The lucky one

Chapter 17

As Oliver was taking a stride in the wood, a detour he had taken the habit to make, he heard one of the last things he would have expected to hear: a violin. He quickly identified the source when he saw a three-house further down the river. He leaned on one of the bridge's components and enjoyed the notes as they came, not quite perfect, but not bad at all.

He complimented the young girl as such when she was done "Not bad" 

"I didn't think anyone was listening," Astra called back

"Glad I was," he assured before he walked on. And glad he was, even though it reminded him of the time when his mother had forced him to attend piano classes. The instructor had been an angel of patience, bringing his reluctant self to the point where he could accompany someone playing the violin on simple pieces.

He grabbed his phone and impulsively called his sister, letting the ringtone feel his ears just before he heard some distant violin notes again. 

"Ollie?" asked the slightly worried voice of his sister

"Hey Speedy"

"Everything alright?"

"Yes. I just felt like calling up, something I heard made me feel nostalgic. Is it a bad time?"

"No. Not at all. I'm just doing some paperwork for the garage. I'll be glad for a break"

"So it got intense enough for Roy to be unable to do his paperwork?"

"You have no idea. And he suddenly had an idea recently that might make this place ever busier"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes. You remember the large dry land near the entry of the road leading to the house?"

"Yes?"

"Well, a trucker had a malfunction and got stuck there. He came up to the house and asked if he could use the phone. Roy offered to take a look at the engine and was able to fix him something so that he could get home, a few miles further. Well, they talked about how the clearing would be great to build a truck stop. Apparently, a lot of truckers have to bust their hour book and the cups are catching on and waiting for them at the city entrances."

"So Roy wants to build a truck stop? That could be great"

"Actually, he only really mentioned it. I'm the one that caught on to the idea, but I don't really know what I should or not include"

"How about you run ideas by me?"

"Sure. So, first, I thought about what could be useful in a truck stop. I thought about doing a small restaurant, with maybe like a central lunch counter at the center circling a section where the employees would prepare coffees, drinks and other stuff like that. I was thinking about maybe 6 or 7 tables with cushioned benches"

"That sounds great. Not too big, and even if the truckers don't immediately start showing up, I noticed there wasn't any restaurant in the village. If you get the word out, you should be able to attract the population of the town. Just make sure you make the menu family-friendly"

"Yeah, attracting families would be great. Also, maybe a garage, with like 3 doors or something."

"Don't you have those already?"

"Yeah, but to be honest, I'm getting a little fed up with having my yard filled with cars. So if I could at least restrain the ones coming to the house to only the hunters, and keep the town people only coming to change oil, tires, and do small repairs to the building down the road, it would be great."

"Hold, on, did you say 'hunters'? Is that what all those people coming to the house in a hurry and hurt all over are? What the hell are they hunting, werewolves?"