Tuesday lunch

The trio of bells announces my arrival in the general store. Amanda isn’t here. She’s taken the day off. The new person is bustling about down one of the aisles. He calls, “I’ll be right there.”

The voice is familiar but all I can see of this man is the top of his red head. Red? That rings a bell. I tiptoe around the end-cap and peer at the new employee, who glances up with a smile. Leif Kennedy, the bartender from O’Marra...