The Birthday List(22)

But at least the always-open door gave me a chance to see the women as they shuffled past.

“Hello!” I waved and smiled as two elderly women ignored me completely and craned their necks inside, searching the small living room for Jimmy. When they saw he wasn’t in his recliner, they frowned and kept on walking.

I laughed when they were out of earshot. Every time I came here it seemed like a different resident was crushing on my grandfather-in-law.

“There’s my Poppy.” Jimmy’s bedroom door opened and he emerged into the living room. “How are you today?”

“I’m goo—oh my god. What did you do?” I shot off the couch. My eyes were locked on his hair—hair that was normally snow-white, not hot pink.

Jimmy didn’t answer. He just crossed the small distance from his bedroom and pulled me into his arms. When he let me go, his eyes gave me a thorough inspection from tip to toe before he sat in his navy plush recliner.

“Are you going to answer me?” I asked, still standing.

He frowned and motioned to his hair. “I lost a bet.”

“A bet. You made a bet where the loser had to dye his hair pink?”

“Yeah,” he grumbled. “I’ll tell you, Poppy. You just can’t trust some people. You know that new guy who moved in next door?”

I nodded even though I hadn’t met Jimmy’s new neighbor.

“He’s a cheat. A lying cheat. I invited him to play in our Tuesday afternoon poker club. Thought I’d be neighborly. He told me he didn’t know how to play poker, but he’d like to learn.” Jimmy’s hands fisted on the chair’s arms. “Didn’t know how my ass. He’s a damn card shark! Got us all laughing and joking around. Convinced us to make a bet. First one out of chips dyes his hair pink. That son of a bitch. Took me all in on the second pot and cleaned me out.”

“So you got pink hair and lost a bunch of money. How much did you lose?”

He shrugged. “Eh, not much. We only play pennies. Maybe five bucks. But those ladies in the salon sure gouged me. Thirty bucks for pink hair. Can you believe it?”

“That’s unbelievable.” I pursed my lips to hide my smile as I sat back down. “I brought you your favorite peach cobbler if that will make you feel any better.”

The scowl on Jimmy’s face disappeared. “Just visiting with you will make me feel better, but I’ll take that cobbler as a bonus. How are things going at the restaurant?”

I smiled. “Beyond my wildest expectations.”

The Maysen Jar had been open for three weeks, and in that time, we’d sold twice as much as Molly and I had projected for its entire first quarter. I’d seen more repeat customers bring back jars for refills than I’d ever anticipated, and I’d closed down each night this week with a nearly full tip jar.

“I’m excited to come see it next week. Did Debbie and Kyle pick a night yet?”

“No,” I sighed. “I texted Debbie but she hasn’t gotten back to me yet. She doesn’t text much these days.”

Debbie, Jamie’s mom, used to text me multiple times a day. Now I’d go weeks without hearing from her, and then it was only because I had reached out first. Kyle, Jamie’s dad, I hadn’t heard from in ages. Jamie’s parents lived on their ranch about an hour outside of Bozeman, and when Jamie had been alive, they’d come to see us every couple of weeks. But since he’d been killed, their trips had all but stopped. Now, they rarely came to visit Jimmy—Kyle’s dad and Jamie’s namesake—and I only saw them for special occasions.

“They love you, Poppy. It’s just hard for them.”

“I know. I just miss them.” I forced a smile as I looked at Jimmy—that pink hair making it wider.

I hadn’t just lost Jamie when he’d died. I’d lost Kyle and Debbie too. They’d become surrogate parents for me in college. They’d had me to their house for holidays when I hadn’t gone home to Alaska. They’d sat by my hospital bed during my junior year when I’d needed to have an emergency appendectomy, holding my hand until my own parents had arrived. They’d even co-signed on a car loan for me when mine had died one winter and I’d needed a replacement fast. After Jamie and I’d gotten married, our bond had grown even tighter.

Now it was nearly broken.

But at least I still had Jimmy. He was part of my family here in Montana, along with Finn, Molly and the kids, and I loved our weekly visits.

“It will be good for them to see your restaurant next week.” Jimmy sat forward in his chair and patted my knee. “If they see that you’re trying to move on, maybe they will too.”

“Or else they’ll get angry again.”

“I’m sorry to say that’s a real possibility too.”

The last time Kyle and Debbie had come to see me, they’d arranged for dinner with me and Jimmy. I’d casually mentioned going through some of Jamie’s things, asking if they wanted any of his old clothes or books I’d been keeping in the attic, and dinner had taken a nosedive. Debbie had burst into tears and Kyle had refused to look at me for the rest of the meal.

“Do you think they’ll ever stop blaming me for Jamie’s death?” I whispered.

After all, it had been my fault he’d even been at that liquor store.