It was the mention of the mill fire that fit the pieces together for me. The greatness of the man I’ll leave for history to decide.
“Mr. Holmes. Santiago’s father is my father.”
“Yes, Santiago’s father is your father.”
“But how?”
“Are you sure you want to know? You aren’t too upset?”
“Upset? No. Surprised? Yes. Processing? Sure. I’m glad you told me, but now I feel like I have to know how it all came about.”
“Well, you wouldn’t have known it to look at him because by the time you were old enough to distinguish features, his had been changed by the hard drinking and hatred, but Santiago Holmes was a good looking boy. He had the sharp, angular face and slim, sturdy build of his father, who I had my heart set on from the first shift I worked at the Tavern.
“Mr. Holmes was always so kind and generous with everyone who crossed his path. My first night working at the Tavern, I was waiting tables. I must have been a scared 15 or 16 and I was even more terrified because I knew how important everyone in the room was and Pap was on his stool at the bar. He said he’d come in to see if I was any good, but I know he was there to make sure no one gave me a hard time. “I was shaking because I didn’t want to embarrass him and it was my first shift. It didn’t help that the Tavern manager assigned me Mr. Holmes’ table.
“Mr. Holmes was eating with some businessmen from out of town, men he was hoping would invest in the mills. My manager, Steve, had reinforced how important the table was and had told me it was going to be the only table I had that evening.
“Two of the regular girls had called out that night, so he decided giving me one table and handling all the others with Simone and himself would be better than giving Simone the one table and having me help him at all the others.
“I was bringing waters to the table, and as I was setting them down, I poured the last one, Mr. Holmes’, right into his lap. I died on the spot. There wasn’t a hole big enough for me to crawl into. Steve was there in an instant, stumbling over himself to apologize and blot Mr. Holmes. I stood frozen in fear.
“Mr. Holmes could not have been kinder. He smiled and held up a hand to get Steve to stop speaking. He said it wasn’t a problem, but I remained frozen in place staring at the floor. At that moment, he did a strange thing; he grabbed my right arm in his left hand, he had huge strong hands from working in the mill as a boy, and pulled just a little so that I was forced to take a step toward him.
“I lifted my head up and saw his eyes shining with mirth and a smile spreading ear to ear. The rest of the noise of the restaurant disappeared when he looked into my eyes. ‘Linda,’ he said, ‘it’s okay. Accidents happen. These fellas here, they were going to give me a good soaking anyway, you’ve just beat them to the punch,’ and his laughter boomed around the table, causing the men with him in a kind laughter.
“Steve tried to pay for his meal, but Mr. Holmes wouldn’t hear of it. He also told Steve he’d be disappointed if I wasn’t there to wait on his table the next time he came in. I’d never seen or met someone as gracious, generous and kind as Mr. Holmes. I was hooked on him.
“Through the next couple of years he would come into the Tavern a few times each week, sometimes with his wife, more often with businessmen from out of town and on occasion business people from town. He was always trying to convince people to bring business to the town, or help the town out by investing in the mills.
“During the business dinners, he would request a table in my area and over the years we developed a playful banter. Nothing happened between us, but I was infatuated with him. I’m sure anyone watching me would have been able to tell, but I’m not sure he noticed. I never took my eyes off him and would go a deep scarlet whenever he favored me with a smile.
