No Easy Solution (Crowley County Series Book 1)

by T. E. Killian

  Every time the door opened, he had to do something he prided himself on not having to do much of during a sermon, look at his notes.

  He was still looking down at his notes to find his place from the last interruption when the doors opened again. He didn’t look up at first as two short, plump women came in and sat on the back pew.

  When he looked back up, he almost swallowed his tongue. His mother and his Aunt Eunice were grinning at him and giving him little finger waves from the back pew. He totally lost it then. Later, he realized that he’d backed up and repeated quite a bit of what he’d already said, but somehow he made it through the rest of his sermon.

  When the service was over and he was standing at the doors as everyone left the building, his mother and aunt were the last ones to come up to him. They both took turns giving him rib crushing hugs and telling him how much they missed him.

  He didn’t get a chance to say anything until Eunice stepped back from hugging him and said, “Boy o boy, Gilbert, you sure did look good up there in that pulpit.”

  Gil ignored his aunt and zeroed in on his mother. “Mom, what are you two doing here? I thought you weren’t going to come down here before the fall.”

  His mother smiled up at him as if he were still four years old and said, “Now, Gilbert, I don’t think I like that tone of voice you just used with me. After all, I am your mother.”

  “But Mom, I’m twenty-nine years old now. I’m not your little boy anymore.” From somewhere, he would never know, he gathered up the courage to say. “Mom!” Then he looked at his aunt, “Eunice! I want both of you to promise me right now that you will only call me Gil from now on.”

  When they both gave him patronizing looks, he said, “I mean it. I’ll put you both right back in your car and send you back to St. Louis if you don’t promise me right now.”

  His mother started to sniffle but his aunt said, “Sakes alive, Flo, I do think our little boy has finally grown up.” Her laughter rang out in the empty foyer.

  “Mom?”

  The sisters looked at each other the way Gil had seen them do thousands of times before. And also as he seen thousands of times before, they nodded at each other, winked, and turned back to him.

  His mother was usually the one to speak for both of them. She always said it was because she was the oldest, but Gil knew better. They were twins and his mother was only ten minutes older than Eunice.

  This time, she said, “Oh all right, if you’re going to get mean with your dear old mother and aunt, then I guess we’ll just have to do it your way. After all, we’re tired and I for one, am not about to get back into that car and drive back to St. Louis.”

  Gil breathed a sigh of relief and hoped it was not just a bit premature.

  Since both of the sisters claimed to be too tired to drive another ten feet, Gil drove Eunice’s Cadillac up the hill to the parsonage with the two of them piled into the backseat.

  As soon as Gil had carried all their luggage into the house, and there were three large suitcases each, they sat in the living room. He knew he was in trouble when the women just sat there staring at him.

  Gil figured he might as well get everything out in the open. “Okay, Mom, Eunice, why are you here?”

  His mom looked at Eunice who was looking back at her. “Well, if you must know, first Eunice’s bunion began to give her fits right before her rheumatism started in and neither of them ever give her any trouble this time of the year. But that’s not all. I had a dream last night that you were being chased.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest as if that settled it all and said, “So, you see, it was as plain as the nose on your face that you’re in trouble down here and we just had to come down here and help you get out of it.”

  With that said, she and Eunice both leaned back against the sofa cushions, crossed their arms across their chests, and smiled at him.

  If Gil hadn’t had so much practice, he’d never have been able to follow that line of reasoning, but he did understand it perfectly.

  “But Mom, I only have one bed and that sofa you’re sitting on doesn’t even make into a bed.”

  Eunice beamed at him and spoke this time. “Not to worry Gilbert . . .” She giggled and said, “I mean Gil. Your mother and I can sleep on the bed tonight and you can sleep on the sofa. Then tomorrow, we’ll all go down to the furniture store and get two more beds.” She leaned forward. “They do have a furniture store in this little town don’t they?”

  Gil was getting dizzy, as he usually did, trying to keep up with the convoluted logic of the Harris twins, as they were called back in the old neighborhood.

  Then something else dawned on him. If they were talking about buying beds, then it was a sure thing that they were planning to stay for a while. Great! That was all he needed with everything else that was going on around him.

  Should he tell them about the harassment he’d been receiving? He decided to think on that overnight.

  “Okay, just let me get sheets and a pillow for the sofa and you two can have the bed for tonight.” He thought for a moment. “And tomorrow, we’ll talk about any other arrangements that may need to be made.”

  After his mother and aunt had gone to bed, Gil sat on the sofa thinking. How could his life get any more messed up than it was right now? Talk about complicated. He didn’t know what was going to happen next with the harassment he was receiving. Yet, here he was with his mother and his aunt on his hands, and in the way.

  Wait! That was all the reason he needed to send his mother and aunt packing first thing tomorrow morning. He’d stress the danger they could be in by staying here.

  Yes, that was it. Now, he could lie down and try to get some sleep on his sofa. He soon realized that he certainly hadn’t had sleeping on it in mind when he’d purchased it.

  Chapter Ten

  Gil was up at his normal six o’clock. That usually gave him an hour of quiet time with his Bible each morning before he went down to the church office. But not this morning.

  Before he even opened his eyes, he heard his mother and aunt talking in the kitchen not far away. The next thing he was aware of was the mixed aromas of fresh coffee and bacon frying. He didn’t usually eat a big breakfast but it looked as though that was about to change.

  He grabbed his sheets and pillow and slipped quietly down the hallway to the stairs hoping to get upstairs without being stopped by the invading women in his kitchen.

  As he stepped out of the shower a few minutes later the thought hit him that not just his daily routine, but his whole life was about to change. He shook his head. Not all of those changes were going to be good ones either, at least not from his viewpoint.

  He took his time dressing before heading down to the kitchen and what he knew was going to happen when he arrived.

  His mother was standing at the stove with her back to him, but Eunice was sitting at the table drinking a cup of coffee and reading the morning newspaper.

  When she looked up and saw him, she said, “Flo, he’s up.”

  Florence turned around and frowned at Gil. He knew from experience that that look from his mother didn’t bode well for him. He was surprised when she merely said, “Breakfast is ready, let’s eat.”

  When he sat down, she placed a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast in front of him. He knew better than to protest either the amount of food or cholesterol on his plate.

  Both women finished their breakfasts before Gil did and they sat their forks in their plates and sat there staring at him.

  When he finished and placed his fork in his plate, he knew he was in for it. They looked at each other and Eunice nodded at her sister. He knew that was their signal for his mother to begin, so he sipped some coffee and mentally braced himself for the explosion that he knew was coming.

  “Gilbert.” At the stern look he gave her, she corrected herself. “Gil. I don’t suppose you’ve seen this morning’s paper yet.” She looked at the paper sitting on the table between her and her sister. “No, I
guess you haven’t.”

  Gil still didn’t say anything since he knew that nothing was expected . . . yet.

  Florence cleared her throat loudly and said, “There was an article in the paper talking about all the trouble you and the owner of one of the bars in this town have been having.”

  Gil just nodded, knowing she wasn’t finished yet.

  Tears began to gather in her eyes as she spoke again. “Did someone really shoot a gun at you? And if so, just exactly when were you planning to tell us?”

  Now it was time for him to talk and he’d have to do some fast-talking too. “Mom, I was going to tell you everything this morning.” He pointed at the newspaper. “You know how the media distorts things most of the time.”

  She glared at him and said, “Did you or did you not get shot at?”

  “Yes, Mom, but the sheriff said he didn’t think they were trying to hit me. He thinks they just wanted to scare me out of town, that’s all.”

  “That’s all! That’s all! I think that’s quite enough young man. In fact, I think it’s more than enough. It’s too much.”

  He knew what he was about to say would not go over well with them, but he had to try anyway. “Mom, that’s why I think it would be best for you and Eunice if you went back to St. Louis today. I don’t need to be worrying about the two of you while we’re trying to get all this nonsense stopped.”

  He hadn’t really expected a response to that so he wasn’t too surprised when he didn’t get one.

  Eunice lowered her eyebrows at him and started to talk then paused and said, “Gil? It says here that this bar owner is a woman about your age. How well do you know her?”

  He knew she had been about to call him Gilbert but had caught herself. Maybe he was making some progress after all. Then it dawned on him that her question was a loaded one. No matter how he answered it, the two most important women in his life were going to think that there was now a third one. Just as there was for everything else going on in his life right now, there was no easy solution to this predicament.

  “Yes, Eunice, I know Mary Jo Early. We’ve met a few times and now we’re trying to work together with her cousin the sheriff to put a stop to all this harassment.”

  He knew they would gang up on him now and wasn’t surprised when his mother said, “You didn’t answer all of your aunt’s question. Just exactly how well do you know this Mary Jo Early?”

  A possible solution, as least to this one problem, suddenly popped into his mind. “If you really must know, Mom, I like her and I would certainly like to get to know her much better.”

  Florence yelled, “Aha! There’s your answer Eunice.”

  Gil knew that if he didn’t jump in right away, he’d lose his chance. “Now, if you two will just please go back to St. Louis, I might be able to get to know Jo better. But if you stay, you’ll just get in the way.”

  His aunt’s husband had deserted her when Gil was three and his parents had divorced when he was five so Eunice had lived with the two of them ever since. Therefore, he had been reared by two women who were out to get even with any man who was unfortunate enough to get in their way. He had often wondered if they both regretted that he was male instead of female.

  Well, all that was history and better left alone. What he faced now was the same thing he’d always faced whenever he happened to show an interest in a girl or woman. They both thought that no woman would ever be good enough for their little Gilbert. Never mind that he was ten inches taller than they were, he would always be their little boy.

  The sisters looked at each other and as if he had not said any of what he just did, they nodded their heads, winked, and said, “Yes!” in unison.

  They turned back to Gil and Eunice said, “When do we get to meet her?” She pointed to the newspaper where there was a photo of Jo. “She looks like a very nice young lady.”

  Something was drastically wrong here. It was as if they actually wanted him to find a wife. Not only that, but they seemed to have picked Jo. Strange didn’t go far enough. He wanted to ask them what they did with his mother and his aunt.

  “Didn’t either of you hear anything I’ve said for the last five minutes?”

  Florence smiled at her son and said, “Sure we did son. We just decided that you need help in that area as well as the other. So we’re more determined than ever to stay right here and help you through all of your problems.”

  Before he could think of a response, Eunice said, “Okay, Gil, take us to this furniture store. We need two beds and a few other assorted things for our new rooms.”

  Gil wanted to butt his head into a wall or something. Then he wondered if it was too late to run away from home.

  The women went into his bedroom to change, leaving Gil with his thoughts, which were running in so many circles that he didn’t know what to do but simply follow them as he had most of his life. But where would that get him now, especially with Jo? He guessed he might as well forget about anything ever happening between him and her.

  With his mother and aunt in the way, they would probably run Jo far away from him.

  * * *

  Jo felt tired and irritable when she crawled out of bed that morning. She definitely wasn’t ready for this day. Mondays were the days that she usually worked from eleven am to closing. She wasn’t sure she would be able to make it to eleven tonight. Too much had happened lately to drag her down.

  After Carla left for school, she was sitting at the table drinking one last cup of coffee before going downstairs to start her prep work. When the phone rang, she almost didn’t answer it but it was Grady, her bartender.

  “Hey Jo, I’m feeling much better this morning, and if you don’t mind I can take your shift today.”

  Jo knew that Grady needed the money and he had to have really been sick to miss his shift last night.

  “Sure, Grady, that would be great. I don’t know if I got what you had or not, but I sure can use the rest today.”

  After she hung up the phone, her mind was a blank for several minutes. She just sat there and finished her coffee. When she did, she remembered that she needed some things from the drug store. Well, she might as well go take a shower and make herself at least look presentable whether she felt it or not.

  It was eleven-thirty when she stepped out of the drug store, which was in the same strip mall as Thelma’s. It was such a beautiful day, not even too hot yet and it was so good knowing that she wasn’t going to have to tend the bar the rest of the day and evening. She decided that she didn’t want to go home and just sit by herself. She suddenly felt like treating herself to a real lunch, rather than something off her grill. She wanted roast beef and mashed potatoes.

  She had just made her decision and started walking toward the café when two short, plump women burst out of the furniture store as she was passing it. They were talking so fast that Jo couldn’t have understood them if she’d tried. And she knew it wasn’t polite to try. They must not have been watching where they were going because, before Jo could move to avoid them, they both bumped into her.

  Two high-pitched screeches hurt her ears as both women jumped back and said, “Oh my” in unison.

  Jo was busily backing up and murmuring her apologies when she noticed Gil step out of the store right behind the two women. He had a big grin on his face.

  She perked up when she saw him and was a little surprised at his grin. She opened her mouth to say hello to him when one of the women between them squinted at her and exclaimed, “That’s her!” She looked back at Gil and said, “Isn’t that her, Gil?”

  Jo was thoroughly confused for a moment. Then Gil stepped forward and said, “Jo, I’d like for you to meet my mother, Florence Turner.” He laid his hand on one woman’s shoulder and then the other. “And this is my Aunt Eunice McCoy. Ladies, I would like for you to meet Mary Jo Early.”

  She was overwhelmed, and could only get out, “Jo.” Then she regained her composure slightly and added, “I’m glad to meet you ladies.”
>
  Both women came at her with their arms outstretched. The only thought that came to Jo’s mind was that they were both shorter than she was. Then she looked closer and realized they had to be twins. They had switched places and now Jo didn’t know which one was Gil’s mother and which one was his aunt.

  Before she knew what was going on, they both threw their arms around her and hugged her at the same time.

  Mercy! What was going on here?

  Gil was next to her now. “Mom, Eunice, please don’t crush Jo, okay?”

  When the women stepped back, Jo was able to breathe again. Did she miss something here? The way they were acting, it seemed that they knew her and that they thought she and Gil knew each other much better than at least she thought they did.

  She looked at Gil wondering what he had told them.

  He must have guessed what that look meant for he leaned toward her and said in a low voice, almost in her ear, “They saw that article about us in the paper this morning and jumped to a huge conclusion.” He tried to smile. “Sorry.”

  “That’s okay . . . I think.” Now that she knew a little more about what was going on, she was somewhat relieved.

  He stepped back, still smiling at her and said, “You must have the day off.”

  When she nodded, the two women looked at each other and one of them exclaimed, “That’s just perfect, isn’t it Flo?”

  The other one nodded, smiled at Jo, and said, “You can have lunch with us then.”

  Before Jo could say anything, Gil said, “We were just on our way to Thelma’s for lunch and I would like it if you would join us.”

  That surprised her. Gil had always seemed so reserved, even shy around her before. Then she thought maybe he’d just been that way because he sensed that any other approach would have pushed her far away. That thought pleased her more than she would have thought.

  She started to answer but both of the other women said, in unison again, “We’d love to have you too.”

  She tried to smile at all three of them and said, “I would be happy to, thank you.”