Small Town Charm

by Carolyn Brown

  “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 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 the head of the table before. That’s always been Granddad’s place on one end and Dad’s on the other.”

  “Have you got brothers and sisters?” she asked.

  “Nope, there’s just me, and I come from a long line of only children. My dad and mama both are only kids, and so were my granny and grandpa,” he answered as he took his first bite. “These are amazing dumplings. They taste just like what my granny makes.”

  “That’s some high praise.” Cricket passed the salad and then the bowl of buttered corn to him.

  “Just statin’ facts, Miz Cricket,” he drawled. “You reckon Anna Grace can make dumplings like these?”

  “The cook at their place might be able to,” she answered. “You should tell her that you really like dumplings and see if she invites you to Sunday dinner after church.”

  “Does she go to the same church as you do?” Bryce took a sip of tea.

  “Oh, yes, she does.” Cricket nodded. “She and her friends, the Belles’ daughters, sit together on the back pew so they can hurry out as soon as the benediction is over. I guess she wouldn’t invite you to Sunday dinner. They all gather up and go to some place in Sweetwater for dinner every Sunday. I hear they have a standing reservation.”

  “Does that mean she goes with her friends, and I’m safe for that day?” he asked.

  Cricket shook her head. “Not really. The Belles that don’t have anything else on their calendars and their spouses and kids all go, so she might rope you into going with them. Mary Lou, that’s her mother, would be happy to have her daughter settled. I’ve heard that Anna Grace has had a long-time affair with a teacher in Sweetwater when she’s not trying to find a husband that would make Mary Lou happy.”

  “That’s crazy!” Bryce had heard of small-town rumors and gossip, but he had no idea what he was getting into when he bought the drugstore. “Why doesn’t she just take that teacher to Sunday dinner.”

  “You might be super smart when it comes to books,” Cricket said, “but you need to be educated in the ways of small towns. Anna Grace can sleep with the teacher. She can fall in love with him, and even have an affair with him the rest of her life. But she will marry someone Mary Lou approves of. Anna Grace wouldn’t dare disgrace herself in front of the club members by marrying a plain old teacher. Mary Lou would be mortified, and her father would fire her from the high-paying, window-dressing job she has at the oil company.”

  “Why would he do that?” Bryce asked.

  “Because if Mary Lou ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy, and her husband doesn’t cross her when it comes to Anna Grace,” Cricket answered.

  “Holy sh…smoke,” Bryce muttered. “What else do I need to know about?”

  “That’s enough of a social lesson for tonight, but if you’ve got doubts about anything, just call me or else ask Lettie and Nadine. They know everything about everything in Bloom, going all the way back to when they were young, and Nadine will be ninety-five tomorrow,” Cricket told him. “Lettie is a couple of years younger than she is, but neither of them act that old. You do know that Lettie believes in aliens, don’t you?”

  If Bryce hadn’t swallowed fast, he would have spewed tea all over the table. “You’re kiddin’, right?”

  “Nope, not one bit, and if you don’t want to have to find another place to live, don’t ever try to convince her otherwise,” Cricket said.

  Bryce was so glad that he’d come out to the farm to get some produce the day before. Cricket was a fountain of information. Her cooking was fabulous. He got to play in the dirt and could look forward to going fishing. And she was so damned cute that it took his breath away.

  Chapter Four

  Cricket had just flipped the lights on at the shop and set down her tote bag on Thursday morning when her phone rang. She fished it out of her purse and smiled when she saw Jennie Sue’s name pop up.

  “Good mornin’,” she answered. “How’s the vacation going?”

  “Absolutely wonderful,” Jennie Sue replied. “We had planned to go to a waterpark and the zoo today, but Aubrey and Dina both cried. They wanted to build another sandcastle on the beach and play in the sand. Rick is getting them into their bathing suits. I’ve gathered up the sunblock and snacks. Now, tell me all about this new pharmacist and how you are being the damsel in shining armor who is rescuing him from a life of misery with Anna Grace.”

  Cricket giggled. “I don’t know about all that, but he has to be saved, and I’m doing my part to help with that. He helped me pick peas and gather the tomatoes last night. Then he ate supper with me.”

  “Lettie thinks there might be a little attraction there,” Jennie Sue said. “She said that when she and Nadine came to the bookstore yesterday, your eyes were sparkling.”

  “Anna Grace bullied me in school and has continued to be hateful to me every chance she gets. Getting back at her would make anyone’s eyes twinkle.” Cricket unloaded her tote bag and made a pot of coffee while she talked.

  “Well, don’t lose the sparkle. I want to see it when I get home,” Jennie Sue said. “We went to a T-shirt shop yesterday, and the girls picked out two for you.”

  “That will make my eyes twinkle for sure.” Cricket poured herself a mug of coffee before it even quit dripping and carried it to the sofa. “I miss those two little angels so much.”

  “We’re ready,” Rick’s deep voice came through the line.

  “Beach, Mama, beach,” Dina said.

  “Did you get the snacks and the juice boxes and the towels and the buckets and shovels and…” Aubrey ran out of breath.

  “They aren’t acting much like angels right now,” Jennie Sue laughed.

  “I love hearing their voices, and they’ll always have little wings and a shiny halo in their favorite aunt’s eyes,” Cricket said. “Give them a hug from me and go enjoy the day. The damsel in shining armor has things under control here.”

  “Love you, sister,” Jennie Sue chuckled. “See you at the end of next week.”

  “Lookin’ forward to it,” Cricket said and ended the call.

  When Jennie Sue first came back to town a few years ago, Cricket had felt the same way about her that she still did about Anna Grace. She’d thought Jennie Sue was uppity and had been glad that she’d fallen on hard times. But with time, and especially after Rick and Jennie Sue started seeing each other, Cricket had seen that she’d been wrong and that she should have never grouped Jennie Sue in with the other Belle girls.

  Maybe you’re wrong about Anna Grace too. Cricket’s mother’s voice was clear in her head.

  “Mama?” Cricket whispered.

  But there was no more from her mother, and before she could figure out why she’d heard the voice so clearly, the bell above the door rang, and Anna Grace came into the store for the first time ever. Cricket blinked a dozen times, but the tall blond woman did not disappear.

  “May I help you?” she finally asked.

  Anna Grace was wearing a cute navy dress that day with matching high heels and had a matching bag draped over her arm. She crossed the floor with the grace of a runway model and sat down in the wingback chair across from Cricket’s desk. She crossed one long, slender leg over the other and took a deep breath. “I need to talk to you.”

  Here it comes, Cricket thought. She’s going to tell me to leave Bryce alone or else she’ll ruin my business.

  “About what?” Cricket sat down in her desk chair and got ready for
the bullying.

  “I want to apologize for all the times when I’ve been hateful and mean to you, and to ask for your help.” Anna Grace kept her eyes on a spot on the wall behind Cricket’s head.

  “Thank you for that, but I don’t believe you.” Cricket reached under the desk and pinched her thigh, proving she wasn’t asleep but fully awake. “I think you are here to tell me to step aside where Bryce Walton is concerned, that you intend to start up a relationship with him, and eventually marry him because he’s a pharmacist.”

  “If my mother was sitting in this chair, you would be right. She gave me orders to do just that this morning, but…” Anna Grace actually blushed.

  Cricket folded her arms over her chest. “I think you will do anything to get what you want, and then later, you and your friends will laugh at me for being so gullible. Well, I’m an adult now. I’m not a teenager who wants to be included in your circle of friends, and I’m not someone you can bully anymore.”

  “If I was sitting where you are, I would feel the same way,” Anna Grace said. “I don’t want to date Bryce. I don’t want a relationship with him. I’m in love and have been for a long time with Tommy Bluestone, a biology teacher who lives in Sweetwater. Mama won’t hear of it, and Daddy says if I marry him, I’ll have to move out of the house and find a job elsewhere because he’s not living with Mama when she’s that mad. So I just let them think I’m dating other guys, but I haven’t dated anyone but Tommy in more than three years.”

  “Are you serious?” Cricket eyed her carefully. “I heard you just recently broke up with a dentist.”

  “I have to invent a reason to break up with my imaginary boyfriends when Mama begins to insist that I bring them home for a weekend, or that I invite him to go out to eat with us so she can meet him.” Anna Grace looked absolutely miserable when she admitted that.