Small Town Rumors(11)

“Why do you kids all have to get on this bandwagon about finding yourself? Why can’t you just be happy with what you inherit? And it’s three miles out here. You goin’ to walk that far?” he asked.

“After my marriage with Percy, I need to be independent, Daddy. I need to prove to myself that I can make it on my own. And yes, I can walk three miles. I used to jog farther than that every day.”

“Okay, baby girl. You’ll call me if you need help. Promise me that, and, honey, your mama will come around. Just give her time.”

“There is one thing, Daddy. You could hire me. I have a business degree.” She set her glass on the floor and crossed her fingers.

“That’s the one thing I can’t do. Wilshire money built my company, and your mama owns more than eighty percent of the stock. She says that she didn’t raise you to work in the company. You’ve been groomed to take her place in the Belles.” Dill’s tone sounded sincerely apologetic.

“After what I’ve been through, the Belles aren’t real high on my bucket list. Am I invited to the party this afternoon?” she asked.

“Honey, that’s one line I will draw in the sand. You come home anytime you want and stay as long as you want,” he answered.

“Can I eat bacon?” she asked.

“I’ll make sure there’s always five pounds in the refrigerator,” he said.

“Then maybe I’ll show up. Mama might not be able to stay mad at me if I’m right there, right?” She could always dream, couldn’t she?

“Don’t count on it. She’ll be nice in front of her Sweetwater Belles, though. Can I pick you up or send a car for you?” Dill asked.

“No, I’ll find my own way.”

“Just promise me one more time to call me if you need anything. Even if it’s only to talk,” Dill said.

“Promise. Love you, Daddy,” she said.

“Right back atcha, kid. See you later.”

Dill hated goodbyes and had always ended his conversations with her by saying that he would see her later. She’d asked him about it once, and he’d said that he’d had an argument with his mother and left by yelling goodbye and slamming the door. She’d died that night and he’d never gotten to apologize.

She laid the phone in her lap and decided that she would go to the party that afternoon, but she wouldn’t stay for the fireworks. Lettie and Nadine needed her to drive them to the football field for the public show. She finished her coffee and went inside to make breakfast.

“So Mama doesn’t work, but she practically owns Daddy’s company. I wonder why she puts up with his flings,” she mused as she got out a skillet and put half a dozen strips of bacon into it.



The Baker place really was three miles from where Jennie Sue lived now, but she had little choice other than to walk. No such thing as a taxi company in Bloom, population less than twelve hundred. She dressed in her best—khaki shorts, a navy-blue knit shirt, and a pair of sandals. She even took time to polish her toenails so she wouldn’t be a complete disappointment to her mother.

She was halfway down the stairs when she saw Lettie standing at the bottom. “Well, hello, Miz Lettie.”

“Same to you. Reckon you could drive me over to Nadine’s place? We’re goin’ to do our cookin’ over there this morning, and then you can have the truck for the day. Ain’t no use in it sittin’ here when you need a ride out to your folks’ place.” Lettie mopped the sweat off her face with a hankie that she pulled from the pocket of her jeans.

Jennie Sue gave a little silent prayer of thanks that she didn’t have to walk all that distance. “Yes, ma’am, I’ll be glad to drive you to Nadine’s. Thank you for the use of the truck.”

“Anytime. Wilma and her husband only had one vehicle, and her husband had to take it to get to work down in Sweetwater, so I let her drive it anytime she needed to. I miss her, but it was time for both of them to retire. They were both from Tennessee before they came here to Bloom about ten years ago, so they moved back.”

“Do you need me to help carry anything out to take to Nadine’s?” Jennie Sue asked, not really caring to hear Wilma’s life story, but then, this was Bloom. Everyone knew everything about their friends and neighbors.

“Oh, no, honey, I done got it all in the truck. You can help me take it inside when we get there. Just be careful of that pretty shirt.” Lettie talked as she got into the passenger side and hit a button on the garage opener.

By the time Jennie Sue was inside, the door was up. “You could rent out this garage in New York City for a lot of money.”

“I wouldn’t live in that place for all the money in the world. I like it just fine here in Bloom where I know everyone.” Lettie touched the device, and the doors rolled down as soon as they were outside. “It’s goin’ to be a hot one. Maybe it’ll cool down a little bit by dark when we go see the fireworks. You goin’ to be back to drive us?”

“I sure will. Shall I bring the truck to Nadine’s and we’ll go from there?”

Lettie nodded. “That’ll be fine, and if you get bored over at your mama’s, come on to Nadine’s and you can help us get ready for our little party.”

“Who all’s comin’?” Jennie Sue asked.

“Much as Amos makes me mad with his constant chatter, his dear wife was my friend, so I invited him and the folks that go to our book club. Nadine always invites her Sunday-school class, so we’ll have quite a little bunch. Then afterward we have desserts at my house. Already got them made and ready to serve. If you’ll help me with them, I’ll keep track of your hours and pay the same as when you clean for me.”

“My benefit package includes the apartment. Your benefit includes anything I do other than the cleaning responsibilities.” Jennie Sue pulled into Nadine’s driveway.

From the outside, the house was shaped a lot like Lettie’s, only it had a carport instead of a garage with an apartment above it. And instead of being painted yellow, it had white clapboard siding. But the big picture window with lacy curtains drawn back to reveal a table with a lamp in the center was the same and reminded Jennie Sue of the stylized pictures that she’d drawn as a child.

“We’ll take the stuff in through the kitchen door.” Lettie got out of the truck and headed to the back to open the tailgate. “I put things close to the end, so neither one of us has to climb up inside. You get that box, and I’ll take these two sacks and then you can come back for the potatoes. So we can expect you back here by eight o’clock?”

“Or before,” Jennie Sue answered as she picked up the box in one hand and the potatoes in another. “Something sure smells good.”

“I’m smokin’ a brisket, two chickens, and a pork loin.” Nadine came from the back of the house. “I just put more pecan chips in the smoker.”

“Are you expecting an army?” Jennie Sue asked.

“Maybe, but if there’s leftovers, we can eat on them all week.” Nadine opened the kitchen door for them. “I love this holiday. Christmas is about presents. Thanksgiving is about families getting together. ’Course since it’s just me and Lettie, that’s a sad one. But the Fourth is a fun time when friends can all gather up and have a good visit.”

Ninety years old and still making a meal for a crowd—Jennie Sue wanted to grow up and be just like her. She tried to imagine her mother or any one of the Sweetwater Belles at ninety, wearing a pair of baggy bibbed overalls and a faded T-shirt. Nope, the visual wouldn’t appear, no matter how hard she squeezed her eyes shut.

“Just put all that on the table. Me and Lettie will get busy and make up the sides that go in the refrigerator first. We ain’t spring chickens anymore, so we sit as much as we work, but we always enjoy the day,” Nadine said.

Lettie poked her thin arm. “Speak for yourself. The only reason we do one big holiday a year is because you are so bossy.”

“Well, Flora was the oldest. She said that gave her the right to boss me. When you came along, it was my turn, so stop your bellyachin’. If you’d wanted someone to boss, you shoulda got married and had kids.” Nadine pulled macaroni noodles from the box.

“I didn’t want a husband tellin’ me what to do,” Lettie snapped. “Women don’t really need a man except for sex, and you don’t have to stand in front of a preacher and promise to love and obey to get that when you need it. Jennie Sue can back me up on that, can’t you?”

Jennie Sue’s face burned. “I think I’ll leave you two to discuss that all by yourselves. I’ll see you this evening, and, Nadine, I’d love it if you’d save me a slice or two of that brisket.”

“Consider it done.” Nadine stopped and gave her a quick hug. “I’m glad you’ve come to work for us, girl.”

“Me, too.” Jennie Sue nodded.

With her face still on fire, she walked out of the house and got into the truck. Then the laughter started. Those two old ladies were a complete hoot. By the time she’d backed out and was on the road to her folks’ place, she was laughing like she hadn’t done in years. She braked at a stop sign and laid her head on the steering wheel. Once she finally got control of herself, she saw the little green sign pointing toward the cemetery.