He whistled all the way down the stairs leading into the garage, pushed the button to open the overhead door, and loaded his gear into his vehicle, which was parked out on the curb. The radio came on when he started the engine, and the song playing put a grin on his face. Bonnie Raitt was singing, “Something to Talk About.” That was the song that Cricket had been singing at the beginning of the week when he met her for the first time. Just hearing the lyrics put a visual of her in those shorts with her midriff showing.
The song ended, but he kept humming it through five minutes of commercials. The words were still playing through his head when he turned down the lane to the farm. He got out of the SUV and headed around back to the garden, where he could hear two female voices. He could hardly believe that the woman in shorts and a faded T-shirt with her hair pulled up in a ponytail was Anna Grace. She had freckles across her nose, and dirt had collected in the sweat beads on her neck.
“Hey, I’m here,” Bryce called out. “Where do you want me to begin?”
“Could you bring in the watermelons and cantaloupes?” Cricket asked. “Having this much help is great.”
“Before you start, could you take a picture of me picking beans?” Anna Grace asked. “I want to send it to Tommy.”
“What about your mother?” Cricket teased.
“Her, too,” Anna Grace laughed. “I figure if I can make it through dusting shelves and sweeping floors at the store, then picking beans here and helping cook supper, I’m on my way.”
Bryce just nodded and hoped that Cricket hadn’t asked her to go fishing with them, too. He had been looking forward all day to spending time alone with Cricket.
“Tommy is driving up here tonight.” Anna Grace’s voice sounded excited. “He has to take classes this summer to keep up his teaching certificate, but he’s got time off until Monday. Cricket says that he can stay with us, and he’s even offered to help out in the garden and at the store.”
“Fantastic!” Bryce could have danced a jig right there in the wet dirt. That meant Anna Grace would be busy with Tommy, and he could spend time with Cricket.
Bryce pulled his phone from his bibbed pocket and shot a picture of Anna Grace, and then turned it slightly to take half a dozen shots of Cricket picking tomatoes. He slipped the phone back into his pocket and checked the pigtail on the first watermelon vine. It was still green, so he moved on to the next one, which was brown. When he picked the melon up, it came off the vine easily.
“Looks like you’re going to have a lot to take to the bookstore tomorrow,” he said. “You want to put some in my vehicle? I’ll bring them over when you open up tomorrow.”
“That would be great,” Cricket said. “And thank you. I’ve been selling everything I take in by noon each day, but I haven’t had watermelons in two days. Folks have their name on a list for me to call when we harvest some more. Lettie and Nadine are always at the top, so you can just drop one at their house.”
“Will do,” he answered and went on to check the next melon. By the time he finished, there were ten cantaloupes and half a dozen watermelons in the back of his SUV. He washed off his feet with the garden hose, sat on the back porch until they dried, and slipped on his flip-flops. The women had gone into the house earlier, and the smell of cinnamon and the sizzle of ham frying met him when he opened the back door.
“Something smells good in here,” he said.
“French toast and ham,” Cricket said. “I’ve got a small container of maple syrup in my tote bag, and there’s a bowl of fresh fruit, and a chunk of leftover blackberry cobbler in the fridge that I’ll tuck in for you.”
Bryce’s stomach growled loudly. “That sounds wonderful.”
Cricket explained everything to Anna Grace as she cooked. When the ham was browned, she put it on a platter and divided it into four pieces. She dipped two slices of thick homemade bread in an egg, milk, sugar, and cinnamon mixture and browned them two at a time. When she had done eight, she made four sandwiches, put them into individual containers, and slid them down into her tote bag.
“We’re ready to go,” she said. “Bryce, you can get your fishing gear and the beer, and I’ll carry this and my fishing stuff.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said. “Are we driving to the creek?”
“We’ll take the old work truck,” she said. “We can get within fifty yards of one of the best fishing holes in this part of Texas.”
“Will you show me where that is sometime?” Anna Grace started whipping up an egg mixture. “Tommy loves to fish. I’ve never been, but after today, I’m ready to try new things.”
“Sure thing,” Cricket told her.
“Maybe y’all could go tomorrow evening. If Cricket is willing, I thought she and I would drive down to Sweetwater and get a snow cone,” Bryce said.
“I’m willing.” Cricket nodded. “I’ll show you where to go tomorrow morning before we go to the store, Anna Grace. Are you sure you can do this cooking tonight? I can stay until Tommy gets here if you want me to.”
“Get on out of here.” Anna Grace waved toward the door. “Tommy will be here in a few minutes, and I wrote down what you did step by step. I’m feeling pretty empowered right now.”
“All right then.” Cricket picked up her tote bag and headed out the back door.
“Where’s your fishing pole?” Bryce asked.
“In the back of the truck,” Cricket answered. “It’s parked beside your SUV.”
She was behind the wheel by the time he got his gear and beer all situated in the bed of the truck. He climbed into the passenger’s seat and started to roll up the window, but she shook her head.
“The air conditioner hasn’t worked in years. Neither has the heater, but it took us to the farmer’s market on Saturdays before I started selling our produce out of the store, and it makes a great truck to drive back and forth to Rick and Jennie’s house. Keeps the old rutted pathway from rattling my car all to pieces,” she said.
“Grandpa has a truck that might even be older than this one.” Bryce propped his arm on the edge of the window. “I got to admit, I never expected to get this lucky when I moved to Bloom. I knew it was a small town, but I figured, for the first year, I’d be sitting in my apartment every night either watching television or reading.”
“Why’s that?” Cricket drove toward a wooded area.
“Because folks in small towns tend to be a little standoffish until they get to know a newcomer,” he answered.
“So is Bloom,” she told him. “At least, for some folks. Us commoners are a little more sociable.”
“Well, thank goodness for y’all. I feel like I fell into a gold mine,” he told her.
“Me, too,” Cricket said. “I was dreading the two weeks that Jennie Sue and Rick were gone, but now I’ve got company and lots of help.”
Bryce would have liked to hear her say that she had buried her old feelings about Anna Grace and that he was her boyfriend, but that would have been expecting a miracle since they’d known each other less than a week.
* * *
Cricket parked the truck under a whole grove of pecan trees, slung open the door, and grabbed her tote bag. “This is it. We’ll make camp at the edge of the water, toss in our lines, and have supper while we wait on the fish to bite.”
“I’ll bring all the rest of the stuff,” he offered.
“Thank you. I’ll get the blanket and the food,” she told him.
Is this a date? Or is it just fishing? she wondered as she spread out the blanket on the grassy edge of the creek and set out the plastic containers of food.
“This is the best date ever.” Bryce dropped all the fishing gear and his tackle box, then set the small cooler with a six-pack of beer inside it on the edge of the blanket.
“Is this a date?” Cricket asked.
Bryce sat down beside her and kissed her on the cheek. “I hope it’s a date and that we have lots more in the future.”
Cricket turned to face him. Her heart pounded in her
chest, and she wanted to forget fishing and make out with him until the stars popped out, or maybe until the sun came up the next morning. But before the electricity that she felt went on another minute, she had to know the truth. “Are you serious? I don’t want to start something that will just end up breaking my heart and making me feel horrible.”
“You really are straightforward, aren’t you?” Bryce said as he cupped her cheeks in his hands and looked deeply into her eyes. “I know this is fast, but you’re so special, Cricket. I feel like I’ve known you forever, and that I’m one lucky son of a gun to have found you. Do you believe in Fate?”
Cricket felt like Bryce could see straight into her soul. “I didn’t until Jennie Sue came into my brother’s life. That had to be Fate, so I guess in some circumstances I do believe in it.”
“Well, Fate brought me to Bloom. I was looking at two small drugstores and had decided on the other one. The deal for it fell through at the last minute when the guy’s son and daughter-in-law decided to move back home and run the drugstore, and now I’m glad it did.” His eyes fluttered shut.
She barely had time to moisten her lips before his mouth closed over hers. She’d been kissed a few times in her life, but mostly she had just wished the experience would be over. This time, when the kiss ended, it seemed as if her whole life had changed. The water in the stream was brighter. The sky was bluer, and she could swear that the clouds had formed into a heart just for her.
Chapter Seven
Anna Grace was already in the kitchen and had the table set for two when Cricket came out of the bedroom the next morning. She took one look at Cricket and a broad smile covered her face.
“You and Bryce had sex last night, didn’t you?” she asked.
“No, but we had kissing and we’re having ice cream tonight, and, I hope, more kissing,” Cricket answered. “What do you want to learn to make today?”
“Quiche,” Anna Grace said, “but we’ll have to do that another day. From the recipe I read, it will take a while.”
“Not really.” Cricket pulled a readymade piecrust from the freezer and unwrapped it. “I keep these on hand for times when I’m too lazy to make the crust. Get bacon, half-and-half, cheese, and eggs from the fridge.”
“Are you serious?” Anna Grace asked. “I was just teasing. Quiche is something that the Belles always serve when they have a brunch meeting, and I love it, but it has to bake, and we need to get to work.”
“We can get ready for work while it cooks and take about half of it with us. Tommy can have the rest when he wakes up,” Cricket said. “Put four pieces of bacon on the bottom of the crust while I beat up the eggs. Then we’ll add the half-and-half, cheese, and other ingredients, and pop it in the oven.”
“Is it really that easy?” Anna Grace asked. “From the way Aunt Sugar talked, I thought it took a long time. The recipe in the book I looked through yesterday looked harder than that.”
“Do you know anything about cheeses?” Cricket asked.
“No, but it said to grate the cheese, and doesn’t that take a long time?” Anna Grace measured the half-and-half for Cricket.
“Not if you buy it already grated,” Cricket answered. “There are some shortcuts. You will have to go shopping with me one evening after work.”
“That would be great,” Anna Grace said, “and now, back to the kissing. How did it make you feel?”
“It was totally different from when any other guy kissed me,” she said.
“That’s the way I felt when Tommy kissed me good night on the second date,” Anna Grace sighed. “It was like two soul mates found each other, and he says the same thing.”
“But what if Bryce doesn’t feel the same?” Cricket asked. “He told me that he was lucky to have found me, but what if that’s not real, and when something better comes along, he breaks my heart? I’ve been hurt bad before, and I don’t want that again.”
Anna Grace put all the ingredients back where they belonged. “Just trust your heart. I did mine, and I’m happy for the first time in forever. And, Cricket, the way Bryce looks at you tells me that he’s not going to break your heart. He really does like you a lot.”
Cricket slid the pie in the oven and started for her bedroom. “Thank you for that. Who would have thought I’d be getting romance advice from you?”
“Who would have thought I’d be sharing a house with you and learning to cook and garden?” Anna Grace stopped her long enough to give her a side hug. “This is a whole new world, and I’m loving it.”
Cricket hugged her back and then stepped away. “I don’t think I’d love your world if our situations were reversed. When Jennie Sue’s parents were killed in that car wreck, Rick and I came to the house with her.”
“I remember that night,” Anna Grace said. “You stayed out by the pool most of the evening.”
“Yep, because I let the whole bunch of you intimidate me,” Cricket admitted. “But that’s in the past, and we’re living in the present.”
“And so, looking forward to the future.” Anna Grace grinned.
* * *
Amos, Lettie, and Nadine were all waiting at the front door when Bryce opened the drugstore that morning. The three ordered coffee and honey buns and sat down at one of the tables together.
“Heard you went fishin’ last night,” Amos said. “Catch anything?”
“Nope,” Bryce said. “They weren’t bitin’.”
“Goin’ back tonight?” he asked.
“No,” Bryce answered. “Tonight, Cricket and I are going to Sweetwater after work for ice cream and a drive through the country.”
“So y’all are dating?” Amos asked.
“I hope so,” Bryce said with a grin.
“We’ve got a whole raft of prescriptions coming in,” Tandy yelled from the back of the store. That started a day busier than any he’d had all week. Bryce could hardly believe it when he looked at the clock, and it was ten minutes until five. Ilene was wiping down all the tables, and Tandy was counting out the bills in the cash register.
At exactly five o’clock, Ilene locked the front doors, Tandy put a bag of cash into the safe and locked it, and Bryce hung up his lab coat. “I can’t tell you two how much I appreciate your efficiency. I’m so glad you stayed on to work for me. This could have been a nightmare if you hadn’t.”
“You ever think maybe we’re putting a little more pep in our step because we don’t want you to be late for your date?” Ilene teased as they all three left by the back door.
“Well, thank you for that, too.”
Bryce got into his vehicle, drove around to Main Street, and parked in front of the bookstore. He turned off the engine, waited until half a dozen cars went by, and then slung open the door and slid out from behind the wheel.
Anna Grace was sitting on the sofa with a glass of sweet tea in her hands when he went into the store. She looked up and pointed toward Cricket’s desk. “She’s in the bathroom right now, but you can wait on her. How was your day?”
“Fast and furious,” he answered. “I don’t think I stopped counting pills from the time we opened until we closed, but that’s good. That’s what I’m in business to do. How about y’all?”
“The same until about five minutes ago. Cricket says that she sold more books today than she usually does in a month,” Anna Grace answered.
“It’s been crazy,” Cricket said as she crossed the floor. “Are you ready to go get ice cream?”
“Don’t you have to wait until six to close up shop?” he asked.
“Not when I have help. Anna Grace can turn off the lights and lock the doors,” Cricket replied.
“For real?” Anna Grace asked.
Cricket tossed her the store keys. “Didn’t you ever close up shop at the oil company?”
“Yes, but…”
Cricket shook her head and held up a palm. “No buts. When six o’clock gets here, lock it up and…” She dug around in her purse and laid her car keys on the coffee table. “And
go home. Tommy said he would make sure anything in the garden that needed picking got picked. There’s food in the pantry and fridge. You’re on your own. If you’re afraid to cook anything else, make sandwiches and take them to the creek for a picnic. Jennie Sue says that you can skinny-dip this time of year.” She sent a broad wink toward Anna Grace. “Nobody will be home for a while to catch you!”
Bryce ushered Cricket out the front door with his hand on the small of her back, opened the vehicle door for her, and waited until she was settled before he closed it. He hurried around the back of the SUV, made sure no cars were coming, and slid into the driver’s seat.
“This is a real treat, getting to leave this early,” he said, “but what do you say we stop by the Bloom Café and have a burger for supper before we drive down to Sweetwater to the ice cream shop?”
“That sounds great.” Cricket smiled. “But you do realize that if you take me there to eat, folks are going to talk.”
“Then we’ll keep the phone lines hot tonight.” He grinned as he drove to the end of the block and snagged a parking place.
When they were out of the SUV, he draped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her on the cheek. Only one booth toward the back of the café was empty, so he drew her close to his side and whispered in her ear all the way from the entrance to it. The whole place was buzzing when they walked in, but even a deaf person could have heard a pin drop until the moment they both slid into the same side of the booth, and he brushed a sweet kiss across her lips.
* * *
Sparks flew around them, and even though it wasn’t funny, Cricket giggled.
“I hope my kisses aren’t that bad,” he whispered.
Second Chance at Sunflower Ranch Page 32