Small Town Rumors

by Carolyn Brown

  “Small towns. Sometimes they’re great, but other times not so much,” Jennie Sue sighed.

  “Got to love ’em no matter what, though, don’t you?” Lettie called after her as she left by the back door.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  As she was walking out the door, Rick’s truck came to a screeching stop not a foot behind her mother’s car, where she’d parallel-parked it against the curb. She was so happy that he’d come to give her a little bit of last-minute moral support that she didn’t care if he buckled the rear end of the Caddy. But it wasn’t Rick who crawled out of the driver’s seat—it was Cricket.

  Disappointment filled her heart but was soon replaced by worry. “Is something wrong? Why are you driving? Is Rick hurt?” The questions tumbled out of her mouth faster than her pulse.

  “I didn’t figure on it hurting to pump the brakes and almost smashed into your car. Nothing is wrong. I’m driving because Rick is a stubborn-headed jackass today. He stormed off to the creek when I told him that we should at least check on you this morning. So I got in the truck myself, and here I am. Are you on the way to the big meeting?” Cricket asked.

  Relief, pure and simple, even if Rick was a jackass, swept over her. He could get over his pissy mood, but being hurt or even dead was a different thing altogether. “Yep. You want to go with me?”

  “I’m not dressed for that. Besides, I’d be in the way, and you don’t really want me there, do you?” She paused at the last part.

  “Yes, you are. No, you won’t be, and yes, I do.” Jennie Sue opened the passenger door to the Cadillac for her. “When the gossip starts the minute I walk out of the company, I’ll need a witness to repeat exactly what I decided. Weren’t you the one who snapped a dozen pictures of me getting off the bus on the day I came back to Bloom?”

  “Twenty-two, but I deleted the ones that were blurry,” Cricket answered as she handed her crutches to Jennie Sue and got into the car. “You are welcome.”

  “See, you were my friend before you even knew you were.” Jennie Sue slammed the door shut. Cricket gave her confidence and strength to stand up to the board of directors and do things her way.

  “I wasn’t really your friend when I deleted the pictures,” Cricket said as soon as Jennie Sue was in the driver’s seat and had turned on the AC. “I just didn’t want anyone to think I was a bad photographer.”

  “You are full of crap, Cricket Lawson.”

  “No, I’m not, but my brother sure is this mornin’. You might change your mind about likin’ him when he gets in moods like this,” she said.

  “Is that very often?” Jennie Sue asked. Not even Rick being in a bad mood could make her not like him, but it might make her argue with him.

  “Not so much lately, but when he first got home, they came on a daily basis. I thought he was making big progress until this morning,” she answered.

  The car didn’t even have time to cool down when Jennie Sue pulled over to the “Reserved for D. Baker” spot in the parking lot. She retrieved Cricket’s crutches from the back seat and handed them to her when she hopped out of the car on one foot.

  “You’re getting pretty good at that,” Jennie Sue said.

  “Can’t wait to get my boot on and throw these things away. They’re death on the underarms.” Cricket got them into position. “I hope they’ve got an elevator.”

  “I thought I’d get behind you and push you up the stairs.” Jennie Sue’s voice went high and squeaky with nerves.

  “Don’t know about you, but I’ve got the jitters about going with you into the Baker castle, so don’t joke around about it.”

  Jennie Sue swung the door open for her. “Elevator is straight ahead, and it opens right into the conference room. And between us sisters, I’m terrified, but I don’t intend to let anyone know it.”

  “I’m not your sister,” Cricket protested.

  “But I’m the one who took you to the hospital, remember?” Jennie Sue pushed the button for the elevator and tapped her fingers on the wall while they waited.

  “You really are nervous, aren’t you?” Cricket asked as they waited for the elevator door to open.

  “I vowed when Percy left that I’d never let anyone make me tense like that again. This isn’t the same, but . . .” She stepped into the elevator and pushed the second-floor button when Cricket was inside.

  “He must’ve been a devil to live with,” Cricket said.

  “He was fine when everything was perfect, but when it wasn’t, he was a basket case. His therapist said he had the worst case of control issues she’d ever seen. I don’t ever have to be perfect again.”

  Cricket’s eyes started at her sandals and traveled up to her hair. “I can see that.”

  “Disappointed in the way I’m dressed?” Jennie Sue asked.

  “Nope. I’m glad you are being yourself,” Cricket answered.

  The doors opened before Cricket could answer, and at least twenty sets of eyes tracked them. The room went so quiet and still that Jennie Sue wondered if they’d all been struck dead and simply hadn’t fallen down yet.

  “Hello, everyone. This is my friend Cricket Lawson. I asked her to accompany me today,” Jennie Sue said.

  “Honey, we don’t allow extra people in these meetings,” Lawrence O’Reilly, the vice president, said. “Your friend can wait in my office just down the hall.”

  “Why?” Jennie Sue asked.

  “Because we will be discussing things of a sensitive nature.” He looked over the top of his glasses at her as if she were a child.

  “Then why are the caterers allowed to stay in here?” Jennie Sue asked. “I do believe this is my company now. Here, Cricket, you sit right here.” She pulled out the seat at the head of the table and motioned for Cricket to sit down. “Where is Justin?”

  The lawyer came in from a side door. “I’m right here. Needed to print a new copy of one of the papers. Shall we all sit down and begin?”

  “You are sitting in my chair.” Lawrence glared at Cricket.

  “You won’t be stayin’, so it doesn’t matter,” Jennie Sue said and waited until Justin was seated just to Cricket’s left before she took a place across the table from him. He was the one she wanted to talk to, not the other people.

  “Okay, Jennie Sue, you need to start signing papers at the orange tabs. These are simply saying that you are receiving the company, your parents’ checking account, the stock portfolio, and their savings. All in all, it’s merely transference of everything they owned into your name, as stated in the will.”

  She spent the next fifteen minutes signing her name and then stood up. “I want to thank all of you for your loyal service to this company. Now you can all leave, because I’m calling an executive meeting with Justin. You can wait in your offices until he calls you to return. At that time he will tell you my decisions.”

  “But—” Lawrence started.

  “No buts,” Jennie Sue said before he could go on. “I’ve made up my mind, and I won’t be long. The caterers can stay in the office with you until I finish, and then they can come back and y’all can have finger foods while Justin explains my plan.”

  Lawrence’s lips set in a tight line in his big, round face as he stormed out of the conference room. “I told all of you that she was crazy.”

  “That might not have been a wise move,” Justin said. “He’s already putting out feelers for another position, because he says your lack of big business sense is going to be the downfall of this company.”

  “I’m sure it would be. So get your notebook out and start writing. Number one. I expect that most of the business will be concluded in six weeks, tops, other than the sale of the company. There will be audits and all kinds of things I don’t even know about that will take a while.”

  “Whoa!” He threw up both hands defensively. “Selling the company? This quick? That’s a really rash decision, Jennifer.”

  “Didn’t I just sign papers saying all of this belongs to me?” she asked.
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  “Yes, but you need some time to grieve and to think about what you are about to do,” he answered.

  She folded her arms over her chest. “I can always get another lawyer if you don’t want to take care of my business.”

  He took out a yellow legal pad and poised a pen above it. “Go on.”

  “My house is for sale. I’m asking Mabel and Frank to stay on for one month. That’s how long I’m giving myself to clear out what I want. Then your job is to hire an auction company to take out the rest of the stuff or to offer the property as is. I really don’t care how that part is taken care of.”

  “I’ve heard that millennials are sizing down from what their parents and grandparents thought were heirlooms.” He talked as he wrote notes.

  “I’m of the same opinion. It’s all just stuff. I will be living a simpler life. The next item is that I want to give Frank and Mabel a really good severance package that includes insurance and a paycheck to equal four times what they make in a month, plus Frank can have Daddy’s new truck,” she said. “Set up a fund for that, however you do it.”

  Justin nodded. “Next?”

  “Daddy told me two years ago that Texas Red had approached him more than once with an offer to buy the company. Mama wouldn’t have any part of it, and since she basically held the purse strings, he couldn’t do it. But he was ready to retire. So contact them and sell them the company at a fair price. If they make noises like they want it for a fraction of what it’s worth, then put it on the market.”

  “Okay, but please, please, wait at least six months before you do this.” The color faded from Justin’s face, and he looked like he might faint right there in the conference room.

  “I have thought about it, and this is what I want. You can advise me through the process, and when it’s done, I will want your input along with my CPA’s to help me decide where and how to invest the money. Next, I want whoever buys the company to either retain the employees that are here or else give them at least six months’ salary and benefits to last until they can find something else—that includes Lawrence, even though he’s a son of a bitch.”

  Justin laughed loudly. “That he is, but he’s a smart businessman. What next?”

  “Are the savings accounts and checking accounts available to me at this time?” she asked.

  “Yes, they are,” Justin said.

  “Okay, that’s enough for me to buy the bookstore.”

  “Why would you do that?” he gasped.

  “I like to work there,” she answered. “Oh, and I want you to hire a carpenter to go over to Lettie’s place and measure that little lending-library box beside her mailbox. Then I want an ad put in the Bloom Weekly News saying that all a person has to do to get one like that in the color of their choice is to come into my bookstore and fill out a form. As I get the completed papers, the carpenter can build and install them.”

  “Again, why?”

  “Because that’s a dream of Rick’s, and he is my friend,” Jennie Sue answered.

  “What else?” Justin asked.

  “That’s enough for today. If I think of anything else—I need your card. I don’t have you on speed dial like Daddy did. His office isn’t to be touched by anyone. I’ll be cleaning that out before I do anything else.” Her confidence was building with every single argument. “I don’t want anyone to go through his computer or his other things, understood?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Justin said. “Is that all?”

  “For today. I’m sure I’ll think of smaller things along the way. When I do, I’ll call, or when you have news about the sales, then let me know. No doubt about it, we’ll be in close touch. You can call them in here and relay what I’m doing now. Cricket and I won’t be stayin’. We’re having milkshakes at the Main Street Café. You will let me know about Texas Red as soon as you get in touch with them, right?”

  “I’ll talk to them tomorrow morning. Until the papers are all signed, it will be business as usual, right?” Justin said.

  “That’s right, with Lawrence running things. He’s a good vice president, and I’m sure he’ll manage things fine,” she said.

  Cricket got to her feet and picked up her crutches. Jennie Sue followed her to the elevator and pushed the “Down” button. The doors opened immediately, and Jennie Sue let Cricket go inside before her.

  “I can’t believe you just did that,” Cricket said.

  Jennie Sue leaned against the elevator wall and sucked in big lungfuls of breath. “I couldn’t have gotten through it without you, Cricket. Every time Justin argued, I just thought, What would Cricket do?”

  “Hey, don’t fool yourself. I would’ve folded if he’d glared at me like he did you.” Cricket shivered.

  The doors opened, and they stepped out of the elevator and headed toward the door. “I’m glad it’s done,” Jennie Sue said.

  “Do you realize what you are giving up? You could be the head of this company. You could live in that house and never have to worry about pickin’ beans again. And what if the new company brings in a whole new crew? Bloom depends on the jobs that this place offers.”

  Jennie Sue helped Cricket into the car and then got into the driver’s seat. “Pickin’ beans is exactly why I made those decisions. I want a simple life. And I hope that the new company will recognize good help when they see it and keep most of them on. Now, do you want to go back to the café when the doctor releases you, or will you come to work for me at the bookstore?”

  “You are offering me a job?” Cricket’s voice shot up several octaves.

  “I was going to ask Amos about a story hour two days a week through the summer for the little kids. But now that I will own the store, I realize I’ll need help.” Jennie Sue made plans as she drove toward the café.

  “I can’t believe you’d be willin’ to work with me every day.”

  “Why?” Jennie Sue snagged a parking place in front of the café. “We’re both up-front and honest, and that makes for good business partners.”

  “You’ll own it. I’ll be an employee, not a partner,” Cricket said.

  “I’ll make you a full partner if you agree to help me.”

  “I’ll think on it until I get a doctor’s release and you actually buy the store,” Cricket said.

  Jennie Sue got out and held Cricket’s crutches until she hopped up on the curb and got them situated. When they entered the café, the silence that greeted them was almost as deafening as the company conference room’s had been an hour before.

  Then Amos waved from the back of the place and headed their way. Cricket chose the booth closest to the door as chatter started up again and set her crutches against the wall. Jennie Sue took the other side from her, and Amos pulled up a chair to the end.

  “So how did it go?”

  “My lawyer will be calling you in the next day or so to ask about buying the bookstore,” she said. “I hope you were serious.”

  “Well, hot damn!” Amos yelled. “Iris is smilin’ down from heaven. I know she is. I’ll make you a real good deal.” His face went from smiling to serious. “You’re not doin’ this and then hirin’ someone to run it, are you?”

  “No, sir. I intend to be there most of the time, but I have asked Cricket to work with me and buy into the store as my partner. One or both of us will be there all the time. I might leave a little early every now and then during the summer to pick a few beans.” She winked.

  “Then tell that lawyer I’m ready to deal.” He pushed up out of the chair and headed back to the table of elderly men.

  Jennie Sue leaned over and whispered, “That’s one bit of news that Amos gets to spread before the caterers do.”

  “Pinch me. I think I’m in a dream right now,” Cricket said.

  Jennie Sue reached across the table and pinched her on the arm.

  “Ouch. That was mean,” Cricket yelped.

  “Proves you aren’t dreamin’.” Jennie Sue’s heart felt lighter than it had in months.

  Elaine came
over, took their order, and was on her way to the kitchen when Rick stormed inside. It didn’t take a genius to know that his tomato-red face wasn’t due to sunburn. There went the happy mood that Jennie Sue had been enjoying.

  “What in the hell do you mean, takin’ the truck? You aren’t supposed to be driving,” he hissed when he stopped by their booth.

  “I told you I was coming to town, and you were too stubborn to bring me, so I drove. I did fine until I braked and nearly rear-ended Jennie Sue’s Caddy,” she said. “Sit down and cool off. How’d you get to town, anyway?”

  Lettie arrived right behind him, looked around, and slid into the booth beside Cricket. “I drove out there and gave him a ride. I needed some strawberries. What are y’all havin’? I could use an order of sweet-potato fries. What do you want, Rick?”

  “Nothing. I’m going home. I’ve got work to do,” he growled.

  Jennie Sue caught his eye, but he looked away. If he wanted to play that way, then she’d let him—but not for long. If he didn’t come around by the next day, it would be time to pay the fiddler, as Mabel used to say.

  “I’ve been to the meeting. Aren’t you even going to ask me about it?” she said.

  “I don’t give a damn about the meeting. Come on, Cricket.” He turned around and headed outside.

  “I’ve ordered a milkshake, and I’m not leaving until I finish it,” she said.

  “Then you can walk.” He left without another word to any of them.

  “I’ll bring her home,” Jennie Sue yelled. “Want us to bring you a burger for lunch?”

  He didn’t even glance their way as he passed the diner window, but a few minutes later, his truck rumbled down Main Street.

  “Jackass. I thought he was makin’ progress, but he’s acting just like he did when he first came home,” Cricket said.

  “He is, honey. He just don’t know how to handle it.” Lettie patted her on the hand. “Give him some space.”