What Matters in Mayhew (The Beanie Bradsher Series Book 1)

by Cassie Dandridge Selleck

  “I wish you the best. I mean that.”

  “I don’t wanna leave it this way. I don’t want it to be all awkward and dumb…”

  “It’ll be fine next time I see you, and I hope that’s soon. Take care of yourself, and don’t be a stranger.”

  Will brushed past Beanie and left the room, throwing a quick, “See ya, Bean,” over his shoulder.

  “See ya, Will,” Beanie said to the empty room.

  Suvi stepped out of the truck when he saw Beanie exit the front door. In a few strides, he was at the passenger door, holding it open for her to climb in.

  “Everything okay?” Suvi asked again.

  “Yeah, I just forgot to tell him goodbye, that’s all.”

  Bean folded her crinolines under her legs, adjusted her neckerchief, and busied herself fastening the seat belt. For some reason, she couldn’t look at Suvi either. Her face felt hot and her hat heavy. She placed the blue Stetson on the seat between her and Suvi, who was already turning the key in the ignition.

  “I’m worried about you, Beatrice Bradsher,” Suvi said, and backed the car down the driveway.

  22

  Moving In

  Sweet Lee and Bubba John’s doublewide mobile home was not nearly big enough for another adult, so figuring out where to put Beanie Bradsher was a real dilemma. Sweet’s plan was to let B-Kay sleep on the couch, so Beanie could have one of the bunk beds in the girls’ room. Daisy still slept in the well-worn crib, which was a hand-me-down when the twins were born. With only three bedrooms, and none of them terribly large, it was a tight fit in the Atwater household. Of course, B-Kay was not all that thrilled with the idea, but she brightened up when Bubba John reminded her she’d be able to watch TV long after the boys were in bed. Unfortunately, no one stopped to consider how much room Beanie’s attire required.

  When Suvi pulled into the Atwater’s front yard, Beanie took a deep breath and exhaled with a whistle.

  “Kind’ly small, ain’t it?”

  Suvi nodded, but said nothing.

  “They’s seven people livin’ in that thing.”

  “Eight now,” Suvi said. “You sure you want to do this?”

  “Sweet needs me, and I told her I would. Cain’t hardly go back on my word.”

  “I wondered how it was going to work, but I guess I figured the house would be bigger. I take it you’ve never been here, either.”

  “Naw,” Beanie said. “Ain’t never been invited before and I don’t exactly get out this far on my bicycle. Good thing Bubba’s plannin’ on fixin’ up his grandparents old place with his lottery winnings. Oh, shoot, I kind’ly promised I wouldn’t say nothin’ about the house. Sweet don’t know. It’s a surprise.”

  “How’s he going to pull that one off?”

  “Beats me, but he thinks he can do it by Christmas.”

  “Have you thought about where you’re going to live once Sweet’s recuperated?”

  “Well, not exactly…why?” she turned to face him, surprise and delight in her eyes.

  “I wonder if they might want to sell you this place. It’s just the right size for one person and you’d have plenty of room for a garden.”

  Beanie’s face fell and she slumped back in her seat. “That’d never work.”

  “I don’t see why not.”

  “How would I get to town?”

  “Well, I could take you sometimes,” Suvi said, missing the point entirely. “Anyway, it’s something to think about.”

  “I’ll say it’s something to think about,” Beanie said glumly.

  “Welp,” Suvi said, as Bubba John opened the front door of the doublewide and took five deck stairs in two strides. “Looks like there’s no turning back now.”

  “Suvi!” Bubba John extended his hand as Suvi exited the truck. “I’m surprised to see you! Beanie told me somebody’d offered to bring her out, but I assumed it was Will.”

  Suvi tried to smile, but it came out more like a grimace. “Nope, just me.”

  “Ahhh, so…is this…” Bubba John said, waving a finger between Suvi and Beanie, “a thing now?”

  “Oh, Lord,” Beanie said under her breath, then smoothed her skirt as if her life depended on it.

  “Did I say something wrong?” Bubba John asked.

  “No, no…it’s fine,” Suvi said. “It’s not really public yet, but yes, we are…whatever you call it these days.”

  Beanie excused herself and went inside to greet the kids.

  Bubba John and Suvi stood for a moment, the awkward silence deafening.

  “I guess we should just take all this stuff inside, then.” Bubba John pointed at the back of the truck.

  “I’ll follow you,” Suvi said.

  In the grand scheme of things, Beanie traveled fairly light. What little furniture and housewares she owned were left in the flood-damaged home she vacated in March. Her clothing, however, was another story entirely. The boots and hats and matching cowgirl outfits took up more than one closet’s worth of space. Beanie had only to enter the front door to know with utmost certainty extra space was not to be found in a household now numbering eight.

  As Bubba John and Suvi piled box after box in the living room, T-Ray pointed out the obvious, and none too gently.

  “Um, Dad? Where the heck are we going to put all that stuff?”

  Suvi shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other.

  B-Kay entered the room in time to hear Bubba John say, “I guess it’ll have to go in the closet in the girls’ room. That’s where she’s sleeping.”

  B-Kay squinted and cocked her head sideways. “I don’t think so, Dad. We’re pretty packed in there, even without Daisy’s diapers. I know Mom needs help, but I’m not sure we thought this one all the way through. Sorry, Ms. Beanie, no offense.”

  “None taken,” Beanie said, though it came out more like a question.

  “I think I’ll just be goin’ now, unless there’s something else you need.” Suvi, normally poised and confident, looked like he didn’t quite know where to put himself.

  Beanie threw her hands up and shook her head. Whatever, is what she thought but dared not say out loud.

  T-Ray offered the only solution that would work, which was to bring Bubba John’s old Airstream home from his hunting camp for a month or so. With hunting season just getting started, Bubba John was not thrilled with the idea. On the other hand, he was pretty sure this season was a wash if there was any hope of getting the house ready by Christmas. They left Beanie’s boxes by the door and made plans to retrieve the camper in the morning.

  Beanie felt immense relief. It was true; she did not think this through very well. In her rush to leave an awkward situation at The Château, she forgot about the fact that she never shared a room with anyone in her life. And, from the looks of things, that may well be what she ought to have engraved on the headstone she ordered.

  ***

  The next afternoon, Bubba John and T-Ray drove out to the hunt camp to retrieve the travel trailer. It took some serious effort to dislodge the aging behemoth from the spot where it sat anchored for the past five years. First on the agenda was to check the tires for dry rot. With at least ten miles to go getting it back to the house, they could not afford a blowout. The tires still had tread and no flat spots, so Bubba John reckoned he’d chance it.

  While T-Ray raised the trailer jacks, Bubba John checked the interior for loose items that might break during transport. Tucking everything he could into the cabinets in the kitchen, he stuck the coffee pot in the sink and the tower fan in the non-functioning shower stall and called it done. It smelled a bit like campfire and dirty tennis shoes, but they could clean it when they got home. By the time they got the camper attached to the back of the truck, both father and son were out of sorts.

  “I don’t know why she’s even coming here, Dad.” T-Ray said.

  “Who, Beanie?”

  “No, Dad…the Queen of England.”

  “Hey, what was that for? I just asked a question, T
. Jesus,” Bubba John shifted in his seat and eyed his son.

  “Why do we even need her? We can handle things ‘til Mom gets well. It’s not like it’s gonna be forever.”

  “I already explained that,” Bubba John said. “The doctor won’t let her come home unless there’s someone to take care of her. And you know your mama, she does not like being away from you guys.”

  “Well, why’s it gotta be Beanie Bradsher, for crying out loud. She’s just embarrassing, if you ask me.” T-Ray leaned toward the passenger door and dropped his head into the corner of the seat. “I hate this whole thing.”

  “Thomas Raymond Atwater,” Bubba John slipped into Sweet’s role like he’d done it all his life. “That doesn’t even sound like you. What do you have against Beanie? She’s one of the nicest people I know, even if she is a little odd.”

  “I’m not talkin’ about how she is, Dad. I’m talkin’ about who she is. And the whole town is talkin’, too. You’d be embarrassed, too, if you went to my school.”

  “Son, you have got to ignore stupid people. Seriously.”

  “I wish it was that easy, Dad, but it’s not. I’m sick of it. So’s B-Kay. And now you have her moving in, for crying out loud.”

  As they approached the turn-off for their road, Bubba John slowed the truck to a crawl.

  “I need you to work with me here, son. You can’t make Beanie feel unwelcome. If she leaves, I’ll never be able to get this house done by Christmas. How are you gonna feel if you spoil your mom’s surprise?”

  “Oh, surprise my ass, Dad. That house is a wreck.”

  “I’ve made a lot of progress, T. I’ll take you out to see it if it’ll make you feel better, but I am working on it and it is going to be done by Christmas.”

  “Right…”

  “Look, Son, whether you believe me or not, I need Beanie’s help. If we don’t have someone taking care of your mom, she’ll have to go back to the hospital and stay until she’s well. Do you want that?”

  T-Ray snorted and squirmed in his seat. “I want her well,” he said. “I want things back to normal.”

  “Then, Beanie Bradsher is your only option and I’m not kidding, son, you’d better be nice.”

  Beanie was waiting outside when they pulled down the long driveway and made a wide circle around the back of the double-wide. She had already swept the concrete pad where the camper would be set.

  “Lord, Bubba John,” Beanie said, leaning on her broom, “that’s the biggest trailer I ever saw. Looks like I’ll have plenty of room in that thing.”

  “Hope so,” Bubba John said. “T-Ray, unhook those running lights for me and run down that tongue jack while I set these blocks.”

  T-Ray said nothing, just did as his father asked, then went inside as soon as his chores were done.

  “Go on in, Beanie, and, uh, welcome home,” Bubba John grinned and braced himself for a reaction.

  Beanie fumbled with the door handle and stepped up in to the camper. The smell hit her first. “Whooo, Lord,” Beanie gasped. “I think we might need to air this thing out.”

  “What, you don’t like Eau de Wet Dog?”

  “It’s a bit noisome, that’s for sure. I’ll just open up some windows.”

  “Yeah, well, good luck with that,” Bubba John said. “Some of ‘em work. And if you open up those vents on top, there’s some fans that’ll pull some of the rank outta there.”

  By the end of the day, the camper was livable, but just barely. Beanie was fairly certain she just bit off more than she could chew.

  23

  Something to Talk About

  News of Beanie’s departure from The Château spread, as Beanie would say, like bedbugs in a roach motel. It was the main topic of conversation at the café Wednesday morning. Clyde and Randy didn’t want to appear like they approved of the sordid affair, but secretly they were a little in awe of Bubba John’s prowess. They’d never heard of anyone moving his mistress into his own house with his wife and children. Well, there was the one incident where Leo Hornbuckle brought his cyber-girlfriend to stay in the rental cottage next door, but Leo’s wife caught on pretty quick and called the woman’s husband to come pick her up. He was confused, of course, since his wife drove her own car to the cottage, saying she needed some time away to start writing a romance novel. Romance, indeed.

  Agnes Hornbuckle did not have the foresight to realize taking a hatchet to the vehicle’s windows and tires would not exactly speed up the hussy’s exit. The car was towed to the only repair shop in the county, and the husband was just angry enough to explain to the incredulous mechanic how and why his wife’s car was butchered.

  Leo ate sandwiches for an entire month over that affair, until he figured out if he ate lunch at the café, he could pop over to the library to go online. Agnes hacked his computer, in the same manner she’d hacked the car, and he didn’t have the nerve to buy another one.

  At least that was how the story was told at the café.

  And now, here was Bubba John Atwater moving Beanie Bradsher into his home, with his wife still recuperating in the hospital. LouWanda was just about to head to the shop when Eustace Falwell stopped by the round table to catch up on the gossip du jour.

  “Hey, y’all.” Eustace tugged the greasy cap from his head and plopped it onto the table, right on top of Randy’s silverware.

  Randy picked up the offending hat with two fingers and hooked it gingerly over the back of Eustace’s chair.

  “Oh, sorry ‘bout that,” Eustace chortled. “Hey, what’s goin’ on down at The Château? I heard Beanie Bradsher done run out on ol’ Will.”

  “That ain’t the half of it,” Randy said, elbowing Clyde.

  “Oh, yeah?”

  LouWanda sat back down. “You ain’t gonna believe this, Useless. Bubba John has gone and moved Beanie in right under Sweet Atwater’s nose.”

  “Noooo!” Eustace slumped in his chair, and shook his head in disbelief as if to say another one bites the dust.

  “Yes!” said LouWanda “And Sweet not even out of the hospital yet.”

  Eustace perked up. “Does Sweet know? Is she gonna leave him?”

  Randy rolled his eyes. “I swear, Useless, you’re like a damn buzzard waitin’ to pick the first bones you see.”

  Eustace grinned and slapped Randy on the back.

  “Yep, that’s me. I’m the clean-up crew,” Eustace snickered.

  “It wasn’t a compliment,” Randy said.

  “That’s all right, ol’ son. Even a buzzard gotta eat.”

  “That’s enough of that,” LouWanda sniffed. “I swear, you boys are getting’ downright vulgar these days.”

  “Well, anyway, word is Beanie Bradsher packed up and left The Château Monday evening. Reckon’ ol’ Suvi is running a taxi service these days. Somebody said he picked her up and carried her out to the Atwater place himself.” Randy was determined to get the conversation back on track.

  “I don’t know why he’d need to do that, unless the Big Pig is goin’ under. Now that I think about it, business does seem to be slowin’ down,” LouWanda said.

  Suvi Jones, four tables away, shook his head in amazement. He wasn’t in the habit of listening to other people’s conversations, but these people weren’t even trying to lower their voices. Even the newspaper, which he read from cover to cover every single day at this very table, couldn’t distract him from the blaring horns of speculation going on right now. He rose, tucked his folded paper under his arm and approached the crew at the table.

  “Suvi!” Eustace spoke first. “Good to see ya! We was just talkin’ about you.”

  “So I heard.”

  “Oh, well, it wadn’t nothin’ bad. We was just wonderin’ if you were startin’ a taxi service, what with the restaurant slowin’ down and all. Town could use a taxi, ‘specially in the Quarters. I think that’s great.”

  Suvi took a deep breath and tried not to grind his teeth too hard.

  “I am not starting a taxi service, and ba
rbecue is selling as well as ever. Matter of fact, I’m looking for some help so I can start taking a little time off to spend with my girlfriend.”

  “Well, I’ll be…” Eustace scratched his head, puzzled. “I ain’t never hear’d of you havin’ a girlfriend before. Anyone we know?”

  “Matter of fact, you do know her. You have been sitting here talking about her for the past half hour, and I’d appreciate it very much if you would stop.”

  For a moment, the table got quiet enough to hear the two flies that had been dive-bombing their plates all morning.

  Randy was the first to recover, though not very well.

  “You’re dating Sweet Lee?”

  “Of course not, Randy!”

  “Well, who is it then?” LouWanda demanded.

  “I’ll give you a hint,” Suvi said, swiping one massive hand down his face. “I moved her out of The Château on Monday.”

  “Oooooh,” was the collective response, followed by stunned silence.

  “So, now while you’re speculatin’, at least it’ll be about something that’s true for a change.”

  Suvi did not wait for a response, but slipped his customary ten-dollar bill to Sissy on his way out the door.

  This time it was Eustace who broke the silence.

  “Bubba John is not going to be happy about this turn of events.”

  24

  What He Didn’t See

  On Beanie’s first night in the camper, Bubba John took the kids to Live Oak to pick up pizzas for supper. They polished most of it off in the car and were full and ready for baths and bed by the time they made it home.

  Bubba John spent the rest of the evening thinking about the project he was determined to have complete by Christmas. Sweet didn’t watch much TV, but the shows she DVR’d and they watched together after the kids were in bed were the ones about remodeling houses. They made it look easy, of course, but Bubba John practically grew up in his grandparents’ house. He knew exactly what needed to be done. It would be a tight deadline, but for the first time in his life, he didn’t have to worry what anything would cost.