Small Town Rumors

by Carolyn Brown

  “You need to calm down about Jennie Sue. I’m a pretty good judge of character, and I’d bet money that you are wrong about her. I don’t think she’s doin’ any of those things you just said or that she’d treat her friends so hatefully,” he said as they went out into the hot night air.

  “You’ll see. When the time comes, her true colors will come out like a good ol’ American flag blowin’ in the wind.” Cricket got into the passenger seat and fastened her seat belt.

  “And if you are wrong, will you admit it?” Rick fired up the truck and started toward town.

  “I won’t be wrong,” Cricket answered.

  Rick noticed Jennie Sue’s truck parked behind Nadine’s van. That meant that Jennie Sue had left the Baker place and would be with them. Cricket wouldn’t like it, but he sure did. “Let’s not argue. Let’s just go have a good time this evening with all our friends.”

  “I can get into that for sure. You did bring the wine and beer, right?”

  “In the cooler in the back of the truck. You go on inside and I’ll bring it,” he answered.

  “Hey, hey.” Amos held the door for him. “Nadine said you were bringing the good stuff to go with her brisket and baked beans.”

  “And I’ve also got macaroni and cheese, and Jennie Sue’s made her fabulous potato salad,” Lettie called from the kitchen.

  Rick caught Cricket rolling her eyes on the other side of the room and almost laughed out loud. Sometimes karma really did whip around and bite a person right on the butt.

  Cricket frowned at her brother and then turned away to find Jennie Sue right beside her. There was nothing to do but speak to the woman, even if she would rather have slapped her. She knew that was the wrong attitude. Just last Sunday the new preacher at the church had delivered his sermon on having a sweet, positive spirit and never letting bitterness into the heart. But dammit! He hadn’t had to live under Jennie Sue’s shadow all these years. If Cricket had cleaned houses or worked at the bookstore, it wouldn’t even be noticed, but let Jennie Sue do the same thing and the phone lines buzzed for days.

  “Hello again, Cricket,” Jennie Sue said softly. “You look so pretty tonight.”

  Cricket didn’t want to be taken in by Jennie Sue’s compliments, but she couldn’t help it. “Well, thank you. I thought you’d be at your mama’s for that big party.”

  “I went, but I didn’t stay. I’ve had a really good time helping Lettie and Nadine this afternoon. They’re such a hoot.” Jennie Sue picked up a plate of chocolate-covered strawberries and cubes of cheese. “We have these little appetizers until Nadine says the brisket is ready. Want one?”

  Well, la-di-da! Jennie Sue was now a house cleaner, a chauffeur, and a waitress. Didn’t life turn round? “I’d love a chocolate strawberry. These came from our farm. Did you dip them?”

  “Yes, but I promise I didn’t lick my fingers,” Jennie Sue whispered.

  Why did Jennie Sue have to be so nice? It sure made it hard not to like her, but Cricket was determined.

  “I used to help Mabel and Frank in their small garden when I was a kid. I loved getting my hands dirty and gathering in the vegetables. We never had strawberries, though, and when Mama decided to add a big porch onto the house, the garden had to go. I missed it,” Jennie Sue said.

  Cricket had just finished eating the strawberry when Nadine said for everyone to gather around and hold hands for the blessing. Cricket made sure that, among the twenty people, she wasn’t standing beside Jennie Sue. Yet when she saw that Rick had wiggled in between Jennie Sue and Amos, she wanted to wring his neck. Didn’t he have a lick of sense? That’s it. He was going to have to find out for himself—the crash would be terrible.

  Amos delivered the shortest grace in the history of mankind, followed by Nadine’s loud amen. She continued, “Line up, heap your plates, and find a place to eat. If you like to be cool, then stay in the house. But if you don’t mind a little heat, there’s two long tables set up under the pecan tree out back. As for me, I’m going to sit in my rockin’ chair in the livin’ room and put my food on the end table right beside it.”

  “Where are you going?” Jennie Sue asked Cricket.

  Wherever you aren’t, she thought. But she looked around at all the elderly folks, and it wouldn’t be right for her to deprive any of them of a nice cool place to eat. “Probably out under the shade tree. Seems more like the Fourth of July if we eat outside.”

  “I’ve been inside all day, so I’d love to join you,” Jennie Sue said.

  “I’ll go out with you ladies,” Rick said quickly.

  Of course you will. Cricket frowned. Either you have a crush on Jennie Sue or you’re workin’ real hard to prove me wrong. “Then it looks like at least three of us don’t mind sweating.”

  “I’ll go with y’all!” Amos raised his hand. “Me and Iris always liked to eat out under the shade tree.”

  “It’s been years since I’ve been on a picnic.” Jennie Sue added a slice of smoked pork loin to her plate.

  “I miss them,” Amos sighed as he carried his plate toward the door with the rest behind him. “Iris and I met at a church picnic. I like to think she’s lookin’ down on this one.”

  “Maybe she is.” Rick grinned. “That’s the way I like to think about my mama and dad—lookin’ down and happy that we’re keepin’ the farm going. They would have enjoyed today.”

  Jennie Sue picked up a beer with her free hand as she brought up the rear. Outside, she chose a place on one side of the table, and Rick set his plate right next to her. Cricket pulled out a chair across from them, with Amos settled in beside her.

  “Jennie Sue, it’s good to see you makin’ friends other than folks with one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel.” Amos laughed at his own joke.

  “Age is just numbers on paper,” Jennie Sue said.

  “You got that right.” Amos set about eating.

  Rick turned to Jennie Sue. “So how was your mama’s party?”

  “Don’t know,” she answered. “I was only there about fifteen minutes. But I’ve had a really good time here today. Lettie and Nadine should go onstage with a comedy act. They’ve had me in stitches most of the day.”

  Cricket kicked Rick under the table and shook her head at him when she got his attention. He raised an eyebrow, and she shot daggers at him.

  “So Cricket says that you liked to garden when you were a kid.” He moved his legs to the side.

  “I loved getting my hands dirty.” She glanced at Rick. “When I get my own place someday, if it’s too small to have a garden, then I’ll plow up the whole backyard and plant vegetables. I love to cook with fresh stuff.”

  Cricket caught the sly I-told-you-so look that her brother cast her way. Something wasn’t right here. Jennie Sue Baker was the next Wilshire in the long line of Bloom socialites. She should be worrying about chipping her nails, not digging in the dirt. What kind of game was this woman playing?

  Even with Cricket’s mean looks, this is a better party than any I’ve ever been to at the house. I love all my new friends, Jennie Sue thought. It would be amazing if I could add Rick and Cricket to the list.

  Why would you ever want that woman to be your friend? an aggravating voice in her head asked.

  Because she’s got a big chip on her shoulder, and I’d like to see it gone. She glanced at Cricket, who had her head down, and kind of doubted that would ever be possible. Then she shifted her eyes over to Rick, who was staring right at her. Their gaze met halfway, and she could have sworn there was chemistry between them again. He was a fine-looking man, but even if he didn’t feel what she did, maybe they could be friends. They sure shared a love for gardening.

  Hey, I wonder if he’d let me come out there and pick my own vegetables?

  “This potato salad is amazing.”

  “It’s because I had good fresh potatoes to work with.” Jennie Sue blinked and looked down at her food. “Besides, a little bacon makes anything better.”

  What
she didn’t say was that it had been Percy’s favorite, and she’d made it at least once a month. That brought back the final night they’d spent together. He’d gotten angry when she confronted him about his latest affair—with one of her friends, no less—and told him that she was six weeks pregnant. He’d thrown a whole bowlful of potato salad at the wall, shattering the glass and sending the mixture all over the carpet. Then he’d demanded that it be cleaned up before she went to bed, with not a single bit of stain left on the floor.

  He’d slept in the spare bedroom, and when she awoke the next morning, he was gone without even leaving a note. A week later she was served with divorce papers. She’d signed them without benefit of a lawyer, since the alimony he’d set was reasonable, and she got to keep the apartment. It wasn’t until later that she realized how little she’d actually received for the years she’d been married to him.

  “You okay?” Rick nudged her with his shoulder.

  “I’m fine.” She blinked away the past and came back to the present.

  “You looked like you’d seen a ghost,” he whispered.

  “I did, but it’s gone now.” She looked up at him, noticed the scar on his jawline, and had to hold her hands in her lap to keep from touching it.

  His hand went to it, and he said, “It’s the least of many.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to stare.”

  “No problem, but I believe we were talking about bacon in the potato salad. I figure anything that has bacon or ham in it has to be good.” His pretty green eyes lit up when he smiled.

  “Amen to that,” she agreed. “Have you ever made whiskey bacon?”

  “No, but I’d love to.” Cricket’s tone was almost sweet. Maybe they could find some common ground over recipes.

  There could be hope for a friend there after all. “You mix equal parts of brown sugar and whiskey and paint it on thick-sliced bacon. Bake it for fifteen minutes at two hundred and fifty degrees, take it out, and flip it over and do the other side. Repeat that until it’s crispy, and then let it cool. Oh, I forgot, you need a rack to put it on while it’s cookin’.”

  Cricket nodded. “That would be something a little different at our book-club meeting—it sounds really good.”

  “I’m finished eating, so I’m going back inside to help Lettie and Nadine with cleanup. We’ll be going to the football field in less than an hour,” Jennie Sue said.

  “I’ll help.” Rick pushed back his chair.

  “Me, too,” Cricket said.

  Who would have ever thought that she could win a friend with a bacon recipe and a bowl of potato salad? Jennie Sue’s heart lightened as she picked up her plate and headed inside.

  The fireworks show might not have been as big or as fancy as the one out on the Baker property, but Jennie Sue loved every minute of it. She sat between Rick and Lettie. Cricket sat right behind her, flanked by Amos and Nadine.

  When the first display lit up the sky, she pursed her lips and inhaled deeply. “Ohhh, that is so pretty.”

  Rick leaned over and whispered, “Not nearly as pretty as you.”

  She whipped around to see if he’d really said that or if she was imagining things, and bumped noses with him. They each clamped a hand over their faces at the same time.

  “What?” Cricket leaned down and asked. “Don’t you like the smell of the smoke?”

  “No, we turned at the same time and almost broke each other’s noses,” Rick said.

  She didn’t see Rick as a guy who’d use pickup lines like the boys in college the two years that she was there. So where had that come from?

  When the show ended, she threw an arm around Lettie’s shoulders. “This has been an amazing day. Thank you so much.”

  “It has been fun, Lettie. Thank you, ladies, for the good meal and the fun.” Cricket stood up and got a firm grip on Nadine’s arm to help her down the bleacher steps. “We’ll all get to meet again at the book-club meeting on Friday, so this is a good week.”

  “I heard you’re bringing a new thing that has bacon and whiskey involved,” Nadine said. “I can’t wait to try it out.”

  “It’s Jennie Sue’s recipe,” Rick said.

  Cricket gave him another of her looks, and he just laughed it away.

  “So what are you bringing, Jennie Sue?” Lettie asked. “The new member should show her worth by showing up with something in her hands.”

  “And it can’t be a vegetable tray, because I’m bringing one of those,” Nadine said.

  “Make it something sweet, like cookies,” Amos said.

  “Cookies or cake or both,” Jennie Sue said.

  “Then make it a cake. I love cake,” Amos suggested.

  “How about my praline caramel cake?”

  “Sounds wonderful,” Amos said.

  “Need some fresh pecans to make that cake? We’ve got lots in the freezer. Pralines always have pecans, right?” Rick asked as they made their way down the steps and headed toward their individual vehicles.

  “Would love a quart.” Jennie Sue nodded. “Just put them in with my vegetable order and add them to my bill.”

  “Sure thing,” Rick said. “Good night, y’all. It’s been a great day.”

  There was definitely something to be said for small towns, the folks who lived there, and their traditions.

  Chapter Six

  With a bucket of hot soapy water in one hand and a tote of cleaning supplies in the other, Jennie Sue started at the back of Nadine’s house. She’d barely gotten one room done when Nadine yelled that she was going down to the church to help with a funeral brunch. She’d be home at noon. Jennie Sue took time to get a bottle of water and her MP3 player from her purse. She chose a playlist of country music and went to work on the second bedroom.

  Percy would have fussed for hours if he’d seen the dust on the ceiling fans and the half dozen dead flies between the window and the screen. Just as she thought about one of his last tantrums, Miranda Lambert started singing “Mama’s Broken Heart.”

  Every word sounded just like Jennie Sue’s situation. The lyrics talked about powdering her nose, lining her lips, and keeping them closed, but the line that really hit home was when Miranda sang that she should start acting like a lady. She played the song five times as she worked and then listened to “Gunpowder & Lead,” and anger boiled up inside her. If Percy had hit her, her daddy would have done just what the song said about loading a shotgun. But her mother would have been a different matter. A little infidelity—that was just a man, right? Going on the run from the IRS—that was only protecting his sorry hide, right? Verbal abuse if one of the cans of green beans had been shifted over to the side where the corn was kept—well, Jennie Sue promised to love, honor, and obey in her vows, right? And he did keep her in pretty jewelry, a nice apartment, and a car, right?

  She forced herself to focus on the work and forget about the past, but it wasn’t easy. Her playlist stopped when she finished up in the two bedrooms and hung the sheets on the line. She took the earbuds out and put the MP3 player back in her purse. Before long she was humming an old Travis Tritt tune, “Here’s a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares),” and giggling. She really hoped that someday Percy found himself backed up in a corner with a woman who was messy, who hated to clean, and who didn’t give a damn what he wanted or thought. She hoped that he had a quarter to call someone. It just better not be her, because she didn’t care anymore. Today she had a job and new friends.

  “Hey, are you gettin’ hungry?” Nadine yelled as she pushed into the house. “It’s hotter’n Lucifer’s little spiked tail out there. Let’s have a beer and take a break; then we’ll drag out leftovers for lunch. Wait till I tell you what all I learned at the brunch today.”

  “Gossip at a funeral brunch?” Jennie Sue asked.

  “Honey, you can find it anywhere.” Nadine twisted the lids off two longneck bottles of beer, handed Jennie Sue one, then collapsed on the sofa, propping her feet up on the coffee table. “Sit down. You’re workin’ to
o fast. You got to pace yourself to make the job last all day.”

  Jennie Sue sat on the other end of the sofa and sipped the icy-cold beer. “Who died?”

  “Laura Mae Watson’s sister. She ain’t lived here in years, but Laura Mae wanted her to be buried next to their parents. Since there wasn’t many at the funeral, and it was a nine o’clock service, we decided to do a brunch. Who in their right mind has a funeral that early in the morning? Ten o’clock is early enough for folks to have to get dressed and put on makeup, don’t you think?”

  Nadine didn’t wait for an answer. “There wasn’t but three floral sprays in the church, and those were from the immediate family. Won’t even be hardly enough to cover the grave. Whole thing, including the graveside service, was over in an hour; then we served the family for an hour, did cleanup, and visited a spell.”

  She drank a third of the beer, burped like a three-hundred-pound trucker, and grinned. “Pardon me, but that tasted so good that I’m not even sorry. I also heard that your mama and her Sweetwater Belles are going to some fancy spa out in Arizona for a week. And the last is that you and Rick Lawson had an affair in high school. You came home to pick up where y’all left off, and that could be the reason your husband left you.”

  Jennie Sue had just taken a gulp of beer, so when she snorted, it came out her nose and ran down her face. Thank goodness a box of tissues was sitting on the coffee table, or she’d have been cleaning beer stains from Nadine’s cream-colored sofa for hours.

  “That’s not true,” Jennie Sue gasped. “No wonder Mama is escaping to the spa for a week. Why would people say that? We might be friendly, but we didn’t have an affair, and that’s not why Percy left me.”