"Sam, you're back? It took you a while.
A woman in her early forties sat across the shop counter, she wore a heavy canvas coat. On her nameplate you could read her name, "Margaret." Her face was full of wrinkles, she looked older than she is.
Sam smiled seeing his mother, then walked up to the counter, and he saw that her water bottle was almost empty, and because he was not here, she couldn't go and refill it, but her forehead was full of worry for him.
"I am sorry, I went there to check on Rosie. Mr. Martin was worried about his combine harvester, I fixed it. The repair shop wanted $2200. I had to help them out, otherwise, they would have a bad Christmas this year."
Margaret nodded her head hearing her son's reply, then smiled slightly because he was like this, helping others without asking anything as a reward. Sam swung open the counter half door with a light swing, Margaret picked up her bottle, and she was ready to leave.
"You don't have to be sorry for doing a good thing. I will return after lunch, I feel my back aching a bit today."
Margaret stepped out of the counter and said, Then she arranged the nearby shelf neatly first because a customer a few minutes ago rummaged through it," then with a light smile, she walked outside.
Sam, as usual, sat on the counter and pulled out his old Samsung S21 Ultra, the screen was a bit cracked. As he unlocked his phone, you could see young Margaret with a baby in her arms, her face was glowing with happiness, and she leaned on a tall man that looked like Sam somewhat.
Unlocking his device, he opened an app called "Test Drone." He created this app last night to work with his drone, but there were some glitches when the drone went up to 35 MPH in speed, the app disengaged.
Eh? Now that I think about it, the math is not right, I need to recode it. I can't do a full code on this crappy device. Damn, I need a laptop for a time like this.
After checking for a while, Sam understood his calculations were a bit off, as he didn't have a laptop in the store, and he began to note his mistakes on his phone.
*Jingle*
Suddenly the doorbell rang. Sam looked up and saw an old woman with blonde hair entering the shop, she looked directly at Sam and smiled.
"What are you doing here?"
Sam frowned, and an unusually rude remark left his mouth, normally he smiles even at a stranger, but he felt angry seeing this gentle-looking old woman.
"Is that how you talk with your grandma?"
The old woman was not bothered at all, she looked like she was used to Sam treating her this way. She walked calmly to the counter and stood just in front of Sam, her eyes were as if searching for something in Sam.
"You are not my grandma, at best you are Dad's mother."
Sam rebuked, his face was gaining an expression that he rarely uses: anger. Mary didn't care, she seemed to be content just by staring at Sam, no matter what expression he had on.
"You're a Callahan, just like your dad and grandfather were. Return to the Callahan estate, your home is there, not a shabby place like this. Your grandfather and I had also planned your marriage into a similar farming household. Your kids will never starve, nor will the three generations after you, but if you keep getting tricked by your mother, that will be a complete waste."
Mary's smile never left her lips, she seemed to be used to such conversations, just not with Sam. She even used her fingers to brush Sam's brown hair out of his blue eyes to look at them.
"How ironic, the woman you hate the most is the one adamant on protecting you. Everything is on the verge of change, Mrs. Callahan. I am almost eighteen, I need a big check to study at a good college. You do know what those things mean."
Sam, with a cheeky smile, said he didn't brush her hands off his face because this woman really does love him, even though she is always searching for his dad through him.
Mary's face dropped, she looked angry and yet calm. She wanted to say something, but before she could, another person entered the shop, it was a man in his late fifties.
"Where is the cranberry juice? The one Brenda drinks "
The old man was grumpy, he could not care less about Callahan's internal family crisis.
"Let me fetch it for you."
Sam stood up with a smile, the old Herschel was a bit grumpy, but he was not a bad person. On the contrary, he was nice, he would tell you exactly what is truth, no sugar coating.
Mary stomped her feet and walked out of the store, seeing she lost momentum, her plan to convince Sam somehow to move back to Callahan Estate didn't go through.
"She was one hellraiser when she was young, now she looks nothing like her past, and you do look a lot like your father, maybe too much with how you behave."
Herschel, who was not the type to talk too much, suddenly said when he got what he wanted, Sam looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, I don't do it on purpose."
Sam smilingly said he was proud of his dad, everyone in the town still respects him, so that can tell how good his character was, and even after ten years he is gone now. Sam's mother never even thought of remarrying, which tells you how good of a husband he was.
"I know. What I meant was, seeing you always reminds Mary of your father and grandfather. Unlike your two drunken fool uncles, you three are quite alike."
Herschel dropping this line left the store while Sam stood there with a tiny little smile on his face, he felt proud. His dad and grandfather were great men who achieved something while people still called them just.