door and stepped out onto the porch, prepared to have to go locate Travis somewhere on their tree farm.
Instead, Travis sat in the rocker, sipping a last cup of coffee.
“Morning,” Travis said when Scotty came outside.
“Morning,” Scotty said. “You been out here long?” he asked.
“Since about 3:00 A.M. It’s more frustrating to lie in bed awake and struggling to sleep than to just get up. So, I got up. You ready for school?” Travis asked.
“Yep. Whenever you are,” Scotty answered.
“You eat?” Travis asked.
“Naw. I’ll grab a cinnamon roll or something at school,” Scotty said.
“Alright, let’s go then. I have a long day of fertilizing and pruning ahead of me,” Travis answered.
“The trees are looking nice this year. Maybe we could try to set up a little Christmas thing here like Mom and Dad used to,” Scotty suggested as they got in the truck.
“Not sure many people would want to come cut down a tree anymore. It’s so easy to go to a lot and buy one,” Travis answered. “Easier for us to distribute through the lots, too.”
“Yeah, but, the families around here may want to come. We could offer hot chocolate and Christmas cookies, and we could set up a couple of tables with craft supplies for people to make their own fresh wreaths, or they could buy some we already made and have available. We could buy a few simple supplies, Styrofoam balls, glitter, ribbon, glue, and the kids could make ornaments. We could make a big wooden picture frame and the families could stand behind it and we could take their picture for them with their phones, or our phone and email it to them. We’d charge for everything except the hot chocolate. I bet word travels fast and we end up very, very busy.”
“Sounds like a lot to take on,” Travis said, thoughtfully.
“Only on the weekends. During the week we keep up our standard routine and open it to the public on the weekends. Then the last week or so before Christmas, we’d be open every day.”
“And if it snows and nobody wants to get out and get that cold and we have all this effort put in for nothing?” Travis asked.
“If it snows, we offer snowman building contests, and we buy some cans of sweetened condensed milk and let them make their own snow ice cream. We host snowball fights,” Scotty said.
Travis stopped to make sure it was safe to pull off the back roads onto the highway to head into town to drop Scotty off at school.
“Can’t you see the appeal to the families and the younger kids? They’d have so much fun, and they’d go home with a Christmas tree they picked out and usually helped chop down,” Scotty said.
“I can,” Travis agreed hesitantly.
“Travis, I know you still think of me as a kid, but I’m not a kid. This is my senior year. In May I’ll be done with all the school I plan to have to sit through. I’d like to help build our place into a Christmas tradition for families anywhere close enough to make the drive. We could make a lot of extra money and help build the name of the farm up again, too.”
“I know you’re not a kid anymore, Scotty. I’m just aware that Christmas isn't enough to sustain us all year long and that’s a lot of effort to put in that we haven’t had to before. The trees are looking healthy again, and honestly, I was planning to ship them to the Christmas tree lots to be distributed and move on from there. Maybe ask Riley if I could help him out on some of the construction jobs he’s got. They’re starting to take off and we could use the additional income to get us through the rest of the year.”
“I planned on asking if I could help him out, too and keep the job at the feed store as a part time gig to be able to keep the health insurance,” Scotty said. “But, we could also dedicate an acre or so of the property and plant pumpkins for Halloween and Thanksgiving. We could put a few swing sets out there and some cornhole games for the kids and the adults, too. We could come up with a lot of other options for the kids to play with while they’re here,” Scotty said.
