The Yellow Pine

Chapter 8 - Getting To Know You

As more new residents began moving into Cambria, the town began to feel like a real home. Local residents who had bought some of the business, but maintained their homes down the mountainside in the Tri Cities, began opening up and providing important services that made the town feel nearly complete. The Bear Paw Diner, run by Cumberland resident David Berman, opened a full two months ahead of schedule, with a limited, but delicious, menu. Hot plates of home-cooked meatloaf, steamed veggies, pot roast, and on Fridays, the best fried chicken that would give Harland Sanders a run for his money filled the citizens' bellies at dinner. For lunch, there were made-to-order sandwiches and freshly fried, homemade potato chips that left everyone wishing for more. After trying the delicious cookies offered at Cooke's Cookies, David quickly commissioned Debra Jo to provide the small restaurant's ever-changing dessert menu.

Across the street, Laurel Creech, who was only twenty years old, began setting up her new store, Bits 'n' Baubles. Her shelves slowly but steadily began filling up with adorable handmade household decor items and unique collectables that would have been right at home on the front page of Pinterest or Etsy. These were all made by local residents from across Harlan and Letcher Counties, and provided income for dozens of the talented crafters and artisans around the region.

Kip and Finnlea O'Leary of Benham started a bit later, but quickly began setting up shelves and baskets to store the myriad colors and textures of yarn they would soon sell in KYarn just down the street. The walls soon hung with brightly colored sweaters and socks, and pages of patterns dangled from every shelf corner. Visitors who walked in couldn't stop themselves from gently fondling the soft, inviting piles of wool and cashmere, envisioning the beautiful things they could knit or crochet with these wonderful fibres.

Before long, Black Mountain Road bustled with traffic, as visitors came from around the area to see the beautiful, new town as it started coming to life. Dozens of young people from around the Tri Cities and beyond came into each shop as it opened, resume in hand, hoping to get a job and be a part of the exciting new development. These resumes were filed away with promises to call once the shops were in full swing, which was predicted to be several months away. Visitors oohed and aahed at the mid-century Americana architecture that had been painstakingly recreated, and squealed with excitement when the signs for Laser Blast and The 8-Bit Arcade were erected. Nothing quite like it had ever been seen around here, and there was a festival-like feel in the air for weeks.

Soon enough, however, the novelty wore off, and with half the buildings still uninhabited, there was little reason for anyone to keep coming up the curving mountain road, apart from the occasional stop by The Bear Paw Diner or to Cooke's Cookies for a little something to eat.

As the temperatures dropped, and the muggy heat of summer gave way to changing leaves, Maisie was enrolled in Cumberland Elementary School nearby. It was very different from her old school in Tennessee. It was smaller, for one thing, and for another, it was in an impossibly old building. The textbooks were a good twenty years out of date, dog-eared and marked up by generations of students before her. She struggled with making friends, and was very disappointed to find out that there were no kickball teams or book clubs for her age group, the two things she'd found the most exciting back home. The new interstate brought a few other changes to the area, but it would be years before the state infrastructure could begin seeing the financial benefits.

When the Lowell family arrived and word went through Cambria that the new family came with kids, Maisie was practically beside herself with joy at the prospect of having someone to hang out with. The new kids turned out to be a pair of fifteen year old twin boys who had no interest in hanging out with an eight-year-old little girl, however, and she was crushed again. Roland tried his hardest to provide her with entertainment, but playing with your daddy is never the same as cutting loose with kids your own age. When a letter arrived stating that certain papers had to be signed in person for the final closing of their old house in Dandridge, Roland thought about taking her with him. Maybe she could see some of her old friends and have a nice visit. The more he thought about it, though, the more he worried that such a brief taste of their old life would only make it harder for her to adjust. In the end, he decided to ask Flora to stay the night at their house and watch her while he made the trip alone.