Monday Jun 10

They got back to the motel and Johnny went over to his suite. In Bobbie’s apartment, Barb and Bobbie headed straight for the showers. Bobbie showered and dressed. “I’ve got to go talk to Mark. Just come down when you’re ready.” She heard Barb’s affirmative reply from the guestroom.

Johnny let himself in and was clean, sitting at the island. “Are you going down?”

“Yes, we should go see if Mark wants some help. He will cook your burger on a mat so there’s no cross contamination of gluten from toasting buns and I have a couple of buns in the fridge for you that you should take.”

“Thanks Bobbie those gluten free buns are pretty good. Do I see may favourite salad? Can we bring that too? I’ve got my guitar; maybe we can sing a few tunes after we eat.”

They headed down and saw that Ray and Joe were there. “Edie has the sniffles so Quinn’s staying home with the girls.”

They made their way inside. Mark was in happy in his kitchen all alone. “I never just get to go through the paces by myself any more. I have to watch and make sure everyone is on track. Bobbie can you chop up some green onions and tomatoes for the burgers. Johnny could you please get the coals going in the barbecue outside?”

They both nodded and Bobbie began chopping. “My favourite thing on burgers is fried onions, So you mind if I fry up some?”

“Sure, you could fry some onions and some mushrooms an another pan. I’ve got bacon going in the oven. These will be epic burgers. I have 10 pounds of french fries ready to go too.”

“We are getting a reputation for having good homemade fries.”

“It’s my fresh aioli.” Said Gina, walking into the kitchen. “Here, let me take over the onions and mushrooms.”

“Guys, I think I’m just in the way. Let me know if you need someone to help you bring out stuff.”

“Thanks Bobbie, we could use a beer.”

“Of Course”

Bobbie got a couple of beer for the cooks and grabbed a bottle of wine from the bar and sat down beside Barb. Johnny was across the booth talking to Chuck. His daughter Brit was in a chair at the end of the table. “Hello you must be Brit, Chucks daughter, I’m Bobbie, this is my motel and this is Barb one of my best friends.”

“My Dad has been curious about this place since set up here. We’ve been watching the building and things moved very fast.”

“How do you like the patio part of the restaurant?”

“It’s really nice and the motel looks so good now.”

“I thanks, the big window looked out of place before and the rooms were a different style and everything was mismatched.”

“Yes, It was unbalanced.” Said Brit.

Chuck looked over. “Brit has a really artistic eye. Show them the plan for the market, dear.”

“We are starting to make money with the tubing now that it’s getting warmer. But when we got this land we thought it was a great place for a community market. As part of the market we can build a nice big stage for small concerts too. I have some plans for market stalls and here’s a drawing of how I imagine it.”

She pulled out a large drawing and showed Bobbie. It was a cleaver perspective drawn to scale over a terrain map. The site itself used about 2 acres and there was a parking lot and a large entrance arch beside the existing tubing office. She had a long structure with a roof on either side and market stalls set up in the under the roofs. In another sketch there were flowers spilling out of baskets hanging from the structures and the stalls were all different colours and reminded Bobbie of amusement park train cars.

“This is half Fairy Tale and half Renaissance Fair and it looks great.” Said Bobbie.

Brit Laughed. “I guess that was what I was going for. I may need help making it more practical.”

Mark walked over from the grill. “I think it looks perfect.”

Brit blushed. “Thanks. Um, here’s my plans for the stalls. I’ve been combing flea markets and second hand stores and have a bunch of dressers and old kitchen cabinets that were mostly free. I want to build a frame that fits around them to give them some symmetry. I want to paint the doors and drawers a bunch of colours with chalkboard signs on the back for each vendor.” She had another picture and drafted building plans with dimensions and lumber requirements for the market stalls.

“So stalls will have cupboards and drawers but look the same in the side we see.” I like that idea. Does everyone want their burgers medium?”

Brit nodded and her eyes followed Mark as he moved back to the grill.

She likes him, thought Bobbie. Gina brought out a basket full of fries. Bobbie said. “We should serve them while their hot. Brit, can I trouble you to help me serve the fries?”

Beau and Dorey arrived and Bobbie left Mark and Brit serving the plates on their own to greet them. Beau was unusually tall and thin. Dorey was pretty and very earthy and wore a colourful headscarf and a short flowered skirt and a baggy sweater. Bobbie urged them to get some food.

“I’m Mark can I get you a burger?”

Dorey answered. “No thanks, I’m a vegetarian and don’t eat meat.”

“If you eat cheese, I have a treat for you, come with me. He grabbed a plate and went into the bar and through to the kitchen motioning Dorey to join him. He got some fresh fries from Gina and put them on a plate. He told her to stop him if he was selecting something she didn’t like. He put fried onions, peppers and mushrooms on the fries. Then he added cheese curds and then some tomato flavoured vegetable gravy over the top.

“Thanks, this looks amazing! I’ll have to go for a walk after dinner to work it off.”

Mark put some gravy in a pitcher and they went back out. Like he thought, when everyone saw Dorey’s supper they wanted to try some.

“This veggie gravy is killer Mark!”

When everyone was fed Gina, Mark and Brit sat at a table and ate. Effie, Roger and Drey came a little later and there was lots left.

Johnny got up, gound 2 stools and went in the bar where he had two guitars. “They’re all tuned up, come on Bobbie. Barb will you sing harmony?” They sang a few popular songs and some singalongs. Roger was clapping along and was delighted when they sang a little some where you rhyme people’s names.

“I Know a guy who’s name is Roger,

He does laundry for all our lodgers. Hey la de low.”

Towards the end of the night Mark and Brit were over by the pool holding hands with their feet in the water. The guitars were put away and Bobbie and Barb cleared all the plates and empty drinks away.

Rose was so quiet all day, Bobbie told her to never mind the cleanup. “This is your party, I’ll do all the dishes.”

Rose looked wistful. “Mark’s busy with all that Brit girl, I guess I’ll go.”

Joe said good night and thanked Bobbie for The barbecue and the show.

Barb hugged Bobbie. “Thanks and goodnight.”

Chuck offered to help with the dishes. They loaded the fast dishwasher and Bobbie filled the sink and washed the prep bowls and pans.“So what’s the story on this Mark guy? I think Brit has her sights set on him.”

“Mark is hard working and very thoughtful. He’s only 23 but has matured a lot since he came to work for me. I think Brit has good taste in guys.”

“She got mixed up with a tough older crowd and her mom sent her here. I’m just glad she’s not hanging around in biker bars.”

Brit burst into the kitchen. “Hey Dad, I’m going to chill with Mark tonight.”

Bobbie teased. “Don’t keep him up too late, he has a breakfast service in the morning.”

Britt giggled. “I won’t.”

After she left Bobbie said “Well Mark just wrote an exam for his chef papers and he has a good family, they run the Van Camp nursery. I don’t know what else to tell you.”

“Brit’s mad about plants, she wants to study botany. What does he drive?”

“Johnny has an old truck he lets him use. Johnny is a mechanic so the truck runs well, it just isn’t too beautiful.”

Satisfied, Chuck went back out to the patio. Johnny, Dorey and Beau were chatting on the patio.

“We’re planning a music and tubing festival. Johnny says he can get a big stage for us.”

Bobbie joined them. “That’s great Johnny. It sounds like a plan is coming together.” She locked the pub. “This was a good party but I’m headed upstairs. You can stay out here as long as you like.”

Bobbie’s phone pinged and she saw that a Rick Dawson was making a reservation for next week. What could he be up to she wondered as she fell asleep.