She moved the crew she had at Andy’s here yesterday afternoon, and they are working up a storm. Shannon and I are cleaning things Gertie had moved to the center of the space. I’ve wiped the shelves and their belongings and cleaned the windows and the wide windowsills. Shannon has cleaned her coolers and work tables.
Now Shannon is pulling everything from underneath her counter and is throwing away more than she’s keeping. Tossing another old Moonshots coffee cup, she says, “I think the new paint gives me energy. Knew all this junk under the counter needed to be gone through, just never did it.”
“Who knew this place could look like this?” I say as I collect the dirty paper towels and rags. “Well, I guess Gertie knew. It’s a little unnerving how she just steamrolls ahead, but…” I shrug and look around. “Who can argue with the results? Makes our furniture and shelves look old, though.”
Shannon grunts her agreement from below her counter. When she stands up, she wipes her forehead with the tail of her shirt. “I’m getting hungry. Want to get some lunch?”
“Wow, it is after lunch,” I say after I check my phone. “Yeah, we don’t have to stay here since we’re closed. Want to go next door and see what the bistro is serving?”
She holds up her hands. “Like this? I came dressed to clean, not go out to eat. My mother would kill me if I went out on Main Street like this.”
I look down at my old T-shirt, some dirt now added to the bleach stain. “Yeah, but it’s Chancey, probably—”
Shannon waves at me. “Oh, doesn’t matter for you. You’re older and stuff.”
“Older and stuff?”
“You know, married.”
I roll my eyes. “Yes, I know. What do you want?”
“Oh, just ask Peter what he’d suggest. I’ll go wash my hands and wipe off your coffee table for us to eat on.” As she walks past me, she pulls out a ten dollar bill from her shorts pocket. “Here ya go.”
With my purse in my other hand, I’m halfway out the door before she yells from back near the bathroom. “Tell Peter I said hello.”
Oh, that’s what’s going on. She’s set her cap for Peter.
I’d warn Peter, but where’s the fun in that?
It’s hard to imagine I once thought I had feelings for Peter. We’re friends, but we don’t match. However, the whole thing taught me it’s easier to walk away from marriage than I ever could’ve imagined. It’s easy to take something for granted and make it not that special in your head. And once it’s not that special, well, why stay?
The sidewalk is wider at the corner, and that’s where Peter has set three metal tables surrounded by wrought iron chairs. They’ve been used up and down the street for events, and Jordan talked about painting them to use when MoonShots was here, but she never got around to getting them cleaned up. Usually they’re stacked out behind the building, underneath the decking of the apartment upstairs, which is now Alex Moon’s swinging bachelor pad.
The table and chairs are bright white, and the setup looks peaceful in the shade from a large tree, which is around the corner in the alley. Peter opens the bistro’s front door and asks, “Like them?”
“I do. They look good here. I would’ve thought they’d look out of place, but they look nice.” Walking past him and into the coolness, I ask, “Y’all are serving lunch today, right?”
“Absolutely. Alex has some chicken salad, and I think he said egg salad. “Right?” Peter calls out louder, as we walk toward the back of the store.
Alex lifts his chin and smiles from the back corner, where he’s behind the deli station he’s created. “Hello. Chicken salad has cranberries and blueberries, red and blue, in it for the Fourth, and the egg salad, well, I may have made a mistake with that.” He grimaces and adds, “Not sure capers are that popular down here. Folks earlier kept asking what those salty, hard things were.”
I laugh. “Yeah, I’m not sure I’ve ever had capers. I see them in recipes, but I’m not really much of a cook. So I just never made those recipes.” I scrunch up my nose. “But I don’t think I’d like salty things in egg salad. I like sweet pickle relish in mine.”
Alex raises his eyebrows at Peter. “Told you. Seems people down here like things sweet more than salty.”
Peter nods. “Think you might be right. I know when I first moved up north I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with their tea. First, they kept serving me hot tea and then when I could get iced tea, it wasn’t sweet. But I’d never made iced tea, so I thought it was a whole different thing. Plus, they kept pushing a bowl of sugar at me, and the sugar wouldn’t dissolve.”
Peering over the counter window, I look for the chicken salad. “So, what’s in the chicken salad, besides blueberries and cranberries?”
“Rest assured, it’s not weird. Just chicken and mayo, the berries mostly for color. And some slivered almonds,” Alex explains.
“Almonds? Not pecans?” Peter asks.
At the same time, Peter and I say, “I prefer pecans.”
“Okay, pecans next time. You know, pecans are used mainly in desserts back home.”
Peter sits on the end of an upturned crate. “Get used to it. I’m still trying to find Italian beef like I got up in Chicago. And sausages? Don’t get me started.”
“I’ll take two chicken salads. And what kind of bread are you using?” I ask.
Alex laughs. “That’s another thing. I know someone in the mountains here has to make homemade bread, right? But hell if I know how to find out who. Think I’ll have to go all the way Atlanta? Today I have the best wheat bread I could find at the Piggly Wiggly and some croissants, but they seem stale. They’re marked fresh, but still…”
“We’ll take the wheat bread, I’m sure it’ll be fine. I know there’s places selling homemade bread in Marietta, I’ll put Laney on it. She loves finding stuff like that on her computer. Did you hear she might get put on bed rest?”
Peter laughs and crosses his arms. “Yeah, right. She was in here this morning with that Zoe girl. It’s like someone has given her her own minion. Who is this Zoe?”
“She’s the daughter of the manager of the new Dollar Store. His oldest. He and his new wife have three more little ones.”
Alex says, “Oh no,” and looks up. “Those brats that almost singlehandedly destroyed the store? Their mother lets them do whatever they want.”
Peter adds. “Their mother was preoccupied with flirting with the deli guy.”
“Oh, really?” I ask. “And what deli guy would that be?”
The one and only deli guy goes back to making our sandwiches. “It was awful. She hung out here and left the kids to race around the store pushing a stroller. They knocked stuff off the shelves and even knocked down the display there.” He points to where Peter is seated.
“Yeah, I had that big picnic basket sitting here on this crate with all the things you’d want to take on a picnic, and when they rammed it, mother’s plates broke. Hopefully, I can replace them before she figures out I had them.”
Alex places our sandwiches in plastic containers as he shakes his head in disgust. “And she let them clean out the sample plate. They ate every piece of cheese and meat I had on it. Then they moved on to the cookie jar.”
“They made a mess in Ruby’s the other day, too. Can I get two lemonades?” I turn to Peter. “Did you know Anna is practically the assistant manager at the Dollar Store?”
He nods as he slides his eyes to glance at Alex and then stands up. “Here, let me ring those things up for you. I’ll take them up front. Grab some chips if you want them.”
“Thanks, Alex,” I say and wave bye, snagging two bags of chips on my way up front. What did Peter not want to say in front of Alex? At the front counter, I lean his direction and raise my eyebrows.
He sighs as he begins punching the buttons on the electronic tablet in front of him. “Yes, I know about Anna working at the Dollar Store. Have you talked to Will since last night?”
“No. Why?”
Peter
shakes his head and frowns. “Biggest fight yet.” He presses his lips together and stares into the bag.
“About what? Who was fighting?” I whisper.
He finally looks up. “All of them. Mother gave Anna one of her famous to-do lists, and Anna tore it up. Right in front of her. Mother lost it. Dad got involved protecting Anna, then Will went on about how Anna thought her job was so important when it’s just a shop clerk at a Dollar Store. So, you can imagine what my niece then had to say about him selling used cars.”
“How did you hear all this?” I ask as I hand him money.
He hands me my bag and frowns even more. “Anna. She spent the night at my house.”
“She told you she tore up Missus’ list?”
“She was right proud of it. I’ve got to say, though, Will did come to the house and try to apologize. But she wasn’t having it.”
“Well, they’ll work it out. Don’t you think?”
He pushes the cash drawer closed. “Not sure about that. Will said he’s moving home.”
“Wait. My home?”
Peter nods.
“You don’t think he was just mad when he said that? Just threatening her?”
“He didn’t seem mad at all. It was this morning. He stopped by the house to tell her on his way to work.”
“Oh, Peter. That’s not good.”
“No. I don’t know what to even say to her.”
I agree with him by shaking my head and then walking away from the counter. Peter comes around to hold open the door for me with my bag and two drinks. “I didn’t want to say anything in front of Alex, as I figure everyone knowing might make it harder for them to get back together.”
“Understand. Well, thanks for lunch. I’ll let you know what Will has to say.”
I took Shannon her sandwich and lemonade and carried mine back out to the tables out front. The shade feels good as I choose the seat in the darkest part of the shade. The street is still as only a hot summer afternoon can be. No bugs buzzing, no kids shouting, no breeze ruffling the leaves. My lemonade is sweet and cold. My sandwich is delicious, and while the dried cranberries add a familiar taste to the chicken salad, the fresh blueberries really make it different. Why hasn’t someone else thought of this? I sit back and relax for a minute, but one look down the street in the direction of Missus and FM’s house reminds me of Peter’s story.
Wish I was surprised, but I’m not. Sad, but not surprised. I take a deep breath, then lean up to wrap up my garbage. I take it to the can beside the bistro’s front window and throw it away, then I go back into the bookstore. I barely get in the front door before Peter is right behind me.
“Carolina. Um. I guess that paint, well, it felt dry. It was dry. Maybe the humidity?”
I turn around toward him. “What?”
Shannon bursts out laughing from the couch where she’d had lunch. “Oh no. Look at you!”
Peter tilts his head as if to look behind me. I look over my shoulder and see white on my jeans and all down the back of my bright orange shirt. “Are you kidding me?”
“We’ll pay to have your clothes cleaned. I’m so sorry. It felt dry, I promise.”
Before I can even close my mouth, my phone rings. It’s a local number. “Hello?” I listen and try to explain. “I can’t come right now, but I’ll be there shortly.”
After listening some more, I say, “Okay,” and hang up. “Can anyone give me a garbage bag to sit on so I don’t get paint all over my car? Guess I won’t be going home to change. Officer Ramirez wants to see me out at Brittani’s house.”
Peter grabs my arm. “Is everyone okay?”
I dig my car keys out of my purse while I drop my phone down in it. “Nobody’s hurt, but I don’t know much. Except that apparently my son, the stalker, is out of bed.”
Chapter 21
“For crying out loud, I know I have paint on my backside!” I launch my purse across our foyer and onto the couch.
Missus follows me into the house. She’d met me on the front porch when I got home. “Carolina, this is a mess. A real mess.”
“Oh, believe me, I know it’s a mess. I’m the one that had to see my thirteen-year-old son in the back of a police car.”
Bryan speaks up from the kitchen, where he scurried as soon as we entered the front door. “Officer Ramirez just let me sit back there because he had the air conditioning on. Geez, mom.”
I step to the kitchen doorway. “You get downstairs right this minute and bring me the cords to your Xbox, oh, and gimme your phone.” I hold out my hand and watch his mouth open to complain. With the set of my jawline and steady glare, I convince him talking would not be a good idea. He puts it in my palm, turns, and heads down the basement stairs.
Missus hasn’t followed us into the kitchen, but is sitting on the couch in the same spot she sat early this morning. Was that just this morning? Plopping down in the chair where I sat this morning, I ask, “So, how did you hear about my juvenile delinquent?”
“Honestly, I had no idea. I wanted to talk to you about your other son. He’s moved back home?”
Other son? Oh, the good one? The one that’s supposed to be working in DC and getting ready for law school? That son? My shoulders fall, and I look around the room. “I don’t know. He’s not told me if he has, and I don’t see any of his stuff. But then I’ve not been upstairs.” I shrug. “Maybe a break will do them good. They go from not even knowing each other to married and expecting a baby in a matter of months? It can’t be easy.”
“Life isn’t ever ‘easy.’ However, I’ve done everything I can to help.” Missus stands up and paces behind the couch. “Given them a place to live. Not interfered.” (Mercifully, her pacing keeps her from seeing my eyes roll at that.) “Convinced Shaw to hire Will.”
Now I jump up. “I knew it! You’re the reason he moved here. You made this whole thing happen!”
She stops and looks down her nose at me. “Oh, yes, Carolina. I made your son sleep with my granddaughter. That was all me.”
Shoot. She’s right. “But selling cars? We could’ve helped him in law school, helped them live in Athens.”
Missus shakes her head. “No. They need family to help them out. They don’t need to live across the state, and then goodness knows where he would’ve gotten a job. Look at how badly they’re handling their marriage. Imagine if they didn’t have us nearby to help.”
“I am imagining it. They would deal with things together. There would be no uncle’s house to run to, no parents to just up and move back in with.”
Missus tsks at me. “We see family differently. I see it as a support system, a help. You see it as a nuisance. I saw how you were with your mother and father.”
“Don’t you dare! I’m fine with my parents. Seems I heard it was one of your infernal lists that pushed Anna over the edge. You want to boss everyone, but your granddaughter isn’t used to being bossed around like that. You are their main problem!”
She pulls herself up and marches to the front door. “We should be working together to keep Will and Anna’s family intact. Not tearing at each other. I believe in family.”
“Oh, like I don’t?”
Lifting her hands and shrugging, she says, “How would I know? However, I will say what I came to say, please send Will back home to his wife and unborn baby. I will make sure she’s there to welcome him.”
“How are you going to do that?”
“Reason, common sense, and… bribes. When you hold all the economic cards, you’d be foolish to not use them. I know when you calm down from your younger son’s unlawful escapades, you’ll see things my way.” And she stomps out the front door.
“Mom, can I go to the Lake Park?” comes from the dining room doorway.
Pausing to get a grip on my anger, I turn. “No, Bryan, you may not go to the Lake Park. You may never get to go there again the rest of your life. Where’s the cords?”
He slumps and shuffles up to me, holding out a bundle of cords.
&nbs
p; I take the cords and step back. “I’m so embarrassed. What were you thinking? I told Beau no way you were stalking Brittani. No way. Did you think that would get her back?”
As serious as a heart attack, he looks up at me with wide eyes. “Yeah.”
Exhausted, my eyes close and you can barely hear my voice when I say, “Go up to your room. This is not just some little thing. They called the police, Bryan.”
He drags to the stairs and at first walks slowly, one foot in front of the other, up the staircase. Then he stops midway. “The officer was nice. He showed me all the cool stuff in the car.” His face breaks into a wide grin. “Hey, yeah, I want to be a police officer. That’d be neat. Can I have my phone back just to tell people? Just for a little while.”
All I can do at first is stare. Stare at the crazy person I gave birth to. “No, Bryan, you can’t. You’re being punished.”
He grins again and shakes his head. “Oh, that’s right. Okay, later mom.” And he dashes up the rest of the stairs.
Why do people keep having kids?
My phone rings, and I see its Jackson returning my phone call. “Hey. I got your message when I got back in cell range. Bryan was with the police? Is he okay? He was stalking Brittani?”
“Yeah, we’re home now. Beau had mentioned it to me last week, I guess. But when Savannah and I talked about it, we decided he couldn’t get all the way out to Brittani’s house to leave the notes and stuff, so I was going to talk to Beau again.”
Jackson huffs out a deep breath. “So he denied it to you?”
“Well, um, I never got the chance to ask him. Things are kind of busy here with the Fourth of July stuff this weekend. Plus, I didn’t think it was him.”
Kids are Chancey Page 14