People throughout the room made encouraging sounds. It was a great idea, but a dozen possibilities passed through my mind of how he might want Red’s and Sparky’s involved, and most of them made me nervous. Knowing Bo, it wouldn’t be as simple as cooking food.
“Where does the grant funding come in?” I asked.Put me out of my misery, Bo.
“Great question.” His confident expression quickly shifted to something more apologetic before he glanced around the room. “We already ask our local businesses to contribute so much, not only for this festival, but all the others throughout the year. I didn’t want to charge an entry fee for the event, so the grant funding will cover the cost of the ingredients for the dinner. We’ll be asking local eateries to prepare the food using their commercial kitchens, but no one will be asked to front the cost of it.”
That was incredibly thoughtful and well planned, but I didn’t expect anything less from Bo.
“Where do the diners come in? I’m sure my family is happy to contribute in any way, but since I’m here today instead of Sage, I should make sure before I promise anything,” Amos said congenially.
From afar, it seemed like Amos always had a special way about him that made everyone love him. He was gregarious, outgoing, and charming. I’d always admired that about him as much as I’d envied it. Dad was that way too. He loved nothing more than grilling food behind the Red’s counter while chatting with people all day, making each customer feel important. Those skills had skipped me. If Matty were still with us, he probably would’ve had that skill and eagerly taken over the diner.
Meanwhile, I was trying not to drown under the weight of duty to my family and their legacy.
“Of course. I’ll handle all the financial details because they’ll need to be processed through the city as the grant recipient. I want the menu to reflect and honor the original Christmas Eve dinners, so I’m hoping you and Mickey can work together and decide on dishes. I’ll work on finding kitchens that will have the bandwidth at the holidays to take this on, especially with barely over a month’s notice. I’d love it if both diners could cook some as well.”
As I listened to Bo, I tried to figure out why he didn’t give me a heads-up about this. I suspected the Flynns hadn’t known either. Bo and I regularly talked about his big ideas for the town over beer, but surprising us like this was a tactical move. Everything with him was strategic. Still, I was kind of peeved he didn’t at least mention it privately first.
“What better way to recognize this part of our history and bring the community together than having Red’s and Sparky’s team up?”
Why in the world would Bo think we could pull this off? Red’s and Sparky’s working together? Inconceivable. Unprecedented. A catastrophe waiting to happen. Judging by the sudden silence in the room, everyone else agreed.
I looked everywhere but at Amos because I wasn’t sure whether I wanted him to be as horrified as me or excited by the prospect.
“Bo, are you sure? I don’t know if this is a good idea,” Roger hedged. “You know we don’t even put the diners next to each other at vending events, but you want them to work together to plan something?” He spoke the words in a loud whisper, like Amos and I wouldn’t hear.
A few others raised similar objections, and with each one, my stubbornness grew. They had no reason to assume I couldn’tbe professional. They’d never seen me be anything other than respectful and helpful, and Sage and I were always perfectly cordial in meetings.
My skin prickled, and I met Amos’s eyes. An understanding passed between us. I wanted to prove everyone else wrong more than I wanted to avoid spending time with him and the temptation it brought.
“We’ll do it,” we said simultaneously.
The masochist in me was grateful for Bo’s Machiavellian plans.
“Great! If you two could start working on a menu, I’ll take over from there.” Bo tapped on his tablet. “Now that we’ve got the food squared away, I’d like to spend the rest of the meeting going over some other logistics for this new addition to our schedule. I’ve got a few ideas for locations. What do you think about the high school gym?”
Instead of participating in the conversation, I couldn’t pull my attention from the tote bag I’d noticed at Amos’s feet. The side of the bag drooped to reveal the spine of a hardback. It had a royal purple and black pattern that reminded me of my favorite fantasy series, but it couldn’t be. Did Amos read fantasy novels?
A forgotten high school memory came back to me of stumbling upon Amos flipping through a shelf of my favorite novels in the school’s library. I’d been so startled to see him in my safe place that I’d mumbled an apology and fled. At the time I hadn’t allowed myself to consider the dangerous possibility that the cute, popular guy I was supposed to avoid liked the same books as me and instead told myself he must’ve been lost. Now, I couldn’t ignore the evidence.
I’m in so much trouble.
MAPLEWOOD MATTERS BLOG
NOVEMBER 17
Have you seen the news on the Maplewood social media channels? There’s a new event added to the Holiday Hoopla lineup: a Christmas Eve Community Dinner. That’s right, you can stuff your face for free with your neighbors instead of having to listen to Uncle Bob* tell the story about how he went to State for high school football, despite being third string. You know, the story he tells every year.
The interesting twist is that this event honors a time in Maplewood’s history when Sparky and Red—yes, of Sparky’s Diner and Red’s Restaurant fame—fed anyone in need within the community. Times were tough back then, and this is a nice nod to that.
What’s extra juicy is that Sparky’s and Red’s descendants are planning the event.Together. Amos Flynn is back in town and is allegedly teaming up with Mickey Brewer. Think they can pull this off without a feud part deux? Share your thoughts in the comments!
*Names and anecdotes are purely coincidental and definitely not about anyone specific…
FIVE
AMOS
Bo approached with two coffee mugs and set one in front of me before taking a seat. “Sorry, that took me a while. I thought of something I needed to ask Caspian for the January Winter Wishes festival.”
