by Rae Davies
A cardboard box he had set aside to haul away sat near the back door. Before he could change his mind, he placed his gift inside and went to look for packing peanuts.
o0o
Patsy knew why basket weaving was thought of as therapy for neurotic old women. There were only three things that even came close to calming her like this—Granny’s chamomile tea, Hostess pies, and sex. None of which she had access to at the moment.
She attached the bail handle to her jack-o-lantern and set him on the floor. One down, two to go. With the time crunch, she was going to have to switch plans for the last two. The hamper and picnic basket were both too involved. An egg basket would work; classic, but simple. Selecting some reed, she headed to the kitchen to soak it in Ritt dye. Up to her elbows in robin’s-egg blue, she heard the doorbell ring. Pugnacious began her alarm. Patsy ripped off her rubber gloves and rushed to the door.
Another cardboard carton sat outside her apartment. She picked it up and kicked the door shut behind her.
“Presents,” she announced to Pugnacious.
With the box hugged to her body, she dropped to the floor. She shook the package. “What do you think it is? No return address, but it’s postmarked Daisy Creek.” She waited for Pugnacious to complete her inspection. “You think it’s from Granny? No, she won’t even talk to me on the phone. I don’t think she’d be sending me presents. Will again?” Patsy’s heart skipped a beat at the thought.
Her pug gave a loud snort.
“I know, I know, just open it. But it’s fun to guess, too. Don’t you think?”
Another snort.
“Fine.” Using the scissors she’d been cutting reed with, Patsy sliced open the packing tape.
“Look, a card, and there’s a dog print on it, a real dog print.”
Pugnacious,
I miss you.
Ralph.
“Aren’t you the lucky girl? It’s for you.” With a trembling hand, Patsy set the card to the side and removed the tissue-wrapped object. Tearing off the paper, she sat it on the floor between her and Pugnacious.
“Oh, my God, Pug Girl. It’s a raccoon, with a daisy.”
The small hard rubber figure stood six inches tall. Its tiny masked face was tilted to sniff the daisy that was grasped in its paws. Patsy cradled it in her arms like a newborn baby. She’d never seen anything so… perfect.
“I can’t believe he did this. How did he…?” A tear crept into the corner of Patsy’s eye. She wiped it away with a jerk of her hand.
“I am not crying over a rubber raccoon.” She wasn’t sure who she was trying to convince, but saying the words aloud made her a little stronger.
Pugnacious sniffed the little figure, tilted her chin to the ceiling and began to bay. Laughing, Patsy wiped new tears off her cheeks and rolled the toy to her dog.
“Have fun, girl. It’s nice to be loved.”
o0o
Fog rolled in the next morning, forcing Patsy to drive with her lights on to avoid being lunchmeat in a semi sandwich. As she pulled into her parking place, big, fat drops of rain littered the parking lot.
A day like this made the prospect of being trapped in her gray cell almost cheerful. She grabbed a copy of the Daisy Creek News she’d received in the mail the day before and jogged to the building with it held over her head like a halo.
Lex loitered near the coffee machine, snitching sugar cubes. “Nice day.”
“If you’re a slug.”
He popped a cube in his mouth and crunched down. “You calling me a slug?”
“You feel like a slug?”
“Not today.”
“Well, then?”
He shrugged. “Okay, just checking.”
Patsy shook the rain off her paper.
“What’s that?” Lex stacked two cubes together and slowly demolished them with his molars.
Amazing—disgusting, but amazing. “Can you do three?”
“Sure.” Three perfectly aligned cubes went into his mouth. Within seconds they were dust.
“Impressive.”
He shrugged off the compliment. “What’s that?” He pointed to the paper.
“Oh, an old paper from home.”
“Can I see it?”
“Sure.” Patsy tossed it to him, grabbed a sugar cube, and wandered to her cubby.
Around one, he sauntered over to her desk with the paper tucked under his arm.
“You know this Will Barnes?” he asked.
Patsy started at the name. “Will? Yeah, why?”
“No reason. He sounds righteous, though.”
Confused, Patsy asked, “What do you mean?”
Lex pushed some papers to the side and sat on the corner of her desk. “In your paper, it talks about him buying a bunch of land near where the company wants to put in a smelter.”
“Yeah?” Patsy didn’t realize the Daisy Creek News had printed the story of Will’s greed.
“Brilliant. The dude is brilliant.”
Patsy blinked. That wasn’t exactly how she’d been thinking of it.
Lex sighed. “It doesn’t say it in your little rag there, but this Will, he’s negotiating for the whole area. See, he bought a key piece of property, and he won’t let go of it until they agree to a price he ‘deems fair’ for all the land owners.”
Patsy frowned. Lex had this all wrong. “Where’d you hear that?”
“I got ears. Half the people ‘round here don’t think I use them, but I do. The powers are all twitchy about your pal Will, but he’s got them by the jewels. This land is the best spot for the smelter, and he knows it.” Lex crossed his arms and leaned against the padded wall of Patsy’s cubby.
“He also claims he doesn’t care whether they build it there or not and won’t even consider selling it until they meet his price. Even then, the sale might not go through. He’s hired some hotshot attorney to work up the contract. It’s got all kinds of stuff about testing along the drive route, clean-up, that kind of thing.” Lex chuckled.
Patsy felt sick. She had jumped to the worst conclusion as soon as the smallest piece of evidence was given to her, and that evidence hadn’t even been presented by a reliable source. She’d believed Will was greedy and selling out Daisy Creek because of what Jessica, of all people, had said. She’d judged Will, betrayed him in thought if not deed, just like she’d been betrayed five years ago.
He’d trusted her, and she’d walked away without even a phone call. And he’d been sending packages. Why was he doing that? He should hate her. After the confusion wore off, before the apathy set in, there was hatred.
Why wasn’t Will there?
o0o
The fog never lifted. It seemed to roll off the river continuously like cold out of an icebox. It was early for the weather to turn so ugly, but Patsy didn’t question it. It fit her mood.
After staying late to avoid the traffic she knew would be the result of hours of foul weather, she spun through White Castle for a bag of burgers and drove home. A yard from her door, the fog gave way to rain, which almost instantly converted to hail. The hard pellets beating against her, she ran up the walk. Another box greeted her.
She stood staring at it, icy BBs bruising her back and face. Shoving the key into the lock, she opened the door and rammed the box inside.
Seated in one of the obnoxious brocade wing chairs that came with the apartment, Pugnacious peered down her snub nose at Patsy.
“Another box.” Patsy attempted to put a light tone in her voice. The pug continued to sit in judgment. “Come on, we don’t know it’s from him.”
Pugnacious hopped down, sat next to the box, and snorted.
“I guess we should open it.” Patsy looked at Pugnacious for confirmation.
“That’s what I thought.” Patsy trudged to the kitchen and got the scissors. “I guess I’ll do the honors.” Repeating the ritual, she ripped open the tape and flipped back the flap.
Inside was the ugliest, most lopsided egg basket she had ever seen. “Look at t
he bottom.” She held it up to her dog. “An egg would fall right through there. Why would he send me this?” She poked her fingers through reed. “It’s horrible.” Pugnacious blinked at her. “You don’t think—”
Patsy stared at her fingers where they stuck out the bottom. “He didn’t—”
Glancing down, she saw a note mixed in with the Styrofoam peanuts. After a deep breath, she flipped it open.
I need you.
Will
Patsy stared at the words. Need was tricky. It could get you into a lot of messes, thinking you needed something, almost as bad as wanting or loving.
Patsy needed to follow her dream, but she wanted to be with Will. That left one issue: love.
o0o
“What’s up with you?” Lex rolled up to the computer where Patsy sat.
“Nothing, just checking code.” The black lines of print blurred and swayed.
“They called you in yet?”
“For what?” Rubbing her eyes, Patsy blinked at him. Another sleepless night. She hadn’t had a good slumber since spring—before Will came back.
“The Sunrise family found out you’re from Daisy Creek. Probably been watching you. They’re going to ask for your help with this Will.”
“They’re what?”
“Yep, they had the sister in a few days ago, but she made no headway with him. Since you’re from the area, they’re hoping you’ll be able to pull some kind of local need angle—you know, the smelter will benefit the whole county, he’s being selfish, only thinking of the few who own the land, that kind of thing.”
Lex tipped back and threw a handful of candy corn in his mouth. “Word at the water cooler is, they’re gonna make you an offer you can’t refuse.” He spoke around the candy.
Great, just what she needed, a mob reference to make a bad choice worse.
“Patsy?” Kelsey chewed on the end of a mangled ballpoint.
Grinning, Lex formed a gun with his hand. “BadaBING.” As Patsy followed Kelsey, he shoveled another fistful of candy into his mouth.
“Have a seat.” Kelsey pushed the door shut.
Picking her normal spot, Patsy balanced on the edge of the cushion.
“I have great news for you, a great offer.”
“An offer I can’t refuse?” Patsy asked.
“What?” Kelsey paused in unwrapping an Egg McMuffin.
“Never mind.”
“One of the vice presidents called down this morning.” The smell of toasted bread and fried egg wafted over to Patsy, reminding her she’d skipped her cereal bar this morning.
“There’s a job opening up we think you’d be perfect for.” Kelsey spread grape jelly inside the sandwich. Patsy preferred blackberry, but grape was good.
“It’s kind of a liaison job,” Kelsey continued.
A rumble echoed from Patsy’s stomach.
“You did such a good job getting the testimonials. This is along those lines. You’d work with local people, answering their questions, smoothing out any bumps.” A smear of jelly stained Kelsey’s finger.
Patsy licked her lips. “Don’t you have people that do that now?”
“Yeah,” Kelsey sounded unsure. “You’d work with them, but you have more of a local tie. The VPs think you might connect better.
“And there’d be perks,” Kelsey continued. “If you did a good job here in Missouri, you’d have a shot at traveling to our operations in Australia.”
Patsy’s gaze snapped from the Egg McMuffin to Kelsey’s face. “Australia?”
“Yeah, we have a huge operation in Australia. It’s one of the biggest producers of lead and zinc in the world. Of course, it would be more money too.” Wiping the jelly off her finger, Kelsey took a giant bite of sandwich. Patsy waited for her to swallow. “Probably ten grand more to start.”
Ten grand more? And Australia?
“Think about it. HR is working on a formal offer now. It should be ready by the end of the week.” The sandwich returned to Kelsey’s mouth.
Patsy stood to leave.
“Oh, Patsy?” Kelsey reached into the paper bag and pulled out an apple pie. “You hungry?”
Pie in hand, Patsy wandered back to her desk. Australia. If Granny found out, there’d be more than a horse head in her bed.
Chapter 21
Will replaced the phone in its cradle. Disconnected. What did that mean? Tired of waiting for Patsy, he’d given in and called, using the number Granny had given him two weeks ago. But now this. What did it mean? Was she coming home? Or just moved to a new place? Would she have moved so soon?
Maybe Dwayne would know something. Will grabbed his laptop from the black marble top of the newly refinished washstand and shoved it into a case. The two were driving to Branson today to scope out sites for Dwayne’s addition to DaisyGal.
The ding of his front doorbell interrupted his task.
After hurdling a warehouse worth of boxes, he yanked open the oak door. His sister smoothed her hair back before pressing her cheek to his. He should have installed a peephole.
“What are you doing here, Lisa? I told you on the phone, I’m not lowering my price. If Sunrise wants that property, they’re going to have to pay fair market value.”
“Spoken like a true Barnes. At least you haven’t lost all your senses.” Will’s father folded his sunglasses and slid them into his pocket.
Will glanced at his sister. Her smug smile told him he wasn’t hallucinating. “Dad, what are you doing back?”
“Not just me. Don’t be rude, Will. Help your mother and...”
Glancing at the Mercedes parked in his drive, Will saw her before his father could finish.
“...your fiancée.”
o0o
The next morning, Patsy pressed her hand against the bumpy rock, embracing the pain as it cut into her palm. She was home, Daisy Creek. Had she made the right decision? Taking a deep breath, she pushed open the door and walked into her grandmother’s living room.
Granny sat in front of the TV. An announcer screamed as The Undertaker took center ring. With her eyes still on the screen, she asked, “So, you back, are you?”
“Yeah.”
Pugnacious bounded forward into Granny’s lap. Scratching the pug behind her ear, she said, “There’s tea in the kitchen and fresh sheets on the bed.”
Patsy rolled her suitcase toward her room. Granny’s voice stopped her. “I’m glad you’re back, sis, you and the hound.”
Smiling, Patsy went to unpack.
An hour later, Patsy wandered into the kitchen. She’d called her parents and Ruthann just to check in. Both knew she was coming home. She’d called them after she talked to Kelsey. It hadn’t taken long to shut down her life in St. Louis. She’d worked out a deal with her boss, allowing her to move back to Daisy Creek before her two weeks’ notice was complete. Her lease wasn’t up for a while, but she’d disconnected her phone and cable. Now here, she was unemployed, unfettered by commitments, and unsure what to do next.
There was one person she hadn’t talked to yet, but she had to. The person most responsible for her coming home. Will. There was too much to say to do it over the phone. She needed to see him in person, make sure she wasn’t repeating history, make sure his boxes and notes meant what she thought, what she hoped.
Rummaging around in the cupboard, she found a Hostess pie. After pouring herself a glass of tea, she sat down to enjoy the pastry and contemplate the rest of her life. She bit into the pie, letting the filling melt in her mouth. Delicious. For some reason, she hadn’t had a Hostess pie since she’d left. A chunk of glistening apple fell onto the table. Will liked Hostess pies too—pudding ones. She never would have guessed him to be a Ninja Turtle pie fan.
The image of him sitting at this table less than a month earlier flashed through her head. Could you make a fried pudding pie? Suddenly, it was very important she find out.
The clattering of pots and pans, not to mention the smoke, cussing, and aroma of burnt pudding lured Granny into the
kitchen a little before lunch.
“Sis, what kind of mess you concocting in here?”
A pudding-coated Patsy waved her arms in disgust. “Pudding pies.”
“Uh huh.” Granny flicked a misshapen mass with her finger. “Any reason in particular?”
“No.”
“That Barnes boy, he was asking about puddin’ pies, wasn’t he?”
“Maybe. I don’t remember.”
“Uh huh.” Granny pulled her apron off the hook where it hung near the refrigerator. Tying it around her waist, she said, “Nothing wrong with going after what you want. I think I told you that once before. Now throw that mess out. You know the secret is in the crust. You want to keep pudding inside, you’re gonna need a nice tough crust.”
o0o
Patsy adjusted the cloth covering the pies in her basket. They weren’t perfect, but they were close. Granny’d been a huge help. She’d fussed when Patsy mixed up the glaze, but she’d given in.
Twisting the bell of the Barnett house, she waited for Will to answer, to learn the fate of the rest of her life.
o0o
The trip had been a success. Who’d have thought Dwayne would have such a good idea? Will flipped on his blinker, leaving Branson behind, and glanced at his passenger. Dwayne leaned back in the seat, his cap covering his eyes. On the trip down, Will had been too preoccupied with thoughts of his uninvited guests for much conversation. Once there, all talk had centered on DaisyGal, but he needed to know about Patsy. How could he work up to it without being obvious?
“That went well, don’t you think?” he asked.
Dwayne replied, “Yeah.”
“What’s wrong? I’d think you’d be pleased. The shop idea was a good one, and starting in Branson is perfect.”
“I don’t know.” Dwayne stared out the window. “I guess I never thought of myself as running some little shop. Kind of girly, don’t you think?”
Will laughed under his breath. “No, I don’t think. Lots of men run shops. You should be proud. It was your baby, down to finding the location and figuring out how to keep the inventory stocked. People spend a lot of money getting degrees in marketing to learn how to do that.”
