by Ashton Lee
He nodded her way and resumed, “On the other hand . . . who wouldn’t like Connie’s . . . ‘No More Ice Cream Islands!’ for the humor alone?”
“You do know that means no more standing around the kitchen with a spoon, digging in, don’t you?” Connie said.
“Got the message, loud and clear. Nevertheless . . . I’m smart enough to remember who’s gonna butter my bread for me . . . or probably not even let me have bread and butter anymore. So the winner is—ta da!—my wife and keeper, Becca Broccoli, for . . . ‘I Love You, You Big Lug!’ ”
Becca leaned down carefully, finding a clear route to his cheek to plant a kiss, while the others laughed and lightly applauded. Then she pulled back and took several quick bows. “Thank you, thank you, one and all. Please, enough applause. This is so unexpected. I never thought I’d win among such fierce competition. And I want to say further that it will be my next goal to turn my Justin into a Medium-Sized Lug once again.”
He smiled big and gave the entire room a naughty wink. “I promise to tow the line the best I can . . . but I just wanted to say that I’d like for everyone . . . to keep calling me Stout Fella . . . no matter how much I shape up. I keep telling Becca . . . that it makes me feel solid and sturdy. Hey, there’s more than one meaning . . . to the word stout, you know.”
Becca was rolling her eyes now. “Yes, we know all about that. You’re Stout Fella, the Superhero, able to wrap up any real-estate deal with the lightning stroke of a pen.”
He gave her a thumbs-up. “Now you’re talking!”
“You’ll just be writing a bit slower now, kiddo,” Becca reminded him. “You’ll get a crash course from me in taking your time whether you’re eating or buying up all the land on both sides of the Tennessee River.”
“But never fear. After you get released and we head home to Cherico, Douglas and I want to make sure you get a glimpse of the Batman Building downtown to honor your ongoing superhero status,” Connie explained. “It’s really the AT&T Building, but it’s got these tall twin spires and a few other contraptions on top that make it look like Batman’s mask. It’s not quite the landmark Ryman Auditorium is, but it’s pretty close. There now, that’s a good reason to do what all the doctors ask you to do.”
“To the Batmobile, Robin!” Stout Fella replied, enjoying a laugh that turned quickly into a cough, and Becca immediately gave him his water to sip. “By the way . . . where is Douglas right now? No offense to all you beautiful ladies . . . but a man likes to talk to another man now and then.”
“Oh, he’s spending some time with his brother, Paul, but he’ll be back to pick me up soon,” Connie said. “Anyhow, don’t worry. He’ll be stopping by plenty before you get released.”
Just then there was a knock at the door, and a mousy female voice announced the single word, “Nutrition.” In walked a slight young woman in brown scrubs carrying a tray and smiling deferentially at everyone. “It’s almost noon. Time for lunch. It’s just a little something to eat—doctor’s orders.”
“Yeah, but I thought I was getting that . . . through one of these drips,” Stout Fella pointed out, narrowing his eyes.
“You are, sir,” she answered, nearly in a whisper. “But your doctor wants you to try a little broth, too. And some Jell-O, if you can manage it.”
“Hey, I know I need to lose weight . . . but that sounds ridiculous!” he declared. “When do I start back on . . . meat and potatoes?”
“I’ll handle him,” Becca said, noting the sheepish look on the woman’s face. “Here, let me take this from you, please.” Whereupon the tray was transferred quickly, the woman scurried out, and Becca gave her husband a stern look.
“You practically scared her to death, you big bully. The poor girl was only doing her job.”
“Never mind her. Hoo, boy!” Stout Fella exclaimed. “What have I gotten myself into? From my wife’s home cooking to . . . this!”
Becca ignored the remark and uncovered the plate, inhaling the steam from the broth. “I think it’s chicken.”
He cut his eyes at her and smirked like a mischievous little boy. “I think I’m chicken.”
“For heaven’s sake, don’t be such a big baby. If you could watch your artery being unclogged on a TV monitor from start to finish without flinching, you can certainly slurp up a tiny bowl of bland soup. Here, I’ll even feed you.” And she proceeded to do just that, while her husband made a gallery of ungainly faces even as he swallowed every spoonful guided toward his mouth.
It was out on the deck overlooking Paul and Susan McShay’s vast backyard in the wealthy Nashville suburb of Brentwood that Maura Beth was getting ready to hold a brainstorming session about the future of the book club. That revved-up campaign she had envisioned would start here in earnest. The evening was still young and the air invigorating after a delicious menu in the formal dining room of baked chicken, smashed potatoes, and sautéed green beans that Susan had prepared for all of her guests. Now it was time to get down to business.
“I can only stay for about twenty minutes,” Becca told Maura Beth as the gathering seated themselves around a rustic picnic table with their after-dinner drinks in hand. “Stout Fella is expecting me back at the hospital around eight, of course.”
Then Douglas chimed in. “I’m going with her, and not just because she doesn’t know her way around. Becca says Justin wants to shoot the breeze with me about the NFL, the college game, and other manly topics. So far, he says, they’ve refused to give him an injection of testosterone.”
“You’d think this was just another day at the office, and his heart crisis had never happened,” Becca said, waving Douglas off.
Maura Beth smiled as she quietly surveyed the friends she hoped would be sending her back to Cherico with a successful strategy to keep her library open. Connie, Douglas, and Becca, she had expected to consult, but the Brentwood McShays were an unexpected bonus.
“You might like to know that Susan and Paul are still in The Music City Page Turners,” Connie had told Maura Beth at the dinner table. “The three of us were almost half of the founding members, and we all know what it takes to make a success of one of these clubs. Douglas and I brought them up to date on what you’re trying to do in Cherico, and they think it’s fantastic.”
One thing had led to another, and by the time the dessert of chocolate mousse with whipped cream and a cherry on top was served, Susan had committed herself and her husband to the confab out on the deck later on. “That is, unless you’d rather just have your Cherry Cola people only,” she had added at the last second.
But Maura Beth had quickly reassured her. “Heavens, no! I need as much brainpower as I can round up!”
The Brentwood McShays certainly appeared to have the right credentials for offering intelligent advice. Paul was a taller, more distinguished-looking version of his brother and had recently retired from teaching psychology at Vanderbilt, while the stylish, model-thin Susan still ran her own crafts boutique at the Cool Springs Galleria south of Brentwood. The most important thing from Maura Beth’s point of view, however, was that they were both fans of the printed word and would therefore be sympathetic to her cause.
“Time is growing short,” Maura Beth began, officially opening the informal meeting. “The Cherico Library’s days may be numbered unless we can drastically increase interest in The Cherry Cola Book Club. And also get more people to use their library cards.” Then she offered a blow-by-blow of her most recent encounters with Councilman Sparks, but particularly his offer to take her out of the library business and appoint her his decorative gatekeeper.
“Something about that bothers me,” Connie said. “Why doesn’t he just shut everything down and let you go your merry way? Or should I say unhappy way?”
Maura Beth decided to hold nothing back. “The truth is, though, I’m not really unhappy. I want to make a go of my job in Cherico because I like the place. There are probably a thousand reasons I shouldn’t, but I do. As for why he hasn’t shut the library down
by now to cut his losses, I don’t know. That continues to puzzle me. But these local politicians are a law unto themselves.”
“Would you like to have an ex-college professor’s opinion?” Paul McShay offered, leaning in her general direction.
“Love to.”
“I’m only going by a handful of things that happened to me during my tenure at Vandy,” he began, after a sip of his port. “It doesn’t mean that I’m right in my analysis, but what I’m about to tell you may have some merit nonetheless. There were a few young female students in my classes over the years who developed crushes on me.” He turned and gave his wife a knowing smile and wink. “And I never kept any of that from Susan. I was determined to nip these things in the bud.”
“I’m sure his nipping was effective, too,” she put in. “A wife can usually tell if her husband is fooling around.”
“Anyway, none of those young ladies ever got anywhere with me, but I got pretty good at picking up on the signals. Sometimes, they’d come up to me after class and tell me what a deep speaking voice I had and ‘why didn’t I go into broadcasting’ and yada, yada, yada. Or other times it was how much they liked the clothes I was wearing—mostly the sweaters and ties that they didn’t know Susan had picked out for me. I always thanked them for their compliments but otherwise played dumb, of course.”
Maura Beth was frowning now, trying to follow the implications of his story. “What made you bring up the crush angle?”
He finished off his port and said, “Because that’s my field of study. Psychology is all about predictable human behavior, and I listened carefully to all the emphasis you put on the comments your councilman kept making about your beautiful red hair. The way he carried on about it, and especially that line about your innocence that you said made you feel uncomfortable. It sounds a lot like my experience in reverse, but at a much higher level of expectation. I think it all probably means the man wants you around at all costs, despite this business about closing the library. It’s a roundabout way of setting things up in typical male fashion.”
The three other women sitting around the table, all of whom happened to be married, exchanged glances, and it was Becca who finally spoke up for them. “I have to agree with Paul. Regardless of what happens with the library, I think it would be a huge mistake for you to go directly to work for Councilman Sparks. You don’t know what kind of pressure he could end up putting on you for—you know what.”
Maura Beth bit her lip as she shook her head. “I can be such a naïve girlie-girl at times. The thought had crossed my mind that he might be hitting on me, but I didn’t want to believe it.”
“Hey, don’t be so hard on yourself,” Connie said. “You did the right thing. You turned him down and told him you were going for the gold. You have nothing to be ashamed of. The big question now is how to get that gold.”
“Right!” Maura Beth exclaimed. “So now it’s idea time. First step is to reschedule the To Kill a Mockingbird meeting and get into an honest, meaty discussion of Harper Lee’s work. No more indulging the war between the sexes. At least Councilman Sparks has promised me he won’t be doing that sort of thing anymore—that is, if I can take him at his word. But how do we get more people interested in participating?”
Becca waved her hand in front of her face a few times. “The Becca Broccoli Show could go with the downsizing recipes full-time, for starters. And I could keep on pitching To Kill a Mockingbird as our upcoming food for thought in the club. Stout Fella could talk about getting his body in shape with my new recipes, and his brain in shape by reading and thinking about Harper Lee’s work. I could invite my audience to come to the book club meeting to have a little bite and discuss literature with Becca Broccoli, Stout Fella, and everyone else. Just how far out were you considering scheduling this thing, Maura Beth?”
“A month? Maybe five weeks at the most? We can’t wait too long, though, or we’ll run up against the budget approval.”
Becca nodded enthusiastically. “That should be enough time to get Stout Fella in some sort of reasonable shape—oh, and to get him to read the novel.”
Then an inspired Connie stepped in. “I was thinking that Douglas and I could talk things up to all our new neighbors out at the lake. We’re just now getting to know some of them. But people are pretty much the same all over. Everybody likes to eat, and you never know who likes to read until you bring up a few pop culture references. That’s where you separate the TV watchers and moviegoers from the readers.”
Maura Beth’s face was suddenly alive with girlish excitement. “And I’ve just this second thought of something to run past Periwinkle when I get home.” Then she took the time to explain The Twinkle and its congenial owner to the Brentwood McShays.
Susan briefly glanced at her husband after the testimonial to the restaurant. “Now that makes my mouth water—and on a full stomach yet. Looks like we’re going to have to visit your brother and Connie more often than we’d planned. If nothing else, I want some of that tomato aspic with the cream cheese in the middle. And I bet I’d get so hooked, we’d probably even want to come back another time to take in a certain book review at the library.”
Maura Beth clasped her hands together. “Are you saying you’d be willing to come for our Mockingbird session?”
“What do you say, Paul?” Susan added, winking smartly.
He thought for a moment and then leaned against his brother. “Let me check first with Doug, here. Think you could return the favor and put us up in Cherico now and then?”
“Done deal. Now that I think about it, I could use a fishing partner on The Verdict.”
“Wow!” Becca exclaimed, checking her watch. “That was a productive ten or fifteen minutes, wasn’t it? Now that all that’s decided, I think it’s safe to head for the hospital and let Stout Fella know about it.”
“And I’ll keep him from getting too antsy by predicting who I think will be in the Super Bowl this year,” Douglas added, rising from his seat with a wink. “You know—the kind of stuff that only us men like.”
Maura Beth took a deep breath as Becca and Douglas headed into the house. “I think I’ll head back to Cherico tomorrow. For the first time in a while, I really believe The Cherry Cola Book Club has a chance to make a name for itself.”
12
Shaking up the Bottle
When Maura Beth hit the town limits of Cherico upon her return from Nashville the next day, she couldn’t believe how much it felt like home to her. It truly mystified her how that could be, since she had spent most of her life growing up in Covington and all of her college years at LSU. Yet there was no question in her mind that she was glad to be back, even after a mere couple of days away.
What was more, she was even happier to see her library. Funny, how possessive of it she had become ever since Councilman Sparks had cast it in those terms during the unveiling of his ultimatum several months earlier. She also now knew that she had officially embraced an either/or situation: Either she kept the library open through the book club and other measures, or she left town. As she and her friends had all agreed up in Brentwood in no uncertain terms, there would be no “working under” Councilman Sparks in any capacity whatsoever.
The informal report Renette had prepared for her boss’s perusal on her first afternoon back was uneventful for the most part, but a couple of items took a bit of explaining.
“Exactly what is this notation here?” Maura Beth wanted to know, pointing to the second scribble on the list as they reviewed it in her office. “What does ‘V15 Damage’ mean? Please tell me it doesn’t have anything to do with the one and only Mr. Barnes Putzel.”
Renette looked down at her lap while fidgeting in her seat. “Unfortunately, it does. We ran out of peanut butter crackers, and Mr. Putzel threw Volume Fifteen of the Encyclopaedia Britannica all the way across the room and broke the spine. It was actually the only exciting thing that happened all day.”
Maura Beth covered both eyes with the palm of her right
hand. “Oh, I knew there was something I forgot to do before I left. I meant to go down to The Cherico Market and buy some more crackers. I had even made a note to myself that we were running low. Well, did he do any more damage, or was it just Volume Fifteen?”
“Just that one. Do we have the money to replace it?”
Maura Beth flashed a sarcastic grin. “We barely have enough money to replace the crackers. I’ll call his sister and tell her to write us a check.” Then she moved down the list with her finger. “And what was this ‘Complaint from Mr. Parker Place’?”
Renette had a guilty expression on her face. “I, uh, was really late putting out the most recent edition of the Commercial Appeal. ”
Maura Beth shrugged. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about it. You put it in the newspaper rack eventually, didn’t you?”
“Yes, of course. But Mr. Place told me he comes every day to go through the classifieds looking for a job, and he said he was annoyed that he had to wait three hours. I got sidetracked by some phone calls and stuff. He was polite about it all, but I could tell he was stressed out.”
“What does this Mr. Place look like?” Maura Beth wanted to know, reviewing a mental slideshow of their regular patrons.
“Oh, we’ve both seen him in here a lot recently. He’s that handsome black gentleman who’s always dressed in a coat and tie. Only he says he’s out of work now and comes to the library for job leads in the Memphis paper.”
Maura Beth pursed her lips thoughtfully. “I tell you what. Next time he comes in, let me know. I’d like to talk to him. Do you know what kind of work he’s looking for?”
“He didn’t say.”
“Well, you just keep an eye out for him, okay?” Then she ran down the rest of the list, looking up with a smile. “I think I understand the rest of this. All things considered, you did extremely well being in charge. Now, the next thing I want you to do is take some money out of petty cash and run down to The Cherico Market for those crackers. We’ve got to keep Mr. Putzel from destroying the rest of the encyclopedia.”
