Know Me Well

by Kait Nolan

  “I was working third shift at an all-night diner to earn my bus fare. Which was taking a while, since I had to pay for living expenses meanwhile.”

  Riley ignored that subtle jab. “And, what? You decided you were tired of waiting, so you hitchhiked?”

  “I got to talking to one of my customers and noticed her southern accent. Turned out she’s from Alabama and was headed home to Dothan. She offered me a ride, and I took it.”

  The clutch in Riley’s chest loosened somewhat. “Oh my God, Mom, she could’ve been an axe murderer.”

  Sharilyn waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t be silly. Billy Jean is a twice-divorced grandmother of two. We had plenty to talk about across country.”

  I’m sure you did.

  As the shop bell jangled, Riley pushed out of the office, struggling to put on her friendly customer face. She thanked God it was only Jessie with their take out from Dinner Belles. She wasn’t ready to face anyone else until she’d had some privacy to process her shame.

  “Mrs. G! Didn’t know you were back.”

  “Only just. Hello, sugar.” Sharilyn walked back around the counter to give Riley’s tech a hug.

  Jessie set their food on the counter. “How was the Great American Road Trip?”

  Her mother’s smile faltered only briefly before coming back full wattage. “Got to see all kinds of amazing sights and go to places I’d only ever heard of. It was an experience. But I’m glad to be home. The long-term open road is not for me.”

  “What about Hal?” Jessie asked.

  “We parted ways, and he drove off into the sunset.” She said it like he was a lone-wolf cowboy riding off at the end of a movie instead of an asshole who’d abandoned her thousands of miles from home

  Riley studied the dreamy expression. Was it a facade or had she really convinced herself it’d been tragically romantic? How could she be okay with what had happened?

  Sharilyn hopped on the counter to perch. “So tell me, any funny pharmacy stories lately?”

  “Oh, well yesterday Riley compounded muscle relaxer for a squirrel.”

  “Get out. Really?”

  “Jessie, we really aren’t supposed to talk about this.”

  “What? It’s not like HIPPA covers rodents. Poor thing has puncture wounds in her leg. The squirrel—whose name is Roxy—also needed some Valium because her bladder was so distended that she couldn’t teetee. When her owner showed up to pick up the meds, he said he’d spent over $240 on her at the vet. The bill here was over $50. He said they’d bottle fed her from a baby and that his son would be really upset if they lost her.”

  “Well, if she was a pet, I guess I understand that. How old was the son?”

  “Thirty-one.”

  Riley’s mom, who had no poker face to speak of, stared in disbelief. “Now, I’ve heard everything.”

  “Oh no.” Jessie pointed with the straw she was unwrapping. “There’s more. She starts physical therapy next week. And they’re still planning on releasing her into the wild when she gets better.”

  “My Lord. What did y’all say?”

  “Good luck with that,” Riley replied. “Listen, the stuff you shipped is at my place. It’ll be a little while before I can shake loose to drive you to the house. Molly’s at a citizen’s coalition meeting until three and won’t be able to relieve me until then.”

  Sharilyn crossed her legs. “Oh, don’t you worry about that, honey. I’ve got orientation for my new job.”

  Riley managed not to do a complete double take. “Your new what now?”

  “Matthew McSweeney hired me as a checker at the market. He told me to come on in when I got back to town to learn the system.”

  Riley stared at her. When had she even talked to Matthew McSweeney? “You only just got back. How did you already land a job?”

  “You probably don’t remember, but Matthew was an old friend of your daddy’s. They were in the service together. He always said if I ever needed anything, I just had to call. So I did, and he happened to have a position open.”

  Dear God, don’t let her have set her sights on Matthew. “Does he know you don’t have any retail experience?”

  “That’s the entire point of the orientation. I officially start day after tomorrow.”

  “Well that’s—” Surprising. Astounding. Got disaster written all over it. “—great, Mom. It’ll be good for you to be working with the public. I know how much you love people.”

  “I’m looking forward to it,” Sharilyn said breezily. “It’ll take me a little while to save up enough for my own place, but as soon as I do, I’ll be out of your hair. I’m not going to be a burden to you.”

  Riley didn’t believe that for a minute. As soon as she found another sugar daddy, she’d fall right back into old patterns. Riley forced her lips to curve and prayed it didn’t look like a grimace. “I wish you the best of luck.” Sharilyn was sure as hell going to need it. Riley just hoped she didn’t lose her own mind in the meantime.

  ~*~

  Riley was avoiding him.

  Nearly a week had passed since that unexpected kiss, and Liam still hadn’t had a chance to talk to her about it. Her mom was staying at her place, and in light of that, Riley had thrown herself into work like it was the only thing tethering her to sanity. Given her relationship with her mother, maybe it was.

  The pharmacy had been covered up, which pleased Liam, since Walgreens was due to open in a week. But it meant they hadn’t had a moment alone. Riley had made absolutely sure of that. Every time he came into the pharmacy, she was on the phone, holed up in the office, or tied up with a customer. Which was part and parcel of running a business. But she wouldn’t even look at him.

  She had the wrong idea.

  Looking back, perhaps pretending nothing had happened just because her mom had shown up was not the best course of action. But she’d seemed so embarrassed. What else was he supposed to say under those circumstances? Excuse me, Mrs. Gower, I need to shut the door in your face so I can finish kissing your daughter brainless. Yeah, no.

  Liam could’ve called or sent flowers or some kind of note, but this was a conversation that needed to be had in person—without starting the kind of courting behavior that would get the entire town buzzing before they’d even sorted out what was what.

  But setting Riley straight required some privacy. Since she wasn’t cooperating, he was going to create the opportunity. He’d thought about inviting her up to see the progress on the apartment upstairs, but she wouldn’t leave the pharmacy unless his mom was there to relieve her. With her current streak of luck, the Board of Pharmacy would drop by for an impromptu inspection and dock her for not having a licensed pharmacist on premises for fifteen minutes. She didn’t need that. So it was on to plan B.

  Liam reached the pharmacy as Babette Wofford was stepping out.

  “Oh Liam! Just the man I was looking for.”

  He worked up a smile for the pint-sized spitfire, who owned the local bridal shop. “Afternoon, Mrs. Wofford.”

  She beamed at him. “Your mama showed me the renovation you’re doing on the apartment above the pharmacy. It’s just gorgeous.”

  That was a stretch. “I’ve only just got the new walls in and the built-ins started. There’s a ways to go yet.” He waited, wondering where this was going.

  “I’ve got apartment space above my shop as well, and I want to hire you to renovate it. Norah’s gearing up for a push to really sell downtown living, and having the space all duded up would allow me to bump up the rent a bit.”

  Surprise struck him momentarily speechless. Why would she want to hire him as a contractor when there were others in town more qualified? “Well, I certainly appreciate you thinking of me, Mrs. Wofford. It’s one thing for me to do that kind of work for my mother, but I’m not licensed or bonded. That kind of liability is dangerous for you.”

  Babette fisted both hands on her hips. “Nonsense. I saw that apartment. Your work is quality. I’m not at all worried that anything
would go wrong.”

  Some people were way too trusting. If she had that kind of attitude toward renovations, she was in prime position to be taken advantage of.

  As he geared up for a polite way to tell her exactly that, she interrupted, “Tell me you’ll come by and at least look at the place to give me an estimate.”

  He could do that much, at least. And his quote would give her a yardstick to judge other offers for fairness. “All right I’ll have a look.”

  Babette clapped her hands together with glee. “Excellent.”

  They made arrangements for a time and chatted briefly about Babette’s grandchildren—her eldest granddaughter Delilah was doing something big with fashion in Paris—before Liam finally managed to break loose to slip inside without attracting Riley’s attention.

  She moved behind the counter, hands quick and competent as they sorted and filled and dropped the pill bottle into a white paper bag and folded the top neatly over. “Here you go, Mr. Tolleson. You don’t owe a thing. It’s all on your insurance now that you’ve met your deductible.” She passed him the bag and leaned forward conspiratorially. “And I snuck in a handful of those butterscotch disks Winnie likes.”

  Howard Tolleson’s wrinkles swallowed up his faded blue eyes as he shot a mostly toothless grin at Riley. She grinned back, and Liam reflected how well-suited she was to this job. She had a way of radiating genuine compassion with even the most agitated or irritating customers, and he thought that had as much to do with people’s healing as the medications she dispensed. It was so different from his mother’s no nonsense pragmatism, yet no less effective. People loved and trusted her.

  Howard lifted a plastic shopping bag onto the counter. “Winnie sent you this as a thank you for keeping up with us.”

  “Oh now, she didn’t have to do that,” Riley said. “I’m happy to help. You two are some of my favorite customers.”

  “Still. She wanted you to have it.”

  Riley slipped some kind of fabric out of the bag and her cheerful expression shifted to stunned delight. “Oh. Oh, this is exquisite!” She slipped off her lab coat and slipped on the fabric, which turned out to be some kind of cardigan deal that hit below her hips. “This must’ve taken her ages to knit.”

  “She enjoys it. And enjoys you. So. You enjoy that sweater.”

  “Thank you! You tell Winnie I love it!”

  Riley waved as Mr. Tolleson shuffled toward the door, cheerfully swinging his rubber-tipped cane like an umbrella. As soon as he hit the sidewalk, she turned to Jessie and Ruby. “Oh my God, can you believe this? Look at the craftsmanship.”

  Jessie fingered the sleeve. “I totally want one. Winnie Tolleson’s knitting is a thing of legend.”

  “She spends a lot of time in doctor’s offices,” Ruby added. “Knitting is something she can still do without too much trouble. Takes a lot of joy in it.”

  “Do you know, Howard and Winnie have been married for fifty-eight years?” Riley asked.

  “Really?” Jessie asked. “I can’t even wrap my brain around that. That’s amazing.”

  Liam absorbed the brief stab of pain at the thought that, if not for his father’s aneurysm, his parents would’ve been just like them. “We should all be so lucky.”

  Riley didn’t squeak, but she did jolt at the sound of his voice, one hand pressing to her heart. “I swear to God, you need a bell around your neck.”

  “Didn’t mean to startle you. Got a minute?”

  As he expected, she immediately opened her mouth. “I really need to—”

  “I just wanted to talk to you about the storage room. Work out a plan for when would be the least disruptive time for me to move everything out and where you want me to put your stock in the meantime. It’ll only take a few minutes.”

  “Go ahead, Riley, baby. We’ve got things covered.” Ruby gave him a wink.

  Liam worked to keep his own expression neutral. No reason to give the sister of the biggest gossip in town additional fodder for the mill.

  “I guess I can spare a couple of minutes.”

  She preceded him into the stock room, wrapping the sweater tight around herself despite the fact that the AC wasn’t pumping that hard. He wondered if he could shut the door without making anybody suspicious and figured the answer was no. In her current state, Riley was liable to bolt. So he followed her inside.

  She jumped straight to business. “I hate to make you do any work on a weekend, but Saturday afternoon or Sundays are the best time since we’re closed.”

  He had no trouble reading between the lines. And if we’re closed, I won’t be here and have to see you because I’ll see to it your mom is the one to supervise.

  “The playground assembly is coming up this Saturday and next. We’re cementing in posts this weekend, doing the full assembly the weekend after.”

  “Oh right, I forgot about that.”

  “You coming? Seems like you ought to have a hand in the finished product since you helped tear down the old one.”

  “I’ll have to talk to your mom to see if she can cover the pharmacy.”

  “I’m sure she’d be happy to, if you asked.”

  Cue awkward silence. Because she looked completely miserable, Liam walked on by her, weaving his way through boxes of new stock back to the piles of other crap that had been accumulating for years.

  He moved a drop cloth to peer beneath. “I think there are display shelves under all this mess.”

  “Your mom said before this building was the pharmacy, it was a five and dime. They had need of more space than we do.”

  “You ever think of tearing down that wall they put up and expanding back into this section?”

  “I don’t have enough stock to justify it. Not to mention the expense.”

  “If money were no object?”

  “It’s definitely an object.”

  “Humor me.”

  She shrugged and plucked at the lapel of the sweater. “I’d thought about turning it into a space for local craftspeople to sell their wares. There are a lot of people who make and sell things who don’t have large enough business to justify a storefront but could easily lease booth space. There’s not really a place for them to do that right now.”

  “Hmm,” he murmured. “Be easy enough to build you a proper stockroom in the back, with industrial shelves and organization. Then this front part could be more retail space. Wouldn’t take much to set up other shelving or counters as need be.” Despite the mounds of stuff, he could see how it could be converted. “It’s a good idea.”

  “It’s a moot point.” She’d followed him past the stacks, seeming to relax a fraction as he got her talking about other things.

  “How are things going with your mama?”

  Well, there went the relaxation. Her shoulders cranked up a good inch with tension and she winced. “I haven’t killed her yet, which is a minor miracle.”

  “There’s not really room at your place for somebody else, is there.”

  “No. And she doesn’t understand the importance of not talking until the coffee pot is empty.” She looked up at him with those deep blue I need you eyes. Which was purely projection on his part because she didn’t need him. “Silence before caffeination is sacred.”

  Liam chuckled. “Your self-restraint against committing bodily harm is commendable.”

  “Damn straight. No jury of my peers would convict me for that.”

  “You’ve been working too hard.” He itched to reach out and rub her shoulders.

  “That’s what you do when you own a business.”

  “It’s also what you do when you’re trying to avoid people.”

  She flashed a humorless smile. “It’s a better alternative to matricide.”

  “I wasn’t talking about your mother.”

  Her back stiffened. “Listen, Liam—”

  “I don’t want—”

  She held up a hand to stop him. “No really, listen.”

  Liam fell silent. His impatience fad
ed as he heard what she’d heard.

  “Is that water?” she asked.

  Moving quickly, he searched the room, finding the start of a puddle at the base of one wall. Following the trail of wet upward, he saw the spreading water stain on the ceiling.

  “Shit!”

  He bolted into the pharmacy just in time to see the ceiling burst. Water poured out of the hole, soaking displays, slicking the floors. He dimly heard Jessie’s “Oh my God!” and Riley’s sound of alarm as he raced for the door. Taking the stairs three at a time, he tore into the apartment. The sound of water was louder here. He found the source readily enough in the hall closet. Water spewed from around the drainage valve of the ancient water heater, pooling in the base of the closet and draining through the floors.

  “Oh, Jesus.” Riley had followed him upstairs.

  He shot past her, scrambling to turn off the main water valve.

  “Why isn’t it stopping?” she asked, an edge of hysteria to her voice.

  “That only keeps the tank from refilling.” There wasn’t a damned thing he could do to stop the entire eighty gallons from pouring out into the pharmacy below. “Come on.”

  Running back downstairs, he sloshed through the water to start muscling displays out of the direct stream. Riley and Jessie threw themselves into the cause, as did a couple of other patrons who happened in during the chaos. As soon as the displays were moved, he began snapping out orders.

  “Jessie, is any of the medication in the back in danger of getting wet?”

  “No, it’s high enough off the floor.”

  “Good. Make sure it stays that way. Then call ServPro. The insurance information should be in the office. Ruby, call my mother and let her know what’s going on. She can bring towels, sheets, whatever she can find to soak things up.”

  Liam put in a call to Mitch.

  “What’s up, buddy?”

  “Flood at the pharmacy. I need every shop vac and box fan you can get your hands on.”

  “On it.”

  Within half an hour, the pharmacy was full of people springing to action to try and minimize the damage. By the time the water slowed to a drip, the floor was inches deep and water was flowing out the front door. The entire over-the-counter painkiller and allergy/sinus section was a lost cause. So was a huge chunk of the first aid supplies. Product boxes swollen with water floated by.