Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 76022 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76022 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
“It’s a quick focaccia recipe. I doubt it will be as good as the real kind. But that needs to proof for up to a whole day in the fridge. And we didn’t have that kind of time. It smells good, though.”
“You bake bread.”
She shot me a smile at the wonder in my voice. “Another thing I learned growing up. My grandfather was old school. He didn’t want to buy anything that could be made at home. He always made a couple loaves of sandwich bread a week for each of our lunches. Once I was old enough, he let me take that over. And from there, I fiddled with new recipes.”
“The women in my family make some mean tortillas but loaves of bread weren’t common in my house.”
“That’s one thing I haven’t made,” she admitted, cutting a giant slice of bread for me, making the air burst with the scent of rosemary.
I didn’t care if I had to waddle home after, my waistband full to bursting; I was going to eat every last damn bite of food she’d made for me.
Then I had something very specific and very sweet in mind for dessert.
CHAPTER NINE
Este
The conversation went off without a hitch as Saul plowed through his pile of food.
Until the inevitable happened.
He asked about college.
Every muscle in my core engaged.
My spine fused.
“I didn’t finish,” I told him, hoping he would drop it. “I dropped out.”
Thankfully, Saul wasn’t the kind of person who asked a lot of pressing questions about the decision to drop out. He had that laid-back kind of personality that seemed to inherently accept that sometimes something wasn’t right for someone.
“Do you ever think of going back? Or are you happier on this path?”
“Oh. Um.”
That was a good question.
I didn’t have an answer handy for that one. Because the thing was, I hadn’t wanted to drop out. I really loved my classes, my friends, and the whole college experience.
I’d mourned the loss of my college career for years. And not only because I also had a lot of real-world adult job experience that made me painfully aware of how limited my options were without some sort of degree or certificate.
“What were you working to become?”
“I was working on becoming a city planner. My grandfather’s mobility started to decline in my teens. And I was too young to drive still. But we lived so far from any of the stores. It made taking care of us really difficult. I wanted to get involved in city planning to prioritize walkable cities in new construction areas.”
“Maybe that’s what you like so much about Shady Valley,” Saul mused. “You can walk from one end of it to the other without losing half the day.”
“That’s true,” I agreed. “Do you know how long the area has been partially abandoned?”
“From what I hear, a long while. It used to be a manufacturing town. Brought in a lot of families and small businesses. But when the plant closed, the town all but died.”
“Is it the prison that is starting to bring it back?”
“Yeah. Pretty quickly too. I’m sure you’ve seen the men with clipboards and rolling measuring tapes around town. Looks like there’s going to be some development starting. Whether we like it or not.”
“I know how important growth is for a community, but it would be pretty sad to see such a sweet little town get big city treatment.”
“I think the prison will discourage too much building. And I know we could really use another apartment building and some more stores. Maybe some more restaurants.”
“I wouldn’t object to a craft store. And a decent mom-and-pop home improvement one too.”
“I know some of the girls are dying for a bookstore as well,” Saul said. “I wouldn’t object either. I think I’ve read everything that interests me at the library.”
“The library is so cute.”
“A nice way of saying ‘tiny.’”
“I mean, yeah.”
“It’s actually somewhat new. It wasn’t here when I first came to town. Guess a grant came through.”
“I bet if the town came together to fundraise, we could make a big difference.”
“That’s true. There are some heavy rollers here,” Saul said.
“I noticed the, uh, well, mansions.”
“Yeah. Figure every town has its collection of millionaires. Shady Valley is no different.”
“Does, um, my boss live there?” I asked, thinking of his seemingly endless number of designer suits and watches.
“Yeah, both Konstantin and Mikhail live on Millionaire’s Row.”
“Do they own more businesses than the pool hall?”
Saul leaned back in his chair after finally finishing his whole plate—bread and all—and there was something a little guarded about his face then.
“The Novikoff family has a lot of different streams of income.”
“That makes sense. I mean, the pool hall is busy. But it’s kind of cheap. I don’t think anyone could be a millionaire on one pool hall.”
“How has working for them been?”