Small Town Charm
Page 6
“You’re never going to believe what I did today, and what happened tonight,” she said.
* * *
Cricket was whipping up eggs in a bowl when Anna Grace came in the kitchen the next morning. “You can make the toast. Put two slices in the toaster oven.”
“I usually just have a kale shake for breakfast.” Anna Grace yawned and looked around for bread. “What’s a toaster oven, and I don’t see a loaf of bread.”
“I make our bread. It’s in the green plastic box right there by the toaster oven.” She pointed toward the small appliance sitting on the cabinet. This was going to be a bigger chore than she’d thought. Hopefully, Anna Grace was a fast learner. “The bread has been sliced. All you have to do is put two slices in the tray, close the door, and turn the knob to toast.”
Anna Grace followed the directions without being told a second time. Cricket kept a close eye on her while she scrambled eggs to go with the bacon she had already fried.
“Now take it out and smear butter on it. You’ve eaten in enough restaurants to know how to do that,” Cricket said.
“I made toast!” Anna Grace beamed as she carefully spread butter on the thick slices of homemade bread. “This smells so good. How do you make it?”
“That’s a lesson for another month.” Cricket finished the eggs and piled them up on a plate beside six slices of crispy bacon. “Pour two mugs of coffee while I get the orange juice.”
“Mother would scream at me for eating like this,” Anna Grace sighed. “I’ve been taught my whole life that you can never be to thin or too rich.”
Cricket set the plate of eggs and bacon on the table, then brought out a half-gallon container of juice. “I guess those are two lessons you’ll have to unlearn. I’ll say grace this morning. We’ll take turns. Tomorrow it will be your turn.” She sat down and bowed her head.
“Thank you, Cricket,” Anna Grace said when the short prayer ended. “I’ve never prayed out loud before.”
“Another lesson you’ll learn here.” Cricket served herself half the eggs and three pieces of bacon, then passed the plate over to Anna Grace. She poured herself a glass of juice, slid the jug over toward Anna Grace, and picked up a piece of the toast from a plate that was in the middle of the table.
“We never ate together except at dinners when we had guests.” Anna Grace followed Cricket’s lead and put the rest of the eggs and bacon on her plate.
Cricket hoped that Anna Grace learned to like this new world because, from what Tommy had said, this was the kind of upbringing he had had. If she didn’t learn to be independent, all the love she had for him might not be enough.
“If we eat like this every morning, I’ll need new clothes,” Anna Grace said.
“You’ll work it all off.” Cricket opened a jar of homemade elderberry jam and put a spoonful on her toast.
“I go to the gym after work at least three times a week, but I’m sure my mother will cancel that membership. She’s probably made a list of all the places she’ll need to call today.” Anna Grace finished off her breakfast and took a sip of her coffee. “Do you think I could make breakfast for Tommy by Sunday morning? And is it all right with you if he sleeps over on Saturday night?”
“You’re an adult. You don’t have to ask me whether your boyfriend can stay the night here,” Cricket said. “I’ll give you a crash course in something simple. We’ll make French toast and ham for supper tonight, and you can write down the instructions as we go. It’s fast and easy.”
“I hope so.” Anna Grace smiled. “I’ll go get dressed. I brought jeans and a shirt like you said to wear to the bookstore this morning.”
“Not before we get the dishes done and the kitchen put to rights.” Cricket finished off her coffee. “And Anna Grace, if you can read directions, you can cook. During our downtime at the store, why don’t you go through some cookbooks?”
“Do they have one called Cooking for Dummies?” Anna Grace asked.
“Maybe so,” Cricket answered. “I’ll wash. You can dry and put away, so you’ll learn where things go.”
No one ever texted or called Cricket early in the morning, so it startled her when her phone rang as she was washing dishes. She quickly dried her hands and pulled it from her hip pocket, scared that something might have happened to Lettie or Nadine. When she saw Bryce’s name, a wide smile broke out, and Anna Grace raised an eyebrow.
“Hello.” She carried the phone outside to the porch.
“Good morning! I dreamed about you last night, and wondered if I came out and helped with the garden right after work, if maybe we could get a couple of hours of fishing in tonight before it got dark?” he asked.
“I don’t see why not,” she answered. “Anna Grace and I are making French toast and ham for supper. We could make a sandwich out of ours and take it to the creek with us.”
“That sounds wonderful. See you then, if not before.” He lowered his voice. “So she moved in, did she? Lettie is betting Nadine that she won’t last a week, and she’s put ten dollars on it, so she’s serious.”
“Did you get in on that bet?” Cricket asked.
Bryce chuckled. “I’m in for five. I saw that woman in the store. She looks like she’s all fashion and makeup. What about you?”
“The jury is still out, but I might have to throw a dollar or two into the pot,” she answered. “See you after work.”
“Lookin’ forward to it,” he said and ended the call.
Cricket returned her phone to her pocket and went back into the house to find that Anna Grace had finished the dishes, put them away, and wiped down the stove top, the cabinets, and the table. “I’ve seen our cook do this, so I figured that was the rest of what you meant by cleaning up.”
Cricket smiled and nodded. She was going to put in five dollars on the positive side. If Anna Grace kept this up, Cricket might win the whole pot, but even if that didn’t happen, she felt like she’d already won the lottery when Bryce called.
* * *
Lettie and Nadine were in the drugstore before anyone else that morning. They sat down at one of the tables and ordered cherry limeades. Ilene had just gotten their drinks set down when Amos came in and joined them. Since Bryce wasn’t busy, he rounded the end of the pharmacy counter and sat down at the table with them too.
“That was some party last night,” Amos said. “Ilene, would you be a doll and bring me a cup of coffee?”
“Comin’ right up,” Ilene answered.
“We was glad for a good turnout.” Lettie took a sip of her drink. “I think I need a bag of chips to go with this, Ilene.”
Ilene picked up a small bag from the end of the counter with her free hand and brought it to the table along with Amos’s coffee. “I hear we’ve got a pot going about Anna Grace making it for a week.” She laid a five on the table. “I don’t think she’ll make it until Monday, so put my money on that side.”
Lettie whipped an envelope out of her purse and added the bill to it, then wrote Ilene’s name on the outside. “If anyone bets for her, they’re going to win a lot.”
“This is so exciting!” Nadine said. “We haven’t had a good bet going like this in more than a year.”
Amos handed her two dollars. “Put me down for her not making it until Sunday. She’ll be back in Mary Lou’s good graces by church time Sunday morning.”
Lettie did the bookwork and then focused on Bryce. “Now, we want to know if you’re going to ask Cricket on a real date. So far, you’ve just done what you had to do to run from Anna Grace, even though it’s looking like you didn’t need to.”
“Already did,” Bryce said. “We’re going fishing tonight, and if she’s willing, I’m going to ask her to go with me for ice cream tomorrow night.”
Lettie smiled and winked at Amos.
“What’s that all about? Are y’all taking bets on me and Cricket?” he asked.
“We never tell the folks that we’re betting on,” Nadine said. “That would be cheating.”
Bryce pushed back his chair, but he looked over his shoulder and noticed that Lettie had an envelope out. Amos handed her another bill. Bryce was too far away to see how much he was betting, but he figured they had a pot going where he and Cricket were concerned.
The afternoon went by in a flash. There was a constant flow of customers in the store, and the barstools and tables were full most of the time. Bryce filled a hundred prescriptions before closing and had at least twenty on his counter to start filling the next morning. At five o’clock, he closed shop and rushed home to his apartment. He got all his fishing gear together and changed into his most comfortable jeans and a comfortable old T-shirt.
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 ca
mp 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.