“What about him?”
“Do you think he’s ready for another relationship too?”
Jo smiled and said, “I love my cousin to pieces but if you’d have asked me that question even a month ago, I would have at least hesitated before answering and probably still would have said no. But now, especially since Penny came into his life, I’m sure Floyd is more than ready for another relationship.”
When Sue Ann just kept staring at her, Jo said, “I think Floyd wants a family more than anything in the world right now.”
Sue Ann shook her head slowly. “I sure hope you’re right because you know that’s what I want too.”
When they returned to the kitchen, Dixie came up to Sue Ann and without saying a word, gently drew her into a hug. A warm feeling spread through her as she returned the hug.
Dixie leaned back and smiled into Sue Ann’s eyes. “There’s no need to say anything more, Dear. All you have to do now is wait for Floyd to make the next move.” She giggled again. “And I’m pretty sure it will be soon, very soon.”
Sue Ann didn’t know how to respond to that. Was Dixie talking about the fact that Floyd was still out there in the living room between his dad and Gil on the sofa? Was there something going on out there that she should know about?
Each of the other women took their turns hugging Sue Ann. Jo was the last one to hug her and before she pulled back, she whispered in Sue Ann’s ear. “Welcome to the family for real now, Sue Ann.”
Sue Ann leaned back and looked into Jo’s eyes. Yes, that was right. If she married Floyd, then she and Jo really would be related now, if only by marriage.
She peeked around the doorway into the living room. Yes, they were all three still sitting there and it looked like they were in a deep discussion about something and it must be about the Bible since Floyd kept poking a finger at the open Bible on his lap.
Then she overheard what Gil was saying to Floyd and flew into the living room with a huge smile on her face.
* * *
Floyd should have been extremely uncomfortable sitting there on the couch between his dad and Gil. But the strange thing was . . . he wasn’t.
He’d noticed Sue Ann go flying through the room and into the bathroom before. Then Jo had gone in there too. Finally, they came out together and went back into the kitchen just a few minutes ago.
He wondered what was going on with those two. No, wait, maybe he didn’t want to know. When they were all growing up, being five years younger than he was, they used to gang up on him all the time. He sure hoped that wasn’t what was happening now. But he had a feeling that they were up to something in there and he was sure it had to do with him.
He turned his attention back to what Gil was saying.
“So you see, Floyd, God never makes decisions for us. He told us everything we need to know right there in the Bible.” He pointed at the Bible in Floyd’s lap.
“And He expects us to learn from what He tells us in there. Now, regarding salvation, it’s very clear what He expects us to do. Just like in the passage today in Revelation. Christ is standing on the other side of the door and He’s even knocking. It’s up to us to make the decision to either let Him in or continue to ignore Him.”
Gil leaned against the back of the couch then and just watched him. Floyd couldn’t see anything but care and concern in Gil’s eyes. He couldn’t understand how he’d mistrusted and even disliked Gil when he first came to town.
Harold looked across Floyd to Gil. “I like the way you explain things Son. I’m glad Dixie talked me into going to your church.”
Floyd was shocked. That sounded just like something Sue Ann would do. Is Sue Ann like his mother? Is that what had always attracted him to her? Oh boy, he’d have to think about that one some more for sure . . . but later.
He realized that Gil had asked him a question. He looked back at him and said, “What did you say?”
Gil grinned and repeated his question, “I said, are you ready to do that?”
“Do what?” He sounded like a real dummy.
“Pray to accept Christ.”
Before he could even think to answer, Sue Ann was kneeling at his feet and had taken both of his hands in hers. That should have bothered him but it felt like the most natural thing in the world.
He looked into those blue eyes and was lost. He didn’t break eye contact but said, “Yes, I think I am.”
Gil said, “Sue Ann, would you like to take it from here?”
She squeezed Floyd’s hands and said, “Would you like for me to help you with the words Floyd?”
He nodded so she led him through a prayer with him repeating after her. When they were finished, she leaned in and kissed him on the lips and he felt different than he’d ever felt in his whole life. Was it the kiss or was it the prayer?
Sue Ann must have read his mind for she said, “It was the prayer Floyd. It has made you a new man just like it did for your dad.”
Everyone had gathered around him then and began slapping him on the back and congratulating him when his cell phone rang. It was dispatch just as he expected.
“Floyd, we’ve got a bomb threat at the Baptist church. It was called in from a pay phone on the other side of town.”
“Have you called the state bomb squad?”
“Yes, they’re on their way with their bomb K-9.”
“Good, I’ll be there as quick as I can.”
Sue Ann was still on her knees in front of him. “What is it Floyd?”
He said, “We’ve had a bomb threat for the church.” He turned to Gil. “Is there anybody there right now?”
Gil shook his head then said, “No wait. Bert could still be there cleaning the sanctuary.”
Floyd looked down at Sue Ann then. “I’m on my way but I don’t want any of you even leaving this house until I know what’s going on. This kind of thing is sometimes a decoy to pull us to one location while they hit another one.”
With that, he stood to leave. Sue Ann grabbed his arm. “Be careful Floyd. You’re a new man now but you’re still not invincible.”
He laughed as he went out the door.
Since his apartment was on the way to the church, he stopped to get his Tahoe. It was always better for him to respond in it especially with something like this that would involve other agencies. He had a spare handgun and belt badge in the glove compartment of his Cherokee so he grabbed them and stuck them on his belt as he changed vehicles.
Once out of the apartment parking lot, he flipped the switches on to run full code. He couldn’t go very fast though since it was still snowing but not as hard as before. The streets were covered with snow on top of ice but they were still passable especially in his Tahoe.
Floyd was almost within sight of the church when his windshield seemed to explode right in front of his eyes. He kept his right hand on the wheel and brought his left arm up to shield his eyes.
Even though he let off the accelerator slowly, the vehicle began to spin on a patch of ice that had been hidden under the snow. He couldn’t see out his windshield and he just hoped he didn’t hit anything, especially another vehicle.
When the vehicle came to a stop without hitting anything, he started to breathe a sigh of relief when he heard breaking glass in the passenger side window. This time he heard the shot shortly after. He ducked down in the floorboard.
As he grabbed his mic to call it in, another shot came through the driver’s side window this time. Either there were at least two shooters or somebody was moving quickly from side to side.
A couple of minutes later the radio came to life. “100 this is 101. Are you still under fire?”
He keyed his mic. “Not for a couple of minutes.”
“I’m stopped in sight of your vehicle about a hundred yards down Main Street. I don’t see anything. We’ve got three more units coming down each of the other three approaches to the intersection you’re in. Stay put until we clear things from all angles.”
“10-4”
An hour later, Floyd drove his Cherokee back to Sue Ann’s house after Hal had driven him by his apartment to get it.
Sue Ann met him at the door and almost knocked him down when she leaped into his arms. That was some surprise.
“Oh Floyd, you’re all right. We heard your car was shot at.” She leaned back to look into his face. “You are all right aren’t you?”
He chuckled and kissed her. “There. What do you think?”
She laughed as he set her on her feet and they both went inside her house. Everyone was still there.
Once they were inside, his mother came up to him and said, “Floyd Ray McCracken, we have been just sitting on pins and needles waiting for over an hour to hear from you.”
“I’m sorry Mom, I didn’t know any of you knew anything about it.”
Jo wasn’t as nice as Sue Ann and his mom. She came up and smacked him on the shoulder with her fist. He grabbed her hand and said, “Hold on Little Bit, you don’t want to go and hurt that baby of yours now do you?”
She hit him with her left hand. Everyone laughed and the tension just seemed to fade away.
His dad stepped up and said, “Why don’t you tell us what happened Floyd?”
“Sure.”
After he told them, Gil said, “Do you think it was this Hennesey?”
“I would say that it probably was, especially since there was no bomb at the church.” He looked around the room and his eyes stopped on Sue Ann. “I also think he wasn’t trying to hit me. Hennesey is the type of snake who would want to see his victim face to face.”
Chapter Eleven
Sue Ann couldn’t wait to get to the coffee shop on Monday morning. She was still reeling from everything that had happened the day before, especially Floyd accepting the Lord. Of course, his being shot at really put a damper on things.
What were they going to do? Somehow, they had to catch Hennesey and keep Floyd safe. She knew he wouldn’t agree to any suggestion that he leave town for a while so she wouldn’t even ask him.
Jo met her outside the door and opened it with her key. Even though the closings on both shops weren’t until later in the day, Dick and Dianne had already turned everything over to them. The older couple was certainly anxious to get everything finalized so they could retire to Arizona.
Jo turned around once they were both inside, spread her arms wide, and said, “I’ve got it!” When Sue Ann gave her a puzzled look, Jo giggled and said, “I’ve got the perfect name for this shop.”
Sue Ann snorted and shook her head. “Okay, are you going to tell me what it is or do I have to guess all day?”
Still giggling, Jo shouted out. “The BFF Coffee Shop! We can call it Best Friends for short.”
Sue Ann joined Jo in her laughter and said, “Jo Jo that’s just simply brilliant. It’s perfect for us.”
They went on from there to get the shop ready to open with both of them working in the kitchen to get everything ready, all the condiments and other ingredients for the various sandwiches, soups, and chili.
Once they had two pots of soup and one of chili going, they both sat down at a small table with two chairs at it, which was in an out of the way corner of the kitchen. They had discovered that this was where Dick and Dianne sat together whenever they could manage to do so.
They just sat there sipping their coffee for a few minutes without talking. Sue Ann really liked that about her friendship with Jo. Neither one of them ever felt like they needed to talk just to be talking whenever they were together. But if something needed to be said then it would be.
Jo looked at her watch and said, “Are you ready?”
Sue Ann laughed at the seriousness of Jo’s question. “Yes, I think I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”
Jo giggled and said, “Shall we have at it then?”
They went through the kitchen behind the counter and out to the front door. They were both surprised to see Jillian Clark standing on the other side of the door waiting for them to open it.
They looked at each other and burst out laughing. Julian came through the doorway with her trademark large hat and bag and plopped them both on a table near the door. Then she turned around with a camera in her hand and started taking pictures of them standing side by side in front of the door.
Then she looked around the shop and said, “You two need to go over to the counter so I can get a couple of shots of you there.”
As she snapped the last picture, she said, “What’s the name of this place going to be, girls?”
Sue Ann looked at Jo and said, “You can tell her. It was your idea.”
Jo smiled at Jillian and said, “We’ve decided on The BFF Coffee Shop but for short it’ll just be Best Friends.”
Jillian threw her head back and laughed hard and loud. “Well, I’d say that’s about the best name the two of you could ever have come up with. It fits you perfect.”
Jillian then sat down and had a mocha latte while interviewing Sue Ann and Jo but also in between regaling them with all the latest gossip of the town.
Once Jillian left and other customers were beginning to come in, Sue Ann turned to Jo and said, “I thought I was going to get away from all that gossip that’s always flying around the beauty shop, but it looks like we’ll still get our share of it right here.”
They both laughed as Jo returned to the counter and Sue Ann went to wait on a table.
They stayed busy through breakfast but the shop was empty at ten o’clock, which seemed to be normal for between breakfast and lunch. They were both heading toward their table in the kitchen when the door opened and Ray Vickers walked in.
Jo saw him first and grabbed Sue Ann’s arm pulling her behind the counter with her. Sue Ann started to protest until she looked around and saw Ray.
Once they were both behind the counter, Sue Ann crossed her arms across her chest and said, “What do you want Ray?”
When he didn’t answer right away, she reached for the phone.
“No, Sue Ann. There’s no need for that. I just came to tell you something before I left town.”
Sue Ann wasn’t about to bite. She knew he wanted her to ask him about his saying he was leaving town. But she only glared at him across the counter and said, “Okay, tell me and then leave.”
He stuck his hands in the pockets of his overcoat and Jo did pick the phone up then. When he quickly pulled his hands back out so they could see that there was nothing in them, Jo softly placed the phone back in its cradle but kept her hand on it.
He blew out a breath and said, “Due to a couple of different things, I’m dropping my petition to get full custody of Andy.”
Sue Ann didn’t say anything. She knew there was more and she wasn’t going to commit herself to anything before he finished.
When he just stood there staring at her, she finally said, “Okay Ray why are you dropping your petition?”
His face grew mean looking suddenly. “Thanks to that cop boyfriend of yours my fiancée dumped me and I know that no judge would give me custody of Andy now with that and your boyfriend throwing me in jail.”
Sue Ann snorted. “You know, Ray, that’s just like you. You never take the responsibility for anything you do. Floyd didn’t do this to you. You did this to yourself when you attacked me . . . in public no less.”
“Listen here, woman . . . “
“No Ray, you listen to me for once. I’m only going to say this once. Either you go out that door right now and never bother me again or else you will get thrown in jail again.” She placed both hands on the counter and leaned forward. “They haven’t caught up with you yet, but there’s a deputy out there looking for you right now with an Order of Protection against you for me.”
His face became startled then angry again.
“So, if you so much as even look at me in public or come near me again, you’ll go to jail . . . again. And this time you won’t get probation. They’ll send you straight to prison.”
He had his mouth opened in a snarl a
nd he pointed his finger at Sue Ann but when Jo picked up the phone again and began dialing, he stomped out of the shop.
* * *
Floyd was not in a good mood Monday morning. After all, he’d been shot at yesterday. That would put anybody in a bad mood. What’s more, Penny was crabby today too. It was probably only a matter of time before they had a big fight over something.
He hoped the lab boys would soon be finished with his Tahoe so he could get the glass company to replace all the glass in it. He wanted to have at least the familiarity of driving his own Tahoe again.
His thoughts turned to the decision he’d made yesterday. He’d had very little time to think about it since then. Was he a new man now, like they all said he’d be? He sure hoped so. In a way, he did feel like a new man, but that incident with the shots fired into his vehicle had kind of taken the wind out of his sails.
Penny was standing next to him and he hadn’t even noticed her come into the room. Boy, he’d better snap out of it. If that happened out there with somebody like Hennesey coming at him, he’d be a dead man.
“I’m thirsty.”
Floyd was surprised at Penny’s whiney tone of voice. He hadn’t heard that tone since she first came to live with him. He had hoped that she was done with it.
He started to correct her when he looked into her eyes and was surprised to see fear. He knew immediately that it was there for him not herself.
Floyd tried to smile down at his daughter as he stood, grabbed her hand gently, and led her to the armchairs.
Once they were both sitting, he looked into her eyes and said, “Penny, I know you’re worried about the fact that I could have been shot yesterday.”
She looked down at her hands in her lap then back up at him. He thought he saw tears forming in her eyes but she looked back down quickly.
“My mom said she’d never leave me . . . but she did. I’m starting to like it here but . . .”
“What is it Penny? Are you afraid I’ll die and leave you all alone?” She nodded. He snorted. “Penny, you saw all of your relatives yesterday at Sue Ann’s house.”
A Better Solution (Crowley County Series Book 2) Page 15
