She threw a few logs of wood on the embers from the night before and blew on them. In a few minutes, the flames were licking the kettle, heating up the ice cold water from the bathroom tap. There was a brown paper bag of freshly ground coffee and she took a long, deep breath of its smell before heaping it into the coffee pot. There was something about the rustic simplicity of the attic that she found immensely pleasing. There was no phone, no internet, no television. She thought for a minute and then realized she didn’t even know if there was electricity. There must be, she thought. There had been light the night before. She looked around the room and saw a light switch on the wall. It was old fashioned, but there was electricity.
What she wasn’t so sure of, was whether or not there was hot water. Try as she might, she couldn’t get the water in the shower to run hot. She ended up washing as best she could in the frigid mountain water and then drying herself next to the fire while sipping the hot coffee in an attempt to warm herself up.
She wrapped herself in her blanket as she drank the coffee. Through the window, the sun shone, giving some extra warmth. The clouds over the mountain tops in the distance looked so beautiful she could hardly believe she was really looking at them.
She opened her diary. It was a little leather bound volume that she brought everywhere with her. It had been in her car when she ran out of Gris’s place. She opened it up to the last thing she’d written. It was a quote by a French author named Gide. She read it.
*
It is better to be hated for what you are than loved for what you are not.
*
She thought about the words for a moment, wondering about all the things they could mean. Wondering if she even agreed with them. Then she shut the diary closed.
She’d arranged to meet Kelly at the diner and she decided there wasn’t much point in dawdling any longer than necessary. If she was going to start a new job, she might as well get into it.
The door to the attic was latched from the inside and she couldn’t lock it behind her, but there was nothing much to steal anyway, she thought. Just the kettle and blankets. She didn’t even have any clothes. She climbed down the rickety stairway only to get the fright of her life when she reached the bottom.
She screamed.
An enormous man in dirty overalls stood in front of her, unshaved stubble and bushy eyebrows covering most of his face. He looked like he’d just been sleeping off a hangover in the bar beneath the attic.
“Hold your horses, hold your horses,” he said, raising his hands up as if he was actually calming a horse.
“Oh,” Elle said, “sorry, you just startled me.”
“Sorry about that.”
“And I suppose I should be the one who’s apologizing,” Elle said. “You must be Mister eh?”
“Dennis, that’s right. Pleased to meet you, Elle, isn’t it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Kelly told me I’d find you here.”
“I hope that’s all right.”
“Of course it’s all right. In fact, I prefer it when there’s someone here keeping an eye on the place. It feels safer.”
“I’m not sure I’d be much use to you in case of trouble.”
“Oh, I just like to know there’s someone nearby, sweet heart. That attic has had some pretty terrible tenants over the years. Having you in there will class up the joint.”
“Well, I truly appreciate you giving me a place to stay for a while.”
“Stay as long as you like, sweet heart. The pleasure’s all mine.”
Elle smiled.
Dennis remembered something and laughed. “I suppose you’ll want the furnace turned on,” he said. “There’s not much heat in this place without it. Certainly no hot water.”
“That would be really great, sir.”
“Please, call me Dennis.”
Chapter 5
Elle
WHEN ELLE ARRIVED AT THE diner, Kelly was already waiting for her with a hot cup of coffee. There was only one customer there, an old man in overalls, and he was eating his breakfast at the counter.
“How did you sleep?” Kelly asked.
“I love that place, Kelly. It’s so cozy. It’s perfect. I even met Dennis this morning. He’s going to turn on the furnace so there’s hot water.”
“Oh my God, I totally forgot about that.”
“That’s okay. I managed.”
“Well, I suppose the first order of business is to introduce you to the cook. She also happens to be the boss.”
Elle followed Kelly behind the counter to the kitchen, where a rotund woman with rosy red cheeks and a kind face was frying bacon over the grill.
“Gracie, this is Elle, the newest addition to the family. Elle, this is Grace, the mother of the family.”
Elle found herself giving a little bow. “Thank you so much for the opportunity,” she said.
“I’m the one who’s thanking you, Elle,” Grace said. “If this works out, you’ll be really saving our necks. I don’t know how much longer Kelly and I could handle this place on our own.”
“I won’t let you down,” Elle said.
“I’m sure you won’t, child.”
And true to her word, Elle didn’t let Gracie or Kelly down for an instant. She took to the job with the ease and confidence of a seasoned pro. She poured coffee, took orders, ran food, bussed tables, and chatted up the customers like no one Gracie and Kelly had ever seen. Even when Stumpy, the town drunk came in, Elle managed to put him at ease, got him to eat, which he rarely did anymore, and he even left her a tip.
“I can’t believe he took to you so soon,” Grace said from the grill. “He usually hates new people.”