“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.