Chapter Twenty-Two, Part Two

An hour later they were back in their apartment, Sophie examining her board games and Robert looking over his notes on the state of the lodge. Out of thirty rooms, only two were in sufficiently good repair that they could be cleaned up and rented out immediately, if there was even a market for such a thing, which Robert suspected there was not. All the other rooms had some kind of damage, mostly water damage to walls and floors from broken pipes, broken windows, or on the top floor, holes in the roof. He had hoped that there would be enough of the lodge left intact that he could rent the suites as small apartments, but it was going to take an investment of time and money to get even one floor ready for human habitation. Whether there would be any value in doing this remained to be seen, and he made a mental note to ask Norma if she knew of any good handymen in town who could give him an estimate.

His stomach rumbled and he looked at Sophie, who was sorting through the tokens, weapons and cards of her Clue game. “Are you hungry?” he asked. “How about a little something to eat before heading over to the school?”

Sophie paused from examining a tiny candlestick and appeared to be mulling over the question a lot longer than such a simple matter required.

Guessing her thoughts, Robert reached out his hand for hers. “School is not optional. We can go over there right now, or after we eat. Take your pick.”

“Let’s eat first, please.” Sophie put the game pieces back in the box and took her father’s hand.

When they stepped outside, she moved toward the barn, only to find that her father was heading toward the road. “Aren’t we going to take the horses?”

“It’s a small town. You don’t need your horse.”

“But Bandera needs to exercise.”

“After you’re enrolled in school and we’ve bought you any supplies you need, you can go out riding for a bit. Now quit dawdling.”

It had been Robert’s intention that they go to the store, where they could pick out a few simple foods and cook them on the hot plate he remembered in the store’s back office, but they weren’t more than two blocks down Main Street when they came upon the little Luz Diner, which he was surprised to see was open. It had been closed in his youth, used as a residence by an extended family from a ranch outside of town. But now the place sported a fresh coat of paint, red curtains at the windows, and a cheerful Open sign on the front door. “How about here?” Robert said. “We can’t do this every day, but it will be a nice treat. I bet they have waffles.”

Sophie perked up at the idea of a waffle. She nodded eagerly.

As they stepped into the diner, the waitress behind the counter and all the patrons turned to stare. It wasn’t that there were so many people there – only two men at the counter and an elderly couple in a booth – but the sudden scrutiny startled Robert and caused Sophie to edge a little closer. Robert knew well, of course, that the town wasn’t friendly to strangers, but although he was a local, this was his first time back in sixteen years. There were young people who had no memory of him, and the older ones recalled a man in his twenties, not one approaching middle age and with a daughter in tow. He was about to tell the waitress his name when the old woman in the booth stood up.

“Robert Dubeck?” She approached him cautiously. “Look at you – you’re all grown up. I’d heard a rumor you were coming back, but you know how people around here love to talk.”

“Hi Mrs. Gadsworth,” Robert said, extending a hand. “I’m glad someone here remembers me.”

She refused his hand and gave him a hug instead. “I think you’re old enough to call me Irma,” she said. She motioned to her husband, who was approaching more slowly, on shuffling feet. “Hurry up, Frank. We have to welcome Robert home.”

Unlike his wife, Frank shook Robert’s outstretched hand. “Glad you could make it back here, son. Came to run the shop, I guess?”

“I suppose someone has to,” Robert said.

“And who is this little tyke?” Irma asked, stooping to Sophie’s level. “Hello, pretty girl.”

“This is Sophie, my daughter.”

Frank grinned. “She’s a cutie.”

By now everyone else in the diner had gathered around, eager to reintroduce themselves to Robert and meet Sophie. Only the waitress, who had been four years old when he last came to Castaño, didn’t remember him. After a few minutes of greetings and hand-shaking, Robert smiled politely and asked if he and Sophie could take a booth. “We haven’t had breakfast yet, and I’m afraid she’s very hungry.”

With abashed murmurs, the other customers returned to their seats. The waitress asked for their drink order, directed their attention to the day’s menu written on a chalk board on the wall, then went behind the counter.

Once they were seated, Robert apologized to his daughter. “I should have prepared you for that.”

“Will this happen everywhere we go?”

“Until everyone in town has had a chance to check us out, I’m afraid so.” At the look of dismay on Sophie’s face, he added, “But there’s only about a hundred or so people still living here. It won’t take long.”

“A hundred?” Sophie let out a theatrical sigh. “It’ll take forever!”

“It will only feel that way, dear.”

By now the waitress had returned with milk for Sophie and a cup of coffee for Robert. “Have you had a chance to look at the menu or do you need a few minutes?”

Robert hadn’t given the chalkboard so much as a glance, but upon seeing that they had waffles, he ordered one for each of them, along with some fried eggs for himself. With the waitress gone, he turned his attention back to Sophie. “I was thinking you might like some new clothes for school. I have a feeling there aren’t any clothing shops here. There weren’t when I was growing up and I see nothing to make me think anything has changed. But we’ll ask when we get you enrolled, and if there’s no place close by to order anything, Norma probably has a catalog we can order from.”

Sophie’s eyes narrowed. “Will I have to wear dresses here?”

“I don’t know. Most of the girls did when I was in school, but that was a long time ago, and it wasn’t a requirement.”

Sophie looked relieved.

“But if it’s still the fashion, you may want to get at least one or two. Kids your age are sometimes not very nice to kids who look different.”

“I’ll think about it.” She sighed and looked away.

They lapsed into silence, with Robert sipping his coffee and Sophie looking around at nothing in particular while she drummed her heels against the vinyl of the booth. Finally the waitress arrived with their waffles and a pitcher of syrup. Sophie drowned her waffle in a thick sticky mess, and commenced to eating with abandon.

Robert took his time, restraining himself from reminding Sophie to mind her manners. The other diners had lost interest in them, and the poor girl had enough to handle already, what with townspeople gawking at her, a trip to the school on the day’s agenda, and the prospect of having to order a dress and actually wear it. He tried to think when he had ever seen Sophie in a dress, other than in infancy, but the only other occasion he could recall was Diana’s funeral. Robert had been so deep in fog that he wouldn’t have cared if she wore a burlap bag, but it had been Sophie herself who insisted that the only correct thing to wear was a dress, and a black one at that. When Robert could give her no answer as to how they would procure one in time, she went to Sabine and together they figured it out.

Robert smiled to himself. Sophie was all kid most of the time, but in a crisis, she had a grownup’s instincts and resourcefulness. He gazed fondly at her as she bent over her breakfast. He should try not to be so hard on her. She would find her way.