Forever RiverCreek

Chapter 21 - Rick and Janet

The next few days fly by, leaving Janet to bond with Rick since he's taken a few personal days. The next to last morning, Rick takes Janet to Trippet's Diner for breakfast. Inside, Janet is taken back in time with the smells of the grease and brightly colored imitation leather booths. They're greeted and taken to a seat in the middle of the diner. Lloyd's mother, Mary, saunters over when she sees Rick sitting there with a beautiful new woman in his life.

"Well, good morning Rick. Who's your new friend?" Mary asks.

Janet looks up, and her eyes and smile instantly capture Mary, "Excuse his manners. Hello, I'm Janet Elkins, and I'm an old friend of Tara's."

The accent sends Mary back to the first time she met Tara. A smile comes across her face that Rick notices, "So, we're getting us another southerner?" She asks.

"I'm hoping we do," Rick speaks up, "This lovely young lady here has caught my eye, and I don't want to let her go. We've spent the last few days getting to know each other. Janet is something special. She's even been offered a job with benefits and an opportunity to move up. But, oh, I'm so sorry, Janet, this is Lloyd's mother, Mary Trippet. She owns this place and has run it for ages."

Expecting to see an expensive ride outside, Janet looks around and notices something odd.

"So, if you own this place and it's busy, why ain't you rolling in a Benz or kick-ass Beamer?" Janet speaks up with a puzzled look.

Mary is too kind to explain, with a smile still stretched across her face, "Once you're here full-time, you'll understand how this place works. I could be driving a big lavish car and have a really nice expensive house, but that would make me a selfish person. So my team here is a team in which we treat each other like family. My family opened this restaurant with one purpose in mind. To help others in need when they need it the most. Buckley, our head cook, has been here almost twenty-five years after getting busted for B, and E. Marge, my lead server, has been here since getting clean from heroin. Lana, my cashier, is only below the line of functioning independently, so she might be a little slower than most others. Still, she's damn good with money and percentages, plus the customers love seeing her smile. I pay them all a fair wage, and they split and keep tips. My family has always sacrificed to be able to prosper with the hope of keeping them from repeating past mistakes. It's been a blessing to so being able to help these folks. We lived in a trailer until Lloyd graduated college, and now I have this adorable bungalow. I wanted to ensure that Lloyd didn't need loans, so I saved every penny and worked myself to the bone, and everyone here chipped in, and now RiverCreek is doing better because of our hard work and Lloyd's huge heart to help others."

The explanation blows Janet's mind. It makes sense, but doubt takes control as she compares herself to Micha, Olivia, and Mary in her mind. She would take the largest portions she could and make herself wealthy. Finally, she looks away with a confession, "I wouldn't be like that. Growing up always poor and missing out on things, and being ridiculed would have made me selfish. All of my life, I've struggled."

"Oh, sweetie, we all understand. For ages, it's been the rich kids versus the poor, AKA the townies. Most people who live here stay here because it's safer than the cities. Just because people elect to work in RiverCreek doesn't mean we're poor. People like myself, the Dubois's, and the McGuiness family all have deep roots in this place. RicerCreek was founded as a port stop for ships, and it slowly grew from there. With time it grew into the quaint little place it is now. Industries like lumber, shipping, and others moved on as technology grew. RiverCreek kind of fell between the cracks, but when Frankie died, it woke up the residents, and things have been shaky since then. Anyway, enough babbling; what can I get you to eat? Oh, and like Tara when she first came in here, it's on the house. It's tradition here for all newcomers to town."