Bent Creek (31 page)

Turning around at the pier she headed back to the house. She had to be at work at ten.  Washing her feet off in the bucket by her door, Rachael pulled off her dress and replaced it with her uniform. Today wasn’t going to be a good day for her.

She hadn’t really paid much attention to the time and when she arrived at the restaurant, Rita, one of the other wait
resses smiled at her. “You’re early, Rachael.  It’s only nine thirty, you’re not supposed to be here until ten.”

“That’s okay. I’d rather be workin’ than sittin’ home alone.”

“You need to get out and find yourself a boyfriend instead of moping around like a lost puppy.  There are plenty of good looking guys on the beach.”

“Ain’t interested right now. Still got some things tah work through.”

Rita removed her apron. “Well if you’re ready to start work, I
think I’ll head home, my feet are killing me.  That okay with you?”

“Sure,” Rachael replied as she began to fill her tray with napkins and silverware. After her station was set up she was ready to go work. It would be good to get her mind off her on problems for a while.

Placing a menu in front of the man sitting alone in a booth, she asked “What kin I git you tah drink, Sir.  We have the best sweet tea in the south.” She took her pencil from behind her ear and pulled out her order pad.

“That’s sounds good and do you have any green beans and ham?”

Looking down, her eyes widened and her order pad dropped to the table. “Sam! Oh my gosh, it’s you.” Without thinking she sat down and slid over in the booth. “What are you doin’ here? How’d you know I worked here?”

Sam just kept grinning. “Slow down, Rachael. I was in Lynch a couple of days ago.  I half expected to find you there, but when your family said you had actually moved to Destin I knew that had to be my next stop.”

“Oh my gosh, I think I’m gonna bawl,” Rachael said, covering her face with her hands.

“Don’t do that. Look, I think your boss is giving you dirty looks. Just get me some iced tea and a hamburger.  What time do you get off?”

“Five, I’m finished at five. You come back then, okay?”

“I’ll be here. And by the way, you look great.”

Rachael could feel her self blushing.  “Oh, you go on Sam Montgomery.”

It was the longest workday of her life, yet she couldn’t stop grinning.

Taking five minutes to wash her hands and comb her hair after her shift ended, Rachael stared into the mirror in the ladies room. Her whole body was shaking.  It was Sam and he was here and she knew she still loved him as much as ever.

Sam was leaning against a post on the porch when she exited the front door of the restaurant.  He stood up straight and smiled at her. “Come on, I want to see your house.”

“We kin walk tah it. I got a car, but I walk tah work cause it’s so close.”  Walking down the beach, Sam reached over and took her hand.

A few minutes later she opened the door to her house. “Well, this is it. It ain’t much, but it’s all mine.”

He walked around the room and then stood looking out the window at the ocean. “This is nice, Rachael.  You got a heck of a view.  Right on the ocean just like you wanted.  Are you happy here?”

“Oh, Sam, I’m so miserable I could jest die.  I ain’t never liked it as much as I thought I would and when momma and daddy left, it got even worse.  I guess Florida wuz jest a place, a name on the map that kept me goin’ all those years. Hell, it jest might as well have been North Carolina or Alaska.  I reckon I said Florida so many times it became some kind of magic place that would make me live happily ever after. Maybe if’n I had never met you, I’d be happy, but alls I think about is you.”

He crossed the room and she was in his arms.  “I’m here now, Rachael, so you better get happy.”

“So, you mean yer not mad at me anymore?” she asked.

“No, I’m not mad at you. You’re just too darn cute to stay mad at too long. I guess I was just surprised when I found out about you running the still.  I tried to tell myself that I really didn’t care about you, but after I left all I thought about was you. I’ve never stopped caring about you, Rachael.”

“Thar you go agin, makin’ me blush.”

She awoke in the morning with a smile on her face.  She rolled over and kissed Sam on his cheek.  “Wake up sleepy head.”

He groaned and pulled her close to him.  “You know, I was thinking. Why don’t we take a road trip? I’d like to find a place to open a small hardware store.  I’m not sure it has to be here in Florida; maybe we could go further north, say…to Kentucky. Ever heard of that place. I hear there used to be a girl there that ran moonshine but she moved away.”

Rachael grinned. “I reckon I’ve heard of Kentucky. Now that sounds like a right nice place tah live.”

THE END

About the Author

Originally from St. Louis, Marlene Mitchell makes her home in Kentucky now. A mother and grandmother, Marlene has a wide range of interests including watercolor and oil painting, yet writing has always been her passion. That comes through loud and clear in her wonderful novels! These novels reflect a genuine sincerity with very strong characters to which her readers can relate. To quote Marlene: “It took me a long time to start writing, but now I can't stop. The stories just keep on coming.”