Small Town Rumors

by Carolyn Brown

“I love every one of you,” Jennie Sue said.

  “And we love you, girl.” Amos hurried off to the office and returned with a plate and coffee. “I heard that you’re buyin’ the property behind the Lawson farm. I’m glad you are stayin’ close to home.”

  Home.

  Mabel often said that home was where the heart was. If that was the case, Jennie Sue really was staying close to home, because her heart was right there in Bloom.

  “And guess what else?” Amos went on as he piled his plate full. “I heard that Texas Red is buying Baker Oil and your house, too, for the new CEO they’re bringin’ in. Is that rumor or truth?”

  “Truth.” Jennie Sue winked at Lettie.

  “Man, that is some fast business,” Amos said.

  Jennie Sue finished her food and put the trash in the can. She imagined her mother shaking her finger at her all the way from heaven, scolding her for all the calories and fat grams.

  “It’s not really so fast,” Nadine said. “I’m sure it will take a few months to get all the paperwork in order. This isn’t like selling a few bushels of beans at the farmers’ market.”

  “Or a failing bookstore?” Amos glanced up at Jennie Sue.

  “It’ll be a thriving one before long. Please tell me that you didn’t come in here to say you’d changed your mind.” Jennie Sue sure didn’t want to tell Cricket that she had to take back the offer of partnership.

  “No way.” He picked up another biscuit. “I drove past and saw that you’d put some nice stuff in the windows. Iris used to do that. And then I saw Nadine and Lettie out there on the sidewalk with what looked like food. I never miss an opportunity to partake of their cookin’. Reminds me of Iris’s.”

  Jennie Sue wondered if Rick would ever say that about her. Would the time come when they were both old and gray and he’d still get a look of love in his eyes? Or was this just a passing fancy for both of them?

  A sudden pang of jealousy shot through her at the idea of him having a wife and children that she’d have to see every day when she drove home from work. Maybe this big notion of buying land joining his property wasn’t such a good idea after all.

  Rick was glad that Cricket had finally gotten a walking boot, but he was even happier to hear that she could go back to work part-time if her job did not require her to stand. Unlike him, she’d never liked staying at home all day. She needed to be around people and was cranky when she was cooped up even over a weekend.

  “I like this new Rick,” Cricket said while they waited for their food order. “He reminds me a lot of the Rick I knew before the military got ahold of him.”

  “Oh, yeah?” He picked up the sack of food and carried it out to the truck. “Well, this new Rick feels more like he did then.”

  “Think we could shoot the other one if he shows his sorry face again?”

  “Probably not. You could wind up killin’ the wrong one. You’ve never been very good with guns. Seriously, sis, I’m happy right now. It proves that I don’t have to fear happiness and that even with my scars, I’m not repulsive. For that I will always appreciate Jennie Sue.”

  Cricket reached over and patted him on the arm. “You are not repulsive, but I had no idea that you’d had that on your mind. Can you live with her having more money than God?”

  “God doesn’t have money. Why would He need dollars and dimes when He has streets of gold?” Rick asked. “I might always struggle with that. I can’t think of a better world than a wife who owns a bookstore, and the rest I just won’t think about.”

  “Wife? So things have gotten that serious?” Cricket asked with wide eyes.

  “It could be going in that direction,” he answered.

  “Promise me one thing,” she said.

  “What’s that?”

  “You won’t name your first child after me.”

  “If that ever did happen, it’s a long way down the road. I wouldn’t worry about it.” He drove into Bloom and parked in front of the bookstore.

  “Come and see what I got,” Cricket called out when the little bell at the top of the door announced their arrival.

  Jennie Sue appeared from the end of the children’s books. “Well, would you look at that? A walkin’ boot that you can kick your brother with if he gets in another pissy mood.”

  “Come on now. Don’t give the man grief that brought the food.”

  She looked over Cricket’s shoulder into Rick’s eyes. The world shifted in that moment back into the rightness it had contained before he got hurt.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Jennie Sue and her parents had seldom gone to church when she was growing up. Dill called them CEO Christians—Christmas and Easter Only. That was when her mother dressed her up in fancy clothes and took her to Sweetwater, where the Belles all met at the same big church for the holidays. Afterward, someone would host a fancy dinner—which meant sitting up straight and not spilling anything on her dress.

  She had a whole different spirit that Sunday morning, sitting on the pew with Lettie, Nadine, Amos, and Rick lined up on her right and Cricket on her left. She wore a sundress that she’d found at the house when she and Cricket had cleaned out her closet.

  “Good morning,” the preacher said. “Welcome to everyone. Let’s all open our hymnals to page 204 and sing, ‘I Know Who Holds Tomorrow.’” The lyrics spoke to Jennie Sue’s heart so much that tears formed in her eyes. She fished in her purse for a tissue and dabbed her eyes. It had been a tough two weeks since the plane crash. The tombstones would be delivered the next day.

  Rick’s arm circled around her shoulders and pulled her close as he sang in a rich baritone voice that every step was getting brighter and every cloud was silver lined. It had been a bittersweet time for Jennie Sue—losing her parents had been devastating, but gaining all the new relationships had been sweet. She truly knew what it was to see the silver lining in a dark cloud. She slipped her hand in his and whispered, “I’m glad that you are holding my hand.”

  She didn’t care that the whole congregation and even God saw him kiss her on the cheek. If they knew what went on out at the farm every night, they’d be grateful that he didn’t kiss her on the lips.

  When the song ended, the preacher took the lectern. “Be glad that you can sing that song with conviction and that you know who holds your hand in times of trouble.”

  Jennie Sue squeezed Rick’s hand. “Yes, sir,” she whispered.

  “Shh,” Cricket scolded, and then winked at Jennie Sue.

  The preacher went on to read scripture and then deliver a sermon. Jennie Sue caught an occasional word, but nothing that she’d be able to discuss later, because she was too busy counting her blessings. Rick Lawson was at the top of the list.

  Amos was called on to deliver the benediction, and everyone said a hearty amen when he finished praying.

  “Dinner is at my place today, and we’ve invited the preacher.” Nadine stood up and wiggled her head to get the kinks out. “I’m sure it was a good sermon, but I kept dozing off. Didn’t sleep worth a dang last night.”

  Jennie Sue raised an eyebrow. “Dang?”

  “Can’t say damn in the church, especially on Sunday. God is pretty serious about his day,” Nadine whispered.

  “Rick and I won’t be at the dinner today. We’re going out to my five acres to see the land the tree cutters have cleared out. It’ll be a while before the construction crew can start the new house, but they assure me I’ll be in it by Christmas,” Jennie Sue told her.

  “Won’t that be wonderful? You can have your first Christmas in your own house,” Nadine sighed. “But we get you for Thanksgiving. No excuses.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Rick said. “We’ll be there, and I’ll even bring the pumpkin pies.”

  “Nadine is meddling,” Lettie whispered in Jennie Sue’s ear. “She thinks Cricket and the new preacher, Tom Davis, would make a good couple.”

  “Oh. My. Goodness,” Jennie Sue gasped. “I can’t see Cricket as a preacher’s wife.”

>   “Did I hear my name?” Cricket whipped around from the aisle line.

  “Yes, you did. I said that Nadine should call me when you are ready to come home this evening and I’ll drive in and get you,” Rick jumped in.

  “I could take you home,” the new preacher said when Cricket put her hand in his. “And if you need a ride to Nadine’s, I could give you a lift there, too.”

  “Well, thank you. That will save my sister a trip,” Cricket said.

  “Sister?” Jennie Sue asked when they’d gotten outside the church.

  “Hey, you said it first, not me, so now you have to live with it,” Cricket laughed. “Isn’t this new preacher just the dreamiest man ever?”

  “Nope, your brother is,” Jennie Sue said.

  “You’re wearin’ rose-colored glasses, and so is he. I’m going back inside to wait for the preacher,” Cricket said.

  “When you get home, I’ll expect details,” Jennie Sue said.

  “I’ll give you as many as you give me.” Cricket waved over her shoulder.

  “What happened back there?” Rick asked as he opened the truck door for Jennie Sue.

  “Nothing except that Cricket thinks the new preacher is sexy. I was thinking that the talk of the town tomorrow won’t be about us, but how unsuited Cricket and Tom are,” she answered. “Can you see your sister as a preacher’s girlfriend or wife eventually?”

  He shook his head from side to side. “What’d be even worse is that he’d be my brother-in-law and I’d have to learn how to talk without cussin’. But let’s talk about us instead of them.”

  “I like that subject much better. I’m so glad we’re taking a picnic to the creek. It’s the perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon,” she said.

  “I couldn’t agree more.” He nodded.

  Rick held Jennie Sue’s hand all the way to the creek. She carried an old quilt, and with his free hand, he toted a basket of food that also had a pencil and several sheets of paper in it. Today she wanted to get Rick’s opinion of the first draft for the house design. The contractor had said that, barring any really bad weather, it could be finished by Christmas. The one thing she was adamant about was that it have a big porch that wrapped around three sides.

  Rick set the basket off to one side, and together they spread the quilt out under the oak tree. Sun rays found their way through the leaves, and the creek bubbled along like it had nowhere to go and all day to get there.

  “Peace.” Jennie Sue eased down in the middle of the quilt.

  “Beauty.” Rick did the same and kissed her. “I didn’t hear a word the preacher said, because all I could think about was how lucky I was to have you beside me.”

  “It goes beyond lucky. We are so blessed to have found each other. I wish I’d have known you better earlier in our lives,” she said. “I feel like we’ve wasted a lot of good years.”

  He tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. “No, darlin’, we haven’t. Everything happens for a reason. We weren’t ready to be together when we were young. We had to grow up and learn who we were and what we want out of life.”

  “How’d you get to be so wise?” Jennie Sue asked.

  “It’s only on Sundays. On Mondays I lose most of the wisdom,” he answered.

  “Okay, wise man, do you think Tom and Cricket are going to hit it off?” She opened the basket and set out the food.

  “Nope. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to spoil Lettie and Nadine’s fun, but the preacher has a girlfriend in Roby. I’m sure he was just being nice when he offered to drive Cricket to Nadine’s, or maybe he’s going to ask her to head the committee for the Christmas dinner again this year. I’m sure they’ll find out pretty quick, though it gets Cricket out of the house today.”

  Jennie Sue squeezed his hand. “You’re a sly one. How’d you know about his girlfriend?”

  “I drive the bookmobile, remember? And there’s some old guys up there that gossip as much as the old gals do here in Bloom,” Rick answered.

  “I want her to be as happy as I am,” Jennie Sue said.

  “When the time is right, she will find someone,” Rick said. “But enough about them. Today is all about us.”

  He pulled a bottle of champagne from the basket and popped the cork.

  “That’s some expensive stuff,” she said.

  “There’s two wineglasses in there, too. I’m courting you in style.” He grinned.

  “I love you, Rick, but I like beer better than this.”

  “Well, today we’re doin’ it up right, darlin’. You deserve the very best.” His smile got wider.

  “Why?”

  “Because of this.” He got up onto one knee and took her hand in his. “Jennifer Susanne Baker, will you marry me?” He pulled a velvet box out of his pocket. “You have put sunshine back into my life and melted the chains from around my heart.”

  “No, Jennifer Susanne will not marry you. But Jennie Sue will.” She threw herself into his arms so hard that they both fell backward and the box flew toward the creek.

  He quickly retrieved it and snapped it open to reveal a beautiful pale-blue stone surrounded by fifty tiny diamonds. He slipped it on her finger and said, “The blue is the color of your eyes. The little diamonds around it represent the fifty years I want to spend with you.”

  “And what if we’re together longer than that?” she asked.

  “I’ll buy you another ring with more diamonds.” The kiss was long, lingering and sweet. When it ended, he looked deep into her eyes and knew that he was a blessed man.

  Epilogue

  Jennie Sue picked up the Bloom Weekly News on her way to the bookstore on the day before Thanksgiving. Cricket entered the store behind her with a shiver. The north wind blew dried leaves down Main Street, swirled them around, and sent them into the store before Cricket could slam the door.

  Jennie Sue went to the thermostat and turned on the heat. “We probably should have closed today, since everyone will be home getting ready for the holiday.”

  “I couldn’t stand to spend the whole day cooped up in the house with you,” Cricket said.

  “Right back at you.” Jennie Sue reached into her tote bag and brought out the paper.

  Cricket curled up on the end of the sofa. “Does it have your wedding picture in it this week? I sent it to them in plenty of time.”

  “Guess it’s my turn to get caught by the town.” Jennie Sue sat down beside her and laid out the paper on the coffee table. They bent forward, taking turns reading the highlights and the first paragraph or two of each article.

  SWEETWATER HOSPITAL GETS NEW NICU WING

  An anonymous donor has given the money for the hospital to build a new wing that will care for critically ill babies, to be called the Grace NICU Wing. It will have all the newest equipment and rooms set up for the parents of children to stay at the hospital. Construction could begin as early as next spring, with hopes of a finish date before the end of the year.

  “I wonder who that anonymous donor is and if her name is Grace. You know it’s going to drive the folks crazy trying to figure it out, don’t you?” Cricket said.

  “While they’re talkin’ about that, they’ll be letting us rest. You still happy with the way we did things?” Jennie Sue asked.

  “Wouldn’t have it any other way,” she answered.

  LIBRARY GETS FUNDING

  The Bloom Library will have a brand-new children’s corner from a hundred-thousand-dollar donation. Along with a multitude of new books, it will have a cozy new seating area sized for small ones.

  “Amos and Rick are both so happy about this, Jennie Sue. He’s a firm believer in reading to children and teaching them to love books,” Cricket said.

  “Me, too. I intend to read to my children before they are even born,” Jennie Sue said.

  LENDING LIBRARIES GROWING

  In the past four months, more than two hundred lending libraries have popped up beside people’s mailboxes in Bloom. The town is setting a pr
ecedent for surrounding areas, and several inquiries have been made as to how other small towns can begin a similar program.

  “And Rick is happy about this and the fact that a different donation has helped him take the bookmobile to three other towns,” Jennie Sue commented as she turned the page.

  “You’re sure doin’ a lot of good with your inheritance.” Cricket leaned over and bumped shoulders with her.

  “Well, thank you. I do it in hopes that you won’t hate me,” Jennie Sue said.

  “Not damn likely that could ever happen again,” Cricket laughed, and pointed. “Look, you and Rick made the news, and with a picture.”

  “We really did. And look at that picture. It’s really good,” Jennie Sue said.

  LAWSON AND BAKER WED

  Richard Lawson and Jennifer Baker eloped to Las Vegas last weekend and were married in the Double Heart Chapel. They are making their home in Bloom.

  “Good picture of y’all, right?” Cricket said. “I did a better job than I did with the one when you got off the bus that first day back in Bloom.”

  “Yes, it is. Whatever happened to the ones you took of me back then?” Jennie Sue reached out and touched the newspaper picture, running her finger down the scar on Rick’s face.

  “Oh, I still have them. I might need them for blackmail someday. I’m glad you took Lettie, Nadine, and me to Vegas with y’all so we could be there at the wedding. But . . .” She looked around the shop and lowered her voice. “I think maybe you turned a monster loose. They’re planning to go back next weekend and want me to go with them.”

  “Go on and have a good time. I can hold down the store while you are gone,” Jennie Sue said.

  Cricket turned the page and pointed at the next headline. “Would you look at that?”

  SWEETWATER BELLES INDUCT NEW MEMBER

  The Sweetwater Belles had a formal ceremony to welcome Danielle Crossett into the club last Friday night, filling the opening left by the death of Charlotte Baker.

  “Does that make you sad?” Cricket asked.

  “Not one bit. I’m just glad they weren’t able to put me on a guilt trip like they tried to do when I refused to join in Mama’s place. And, speaking of the Belles, look at this one.” Jennie Sue pointed to the next headline.