Pie Town by Lynne Hinton Page A

apartment?” Alex knew that his grandfather had a garage apartment in the back of his house. It was the place where his mother had stayed when she was pregnant and when she had just delivered Alex. Roger had spoken about it on lots of occasions. Because of his disability, Alex had never gone up to see it.
    “Alex, I don’t know. That seems kind of sudden, don’t you think?”
    Alex shrugged. “The priest must think she’s okay or he would never have let her in his car, right?” he asked. “And she needs a place.”
    Roger turned around and peered at the odd couple sitting in the booth next to the window. The priest was eating slowly, and the young woman had practically finished. She smiled when she noticed him glancing in her direction.
    “You said that you needed somebody to stay there because the cobwebs are taking over,” Alex said, reminding his grandfather of something he had mentioned a few weeks earlier. “It would be perfect for her.”
    Roger turned back and shook his head. “It hasn’t been cleaned in years,” he responded. And as soon as Alex understood that his grandfather was considering letting this young stranger into the apartment, he wheeled himself over to the table where she was sitting.
    “I’m Alex,” he said, sticking out his hand.
    Trina smiled. “Hello, Alex,” she said, wiping her mouth and then taking his hand. “I’m Trina, and this,” she nodded over to the priest, “is Father George Morris.”
    Alex glanced at him. “Welcome to Pie Town,” he said.
    “Thank you, Alex,” the priest responded.
    “The green chile is okay?” Alex asked Trina.
    “Perfect,” she replied.
    Alex nodded. “I know where you can stay,” he said.
    Trina appeared surprised.
    “I can’t find you a job, but I know where you can stay,” he repeated.
    “Yeah?” Trina asked.
    “Yeah,” he replied. He spun his wheelchair around to Roger. “Tell her, Granddad,” he said.
    Roger cleared his throat, wiped his mouth, placed his napkin on the table, and got up from his seat. He walked over to the table and stood beside Alex. “I’m Roger Benavidez,” he introduced himself.
    Father George stuck out his hand. “Father George Morris,” he responded. “Nice to meet you, Sheriff,” he said, noticing the uniform.
    “Father George,” Roger said. He turned to Trina. “And you are?” he asked with a smile.
    “Trina,” she replied.
    “And so you have charmed my grandson from a distance,” he noted.
    Trina grinned at Alex, who blushed a bit.
    “Is it true that you have a place where I might crash?” she asked.
    Roger nodded. “I have a small apartment above the garage in the back of my house. It’s not much, but my daughter lived there a while with Alex when he was a baby. I’ll need to clean it up a bit before you move in, but yes, it’s available.”
    “Cool,” Trina responded. “But hey, I’ll do the cleaning, and then maybe you can knock off a few bucks from the rent since I don’t have much cash to start.”
    There was a pause.
    “Actually, I don’t have any cash,” Trina admitted. “I’m trying to find a job, but I really don’t have any money right now.”
    The two men seemed embarrassed for her.
    “I got some cash I can loan you,” Alex responded.
    Trina reached over and placed her hand on Alex’s arm. “I think I can swing my rent if the sheriff here will give me a couple of weeks to raise the funds. But that is a very kind offer.”
    There was another awkward pause among the four.
    “So where’s your mom now?” she asked, recalling what Alex had said about the apartment.
    Alex looked over to Roger as if he was expecting him to answer.
    “Taos,” Roger replied. “She’s living in Taos.”
    “Nice,” Trina responded. “I love Taos. You been to see her?” she asked Alex.
    He shook his head.
    “Well, maybe we can go up there and visit her sometime.” Trina smiled. “Maybe when I get a job and can buy a car, I’ll drive you up there.”
    Roger cleared