Small Town Charm Read online

  “Thank you,” Cricket said. “That will help a lot. See y’all tomorrow.”

  “Bye, now,” Lettie and Nadine said at the same time.

  Cricket laid the phone back on the table and headed back outside. She brought in the beans and tomatoes, took care of them, and put them in small baskets to take to the bookstore with her in the morning.

  “Poor Bryce,” she muttered as she rinsed the mud from the beans and laid them out on paper towels to dry. “He’d better be fast if he hopes to outrun Anna Grace.”

  Chapter Two

  Bryce was grateful that the two employees who had worked for the previous owner had agreed to stay on when he bought the drugstore. Ilene, a gray-haired lady who had worked there for thirty years, managed the soda fountain and helped stock shelves. Tandy, a middle-aged pharmacy technician, helped him but wasn’t too proud to stock shelves, manage the register, or do whatever needed done. They had sure made the transition was an easy one when he took over the store, and on Wednesday, his second day at work, they were waiting at the back door when he arrived.

  “Good morning, ladies,” he said as he slid out of his SUV and headed across the small parking area to unlock the door.

  “You might be singing a different tune by noon,” Ilene told him.

  “I thought you’d have more time, but it looks like the vultures are circling,” Tandy laughed.

  He turned the key in the door but didn’t open it. Instead he looked up at the blue sky without a cloud anywhere in sight. “Vultures? What are y’all talking about?”

  “You’ve been earmarked to be married by Christmas to one of the town’s most elite women, Anna Grace Cramer. Her daddy owns Cramer Oil Company, and her mother is one of the Sweetwater Belles.”

  He opened the door and stood to the side to let them enter before him. Ilene flipped on the lights and reset the thermostat, then went to open the front door.

  “What’s a Sweetwater Belle?” Bryce asked and wondered why the upper crust of Bloom would want their daughter married to him when they didn’t even know anything about him.

  “A group of women formed a club about thirty years ago here in town. They call themselves the Sweetwater Belles, and they’ve got their fingers in everything including the holiday and homecoming parades.”

  When two women came in right away, Lettie rolled her eyes toward Tandy and Bryce. Tandy patted him on the back. “The older one is Mary Lou. The tall, blond, younger version of her is Anna Grace. You better think fast because you are about to have to sink or swim.”

  Bryce finished putting on his white lab coat and glanced toward the front of the store to see two well-dressed women slide onto the barstools in front of the soda fountain. The older one was wearing black slacks, a white silk blouse, and her diamond earrings sparkled under the fluorescent lights. If rich was a perfume, she would have reeked of it. The younger of the two was wearing a tight red skirt that showed half her thighs, and high-heeled shoes that matched her skirt. She had that competent air about her, but she didn’t come across as royalty like her mother did.

  “Sink or swim!” Tandy said out of the side of her mouth.

  “You’re joking, right?” Bryce asked.

  “Not in the least.” Tandy patted him on the back. “Mary Lou wanted her daughter to marry a doctor, but she’s decided that a pharmacist will do since Anna Grace has passed the thirty mark.”

  Bryce wiped sweat from his brow. “But I only just got here yesterday. You’re pranking me.”

  “I wish I was.” Tandy removed her glasses and cleaned them on the tail of her blue scrub top. “I can never locate my glasses in the morning, and when my kids do find them, they leave smudges on the lenses. Someday I’m going to get contacts.”

  Bryce wasn’t interested in Tandy’s smudged glasses or her four kids right then. He wanted her to tell him that she was hazing him. “Prank? Yes?”

  “Prank. No.” Tandy twisted her brown hair up and secured it with a long clip. “Lettie Betterton called me last night and told me to warn you.”

  “But…how…what…” Bryce stammered.

  “This is a small town,” Tandy said. “Everyone knows what everyone is doing, who they’re doing it with, and where they did it. We only read the paper, which comes out today by the way, to see who got caught. Anna Grace won’t be subtle, and she won’t take no for an answer. Mary Lou has made up her mind, and when she does, it might as well be set in stone. Nobody crosses a Belle, except Lettie, Nadine, and Cricket. Oh, and Cricket’s sister-in-law, Jennie Sue,” Tandy whispered. “They never come in here for coffee in the morning, so you’ve probably got about five minutes to think up a reason not to do whatever she wants you to do. That is, unless you like what you see.”

  Bryce’s neck itched with heat that was fast traveling up from his collar to put a blush on his cheeks. Lord have mercy! He had been a science geek in high school and in college. He’d never been one of those guys that the girls pursued and had no idea how to handle such a thing.

  He’d been in town only a couple of days, and he had been brought up not to lie. What was he going to say if she asked him to dinner or to a party? Would not accepting her invitation ruin his business? He sure wished he had time to call his mother, or even his grandmother, and ask them for advice. Even though Bloom Drug Store was the only pharmacy in town, it wasn’t all that far to Sweetwater where folks would have a choice of several places to fill their prescriptions. What if he lost all kinds of customers because he refused to fall down at Anna Grace’s feet and kiss that big turquoise ring he could see sparkling on her finger? No wonder the previous owner gave him such a good deal on the drugstore—the old guy probably got sick and tired of playing small-town politics.

  Tandy picked up a bottle of spray and a dust rag. “Ilene is taking her sweet time getting their coffee. She’s trying to give you time to get your ducks in a row, so to speak.”

  “Bless her heart and thank you for the warning and for explaining to me about the Belles.” Bryce let out a long breath of air and tried to think of plausible excuses. His mama and daddy had taken him to church every single Sunday from the time he was born until he went to college. Then he went home on weekends that first four years and drove them to church. He sent up a silent prayer asking God to help him out of this big mess.

  Before his prayer ended, Lettie and Nadine pushed through the glass door at the front of the store and headed straight back to one of the little bistro tables with the four chairs around it.

  “Mornin’, Ilene,” Nadine called out. “Me and Lettie will have our usual. Neither of us wanted to cook breakfast this morning.”

  “Two honey buns and two cups of hot chocolate coming right up,” Ilene said.

  Anna Grace slid off her barstool and started toward the back of the store, where the pharmacy was located. There was something about her pasted-on smile and the look in her eyes that let Bryce know Tandy and Ilene were not pranking him.

  “Hey, Anna Grace, I heard that you and your dentist boyfriend broke up last week,” Lettie said.

  “Is your poor little heart just plumb broken?” Nadine asked.

  “No, I broke up with him,” Anna Grace answered.

  “Well, honey, if you get down in the dumps, I suggest you watch a good movie. Me and Lettie like all the Home Alone movies when we’re feeling blue. They make us laugh,” Nadine said.

  Anna Grace’s smile faded, and she tilted her chin up a notch. “I’m sure that little movie would appeal to old folks like y’all, but I’m just fine. Like I said, I broke up with him, so my heart is just fine.” She focused her attention on Bryce and pasted her smile back on. Her high heels on the tile floor sounded to him like .22-caliber bullets heading straight for his heart—or maybe for a spot between his eyes. He needed to think fast, come up with a plan, but his mind was totally blank.

  “Hello, I’m Anna Grace Cramer, and I’d like to welcome you to Bloom. We’re having an informal little cocktail party at our house tonight, and we would just lov
e it if you would join us.” Her smile seemed sincere, but it sure didn’t reach her eyes.

  “Hey, Bryce,” Lettie called out, “didn’t you tell Cricket that you would help her gather vegetables tonight? She’s kind of swamped since Jennie Sue and Rick are out of town.”

  Anna Grace whipped around, and Bryce could only imagine the go-to-hell looks she was giving his two elderly landladies.

  “Yes, I did.” Bryce crossed his fingers behind his back like a little boy who had told a lie. “I’m sorry, Miz Anna Grace, but I have plans.”

  “Some other time then. Maybe I can pick you up tomorrow night, and we’ll go for ice cream?” Anna Grace pressed.

  “That’s my birthday party night.” Nadine raised her voice.

  “Sorry again,” Bryce said with a smile.

  “Then don’t make plans for Saturday night. We’re going to Sweetwater to the Community Theatre. That’s the opening night for the newest musical they’re doing this summer. I do love musicals, don’t you?” she asked.

  “Not so much, and I’ve already asked Cricket to go fishing with me that night. Why don’t you just leave your number with Ilene, and when I have some free time, I’ll give you a call?” Bryce hoped that the sassy Cricket wouldn’t shoot him when he told her they had plans for at least three evenings that week. Thinking about her telling him that she was taking a mud bath put a broad smile on his face.

  “I’ll be looking forward to your call.” Anna Grace’s tone was suddenly as cold as ice. When she got back to her barstool, she whispered something to her mother, and the two of them left without even waiting for their coffee.

  “You’re welcome.” Nadine grinned at Bryce.

  “Thank you,” he said, coming around from behind the counter and joining them at the table. “That woman is pretty brazen.”

  “Yes, she is but not as much as her mother,” Lettie said, “and Mary Lou always gets what she wants.”

  Ilene brought coffee and warmed honey buns to the table for Lettie and Nadine. “Thank goodness y’all didn’t want to cook breakfast this morning.”

  “And that you called us, so we were prepared,” Tandy added from the checkout counter.

  “But now you’ve caused Mary Lou to put on her war paint,” Ilene said.

  “What does that mean?” Bryce asked.

  “She will never, ever let it be said that her daughter lost out to Cricket Lawson,” Nadine giggled.

  “Why not? “Bryce asked. “I liked Cricket when I went out to her farm to buy vegetables last night. She’s honest and funny, and she seemed down to earth. Why would anyone not like her?”

  Lettie rubbed her hands together and giggled like a little girl. “This is the most exciting thing that’s happened in Bloom since Jennie Sue came home from New York and thumbed her nose at the Belles. We’ve got to get a bet going.”

  “Cricket has never run in the same circles as Anna Grace,” Ilene answered. “She hasn’t got a dishonest bone in her body, and she’ll speak her mind even if doing so gets her put in jail.

  “Speaking of Cricket, it looks like she’s just now turned down the alley to park behind the bookstore,” Nadine said. “Maybe you ought to run over there while there’s no one needing prescriptions and tell her that you’ll be picking peas with her tonight and fishing with her on Saturday.”

  “What if she says no and slaps me for being so presumptuous?” Bryce asked.

  “Be sure to tell her the whole story about why you made dates with her without asking. She’ll understand,” Nadine told him.

  “I hope so.” Bryce pushed back his chair and headed out of the drugstore.

  * * *

  Cricket turned on the lights and unloaded her tote bag, putting her lunch in the small, dorm-sized refrigerator, and then rolled the cart with the newly bought, used books out to shelve them. She had seen Lettie and Nadine’s vehicle parked in front of the drugstore, so when the bell above the door rang, she figured it was her two friends.

  “Y’all have a seat. I’ll make a pot of coffee, and I brought blueberry muffins,” she called out without even looking up from her work.

  “Sounds good, but I’m alone,” said someone with a deep, Texas drawl from the end of the romance book aisle.

  She looked up into Bryce Walton’s smiling face. “I thought you were Lettie and Nadine,” she said.

  Bryce shook his head. “They’re over at the drugstore having hot chocolate and honey buns, and they saved me this morning, so I shouldn’t even charge them for their breakfast.”

  For one of the very few times in her life, Cricket was speechless for a whole minute. “Saved you?” she finally asked.

  “Yes, and now I’m here to beg a couple of favors from you.” His blue eyes locked with hers and held for a moment until he blinked. “I’ve got a bit of a problem, and it is named Anna Grace Cramer.”

  “You better sit down and have a muffin and some coffee.” Cricket pointed to the sofa at the front of the store. “It’s too early for customers to need medicine, and the doctor doesn’t call in prescriptions until he closes at four, so you’ve got a little while before you get busy.” She left the cart in the middle of the aisle and went to her desk, where her tote bag was still sitting. She poured two cups of coffee from her thermos and removed the cover from a plastic container of blueberry muffins.

  “How do you know all that?” he asked as he sat down on the end of the sofa.

  “I’ve lived in Bloom all my life. That’s all just common knowledge,” she answered as she set the muffins on the coffee table and went back to her desk for the coffee. “Now tell me about the Anna Grace Cramer problem.”

  Bryce reached for a muffin. “It’s embarrassing.”

  Cricket set the two mugs of coffee on the table and took a chair across from him. “Hey, you’re talking to the woman who took a mud bath in front of you yesterday.” She smiled. “What could be more embarrassing than that?”

  “I was born and raised in Amarillo, but outside of town on a small farm,” Bryce said.

  Cricket didn’t want his whole life story. She was just interested in the bit about Anna Grace, but she kept quiet and picked up her coffee.

  “I’m not used to small-town politics,” he admitted as he reached for another muffin. “These are delicious.”

  “I made them this morning. Next year, I’m hoping my blueberry bushes are producing.” She wanted him to get on with the story. Lettie had sent her a text that morning reminding her that Anna Grace had probably set her mind to become a pharmacist’s wife. She wondered what any of that had to do with her.

  “Anna Grace and her mother came into the drugstore this morning.” Bryce turned a faint shade of red. “She asked me to a cocktail party tonight. To begin with, I’m not that guy.” He put air quotes around the last two words.

  Cricket wondered what kind of guy that was, but she just kept sipping her coffee. So Lettie had been right, and Anna Grace wasn’t wasting any time at all.

  “I lied and told her that…” he stammered, and the blush got even redder, “or maybe I didn’t really lie, but just went along with what Lettie said. She told Anna Grace that I was helping you pick peas tonight, so Anna Grace asked about tomorrow night, and Nadine said that was her birthday party. Then she insisted on Saturday night, and I lied and said I was going fishing with you?” His voice rose at the end, as if he was asking a question.

  “You know anything about picking peas or fishing?” Cricket asked.

  “My granddad had a farm kind of like what you have, and my dad and I both love to fish,” he answered.

  “Then I guess you’d better be at my place about six thirty tonight. After we get done in the garden, I’ll fix us some supper. And after work on Saturday, we’ll dig some fishin’ worms and go to the creek out behind our place. There’s some pretty good-sized bass out there. If we catch some, maybe we’ll fry them for supper one night soon,” she told him.

  “Thank you, Cricket. I thought you might slap me and tell me to never darken
your door again.” He grinned.

  “It will take an army to save you from Anna Grace.” She smiled. “I’m just one soldier, but I’ll do what I can.”

  “Why would you do that for me?” Bryce asked.

  “Because I could never forgive myself if I didn’t help you…” she said, “and because Anna Grace has treated me like dirt since before we even went to school. I wouldn’t want my worst enemy to get tangled up with her, and besides, I can use help in the garden. Jennie Sue and I go fishing about once a month, but she’s not here, so I’d love some company.”

  Bryce took a couple of sips of his coffee and then stood up. “I’m available any evening you need me to help out.”

  “Thank you. I will remember that and just might call on you. And I’m available to use for an excuse any time that Anna Grace tries to hoodwink you into doing something you don’t want to do.” She followed him to the door and out onto the sidewalk. “I’ve got some beans, okra, and tomatoes to unload. I sell a lot of produce out of the bookstore.”

  “I’ll be glad to help you,” he said.

  “I’ll be glad to accept,” she told him. Just wait until Mary Lou heard that he had come over to her bookstore and even unloaded produce. That would be like throwing down a red flag in front of a raging bull. Cricket couldn’t have wiped the grin off her face if she’d been sucking on a lollipop made of alum and lemon juice.

  Chapter Three

  Cricket rushed home after work that evening, changed into a pair of cut-off jean shorts and an oversized T-shirt with a picture of Betty Boop printed on the front, and made sure the kitchen and living room were in good shape. She closed both bedroom doors, gathered up her harvest baskets, and was in the garden when Bryce arrived.

  For the second time that day, she was struck speechless when he got out of his SUV. He was wearing a pair of bibbed overalls and a faded T-shirt. He sat down on the back porch, rolled the legs of his overalls up to his knees, and kicked off his flip-flops. Lord, have mercy! In Cricket’s eyes he was even handsomer than he had been in his khaki slacks and white lab coat. One thing for sure—Anna Grace had her work cut out for her if she had any notion of ever turning him into a guy who liked cocktail parties.