The Magnolia Cafe(21)

The truck growled to life and they were soon at Sylvia’s Place, seated at a table by the window. Sylvia’s son, Jake, had given them their menus and said he’d send their waitress over. They’d both ordered a glass of wine.

“It’s nice that Sylvia and Jake could open this restaurant again. It’s been in their family for so long.”

“You don’t mind the competition?”

“Not really. We don’t have a lot of choices of places to eat here in town. With the growth of tourists coming in, we need places to eat, and places to stay.”

“You think Bella and Katherine are going to pull off this Summerfest idea?”

“They both certainly seem organized enough, that’s for sure. And Katherine is really determined to… I don’t know, prove something? But I worry that she’s overdoing it.”

“I’ll have to offer to help them.”

“That would be nice. I’m sure they can use all the help we can give them. Kat said they’d already gotten quite a few of the town merchants to participate. Sales. Donations for advertising. Things like that.” Keely paused while their waitress put down their wine glasses on the white linen tablecloth.

“Sounds like things are going well at this stage, then.”

“They also talked to Rebecca at Sweet Tea B&B and told her the dates. I’m sure her B&B will fill up quickly. They talked to the two plantations outside of town that are now boutique hotels, so they would know the dates, too.”

“Natalie said there was going to be a parade? I remember going to the town parade when I was a kid.”

“They don’t have that all worked out, but they do want to have one. I think they were going to talk to the high school band director to see if the band would play for the parade.”

Their waitress came to take their order. They ordered their meals then settled back to enjoy their wine. He watched as Keely looked around the restaurant. He could tell her mind was racing, taking it all in. She ran her fingers lightly across the tablecloth.

“Comparing this to the cafe?”

She smiled sheepishly. “I can’t help it. The white tablecloths… but I can’t help but think of the laundry bill. Nice wine glasses. Waitresses and waiters in black pants and white shirts. And the wine menu. Oh, my gosh. The choices.”

“So this was a good or a bad thing that I brought you here?”

“A good thing. I like seeing how Sylvia has things set up. I’m hoping our changes to the cafe will help bring in more customers and upgrade the place a bit, without losing its homeyness. I think that’s what brings people to the cafe. It’s familiar. You can come as you are, no need to get dressed up. You can come for a meal, or just a cup of coffee, or maybe a piece of pie.”

“That is the strong point of your cafe. I think the patio in the back will be a big selling factor, too. If I ever get rid of those darn weeds.” Hunt smiled.

Keely laughed. “You’re getting closer to having it all cleared out so you can start on adding to the patio, aren’t you?”

“Pretty soon. The brick pavers are ordered and should be in this week. I have part of the new area dug out and almost level. Need to get the sand in and packed down.”

“I can’t wait until it gets finished and we can open up the patio area.”

“Did your mother ever jump on the bandwagon and agree it’s a good idea?”

“Not at all. She’s just pretty upset about everything right now. The patio. Kat working. Summerfest. You name it, she’s dismayed about it.”

“I’m sorry, that must be hard on you.”

Keely’s eyes flashed with… something… what was that look? A plea not to feel sorry for her? Appreciation that someone cared that things were hard on her? He held his breath, afraid he’d said the wrong thing yet again.

“Thanks. It is hard. It’s always hard with Mother. She wants everything like it used to be with Kat walking and Father alive.” Keely looked down at her wine glass and slowly twirled it in place. “Not that I really blame her. I wish I could whisk us back in time, myself.”

“You would have gone on to journalism school, wouldn’t you?”

Keely sighed. “There’s really no use in talking about the what ifs, the if onlys. I don’t want to get trapped into the habit my Mother has of trying to live in the past.”

“It’s too bad she fights you on all your decisions.”

“Well, I used to let her have the final say on everything, but now with Kat wanting the patio too, I’m trying to stand up to her negativity and do what I think is best for the cafe. She’s still the owner though. She could conceivably pull the plug on everything.”