Mary Quite Contrary by Amelia Smarts
Chapter Nine
The next day saw record-breaking heat. The temperature rose to over a hundred degrees by noon, and Mary sweated and cursed inside her kitchen, which quite effectively trapped every bit of heat with the door closed. Carolyn stayed mostly in the dining room attending to guests. Every time she had to go to the kitchen for food, she shook her head.
“Miss Mary, this heat is only going to get worse. Open the door. It’s not good for your health being shut in like this.”
Mary shook her head. “I’m alright,” she said, but her voice was weak. She already felt faint in the hot kitchen, and she wondered if she was heading toward heatstroke.
An hour later, she decided Carolyn was right. She couldn’t bear to be in the kitchen without getting some fresh air. She swung the door open and stepped outside. She found shelter under a tree nearby and enjoyed the slightest of breezes against her face.
A voice inside her head said she might as well leave the door open for the rest of the day. Ben was not there to see her break her promise to him, and she was not at all worried about the supposed thieves, who seemed harmless. She knew it was wrong to break her promise, but she didn’t think it was dangerous. As she returned to the kitchen, leaving the door open behind her, she considered closing the restaurant for the day, locking the doors, and leaving to endure the heat in a better area.
This, she knew, was what she should do. It would satisfy Ben’s concern for her and she wouldn’t have to break a promise. But Mary felt foolish being beaten by something so mundane as the weather. She wanted to prove to herself that she was a capable businesswoman. She couldn’t think of a single day her parents had closed down the restaurant—certainly not because of the heat.
Carolyn came through the double doors to collect some extra rolls. She nodded at the door. “Good, you’ve decided to leave it open. Holler if you spot a thief.”
Mary patted the gun in her apron. “You’ll hear from me or old Rusty here.”
The day dragged on. It was still uncomfortably hot even with the door open, and when night fell, heat still oozed from the boards and stucco. A steady stream of customers for supper kept Mary so occupied that she forgot about the open door until she looked out into the dining room and saw Ben walk through the front door.
She met him in the dining room, thanking her lucky stars that he had entered the front of the restaurant and not the back, where he would have seen the door wide open.