by LuAnn McLane
A couple of minutes later Stephanie appeared with his soup. “Here you go. Your sandwich will be ready in a minute.”
“Thanks.”
Danny stepped to the side while another customer approached the counter. The woman glanced over and then gave him a big smile. “Well, hello there, Danny Mayfield. Were you going to ignore me?”
“Oh I’m sorry, Miss Brock. I didn’t recognize you with …” Danny pointed to her auburn hair that had once been brown.
“Makes me feel sassy.” She demonstrated with a little head bop. Betsy used to be a driver’s education teacher at Cricket Creek High and had been loved by all of the students, though she was retired now. She’d had the discipline of a drill sergeant but had used her sense of humor to keep students calm.
“I think you mean sassier.”
Betsy tipped her head back and laughed. “And even more so when I drink one of those craft beers at your brother’s Broomstick Brewery. I’ve got to ride my broom over there sometime soon and try the Christmas stout.”
“You’ll love it. Guaranteed to bring out your Christmas cheer, Miss Brock,” Danny said with a laugh.
“Hey, I know I’m old enough to be your mama, but please call me Betsy. How is your mama, anyway? Enjoying her grandkids?”
Danny grinned. “She sure is. When Lily took her first step a few days ago you would have thought she’d won an Olympic gold medal. And now Mom has Mason’s little Oliver to spoil too.”
Betsy laughed. “I predict that your parents will be spending much more time in Cricket Creek than in Florida. I wouldn’t be surprised if they move back full-time.”
“You could be right.” Danny nodded but he had his doubts. His father loved the warm climate and year-round fishing. “Well, it was good to see you, Miss … Betsy.”
“You too. Well, I’d better place my order. I promised Susan I’d help her out today even though it’s my day off. But she’s such a sweetheart that I can’t say no. You know Susan Quincy, right?”
“I do,” Danny said and his heart pounded a little bit harder just hearing her name. “In fact, I just ran into her. Or rather she ran into me. Literally.”
“Let me guess, she was trying to carry something way too heavy for her?”
“Yep.”
“Does that all the time.” Betsy tilted her head to the side and gave him a long look. “Lovely girl, that Susan. Quiet as a church mouse but then makes me laugh until my sides hurt. I think there’s a much bigger personality lurking inside her ready to jump out and say boo!”
“She could learn from you.”
Betsy laughed again. “Yep, I don’t really know the meaning of quiet, even in my old age.”
“Old age?” Danny knew Betsy was around his mother’s age. “You’re forever young.”
“Charming as ever,” Betsy said. “That cute smile of yours got you a B in Driver’s Ed when your speeding should have gotten you a C. Always polite too. Your mama raised you well.”
“Thank you. By the way, how’s your daughter doing?” Danny asked.
“Aubrey’s doing well. She’s fretting over exams right now but she’ll be home for the holidays soon. I sure do miss her but I’m proud that she’s doing so well in college.” Her smile wobbled a bit around the corners. Betsy was a single mom and Danny knew she must miss her only child something fierce. “I wanted her to stay local but her dream was to go to the University of Kentucky. She worked so hard to get scholarship money, so what could I say?”
“Well, you have the right to be proud.”
“Thank you, Danny. Aubrey is my pride and joy.”
“Hey, will you do me a favor and give this to Susan?” Danny handed Betsy the bag containing the soup.
“Sure,” Betsy said but raised her eyebrows. “Funny, I was asked to bring her chicken soup, extra crackers.”
“No way …”
“I’m guessing that’s what’s inside? How did you know chicken noodle was her favorite?”
“I didn’t.” Danny shrugged.
“Interesting.” Betsy looked like she was ready to say more but John Clark came out from the kitchen. “I’ll give it to her and—” When she saw John she stopped in mid-sentence.
“Hey Danny, sorry for the wait on the potato pancakes. I had to put a fresh batch in the fryer. I threw in a couple extra for keeping you waiting. Oh, and a hambone for your dog.”
“I’d say it was worth the wait then, and Rusty will be over the moon. Thanks, John.” Danny took the bags and then nodded to Betsy. “It was great seeing you. Maybe you’ll pop in the brewery this Saturday? I’ll hook you up with a flight of the winter ales.”
“Sounds like an offer I can’t refuse,” Betsy said but appeared a little bit flustered.
Oh God, Danny sure hoped Betsy didn’t think he was hitting on her. But just as he started to feel weird, he noticed that she flushed pink after turning to John Clark to give him her order. Since Danny was pretty sure Betsy wasn’t the blushing type, he had to conclude that it was John causing the extra color in her cheeks. Hiding his grin, Danny hesitated so he could see if his hunch was correct.
“Well, hi there, Betsy.” John gave her a warm smile. Since Stephanie failed to reappear, he guessed she must be on break. “It’s good to see you on your day off.”
Danny raised his eyebrows. John knew what days Betsy worked?
“Hello, John,” Betsy said. “I’m helping Susan with a Christmas project today.”
“Ah … ’tis the season.” John handed her a candy cane from a basket on the counter.
“Thank you. It’s coming too fast this year.”
Danny thought Betsy’s voice sounded a little bit breathless. Did Betsy have a thing for John? Curious, Danny made slow work of gathering mustard packets and napkins, while both of them seemed to have forgotten he existed. Danny glanced over in time to see John give Betsy a big smile.
“What can I get for you today?”
“I’m not sure yet …” Betsy looked up at the menu above the counter.
“May I suggest some hot soup to warm you up on this blustery day? I make it myself.”
“You mean it doesn’t come from a can?” The humor in Betsy’s tone said she knew better.
“You wound me,” John replied.
Danny had to grin as he put the condiments in his bag. He wished he could dally a little longer to watch the exchange but he should get over to the Broomstick Brewery to help Mason unload some equipment, so he pushed the door open and headed over to his truck.
The success of the brewery meant continued expansion, something Danny’s brother Mason had originally been opposed to, but falling in love with Grace Gordon had changed his way of thinking. Business was also booming at Mattie’s Walking on Sunshine Bistro, and now that she had a liquor license she’d been bugging Danny to build a bar where patrons could gather for craft beer and fine wine. Juggling running the marina, bartending at the brewery, and helping Mattie at the bistro left little time for Danny to pursue anything of his own. But if he suddenly bailed on them all, who would replace him?
When Danny approached the truck, his Irish Setter pressed his nose against the window and gave him a woof of greeting. Danny climbed into the truck and patted Rusty on the head. “Sorry I was so long. I had an unexpected detour.” He put his takeout on the floor and Rusty sniffed the corned beef in appreciation. “Yeah, there’s a little treat for you in the other bag too.”
“Woof!” Rusty wagged his tail, clearly excited at the word treat.
“I’ll hurry home, old boy,” Danny promised as he pulled out onto Main Street. While he enjoyed all of his three jobs, he sometimes felt less successful than his older brother and sister. Shaking his head, he looked over as he passed Rhyme and Reason. Maybe he was also feeling the sting of Susan’s rejection.
“What will she think of the soup? And why am I trying so damned hard?” he asked Rusty, who did that dog eyebrow thing that meant he didn’t know what the hell Danny was getting at. “You sure knew what to
do when you fell in love with Abigail.” Rusty perked up at the name of his doggie sweetheart. “You went all out by jumping in the river and swimming after her. Maybe I need a big moment like that. Abigail gave you the cold shoulder at first, so maybe there’s hope for me after all.”
Wanting to lift his mood, Danny turned on the radio and smiled when the new Jeff Greenfield song came on. Wouldn’t you know, the country ballad had to be all about falling in love. While Danny had been in a couple of semi-serious relationships, he wondered if he’d ever truly been in love. “How the hell do you know?” His parents certainly loved each other, having stayed strong through thick and thin, so Danny valued the institution of marriage. He supposed seeing Mason and Mattie so happy lately had him wondering if he’d ever find someone to settle down with for the long haul. He gave a low whistle, drawing Rusty’s attention from the window. “Want a little more air?” Danny pushed the button to open the window more and let Rusty smell the breeze. He laughed when the Irish Setter pushed his nose out as far as he could. “Ah, the simple things in life, right?”
But seriously, who would have thought Mason would fall for Grace Gordon, a world traveling marketing genius? And Mattie? She’d married former bad boy musician Garret Ruleman, son of a legendary rock star who had married a local real estate broker and settled down in Cricket Creek. “Maybe I’m looking for love in all the wrong places,” he mumbled with a chuckle, even though he really wasn’t looking for love at all. Having three different jobs kept him too busy for anything other than work. “What do you think, Rusty? Is it about time I got back in the game?” When he stopped for a red light he leaned over and scratched his trusty companion on the head.
But on his way to the brewery Danny couldn’t stop thinking about Susan Quincy. Although he’d only asked shy Susan to the prom at the request of his mother, Danny had thoroughly enjoyed the evening with her. She’d been so different than the outgoing girls he’d usually dated in high school and he’d felt an unexpected connection to her that night. Danny shook his head, remembering how he’d found Susan’s stutter cute and her clever sense of humor had him laughing throughout the evening. He’d wondered about what it would feel like to kiss her from the moment he’d picked her up and then posed for prom pictures with both sets of parents. She’d looked so pretty in a long, soft blue dress that had been less flashy than what the other girls had been wearing. Instead of a fancy updo, her long dark curls were pulled back in a simple style but he found that he couldn’t keep his eyes off her all night long. Danny shook his head at the memory, wondering if he still had the prom pictures stashed away with his high school memorabilia. He hoped that he did.
When he’d finally kissed Susan at the end of the date he’d felt a jolt of desire that he still thought about from time to time, usually when he spotted her somewhere in town.
Danny had wanted to ask her out again but she’d avoided him at school and so he’d eventually given up, thinking the attraction wasn’t mutual. While Danny didn’t think he had much of an ego, her snub had stung more than he’d cared to admit and her refusal to give him her phone number earlier brought back that feeling of rejection.
Danny tilted his head and sighed as he made a turn toward the marina property, which led to the brewery. Come to think of it, whenever he’d seen her around town, Susan headed in the opposite direction. He’d thought it was just one of those not-wanting-to-share-small-talk kind of situations, like when you saw a neighbor in the grocery store and hurried the other way. But now he had his doubts. Even though she’d finally warmed up to him today, Susan had made it clear she wasn’t interested in getting to know him better. For some reason, Susan Quincy didn’t like being around him.
“I just don’t get it, Rusty.” His family was highly thought of in Cricket Creek and Danny knew that in general he was considered to be a nice guy. “No, I am a nice guy, right? You like me, doncha boy?”
Rusty turned and gave Danny a doe-eyed dog expression of silent agreement.
“And I’m not bad-looking, right?” While Danny wasn’t a gym rat, he kept fit by doing physical labor at the marina and the bistro. On the weekends when he bartended, women tended to flirt with him, so he knew he wasn’t without some physical appeal to the opposite sex.
So what was it about him that turned Susan off?
“What is her deal?” Danny grumbled. Well, if nothing else, she sure liked his rocking chair. The thought brought a small smile to his face. He wasn’t really sure why he didn’t let her know he’d handcrafted the rocking chair but for now he’d decided to keep the knowledge to himself. Woodworking was something he did on the side, mostly as a way to wind down or to create special pieces for friends and family. He’d made a mother’s rocking chair with a side cradle for Mattie when Lily was born and his sister had hugged him tearfully when he’d presented it to her.
Crafting a chair to the specifications of the recipient was the key to making it their favorite piece of furniture in the house. But the fact that Susan’s rocker felt as if it was measured for her had him shaking his head in confusion. He’d tried to figure out who the chair had been built for but had come up blank. If he’d asked Susan more questions he probably could have figured it out but for some reason he’d refrained. Maybe his hesitation stemmed from not wanting Susan to think of the chair as having been made for someone else? The image of her rocking gently drifted into his head and he couldn’t help but smile.
Danny turned into the brewery parking lot. At one point he had considered using woodworking as his livelihood but when he’d had to help his parents save the marina, his talent had been pushed to the wayside and after a while the notion faded into what he considered a hobby.
Other than the rocking chair for Mattie and the bar he’d built for his brother’s brewery, he hadn’t done much woodworking lately. But over the years he’d accumulated quite a few pieces that were stored in the large workshop behind his log cabin. Maybe it was seeing Susan’s appreciation of his work, but he suddenly felt the urge to start a new project. Perhaps something for Lily? The thought of his cute niece rocking in a chair he’d crafted just for her made him smile again. In truth he couldn’t wait to build a doll house for her, or anything else she wanted for that matter. Lily already had her Uncle Danny wrapped around her little finger.
Mattie and Mason had both encouraged Danny to do more with his talent after he’d built the bar in Mason’s brewery. But if he decided to make woodworking his main source of income, what would they all do without him? Who would run the marina? While the winter months were slow, business picked up in the early spring and lasted through late fall. Hiring someone would be a solution but no one other than a Mayfield had ever run the marina, so the thought gave Danny pause.
“Ah, Rusty, I just don’t know …” After killing the engine, Danny opened the door of the truck and then walked around to let Rusty out. “Come on, boy.” He picked up his lunch and grabbed the cookie mix, deciding he’d give it to Grace to bake. But as he started walking toward the old boathouse that Mason had converted into the brewery, his mood took another dive. While he was proud and happy for both Mattie and Mason’s success, he was starting to feel restless. But unless he bailed on his family his hands were pretty much tied. And if he wanted to be truly honest with himself, the fear of failure tapped at the back of his brain.
And to top it all off, Danny had been suffering from bouts of loneliness lately. His closest friends were either in serious relationships or married, making playing pool at Sully’s Tavern or poker nights a rare event these days. Weekly bonfires at the marina had fallen by the wayside. And with his siblings married with children and his parents doting on the grandkids, Danny felt a bit like the odd man out at family and social gatherings.
As if feeling Danny’s blue mood, Rusty trotted close to his side. “I need to quit feeling sorry for myself, don’t I?” He reached inside the extra bag and pulled out the hambone. “Here you go.” Danny grinned at how hard Rusty’s tail wagged in response to the tre
at. He watched Rusty run off with his prize and he had to wonder if he would share it with Abigail. “Even my dog’s got a girl,” Danny grumbled.
With a long sigh, Danny started walking up to the entrance to the brewery but paused when his phone pinged. He pulled it from his pocket and read the text message: Hi Danny, it’s Susan. Thanks for the soup and for helping me today. I called the marina and the message said to call this number to reach you. Oh, and I hope you enjoy baking your cookies. Danny grinned at the smiley face at the end of the message. After storing her number in his phone, he typed: You’re welcome. I’m sure I will love the cookies.
“Well now, that’s a start, anyway.” He looked at the jar and his grin remained. “I think I’ll bake these cookies tonight.” His mood lifted another notch when he pictured Susan rocking in the chair he crafted. Eating warm cookies while doing some woodworking would be a relaxing way to spend the evening. He tried to remember if he’d ever baked cookies. Maybe the slice and bake kind.
Danny looked at the jar and noticed Susan had forgotten to add the baking instructions. Well, he’d just have to pay her another visit then, wouldn’t he? And now he had her cell phone number. Danny grinned. Susan Quincy might have tried to avoid him but he was suddenly determined to show her what she’d been missing.
3
Truth or Dare
Betsy twisted the lid onto the mason jar and reached for a sprig of holly to tuck into the red raffia bow. “So now, explain to me once more why you turned down Danny Mayfield’s invitation to lunch?” She tilted her head to the side and waited. “I’m completely confused. Not that confusion isn’t normal for me but this has me really stumped.”