Better Days

Jim was using a small hopper upstairs to load the grain into so he had to climb the stairs many times just to do such a small batch of grain. One of his next projects was to rebuild the larger grain hoppers and flumes so he didn't have to load them so often. Jim was upstairs once again loading grain into the hopper when he heard the buzzer for the front door go off. He hurriedly finished filling the hopper and was heading for the stairs to see what his latest visitor wanted when he heard Cheryl's voice, "Jim. Are you in here?"

Jim went down the stairs as rapidly as he could and emerged from the stairwell smiling. He said, "Yeah Cheryl I'm here. I had to go upstairs for a moment to put more grain in the hopper so I could grind on. What can I help you with this morning?"

"Jim I've been thinking about our talk the other day and I thought maybe if you didn't mind I could come down today and watch. I want to see what you do and see if I am interested in the work and if I think I can do it. Would that be OK?"

"Sure Cheryl. You picked a good day or maybe a bad day for it. I'm busy as a one armed wallpaper hanger today. If you want, just sort of follow me around and watch. Feel free to ask questions if you have them."

For the next hour or so Cheryl stuck to Jim like glue. She had a light coating of powder on her from the dust floating in the air. She had picked that up watching Jim mill the grain, load the hopper and package the ground product. Finally it was noon and Jim closed off the spillway to stop the waterwheel from turning and then disengaged the mill wheel. Cheryl watched as Jim walked to the front door and locked it.

Jim looked at Cheryl and smiled. He said, "Lunch time. Do you want to eat a bite with me while we talk about this now or do you have something else you have to do?"

Cheryl smiled and said, "No, I have the day free. The kids are with their grandparents and all I have to do is sit in the house."

"Great. Come on into my house and we'll see what we can find to eat. I was just going to have soup and a sandwich. Will that be OK for you?"

"Oh, I couldn't eat your food. I'll just run back home and find something there. We can talk when I get back."

"No Cheryl. I feel like I owe you something for your time this morning. You were a great help packing the meal for me and I really appreciate it. Besides it will be nice to have someone to eat with for a change. My day has gone very well thanks to your help. At this rate I'll be finished in another hour or so and I had expected to work until late this afternoon."

As they prepared and ate their lunch they discussed the job. Cheryl hadn't seen anything she couldn't do and said so. She did say she would rather not run the mill but she was willing to do anything else if Jim wanted to hire her. Jim smiled and said, "Great. I'm happy with what I've seen you do this morning. Consider yourself hired."

Jim and Cheryl discussed hours and work days. They finally decided she would work from eight to noon six days a week and would be on call for extra time if an emergency came up. Cheryl's first official work day would be the following Monday.

Cheryl had been working for Jim a week when he got a phone call from the Prosecuting Attorney. He was informed he was not going to be prosecuted for killing Pete, it had been ruled justifiable Homicide as he was acting in self defense and in defense of Calvin. Jim was also informed he would be called on to testify if and when the other three young men came to trial. Cheryl had taken the call and was watching Jim with a worried expression. After he told her the outcome of the conversation he could see the tension leave her body. She said, "Good Jim. I'm so happy for you. I was worried that you would go to prison for protecting Calvin." Cheryl looked guilty for a moment then continued, "Oh, I didn't mean it was good Pete was killed, just that it was good you weren't in trouble!"

Over the next two weeks Cheryl and Jim settled into a good routine. She was very helpful and he managed to get a lot more done in a shorter period of time. He still had a lot of folks drop in for coffee and he enjoyed talking to them. From time to time even Cheryl stopped for a quick cup with some of her neighbors. She listened to them complain about not having snacks or sodas and not having anywhere local to buy a few emergency grocery items. Almost daily she had a thoughtful look on her face.

One day after she had clocked out for the day she sat down at a table and said, "Jim can I talk to you for a few minutes please? I've been thinking about what some of the guys have been saying about things and I have some ideas."

Jim sat at the table with her and began drinking a fresh cup of coffee. He thought the coffee sure got better after she started making it. He leaned back and watched Cheryl. She looked nervous but determined.

"Jim I've been thinking about the snacks and things the guys are ribbing you about. You know my husband used to tell me I was a pretty good cook and I got to thinking if we could use your store here and your flour I could bake some cinnamon rolls and bread and stuff to bring down here. Maybe we could sell them and increase your take. I wouldn't mind doing that and it would be nice to have a few things like that to sell..."

Jim thought about that for a few minutes and then said, "Well Cheryl I just don't know. I don't have a health certificate and don't know how that would be looked at. Would I need a license? I had to get a business license and tax number to sell the flour and meal. I don't know if that would cover baked goods or not. I also need to know what you expect to get out of that too."

"Oh, I don't want anything. I'll just make it while I'm messing around home and bring it down when I come in the mornings."

"No, that won't work. If you do extra work you would need extra pay. I don't want to pay you for more hours though. Tell you what. What if we sell the things and deduct the cost of ingredients then split the remainder fifty fifty? That seems fair. We could try it for a month then if it didn't work we could just stop."

Jim and Cheryl discussed the new enterprise a little longer then she took a bag of flour home to make her first batch of rolls and bread. Cheryl showed up at the store a half hour early the next morning looking flushed but excited. Her eyes were sparkling. By now Jim had given her a key and the first he knew she was there was when he heard a banging going on from the store. He opened the door between it and his living room to see Cheryl moving a display case. He watched as she placed wonderful smelling cinnamon rolls, half a dozen loaves of fresh homemade bread and some dinner rolls on the shelves. She even had a small ice chest with milk and Orange Juice and a few sodas inside.

After Cheryl had things set up to her satisfaction she stood back beside Jim and smiled. "There," she said. "Now we'll see if I'm right and things sell."

Jim walked up to the display and sniffed. He reached out and felt the heat coming off the pan of cinnamon rolls. Jim turned to look at Cheryl and said, "Hey, these are hot. Did you bake them this morning?" Cheryl blushed and nodded her head yes. Jim continued, "I thought you were going to do the baking yesterday afternoon? My God, how early did you have to get up to do this?"

Cheryl blushed a little more and almost whispered, "About four."

Jim looked at her and said, "Cheryl that doesn't seem right. I'm not sure I like the fact you got up to work like this that early. I thought we had an understanding"

Cheryl broke in on him and said, "Oh, Hush! I had to spend the same amount of time either way and we both know fresh hot baked goods are better than ones that have cooled off. Besides, I usually get up around six so I didn't lose much sleep."

Cheryl got busy making the first pot of coffee then after it was done she brought Jim a cup of coffee and a fresh cinnamon roll. She sat with him and had a cup and roll also. They were still nibbling on their roll and drinking coffee when one of Jim's regular visitors showed up. When he came in the door his head came up and he stopped in his tracks. His eyes moved to the table then over to the shelf with the fresh baked goods on it. He looked at the posted prices and his eyes lit up. He broke out with a big grin and made a bee line for the baked goods.

Joel walked to the shelf, picked up a disposable cup for his coffee, a disposable plate for a roll and loaded both down. He had already noticed the donation cup for coffee had disappeared and in its place was a sign listing coffee prices as well as the price for the baked goods.

Joel sat at the table with Jim and Cheryl. He took a bite of his roll then closed his eyes in bliss. He sighed and said, "Damn that's good." He looked at Jim then Cheryl before asking, "Did ya cook these Cheryl?"

Cheryl blushed and nodded her head yes. Joel laughed and said, "Well, they're darn good woman. I bet they won't last long. Ya gonna keep on making 'em?"

Jim spoke up saying, "We don't know Joel. Depends on whether or not they sell well and we can make anything on them. Of course it also depends on the state and how many hoops I have to jump through for them."

After he and Joel visited for a few Jim rose and began his mornings work. On one trip through the sales room he heard Joel on the phone. "No Shit, Jim and Cheryl got some baked goods out now. I just had one of tha best cinnamon rolls I've ever had. They even got fresh homemade bread and rolls too."

By nine a.m. the word had spread over town and they were sold out of rolls and bread. Cheryl's eyes were glowing when she reported to Jim. She said their profits were almost $44.00 that day on ten loaves of bread, two dozen cinnamon rolls and a dozen dinner rolls.

For the rest of the week Cheryl continued to bake in the morning and each day she increased her offerings. Almost every day they sold out before the end of the day. Finally on Friday she and Jim sat talking after they had closed at noon. Cheryl said, "Jim I'm sorry. I think I've reached the end of my string. I'm having to get up now at 3 a.m. and I just can't bake any more but I know we can sell it if I could. I just don't know what to do."

Jim sat for a moment then he said, "Well, Cheryl. First off getting up at three is pure bullshit. I won't have that. A few dollars isn't worth that to me and if you need the money that bad we need to think about how to get it for you without you losing that much sleep."

Cheryl looked shocked for a moment then she said, "Oh! I'd be lying if I said the money wasn't helping but that isn't the whole story. I love doing this. For the first time in my life...well for the first time since David died I'm having fun again and I owe it all to you. Please don't make me stop!"

Jim sat thinking. He admitted their profits were looking up and it was fun but he didn't need the money that badly. Finally he had a thought and he smiled. He looked up at Cheryl and said, "Well, how about this? You get your first batch of stuff cooked then bring it and your dough over here and cook more in my oven. That way you can cook while we work here and won't have to get up as early. In fact you can even begin sleeping later again. If you promise to do that I will go along with making what we are now. The licenses weren't too hard to get but I sure would hate to waste them now that we have them..."

One day Jim was in Centerton buying supplies when he drove past a restaurant supply house. He had a brilliant idea and drove back to the store. When he came back out he was over five thousand dollars poorer but he had a smile on his face and a bounce in his step. He finished his shopping and returned to Wilsons Mill.

When Cheryl saw him come into the store he was still smiling. She smiled when she saw him and walked up to him. "What's up Jim? I haven't seen you smile like this ever I don't think."

"Oh, nothing. Just had a good day for a change and was remembering a couple of good times I had in the past. How about helping me unload a bunch of stuff then you need to get on home. It's almost noon and your quitting time."

As they were beginning to unload Cheryl's children came into the store. It was a Friday and they only had a half day of school. They had received permission to get off the bus at the mill instead of riding it home and waiting for their mother to get back. After greeting the children Cheryl sent them to one of the tables to begin their homework while she and Jim resumed unloading his truck.

After they had brought all the purchases inside Cheryl looked at the stack of dry goods then turned to Jim. She said, "Jim there seems to be a lot more here than I had put on the list. In fact, it looks like you bought almost twice what I listed. Why did you buy so much?"

"Well, I was looking at the list and the prices on the individual items. I noticed Sams Wholesale Club sold many of the items on your list cheaper if I bought them in case lots. It looked to me like most of it would not spoil if we didn't use them rapidly so I just increased your quantity to take advantage of the cheaper case lot prices. We have plenty of room to store things here so why not? Besides, maybe now I won't have to go to town as often."

Cheryl and Jim were rearranging display shelves and putting his purchases up when Calvin called out to his mother. He said, "Mom, I don't understand this. Can you come over and help me for a minute?"

"Oh, not now Calvin. I'm working. Can't you wait until we get home? I can't take time to help you now, I'm on the clock."

Jim looked over at Cheryl and said, "Oh, go Cheryl. Take a few minutes if you need to and help Calvin. I don't mind."

"No. If he needs help I can do it at home. We will have plenty of time there after work." She looked at Calvin and continued, "Calvin why don't you just put that away and work on something else until I have time to help. I shouldn't be more than an hour longer here."

Jim walked past Calvin's chair and saw he was working on math. He glanced at Cheryl then pulled out a chair beside Calvin. He said, "Maybe I can help a little Calvin. Since I'm not being paid by the hour maybe the boss won't get upset at me if I take a minute or two. What's the problem here?"

Calvin explained the problems and Jim pulled the book between them. Like many children Calvin was having trouble setting up word problems. Jim turned back to the beginning of the section Calvin was working on and began explaining the idea behind the lesson. When he had covered the section he read the first problem Calvin was having trouble with and began asking Calvin questions about it. They talked about the problem and Jim showed Calvin how to write down what the problem gave him to work with and how to write down what they wanted him to figure out. Then Jim had Calvin set up the equation and when he had trouble he showed him how to do that.

After about five problems something Jim said seemed to make sense to Calvin and he got a big grin on his face and set up and solved the remaining four problems in the assignment all by himself. Jim was smiling and laughing with Calvin as he crowed about how easy the work was.

All at once Jim looked up and saw Cheryl was sitting across the table by them and staring at Jim. He looked at the clock on the wall and saw they had been working for over two hours. He had never noticed the time going by. Cheryl looked at Jim when he raised her head and said, "I can't believe it! You were so intense you never even heard me talking to you did you? And you made that look so easy! I've tried to help him with his math before and I just can't get it. I do better than Calvin does but I still can't do some of the problems. You were wonderful. Thank you so much."

"Yeah, thank you Mr. Ross. I really appreciate it. You're so good to us. Sometimes I wish..." Calvin stopped talking and looked first at his sister. She had a cloudy look on her face.

Calvin began putting his books back in his backpack. His mother said, "What Calvin. What do you wish? You know it's not polite to begin a sentence then just leave it hanging."

"Oh, nothing Mom. I just had a stupid thought. I need to do more thinking and I want to try to figure this one out on my own if I can. I'm sorry."

Cheryl stood and said, "Well, come on you two. You've bothered Jim too long this afternoon. Now we need to get home and take care of our chores before bedtime."

Jim smiled and watched them leave. He shook his head in surprise when he heard Sarah lambasting Calvin as they followed their mother across the loading dock and parking lot toward where she parked her car. He thought he heard her angrily whisper, "Calvin you dummy. You almost ruined it all. Why can't you keep your mouth closed?"

That afternoon after Cheryl and the children left Jim began remodeling his store front. He had plenty of room because the store was sixty by thirty feet and they only had the two tables and three shelves in it for displaying their small amount of baked goods, coffee and milled items. Jim moved the flour and corn meal shelves to the far end of the room, placed the coffee and bread display in the center of the room and moved the tables to the center also. After he did that he measured out from the wall separating the store from his living quarters fifteen feet and built a wall with a thirty inch counter top like a breakfast bar in his home. He left a large opening on the inside side of the bar and a smaller one near the front of the store.

After the wall was built and counter top installed Jim began wiring outlets for 110 and 220 volts along the wall separating his living quarters from the store and the stem wall the counter was on. It was ten thirty that evening before he finished but he was happy. The last thing he did was move in four bar stools to place on the store side of the counter.

When Cheryl arrived the next morning she stopped in surprise just inside the door. She looked around then turned to a grinning Jim. "My Gosh. Why did you do all this? You must have worked all night to get this done. What are you going to do with the area behind the counter?"

"Oh, I just thought we needed more work area. We'll put some tables and stuff over there and we can work there instead of in the back."

About 9 a.m. a large white delivery truck drove into the parking lot and backed up to the loading dock that ran the length of the front of the building. The driver and his helper came into the building and Jim met them. Jim took them into the space he had built and showed them the area. The two men were nodding their heads and talking quietly. They then went back outside and opened the truck doors. Jim stood back and smiled while watching Cheryl.

Cheryl stood watching the men with a puzzled look on her face then she gasped and held her hands to her mouth. She just stood and watched in silence as the men brought in a commercial range, oven, small commercial cooler and several feet of stainless steel work tables. They even brought in several commercial stainless bowls and baking pans as well as a large commercial mixer and a pastry display case that was placed at one end of the small lunch counter. Everything had obviously been used before but it was in great shape.

After everything was in the building the men got busy installing the items. In three hours an entire small café kitchen was set up in the newly remodeled end of the room. The two men had even waited while Jim hooked up the gas stove to an existing propane line so they could show Cheryl how to operate everything. Jim shook their hands and thanked them for their rapid and efficient delivery and installation. When he turned back to the store he found Cheryl sitting at one of the tables staring at the new kitchen and crying.

Jim walked up and stood looking down at her. Without thinking he put his hands on her shoulders. Cheryl looked up at him then jumped to her feet and threw her arms around him. Before he could react she gave him a nice kiss and stepped back. "OH, thank you! It's just perfect! But you shouldn't have... A stove, TWO ovens, work tables and deep sinks and the cooler too! Oh, I just don't know what to do..."