Small Town Rumors

by Carolyn Brown

  “Well, thank you, Elaine, for being such a good cook.” Rick loaded up his plate a second time. “Maybe we’d better put off swimming since we’re supposed to wait half an hour after eating.”

  “Drink a beer,” Jennie Sue said.

  “What?” Cricket raised an eyebrow.

  “Proven fact. Eat. Drink at least part of a beer and you won’t drown. The bubbles in your stomach will keep you afloat,” Jennie Sue answered. “It also works when you’re hiding from people, right? And I’ve been wonderin’, is Cricket your real name?”

  “It’s your name, so you can tell her the story,” Rick said.

  Cricket rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. “The name on my birth certificate is Edwina Lucinda Velma Lawson. Don’t even crack a smile, because it could’ve been worse. I was named for two grandmothers and Daddy’s favorite aunt. But I could’ve been Beulah Oma Lucille Lawson.”

  “How did you get Cricket out of that?” Jennie Sue asked.

  “When Mama brought me home from the hospital, she told Rick to be gentle with me because I wasn’t any bigger than a cricket, and it stuck. Rick gave me the nickname, and thank goodness, no one even remembers all those other names,” she answered.

  “And I thought Jennifer Susanne was a mouthful.” Jennie Sue finished off the last cookie on her plate. “Let’s pop the tops of three beers and go swimming. I need something to settle my mind. It’s buzzin’ around in circles. I never knew that people could ask so many questions. Thank goodness Justin is takin’ the business burden off me or I’d be completely overwhelmed.”

  Rick pushed his chair back. “Think we should clean up this table first?”

  “We can do that afterward. All we have to do is put away what’s left of the perishable stuff for tomorrow’s lunch, then throw a tablecloth over the rest,” Jennie Sue said. “Come on. I’ll show y’all the way to the bathhouse where we can all change.”

  “Are we doing something wrong? This feels kind of hypocritical. We were talkin’ about the people that came tonight acting like this was a party,” Cricket pointed out.

  “No, we are not,” Jennie Sue declared. “I’m sure the enormity of what lies before me is going to overwhelm me in a couple of days, but I have to focus on one thing at a time to get through this. I want a swim and a beer to unwind. To work the tangles out of my brain and my body. But I have been thinking about doing something for underprivileged folks with part of the inheritance I’ll have.”

  “That doesn’t surprise me a bit,” Cricket said.

  Rick couldn’t have denied Jennie Sue anything, up to and including starting a walk across the Sahara with only half a canteen of water. “Then let’s go swimming. We’ll get through these next two days, and then maybe things will get back to normal.”

  “I hope so.” Jennie Sue slid the doors open out onto the big porch/patio and laced her fingers in Rick’s. “Please don’t think I’m callous or uncaring for doing something frivolous like going swimming. I just have to deal with this my way.”

  “Everyone deals with grief in their own way.” He squeezed her hand.

  He let go of Jennie Sue’s hand and darted into the men’s side of the bathhouse. He found the closet with a variety of bathing suits and chose a dark-green one. Stripping out of his clothing, he folded each piece neatly and laid it all on a shelf. At least the dark-green suit covered up part of the scar on his leg.

  He couldn’t make out the words, but he could hear the conversation on the other side of the wall. Cricket would be uncomfortable in a bikini, so he hoped there was something a little more modest over there for his sister. But at the same time, he sure wouldn’t mind if Jennie Sue came out wearing a two-piece—the skimpier the better.

  He inhaled deeply and let it out slowly, avoided the long mirror on the back of the door, and went outside. Jennie Sue and Cricket appeared in the moonlight almost as quickly, wearing identical black one-piece bathing suits. His pulse raced—his heart threw in an extra beat. No bikini in the world could make Jennie Sue look a bit sexier than that simple suit did.

  “Oh, my goodness!” Jennie Sue stopped in her tracks when she saw him.

  There it was. The repulsion that he’d been expecting, but he didn’t think she’d be so blatant about it. He cringed inside, but he squared his shoulders like a good Army Ranger and got ready for what was coming.

  She rushed to his side and touched the biggest scar on his side and then ran her hand down his rib cage to each and every one of them. “Oh, Rick, ‘thank you for your service’ doesn’t begin to cover this. Or this one on your leg, either.” His whole body vibrated when she bent forward and touched his leg. “You should wear these proudly, not cover them up. They say that you are a hero.”

  “That’s what I’ve told him ever since he came home.” Cricket dived off the side of the pool into the water. “Let’s swim now and not think about scars or sad things.”

  Rick scooped Jennie Sue up in his arms and whispered, “Thank you,” just before he fell backward into the deep end of the pool with her in his arms.

  When they surfaced, she pushed her hair out of her eyes and splashed water in his face. “That was mean. I didn’t even have time to get my hair up in a ponytail.”

  “I’d apologize, but I’m not sorry. You’re beautiful with your hair in your eyes.”

  He swam to the other end, where he propped his elbows on the side and waited for her. Cricket did laps in beautiful form while Jennie Sue made her way to him, swimming underwater the whole way and stopping to kiss the scar on his leg before she surfaced.

  “I wasn’t shootin’ you a line of shit about your scars,” she said.

  “I wasn’t shootin’ you a line when I said you were beautiful with messy hair and smeary eye makeup, either,” he told her.

  “That’s hard to believe,” she whispered.

  “Welcome to the real world, darlin’, where we speak the truth and don’t put much stock in what other people think.” He brushed a strand of hair back behind her ear. “At least, some of us are of that mind. There are those that still thrive on small-town rumors.”

  “You got that right.” Even though her heart was still numb from the shock and the pain, everything made sense.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Rick took a long, hot shower and crawled into bed that night, but he couldn’t sleep. He laced his hands behind his head and, like other folks in town, wondered exactly what Jennie Sue would do about the oil company and all the property. She’d shown that she was strong by taking her own way and making her own decisions, but this had to be overwhelming.

  Tomorrow she’d be back in her apartment and he’d be in his house. In his world, things would be back to normal—hers would never be the same. He shut his eyes and replayed every moment he’d had with her.

  When a soft knock landed on his door, he sat straight up and was slinging his legs over the side of the bed when Jennie Sue eased it open and peeked inside. “Rick, are you awake?”

  “I’m right here,” he whispered. “What can I do?”

  “Hold me?” she said.

  He stood up and met her halfway across the room with open arms. She walked into them and laid her head on his bare chest. He cupped the back of her head with one hand and slipped the other around her waist. “The nights are always tougher than the days.”

  “I did it pretty much alone when I lost the baby, but this is different,” she whispered. “That time I buried myself in schoolwork. Now, there’s so many decisions . . .” Her voice trailed off.

  He took a step back, tucked both her hands in his, and led her to the bed. She sat down on the edge and then eased back on the pillow where his head had been. The thought of getting into bed with her was more than a little intimidating.

  “Maybe we should go down to the living room,” he suggested.

  She scooted over and rolled to her left side. “This is fine. I just want to go back to that safe place that I remember so I can sleep.”

  He settled in behind her a
nd gathered her tightly to his chest.

  “Like this?” he asked.

  It’s natural to be aroused with a woman snuggled up against me, he thought. But this isn’t the time or the place. She’s too vulnerable.

  “Just like this.” She wiggled in closer to him.

  Good Lord, let her go to sleep and not realize the effect she’s having on me, he prayed for the first time in ages.

  Evidently, God heard him, because a soft purrlike snore said that she was out. It took a long time for him to reach the same state.

  Jennie Sue reached across the bed to touch Rick when she awoke the next morning, but all she got was a handful of air. She sat up with a start and saw him sitting over beside the window with a book in his hands. He was reading by the light coming in through the window on that rainy morning.

  “Good mornin’,” she yawned.

  He laid the book aside. “Did you sleep well?”

  “I did, and thank you again. I thought I was okay after we got out of the pool, but when I got into bed, I remembered the hankie that Daddy gave me just before he left. I lost it, and it brought on more tears.”

  He moved to sit beside her on the bed. “That’s the way grief works. One minute you think you’ve got it all under control, and then the simplest thing will set you off, and you’re a mess again. A month after he passed away, I found Daddy’s little notebook where he kept all the phone numbers of places he liked to buy his seed, and just looking at his handwriting tore me up. I bawled like a baby.”

  “Then I’m not completely insane?”

  “No, darlin’, you are not.” His deep drawl soothed her.

  She turned so that she could wrap her arms around Rick’s neck. “You are the best thing that ever happened to me.”

  He tipped up her chin, and before their lips ever even touched, she felt as if she was drowning in his dark-green eyes. The kiss started out as a sweet brushing of lips, then it deepened into a fiery-hot passion.

  Jennie Sue pulled away when she heard the bathroom door at the end of the hallway close. She stood up and tugged at the bottom of her nightshirt. “I’d better go on back to my bedroom.”

  “Jennie Sue, it may be the wrong time to ask, but what are we going to do about this thing between us?”

  She bent down and kissed him. “I’m going to hope that it’s more than a passing fancy for you.”

  Cricket was waiting in the dining room when Jennie Sue arrived with Rick right behind her. She barely glanced up as she kept putting cookies in plastic bags. “I can’t stand the idea of wasting a single bit of this food.”

  “Have you had breakfast? I’ll be glad to make us bacon and eggs or whatever y’all want,” Jennie Sue asked.

  “I would love pancakes,” Rick said.

  “Something neither of us can make unless we use that mix that you just put water in.” Cricket kept right on working.

  “Pancakes it is. Bacon, sausage, or both?”

  “Bacon,” they said at the same time.

  “What can I do to help?” Rick asked.

  “Can you fry bacon?” She nudged him with her shoulder.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Then you can do that while I make the pancakes.” She sniffed the air. “Do I smell coffee?”

  “I made a pot. Hope that’s okay,” Cricket answered.

  “It’s better than okay. It’s great. We’ll have a cup while we are getting breakfast ready. And while we eat, I want you both to be my sounding board. While I was getting dressed this morning and packing a suitcase of things I want to take to my apartment, I came up with some things I need to bounce off you,” she said.

  “Ideas about what? You really need to take time to think about everything and not rush, Jennie Sue,” Rick said.

  “Mabel told me to listen to my heart, so that’s what I’m doin’,” she replied.

  He followed her into the kitchen and asked, “What if this chemistry we have is just a passing fancy for you? You now own a huge company, not to mention this house and property. What if I’m only—”

  She turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Rick, what we have has nothing to do with money. It’s something deeper than that, something in our hearts. To me, it’s not a passing fancy. It’s like the seed that you plant in the spring. With some tender care, it could grow into something fruitful.”

  “I think we can work with that.” He kissed her on the forehead. “Now, where’s a good cast-iron skillet so I can do my part about gettin’ breakfast ready?”

  “Under that cabinet.” She pointed and then set the electric griddle in the middle of the table.

  When he’d fried a pound of bacon and they were all seated, she poured the batter out in six perfect circles. A picture of Percy throwing away the first pancakes she’d made after they were married because they weren’t perfectly round flashed through her mind. She quickly hit the mental “Delete” button, determined that she was never going to think about him again.

  “Okay, I can already see that those are the lightest pancakes I’ve ever seen. What’s the secret?” Cricket asked.

  “I only give out my recipe to people who don’t hate me,” she answered.

  “Okay, okay, I don’t hate you anymore.” Cricket grinned.

  “So are you only my friend because I make good pancakes, because you feel sorry for me, or because I like your brother?” She flipped two pancakes onto Cricket’s plate.

  “All of the above. When did you start liking Rick?” Cricket asked. “I thought y’all were just friends.”

  “It’s been a slow process. And the secret to good pancakes is beating the egg whites until they are almost like meringue and then folding them in gently. Gives them little air pockets that make the pancakes very light. I’ll text you the link to the recipe. I found it on Pinterest.” Jennie Sue put two on Rick’s plate.

  “Oh, my!” Cricket moaned when she took the first bite. “These are fabulous.”

  Jennie Sue slathered her pancakes with butter and poured syrup over them. Then she flipped the ones on the griddle before she took the first bite.

  “I know it’s quick, but I want some things settled and off my mind. So I’m askin’ Justin to call a meeting for the board of directors and the vice president of the oil company on Monday morning. I know there’s a lot of worry about jobs and what’s going to happen, and the sooner I can put employees’ minds at rest, the better. I am going to sell the company to the highest bidder. Daddy told me a while back that two major oil companies had approached him to buy it, so that shouldn’t be a problem. He was ready to retire, himself.”

  “You sure you’re ready to do that? You have a business degree. You could learn to run it yourself,” Cricket said.

  “I thought about it last night before I went to sleep. I don’t want a job that requires that much commitment, so I’m selling it. I feel right about my decision.”

  “You’ll be a multimillionaire,” Rick muttered.

  “Yes, I will, and the money can sit in the bank until I decide what I want to do with it. And this house is going on the market next week. I do not want to live here,” she said.

  “Why? It’s a beautiful home, and you have a staff here to do all the work,” Cricket said. “Granted, it’s too big and intimidating for me, but you grew up here. It’s your childhood home. Don’t do something you will regret.”

  “It’s time for Mabel and Frank to retire. They should’ve done it years ago. I’m going to ask Justin to set up a severance package that will keep them comfortable and doing anything they want the rest of their lives,” she said. “And I’ll give the other people who work here a nice bonus with their last paycheck.”

  “You’ve got until tomorrow to think about this before you go to that meeting.” Rick held out his plate for more pancakes. “You could change your mind.”

  “Maybe, but I don’t think so.” Jennie Sue slid the other pancakes off the griddle onto a plate. “When we get finished here, can we go out to the farm? We
could take a picnic from the leftovers from last night to the creek.”

  “If that’s what you want,” Rick said.

  “Not me,” Cricket said. “I’m not crutchin’ it out that far. Drop me at Lettie’s house. Do you mind if I fix up a basket of leftovers to take to her place?”

  “Take whatever you like. Why didn’t they come around last night?” Jennie Sue asked.

  “They were afraid that the Belles might drown them in the pool. It wasn’t just your mama that couldn’t get along with those two. It was the whole Belle group. When your great-granny started the club, she wouldn’t let their mama join it. That could be why Flora did what she did,” Cricket explained.

  “What a tangled mess.” Jennie Sue picked up a piece of bacon and bit off the end. “Perfect. I love it like this. Floppy bacon never did appeal to me, but Daddy loved it.”

  “So did my dad, but Mama liked crispy,” Rick said as he put another two pancakes on his plate. “We could wrap up any leftovers of these with bacon in the middle and take it to the creek for our picnic. I bet they’re just as good cold as they are hot.”

  “Anything would taste good if we eat it by the creek.” Just making that much of a decision took a burden off her chest. And the fact that Cricket hadn’t gone up in flames when she said that she liked Rick was an added bonus.

  Cricket rapped on Lettie’s kitchen door and then opened it a crack. “Hello. Anyone home?”

  “In the living room. Come on in here and tell us about the party last night. We were hoping you might sneak away and come by or at least call,” Lettie said. “Get yourself a glass of sweet tea on the way, and bring the pitcher to refill ours.”

  Cricket set the brown paper bag holding several baggies full of goodies on the cabinet and yelled, “Can’t carry this much. Y’all come and help me.”

  “We forgot that your foot is messed up.” Nadine’s voice preceded her into the kitchen. “And what is this?”