“Thank you, fine, and yes, we found Ginny.”
“I bet Benny was over the moon.” Tracy set her purse in a drawer and reached for her own apron.
“He was. We weren’t going to wake him last night, but he woke up as we were settling Ginny in the room next to his. I have to admit, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.”
“So what happens next?”
“Adam is going to get a statement from her about Deke and likely issue an arrest warrant for assault.” Kelsey could see again the bruises on the woman as she’d helped her into a large shirt to sleep in. Ginny had been too busy cuddling her son after that. She’d promised Adam she’d take a break after the lunch rush and take some photographs that could be used as evidence if he couldn’t talk her into going to the clinic.
“We should find Ginny a job and a place to stay here in Lusty,” Tracy said. “She’d be safe here.”
Kelsey smiled. “I was thinking the same thing. Once Michelle and Carla come in, I want to have us to discuss it. Ginny has experience working in a coffee shop. I think we could use her here.”
“That would be perfect. I think Michelle was talking about taking a couple of college courses come the fall,” Tracy said.
“Good. Now, let’s get cracking. I have a feeling there’s going to be a bigger than average lunch crowd today.”
Tracy nodded. “Everyone will want to make sure that you’re on the mend.”
Isn’t that a wonderful feeling?
Kelsey couldn’t remember ever being in a place where everyone would want to come out to make sure she was all right. As she began the soup and set out some beef to go in the roaster, she thought about how it seemed the entire town came together to help one small boy who wasn’t even one of their own and how they’d come out for her, too.
One aspect of her future she had absolutely no doubts about was where she was going to spend the rest of her life. Nothing would ever lure her away from Lusty, Texas.
Chatter from the dining room told her that Michelle and Carla had arrived for work.
“Hey, boss. Good to have you back! Are you all right? I hear you found Benny’s mom!”
Kelsey smiled and let Tracy fill them in. The waitresses stashed their purses and washed up, then grabbed aprons to give a hand with some of the minor kitchen duties.
“I helped Morgan with the canvass yesterday,” Michelle said. “We found out that several people saw the same car in town just before the shooting. We don’t think much, usually, about strange cars in town. But there was only one, a dark blue Pontiac. No one got a license number, but the man behind the wheel was a big bruiser. That’s what Aunt Anna said.”
“Maybe it’s enough information that Adam can get a lead.” At least Kelsey hoped it was enough information. Matthew hadn’t pressed her this morning, but there was still the matter of her making a decision about seeing a hypnotist.
If she could avoid it, she would. She really didn’t understand all that would be involved, but she knew one thing for certain. She didn’t really want to remember anything more about that horrible day.
The memories she already had would be with her for the rest of her life.
“Anyway,” Michelle continued, “I was kind of nervous at first because I was afraid that people would have said they’d seen a silver Prius, but no one reported seeing one of those. And that Austin hottie who comes here a couple times a week certainly couldn’t ever be called a bruiser.”
“The Austin hottie?” Kelsey asked.
“Yeah, you know the one I pointed out to you? He has a crush on you.”
Kelsey vaguely recalled the man. Dark hair, moustache, and carrying a few extra pounds, though not in his face. He’d come to try the cuisine, he’d told her, because of that write-up in the Waco paper.
Note to self, avoid being the subject of any future newspaper interviews.
So far that one had netted her more business but also seemed to be the catalyst for some not-so-pleasant experiences.
Although, in all honesty, since that article had been the impetus for getting Ginny Rose out of a dangerous situation, she guessed it wasn’t all bad.
Still, she wouldn’t call that new customer a hottie. In fact, when he looked at her, she kind of got the creeps.
“Did you get his name yet?” Tracy asked.
“I was going to ask him on Sunday. Then we had all that excitement about little Benny, and the next thing I knew, he was gone. If he shows up today, you can be sure I’ll worm it out of him. I mean, he does have a crush on Kelsey, but I think he likes me, too. Once he figures out Kelsey doesn’t even see him, the field will be all mine.”