Tatym Billings clutched her small overnight suitcase and stepped off the bus in front of Lucy’s Diner in Misty Hollow. The rest of her things would be brought to her once they arrived, or so she’d been told.
The scenery on the almost four-hour drive had been gorgeous. Vibrant greens, fields of grain, pastures of cows and horses. Then, the climb up the mountain—breathtaking. Maybe uprooting her life could be a good thing.
She froze on the sidewalk as a pair of police officers ushered two scantily-clad women into squad cars. Her eyes widened as a man with a star pinned to his shirt stood mere feet away from her, barking orders at the onlookers.
“Step aside, ma’am.” The same man—she now knew was the sheriff because she read it under the star—motioned her to move. “Maybe have a seat in the diner.”
Her stomach growled on cue making the decision for her, especially after seeing a help-wanted sign in the window. With a nod to the sheriff, she headed across the street, pushed open the glass door of the diner, and approached the hostess. “I’d like to apply for the job posted in the window.”
“Lucy? Someone wanting the job,” the woman called out, then smiled at her. “She’ll be right with you.”
“Thanks.” She took a seat on a padded bench under a large window and set the suitcase at her feet.
Less than a minute later, a middle-aged woman, her hair tied in a messy bun, came through the kitchen door carrying a clipboard and rushed toward Tatym. “You, my dear, are a lifesaver. Fill these out. You can start immediately. Are you hungry?”
The woman didn’t even ask for her name. Misty Hollow sure was a strange town. “As a matter of fact, I am.” She wrote her name on the top line.
“How do you pronounce your name?” Lucy bent over, peering closer at the paper.
“Tay-tum.”
“Nice way to spell it even if it is confusing. Heather, bring this girl the special. On the house. She’s one of us now. Oh, and an apron and a name badge. T. A. T. Y. M. Are you over eighteen?”
“I’m twenty-five.” Things were moving way too fast.
“Sure don’t look like it. What brings you to town, Tatym?” She enunciated each syllable.
“My grandmother passed and left me the Billings cabin and land.” She finished filling in the blanks and handed the clipboard back to Lucy.
“Well, that’s nice.” Her smile now looked forced. “I wish you all the luck with that. Needs some work. Follow me.” She led Tatym through the kitchen to a small staff room. “You can eat here and stash your suitcase in that locker. Here’s the combination.” She scribbled a set of numbers on a napkin. “You do know how to wait tables, don’t you?”
“I’ll figure it out. I worked as a receptionist for years, so I know people.” Her legs gave way at the suddenness of her new life, or maybe the fact she hadn’t eaten anything that day. She grabbed the wall.
Lucy patted her on the shoulder. “You’ll be fine. I didn’t know much about owning a diner when I bought it from Myrtle, the previous owner. Eat up.”
“What happened to the girl I’m replacing?”
“See those women being rounded up outside?”
“Yes.” She tilted her head.
“Well, turns out she prostituted herself on her off-hours. She’s been arrested. You’ll be paid every Friday starting next week, and you can keep all your tips. You’ll most likely have to clear tables, too.”
“That’s fine.” She stared at the chicken-fried steak, mashed potatoes, and gravy placed in front of her.
“Eat up. All meals are free for my staff. Welcome to Misty Hollow. Oh, and buy a car quick. It’s quite a trip up that mountain and back. I’ve one you can borrow in the meantime. I’ll have someone fetch it.”
“Thank you.” Tatym shook her head. “Is everyone in the town this friendly?”
“Most of us, but murder likes to shadow this town. Especially when a new girl arrives.” Lucy cackled and went back to the kitchen.
Why did the woman think her statement funny? Was she even serious?
She gobbled up her food and donned the yellow frilly apron Heather had brought her. They’d spelled her name correctly. With a smile, she headed to wait on customers.
By the end of her shift at six p.m., her back and feet ached. Her overnight suitcase felt as if it weighed twenty pounds more than it did. An older model sedan waited in back of the diner. Tatym punched her grand…her address into the phone’s GPS and headed to her new home. She gave thanks for the borrowed car. There was no way she could walked the distance. After following a winding, dirt road, she entered a clearing where a log cabin sat overlooking a valley. “Oh, wow.”
Tatym scurried from the car to the edge of the clearing. The town of Misty Hollow lay far below her. Mountains rose around her. Grandma had never said how beautiful the place was. Why had her mother never brought her here? Her grandmother always had to visit them.
Tearing her eyes away from the view, she studied her new home. It was missing chinking between the logs. That would need fixing before winter. The roof was lacking a few shingles, and a shutter hung lopsided from a window. Hopefully, the inside was in better condition.
Her foot plunged through the rotted second step. Using a bit more caution, she crossed the porch and pushed the unlocked front door open.
The cabin wasn’t large, but it would suit her needs. The main room consisted of living, dining, and kitchen space, everything horribly outdated. Two bedrooms and one bath completed the house. An attic door pulled down from the center of the living room. Despite the dust covering everything, Tatym smiled and closed the attic. Welcome home, she could hear Grandma saying.
~
The bed of his truck full of boxes, Dane James made his way further up the mountain to the Widow Billings’ property. As he stopped in front of the cabin, a tiny woman with hair the color of mahogany stepped onto the porch. He hadn’t expected Alice’s heir to be so young.
“Miss Billings? I’m Dane James. I’ve brought your things.” The place had needed some work when Alice was alive. Now, it definitely did. His grandmother, June Mayfield, hadn’t told him how much needed doing.
“Thank you. I wasn’t expecting anyone until tomorrow.” She rushed toward him, ponytail bobbing and hazel eyes sparkling a greeting.
“I happened to be in town when they were delivered. Your grandmother is my grandmother’s best friend, although neither of them got out much.” He heaved a box from the truck bed. “Where would you like these?”
“The smallest bedroom, I guess.” She took a box.
The tiny woman was stronger than she looked. “Know of anyone I can hire to fix this place up? First the outside, then renovate the inside?”
“I own a construction company, and I’d love to work on this cabin.”
“Really?” She cast wide eyes at him. “That would be great.”
“I could start tomorrow. Once the truck is unloaded, I’ll take a look around and write up an estimate.”
“Are you an honest man, Mr. James?”
“Dane, please, and I’d like to think so. My grandmother would tan my hide otherwise.” He grinned and entered the cabin. She hadn’t been kidding about it needing some work.
This place would be his first big job. After leaving the job as a ranch hand at the Leaning O Ranch, he’d taken a few odd jobs to put his name out there, but they didn’t pay enough to get him out of his grandmother’s guestroom. Still, it smelled better than the bunkhouse.
After unloading the truck, he took his cell phone from the passenger seat and took photos of the outside of the house from every angle, then the inside. He sneezed as dust flew from Miss Billings’ frantic sweeping.
“Sorry.” She stopped and waited for him to finish. “I’m Tatym, by the way. Since you’ll be working here, you might as well call me by my first name. You’ll be here most of the time by yourself. I’m the new waitress at the diner.”
“You’ll meet everyone in town eventually.” He snapped all the photos he needed, then went back out to write up the estimate. When he’d finished, he joined Tatym on the front porch where she rocked in a wicker chair.
“You’ll love the view as the sun rises. I strongly suggest you make a point of waking up early enough in the morning. The mist is a sight to see.” He handed her the quote. “This doesn’t include renovating the inside or the material.”
“Five thousand?” She shrugged. “Okay. My grandmother left enough money to fix the place up. We’ll talk about the inside once the roof and walls are fixed. I think I’d like a metal roof, please. An insulated one. It’ll last longer.” She sighed, her eyes panning the valley. “The sunset is gorgeous.”
“You should take a look around your property. The entire ten acres is great. Come on, I’ll show you.”
“Okay.” She leaped to her feet. “Might as well while we can still see. I bet it gets dark up here.”
“I’ll bring motion-detector lights for both the front of the house and the back.” He’d tried persuading Alice to let him install them, but she’d complained it would keep her awake with all the critters that roamed around.
“That sounds great.”
Dane led her to the shed on the east side of the house. “Here is where Alice’s 1982 truck and riding lawn mower are stored. She kept both in tip-top shape.” He slid the door open. “There’s also gardening tools if you want to put in a garden.”
“I do.” She ran her hand over the navy-blue Ford. “Now, I won’t have to buy a vehicle.” She moved to the small window at the back of the garage and pointed toward the woods. “Who is that? Do I have neighbors up here?”
“Not for a few miles.” Dane peered over his shoulder at a man slipping into the trees.
~
He thought he’d had plenty of time before the granddaughter showed up. It didn’t matter. She wouldn’t be there every hour of the day. He’d dig around when she was gone. The sooner he found what he was looking for, the sooner he could build the resort. People would pay big bucks to stay in a cabin this high on the mountain and watch the sun burn off the early morning mist.
With the fishing, hunting, and hiking in the area, it would become a popular tourist place. All he needed was to ‘remove’ the last Billings family member.
It had been easy enough to get rid of the old woman. Folks thought she’d died of a heart attack, but he knew better. Too much insulin and voilà. Dead. He’d think up some kind of accident for the granddaughter. Something no one would question. He hadn’t come to this hick town for any other reason than to collect what was owed him. It didn’t matter what it took—he always got what he wanted.
- Publisher : Winged Publications
- Publication date : May 16, 2022
- Language : English
- Print length : 248 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1956654402
- ISBN-13 : 978-1956654400