CHAPTER ONE Somerville isn’t a place you go to visit it’s the small town you go through on the way to the place you’re headed Watertown a bigger town about 30 miles down the highway from Somerville is a place to visit Travelers stop in Somerville though for two things Watertown doesn’t have cheap gas and the delicious donuts at Mick’s Diner Amelia and Jason Vega the proud owners of Mick’s Diner adored living in Somerville Between the tourists stopping for food and a town full of regular customers their diner stayed busy Their children twelve-year-old Rowan and eleven-year old Astrid on the other hand weren’t so excited about living in sleepy little Somerville
School had just let out for the summer and instead of doing anything fun Rowan and Astrid were sitting at the counter of their parents diner rolling silverware into napkins Why can’t we move to Watertown Rowan asked for what felt like the millionth time Yeah said Astrid They’ve got a water park and a zoo They even have a mall Somerville is so boring In my day we didn’t have the luxury of getting bored came a voice from the end of the counter Rowan and Astrid turned to face the owner of that voice Mrs Coretta Lownie or Miss Coco as all the townspeople called her Miss Coco was the oldest living resident of Somerville and a regular at the diner She spent whole days sitting at the counter at Mick’s telling stories to anyone who would listen Sometimes those stories even made sense
Oh no Miss Coco Rowan replied Heavens no Miss Coco began We were up before dawn feeding the chickens and the pigs Then we nearly broke our backs tending to the garden But if they weren’t done there’d be no food for any of us Rowan and Astrid lowered their heads feeling guilty about their complaining Miss Coco went on Then we walked twelve miles to school each day Uphill both ways With no shoes and in the snow Speaking of snow I remember the year it snowed marshmallows Big fluffy ones not those little puny ones you find in your cocoa We collected them up in baskets to roast over the fire Rowan lifted his head Wait what Let it go sweetie Mrs Vega whispered resting her hand on Rowan’s You’re right Miss Coco Mr Vega said
winking at his children These spoiled kids don’t know the meaning of hard work and helping others If you’re bored come over to the garage said another customer Marcus Sloane Marcus had been running Earl’s Gas Station across the street from the diner ever since the owner Earl Bigby had retired and moved to Florida He may not have been the most qualified for the job but he certainly was enthusiastic about it We’ve got so many cool tools over there Marcus continued I don’t even know what half of them do There’s this one that looks like it could slice a car in two As Rowan and Astrid’s eyes grew wider Mrs Vega interrupted the excited Marcus That’s okay Marcus I think we can find plenty of things for the kids to do here Rowan groaned But that’s just it
