Second Chance at Sunflower Ranch

by Carolyn Brown

  “That’s my birthday party night.” Nadine raised her voice.

  “Sorry again,” Bryce said with a smile.

  “Then don’t make plans for Saturday night. We’re going to Sweetwater to the Community Theatre. That’s the opening night for the newest musical they’re doing this summer. I do love musicals, don’t you?” she asked.

  “Not so much, and I’ve already asked Cricket to go fishing with me that night. Why don’t you just leave your number with Ilene, and when I have some free time, I’ll give you a call?” Bryce hoped that the sassy Cricket wouldn’t shoot him when he told her they had plans for at least three evenings that week. Thinking about her telling him that she was taking a mud bath put a broad smile on his face.

  “I’ll be looking forward to your call.” Anna Grace’s tone was suddenly as cold as ice. When she got back to her bar stool, she whispered something to her mother, and the two of them left without even waiting for their coffee.

  “You’re welcome.” Nadine grinned at Bryce.

  “Thank you,” he said, coming around from behind the counter and joining them at the table. “That woman is pretty brazen.”

  “Yes, she is but not as much as her mother,” Lettie said, “and Mary Lou always gets what she wants.”

  Ilene brought coffee and warmed honey buns to the table for Lettie and Nadine. “Thank goodness y’all didn’t want to cook breakfast this morning.”

  “And that you called us, so we were prepared,” Tandy added from the checkout counter.

  “But now you’ve caused Mary Lou to put on her war paint,” Ilene said.

  “What does that mean?” Bryce asked.

  “She will never, ever let it be said that her daughter lost out to Cricket Lawson,” Nadine giggled.

  “Why not?” Bryce asked. “I liked Cricket when I went out to her farm to buy vegetables last night. She’s honest and funny, and she seemed down to earth. Why would anyone not like her?”

  Lettie rubbed her hands together and giggled like a little girl. “This is the most exciting thing that’s happened in Bloom since Jennie Sue came home from New York and thumbed her nose at the Belles. We’ve got to get a bet going.”

  “Cricket has never run in the same circles as Anna Grace,” Ilene answered. “She hasn’t got a dishonest bone in her body, and she’ll speak her mind even if doing so gets her put in jail.”

  “Speaking of Cricket, it looks like she’s just now turned down the alley to park behind the bookstore,” Nadine said. “Maybe you ought to run over there while there’s no one needing prescriptions and tell her that you’ll be picking peas with her tonight and fishing with her on Saturday.”

  “What if she says no and slaps me for being so presumptuous?” Bryce asked.

  “Be sure to tell her the whole story about why you made dates with her without asking. She’ll understand,” Nadine told him.

  “I hope so.” Bryce pushed back his chair and headed out of the drugstore.

  * * *

  Cricket turned on the lights and unloaded her tote bag, putting her lunch in the small, dorm-sized refrigerator, and then rolled the cart with the newly bought, used books out to shelve them. She had seen Lettie and Nadine’s vehicle parked in front of the drugstore, so when the bell above the door rang, she figured it was her two friends.

  “Y’all have a seat. I’ll make a pot of coffee, and I brought blueberry muffins,” she called out without even looking up from her work.

  “Sounds good, but I’m alone,” said someone with a deep, Texas drawl from the end of the romance book aisle.

  She looked up into Bryce Walton’s smiling face. “I thought you were Lettie and Nadine,” she said.

  Bryce shook his head. “They’re over at the drugstore having hot chocolate and honey buns, and they saved me this morning, so I shouldn’t even charge them for their breakfast.”

  For one of the very few times in her life, Cricket was speechless for a whole minute. “Saved you?” she finally asked.

  “Yes, and now I’m here to beg a couple of favors from you.” His blue eyes locked with hers and held for a moment until he blinked. “I’ve got a bit of a problem, and it is named Anna Grace Cramer.”

  “You better sit down and have a muffin and some coffee.” Cricket pointed to the sofa at the front of the store. “It’s too early for customers to need medicine, and the doctor doesn’t call in prescriptions until he closes at four, so you’ve got a little while before you get busy.” She left the cart in the middle of the aisle and went to her desk, where her tote bag was still sitting. She poured two cups of coffee from her thermos and removed the cover from a plastic container of blueberry muffins.

  “How do you know all that?” he asked as he sat down on the end of the sofa.

  “I’ve lived in Bloom all my life. That’s all just common knowledge,” she answered as she set the muffins on the coffee table and went back to her desk for the coffee. “Now, tell me about the Anna Grace Cramer problem.”

  Bryce reached for a muffin. “It’s embarrassing.”

  Cricket set the two mugs of coffee on the table and took a chair across from him. “Hey, you’re talking to the woman who took a mud bath in front of you yesterday.” She smiled. “What could be more embarrassing than that?”

  “I was born and raised in Amarillo, but outside of town on a small farm,” Bryce said.

  Cricket didn’t want his whole life story. She was just interested in the bit about Anna Grace, but she kept quiet and picked up her coffee.

  “I’m not used to small-town politics,” he admitted as he reached for another muffin. “These are delicious.”

  “I made them this morning. Next year, I’m hoping my blueberry bushes are producing.” She wanted him to get on with the story. Lettie had sent her a text that morning reminding her that Anna Grace had probably set her mind to become a pharmacist’s wife. She wondered what any of that had to do with her.

  “Anna Grace and her mother came into the drugstore this morning.” Bryce turned a faint shade of red. “She asked me to a cocktail party tonight. To begin with, I’m not that guy.” He put air quotes around the last two words.

  Cricket wondered what kind of guy that was, but she just kept sipping her coffee. So Lettie had been right, and Anna Grace wasn’t wasting any time at all.

  “I lied and told her that…” he stammered, and the blush got even redder, “or maybe I didn’t really lie, but just went along with what Lettie said. She told Anna Grace that I was helping you pick peas tonight, so Anna Grace asked about tomorrow night, and Nadine said that was her birthday party. Then she insisted on Saturday night, and I lied and said I was going fishing with you?” His voice rose at the end, as if he was asking a question.

  “You know anything about picking peas or fishing?” Cricket asked.

  “My granddad had a farm kind of like what you have, and my dad and I both love to fish,” he answered.

  “Then I guess you’d better be at my place about six thirty tonight. After we get done in the garden, I’ll fix us some supper. And after work on Saturday, we’ll dig some fishin’ worms and go to the creek out behind our place. There’s some pretty good-sized bass out there. If we catch some, maybe we’ll fry them for supper one night soon,” she told him.

  “Thank you, Cricket. I thought you might slap me and tell me to never darken your door again.” He grinned.

  “It will take an army to save you from Anna Grace.” She smiled. “I’m just one soldier, but I’ll do what I can.”

  “Why would you do that for me?” Bryce asked.

  “Because I could never forgive myself if I didn’t help you…” she said, “and because Anna Grace has treated me like dirt since before we even went to school. I wouldn’t want my worst enemy to get tangled up with her, and besides, I can use help in the garden. Jennie Sue and I go fishing about once a month, but she’s not here, so I’d love some company.”

  Bryce took a couple of sips of his coffee and then stood up. “I’m available any e
vening you need me to help out.”

  “Thank you. I will remember that and just might call on you. And I’m available to use for an excuse any time that Anna Grace tries to hoodwink you into doing something you don’t want to do.” She followed him to the door and out onto the sidewalk. “I’ve got some beans, okra, and tomatoes to unload. I sell a lot of produce out of the bookstore.”

  “I’ll be glad to help you,” he said.

  “I’ll be glad to accept,” she told him. Just wait until Mary Lou heard that he had come over to her bookstore and even unloaded produce. That would be like throwing down a red flag in front of a raging bull. Cricket couldn’t have wiped the grin off her face if she’d been sucking on a lollipop made of alum and lemon juice.

  Chapter Three

  Cricket rushed home after work that evening, changed into a pair of cutoff jean shorts and an oversized T-shirt with a picture of Betty Boop printed on the front, and made sure the kitchen and living room were in good shape. She closed both bedroom doors, gathered up her harvest baskets, and was in the garden when Bryce arrived.

  For the second time that day, she was struck speechless when he got out of his SUV. He was wearing a pair of bibbed overalls and a faded T-shirt. He sat down on the back porch, rolled the legs of his overalls up to his knees, and kicked off his flip-flops. Lord, have mercy! In Cricket’s eyes he was even handsomer than he had been in his khaki slacks and white lab coat. One thing for sure—Anna Grace had her work cut out for her if she had any notion of ever turning him into a guy who liked cocktail parties.

  “This is great,” he said as he carried a basket to the end of the first row of peas. “I used to go home every single weekend just so I could smell fresh dirt. I got so tired of being cooped up in the library, studying every spare minute.”

  “Did you live in the dorm all those years?” Cricket finally found her voice.

  “I had a full ride academic scholarship for the first four years,” he answered. “Dorm, food, books, and tuition, but the last four years, I worked for a research lab and went to school to help out with the finances. My grandparents were willing to foot the whole bill, but I didn’t feel right about letting them do that when I was able to work. Besides, I liked doing research. Not as much as I enjoy farming, though.”

  “You must’ve been really smart,” Cricket said.

  “I just had some good study habits and didn’t want to disappoint my parents or grandparents. They had sacrificed a lot to save up the money for my schooling.” He tossed pea pods into the basket.

  “Are they still alive?” Cricket asked.

  “Yep, and still living on the family farm. Granddad is almost eighty now, but if you took the garden away from him, he’d probably only last another week. He and Granny take produce to the farmer’s market in Canyon every Saturday. That’s their social outing for the week. He bought me that vehicle out there for my graduation present and gave me the down payment so I could buy the drugstore,” Bryce said as he kept working. “Mama teaches school, and Daddy is a farmer.”

  “They must be really proud of you.”

  “When I finished my first four years, I got a partial scholarship to pharmacy school in Austin. That’s seven hours from home, and it was a year-round program, so I only got home for holidays. I missed times like this. What about you? Where did you go to school?”

  “The University of Hard Knocks,” she answered. “I wasn’t smart enough to get a scholarship, and I’m not so sure I would have gone if I could have. I like living on this little patch of ground, and I love my bookstore. My sister-in-law Jennie Sue bought the store, and we ran it together for a while. Then she had two kids and decided to be a stay-at-home mama.”

  “What does your brother do?” Bryce asked.

  “He spent time in the military, got injured pretty bad, and was in the hospital for months. Then he was given a discharge and a disability. He was kind of lost for a few years until Jennie Sue came into his life. The farm was like therapy for him, or so he says. These days, he runs the farm for the most part. When he’s home, he takes care of the garden, and he and Jennie Sue go to the farmer’s market on Saturdays,” she answered.

  Bryce stood up at the end of the long row and said, “Peas are done. Want to take care of what tomatoes are ripe?”

  “Sure thing.” She got two smaller baskets from the back porch and handed one to him. “What does a science geek do for fun?”

  “Pretty much the same stuff as a lot of guys: Go fishing, watch football, and I’ve never met a book I didn’t like to read. I’m an eclectic reader. I’ll read anything from Faulkner to the back of the Fruit Loops box.” Bryce gently pulled tomatoes from the stalks and put them into his basket. “I’ll be over to the bookstore to look through your mystery and western sections when I get a chance. I’m kind of on a kick lately with those two genres.”

  “Ever read The Great Gatsby?” she asked.

  “Sure,” he answered. “I had to read it for a lit class, but it’s been a while.”

  “Well, we’ve all read that for our book club this month. We meet next Monday night. You’d be welcome to come if you want,” she said.

  “I’d love to. What time?” Bryce asked.

  “We usually meet at six thirty. I don’t even leave the store on those nights,” she answered.

  “I’ll be there as soon as I close up the drugstore, and I’ll bring a pizza for our supper,” he said.

  “I’ll have the sweet tea ready.” She was looking ahead to the evening when they reached the end of the row.

  He picked up the basket of peas and tucked the smaller basket of tomatoes under his arm. “Want to get these washed before supper?”

  “No, I’ll do them later. You must be hungry.” So this is what it’s like to have a guy friend, she thought. Bryce is much too good of a man for Anna Grace. I kind of even feel sorry for her for only seeing him as a pharmacist and a notch on her social belt.

  Bryce set the two baskets on the porch and sat down on the steps. “Mind if I use the garden hose to wash off my feet? I wouldn’t want to track mud into your house.”

  Cricket turned on the faucet and handed the hose to him. “When you get done, I’ll do mine, but my kitchen has seen its fair share of dirty feet over the years.”

  He reminded her of her brother when he stood and sprayed off his legs and then sat back down on the steps to let them air-dry. Rick did that every night before he put on his shoes and headed back out across the field to his home with Jennie Sue. She missed him living in the house with her, but she couldn’t have been happier for him to have fallen in love with Jennie Sue.

  “I’m making chicken and dumplings for supper. We’ll have corn on the cob, and a cucumber and tomato salad to go with it. I popped a blackberry cobbler in the oven when I got home. It should be ready to take out right about now.” She sat down beside him on the steps.

  * * *

  “Just like home,” he sighed. “I never thought I’d get a meal like this when I came to Bloom. I expected to cook for myself or else eat in that little café a lot, and by the way, blackberry cobbler is my favorite dessert.”

  Bryce wasn’t a romantic person, but he could have sworn there was chemistry between them when Cricket’s arm brushed against his. That was crazy, though. As sexy as she was with all those curves and those big hazel eyes, she could have any guy in the whole county. She would never be interested in a plain old geeky guy like himself, Bryce thought.

  “One thing my mama did before she died was teach me to cook, which is something I like to do,” she said, “but eating alone does get lonely. Pretty often, I either eat with Jennie Sue and Rick or they come over here. The girls love to help in the garden. Aubrey is five, so she really does know how to pick beans and peas. Dina is only three, but she’s learning.”

  “I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know how to work in the garden, or when I wasn’t happiest there,” Bryce said.

  “Whatever put you in pharmacy school then?” Cricket got
up and headed inside the house.

  He stood up and followed her. “I thought about being a doctor, but I’m not real fond of the sight of blood. Then I figured I could work in research, which I did when I got into pharmacy school, but for some reason, pharmacy kept calling out to me. Maybe it was Fate.”

  She opened the back door and went on in ahead of him. “If it was Fate, then maybe you should go out with Anna Grace. After all, you were brought here for a reason.”

  “I don’t think it’s got anything to do with that woman,” he said. “I’ll set the table for us if you’ll point me toward the cabinet where the dishes are.”

  She flung up a hand and it brushed against his biceps. Yep, there were definitely sparks, and Bryce didn’t even believe in love at first sight. In his previous two relationships, he and the women had been friends for months, and there hadn’t ever been electricity with either of them like he felt with Cricket.

  “Sorry about that,” she said. “I’ll get the food dished up and on the table. Plates are up there. Utensils are in the first drawer to the right of the sink. Paper napkins are on the table. Glasses for tea to the right of the sink.”

  “Just like Mama has her kitchen set up.” Bryce took down two plates and put them on the table. “Everything for efficiency.”

  “It’s the only way to run a farm kitchen,” she said as she scooped up chicken and dumplings from the slow cooker.

  When everything was on the table, he asked, “Where should I sit?”

  “At the head of the table. I always sit right here.” She started to pull out her chair, but he beat her to it.

  “Allow me,” he said and then took his place when she was seated. “Do you say grace?”

  “Usually silently,” she answered, “but since there’s two of us, maybe you could do the honors.”

  “Gladly.” He bowed his head and said a short prayer, and then picked up the crock bowl full of dumplings and started to pass it to her.

  “Help yourself first,” she told him.

  He took out a healthy portion and then sent them over to her. “I got a confession. I’ve never sat at the head of the table before. That’s always been Granddad’s place on one end and Dad’s on the other.”