The Strawberry Hearts Diner(33)

“I can take care of myself.” Jancy smiled. “I’ve met his kind before. If we could buy all three of these folks for what they’re worth and sell them for what they think they’re worth, we’d be rich as Midas.”

Vicky laid a hand on her arm. “Please don’t go out with him. Today is enough.”

“Then I will make today count for all it’s worth. And he’s all talk and no walk, Vicky. Even if he did have some powerful juju, he ain’t never dealt with the four women of the diner before.” Jancy touched her cup of wine to Vicky’s.

A wide smile covered Vicky’s face. Jancy was putting down roots and clipping her own wings. Funny how living in Pick did that to a person.

“Now back to work,” Jancy said.

“And I’m going back over there with Waynette and Misty. I want a dozen babies,” Emily said.

“But not until you get through college,” Vicky said. “Until then you can enjoy Waynette’s kids.”

Vicky intended to help the ladies over at the tables, but when she reached the picnic benches, Andy touched her arm and motioned toward the seat beside him. “Come sit a spell. I’ve been getting acquainted with Leonard. He was telling me that his grandparents were some of the original folks here and they raised strawberries.”

She sat down, and Leonard put a cup of wine in her hands. “So did Vicky’s. Her grandpa had that acreage out to the north of the diner,” Leonard said. “Pick was called Strawberry Flats in the beginning. Lots of folks around here had acres and acres of strawberry fields, and folks came from miles away to pick them. They’d bring their own containers and pay by the quart. When they went to get a post office, the folks wouldn’t let them call it Strawberry Flats on account of another town, so Grandpa chose the name Pick. Granny said it didn’t have a thing to do with anything other than Pick was short and easy to spell.”

“Makes sense to me. Did Pick still have a high school back when you went to school?” Andy asked Leonard.

“Oh, yes, but by the time Vicky got to that point, we only had the elementary school. She went to Frankston for junior high and high school,” Leonard said.

Andy turned to face Vicky. “We used to play Frankston in summer baseball. Our paths might have crossed way back then.”

“Maybe so,” Vicky said as she kept a watch on Hilton, who was leading Jancy over to a tree stump, where the two of them sat down—too close to suit Vicky, for sure.

A tall, lanky man with thinning hair and an angular face, Leonard liked to talk. “Looks like Jancy has took up with that fool. Don’t she know better? I swear, the young people today don’t see past a pretty face. You’ll have to have a talk with her, Vicky. She ain’t got a mama or a granny, so it’s up to you to set her straight about men like that.”

“Already did. She knows what she’s doin’,” Vicky said.

“I wouldn’t bank on it, the way she’s lookin’ at him like she could eat him plumb up.”

“Maybe she’s playin’ him like he thinks he is doing to her,” Andy said.

Leonard stood up and looked around. “Well, now, if that’s the case, she’s a smart woman. I wondered why Shane wasn’t puttin’ down that fiddle and moppin’ up this park with that man.”

“Oh?” Andy raised an eyebrow.

“Boy has had a crush on that girl since back when they was kids. His grandpa used to jaw about it. Well, now if I’m goin’ to get a dance in before this party ends, I’d best find Darlene.”

Vicky looked over the crowd, but didn’t see Leonard’s wife or Andy’s dad. “Where’s your dad? I wanted to meet him.”

“He ate and went on back home for his Sunday nap. We don’t mess with his schedule,” Andy answered. “But he found out enough to know that he’s not putting his money into this scheme. A lot of Carlton’s potential investors will dry up—if Dad doesn’t invest in it, then they won’t.”

“They must trust his judgment a lot,” Vicky said.

“He’s good at what he does.” Andy answered.

“Like father, like son.” She grinned.

“Tell that to him if you ever get to know him.”

Vicky nodded toward the band. “Look! Woody is going to take over for Shane. We’ll have to move.”

“Why?” Andy asked.

“Because clogging on grass does not have the same effect that it does on a wood floor. All those guys coming this way are about to move the tables out from under the pavilion so the dancers can do their thing on this wood floor.”