A Reluctant Saint by Tricia Fields

Author:Tricia Fields [Fields, Tricia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severn House
Published: 2022-05-06T00:00:00+00:00

FIFTEEN

Otto paid for their breakfast, both of them having long forgotten whose turn it was to buy. Sometimes he took a turn or two, sometimes she did, but neither of them worried the other would take advantage. Even though he wasn’t capable of telling her, he was certain she knew how much he appreciated her as a friend and as a boss. He had a great deal of pride in the work that their small three-person department did, and it was hard to imagine moving forward without Marta.

Outside the restaurant, Otto tipped his head back to the blue sky and sighed as a warm breeze passed over his face. He closed his eyes and had the surreal feeling that he was standing in the village in which he grew up in Poland. A balmy breeze passed over him, carrying the scent of grazing red cows and green pastures on hillsides that stretched into mountains up into the clouds. What a life he’d had growing up: simple and serene. He thought about his daughter and her marriage drama, and grandkids struggling with all manner of troubles at school, and he wondered if his childhood was as uncomplicated as he remembered it. Their life had revolved around the small village, where everyone knew everyone else’s every move; he and Delores couldn’t wait to move away, but now they shared stories about their idyllic youth.

Otto opened his eyes and saw the grocer across the street standing in the window staring over at him. Otto waved, and the grocer waved back and then wandered away to his duties, apparently satisfied that the cop across the street wasn’t losing his mind. Otto didn’t think he was losing his mind, but the melancholy he’d been feeling of late was growing. He missed his parents, dead now going on ten years, and he knew that a trip back to his hometown wouldn’t solve anything; it would most certainly disappoint. He imagined that Poland was experiencing the same troubles as the US, but it was nice to think there were still a few places in the world where grassy meadows and kind neighbors were the norm.

He decided to extend his reverie and walk down to the hardware store where Mark Jackson worked. The store was part of a small chain that stretched across the west, charging exorbitant prices so people could ‘do it yourself’ and spend as much on the required tools to do an odd job as they would have if they’d hired a professional.

The bell jangled on the door as Otto entered. Seeing no employees or other customers, he wandered through the aisles until he finally found Mark through a set of swinging doors in the back of the store, staring down at a roll of screen and a screen-door frame lying on a long table. He looked up at Otto, glassy-eyed, as if he’d been standing and staring for a very long time.

‘Everything all right?’ Otto asked.

Mark ran both hands over his face as if trying to wake himself up.

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