by Tonya Kappes
“I heard Dr. Russell confronted him at the Barn Dance meeting last night about how Henry was stealing Dr. Russell’s clients.” Agnes picked at the wispy pieces of hair sticking out of her turban next to her ear.
“Did they really?” Flora’s head was tilted to the side. Her cell phone was wedged between her ear and shoulder. “Hey, gotta go,” she said to the recipient on the other end. She sat her designer handbag on the table and planted her butt in the chair next to Agnes. “Dish.”
“You should know more than us.” Marlene put small five-millimeter sterling silver round beads in small bowls for me. “Damn,” she murmured when a couple bounced off the glass.
“Marlene!” I groaned as I watched them bounce right into The Under. “I hope you know that I’m putting cleaning The Under on your to-do list.”
“Whatever.” Marlene shrugged. She and I both knew she wasn’t going to bend over, ass in the air, for stray beads. A man. . . maybe. . .beads. No.
The jingle bells rang over the shop door. Margaret and a couple of her bridesmaids came in.
“Hi girls.” I waved them in. “Sit anywhere. I’m just getting all the wine and beads ready.”
“So, this is what you do?” Charlie from Food Watchers walked in with the group.
“You two know each other?” Margaret’s voice raised in excitement. “Holly Harper is the best jewelry designer ever,” Margaret squealed and grabbed Charlie’s hand dragging her to an empty table next to the gossip sessions some of the Divas were having.
“Anyway, I was at Second Cup when Henry came in and told Bernadine that she was going to get a subpoena to go back to court. And. . .” Marlene looked around, she leaned over the table so Flora and Agnes could hear her. “He said something about a life insurance policy about to come due and he was glad she wasn’t getting a damn dime.”
“He said damn dime?” Agnes asked.
Marlene nodded.
“He’s got more nerve than Carter’s got liver pills.” Agnes Pearl was steaming.
Agnes Pearl was not one to mess around with. She was the wealthiest widow in Swanee. She might be a couple cups of crazy, but she never messed around when it came to money.
“I told Flora she needed to call your ex.” She pointed her long acrylic nails toward Flora.
“Marlene,” I interrupted. “Can you help me with the refreshments?” I asked on the way to the storage room where I had to make room for Cheri and Willow.
“I’m going to take her for a quick walk.” Cheri held Willow’s leash in her hand.
Willow was so proud; she high-stepped out into the shop until she saw Marlene coming toward us.
Weak, weak, weak. She tried to dart into The Under of the closest shelf; her butt wouldn’t fit no matter how hard she tried to wedge herself and besides the leash wasn’t long enough.
“I’ve been craving ham all day! Get me the salt shaker.” Marlene cackled before she disappeared in the back.
“Don’t listen to mean old Marlene.” Cheri bent down and patted Willow on the head before Willow scampered out the door as Bernadine came in.
With the wine almost gone and the energy level of the bead shop on acceleration, I announced that the class for this week would be ending in about fifteen minutes, which was around nine p.m.
You would think three hours was plenty of time to string an entire jewelry set, but not with chatty Margaret and her group of friends. Along with her group of six and the six Divas, we had a full house.
The jingle bells chimed over the door.
“Sorry ladies,” Sean apologized when he looked around the room. He held up one of the red gems that went with the chandelier he had wired and put up earlier in the shop. “I found this in my truck this afternoon and wanted to be sure to attach it.” He flashed his million-dollar playboy smile. “It’s a beauty, but not to its full potential if not all the pieces are there.”
Ugh. And this was why I could never date him again. Sean never knew when to turn on the charm around other women, causing them to fall at his feet.
“Hi, Sean.” Charlie stood up and held the beading wire by the end. The uncrimped side.
Ping, ping, ping. One-by-one all the beads that took her three hours to string hit the tile floor and found their way into the different Unders.
“No!” I scrambled to the floor as Willow made a mad dash out of the storage room to gobble up all the round gems. Cheri grabbed her. The beads were lost to The Under.
“There goes some profit.” I threw my hands in the air and then stuck my hand out for Sean to give me the damn piece so he could get the hell out of here. “I’ll attach it.”
Granted, I probably wouldn’t take the time to get the ladder and do it, but I wanted him out as quickly as possible. He was creating all kinds of havoc.
“I could never let you get up on a ladder, Hol.” Sean quickly grabbed the ladder and was halfway up.
There wasn’t much I could do but shoot darts at him out of my eyes and hope he’d fall off the ladder. Not hurting him of course, but a broken leg that would keep him away from me. Away from the female society. Was that too much to ask?
“Oops.” Charlie playfully shrugged and walked over to the ladder. She held onto the ladder as he climbed up. “I can hold it steady.”
He looked down, straight into her cleavage. He smiled.
“Thanks, Charlie.”
“I wondered when I was going to see you again.” Charlie shuffled her feet, tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear and shrugged her shoulders toward him.
“Two hands.” I gestured out in front of me like I was holding on to the ladder. Charlie was too busy flirting to even realize she didn’t have one single finger on the ladder.
“How about tonight?” Sean ignored me, hung the gem on the light and did a little hop off the ladder.
Charlie giggled.
“We can knock back a few at The Livin’ End.” He took his phone out of his back pocket. “What’s your address and phone number?”
My mouth dropped open. My eyes slid over to the Diva table. I thought Agnes Pearl’s false teeth were going to come tumbling out. Cheri tapped Agnes’s chin. Agnes’s mouth shut just like a Venus Fly-trap. Marlene chomped her gum and stared at them. Cheri shook her head. Bernadine and Flora were busy elbowing each other.
Ahem. I cleared my throat and held the door open.
“Two can play this game,” Sean whispered and referred to Donovan when he walked past me.
I slammed the door behind him causing all the shelves up against the walls to rattle.
“No!” I screamed as a few of the bins of beads tumbled to the ground and bounced around until they found their way into The Under.
“Don’t worry.” Marlene held her hands in the air. “I’ve got it.”
Chapter Four
“1,2,3 4,” I counted eleven crimp tools for the fifth time.
Sure I was a little discombobulated from Sean asking Charlie out right in front of me, but I knew how to count.
“Where is the twelfth crimping tool?” I looked under each chair and table looking for the blue rubber-handled tool. “It has to be here somewhere.”
“I’d like to put it up Henry’s you-know-what.” Bernadine’s brows lifted. Her neck reddened to the color of her hair.
“Goodnight,” Margaret and her friends trickled out of the shop after they gave their bead boards with their unfinished projects to Cheri who would put them safely on a shelf in the storage room until the next Wine and Bead session with this group.
I continued to look around for the tool, but gave up once Cheri was done and we were packing up for the night.
“I hate to hear about your troubles.” Cheri pulled a seat up next to Bernadine.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure Bennie will be able to stick it to him.” Bernadine’s eyes slid over to Flora who was too busy talking on her phone to even hear what Bernadine had said. “If not,” she gestured between the Divas, “we can take care of him.”
Collectively, we all laughed, knowing how much fun we had plotting the demise of the ex-asses who hurt us.
Flora twitched her fingers in the air as she left the store. “Toodles,” she called out.
“I wouldn’t give that bastard an inch,” Agnes gave Bernadine a cutting stare. “Not even an inkling of an inch.”
“Don’t you worry about that.” Bernadine gave a delicate nod that said volumes. “I’ll see that bastard dead before he even thinks he can get any part of Second Cup.”
“Let’s not talk about all of that.” I shook my head clearing my thoughts of where the hell I put the crimp tool. “I say we head on down to The Livin’ End to grab a beer.”
“I’m ready for bed.” Agnes did chin stretches, elongating her neck. “I have to do my neck exercises and get my beauty sleep. I’m still on the market for a new man.”
“The only new man you are going to get, is one in the home of the near death.” Marlene cackled. Agnes did not. “Just joking.”
Marlene helped Agnes up, and before too long, they were out the door.
“And to think that we all thought that you were over him,” Bernadine said.
I backed up and used the counter for support.
“I am over him.” I bit the edge of my lip. “I bet that Charlie knew he was my ex and that was why she has been so nasty to me at Food Watchers.”
“Nasty? I haven’t seen her be anything but sweet.” Bernadine leaned forward, propping her elbows up on the table. Her baggie tumbled out the pocket of her velour jacket.
Willow rushed out of the storage room. She was used to hearing the crackle of Bernadine’s snack packs. Willow sat next to Bernadine’s feet, nudging her calf with her snout. Without even giving it a second thought, Bernadine opened the baggie and took out two carrots. One for her and one for Willow.
“She never remembers my name. She always gives you the last treat they pass out,” I said loudly over the crunch. “And she encourages you on your weight loss and never says a word to me.”
“She does too talk to you.” Bernadine was quick to come to Charlie’s rescue.
“If you want to count her saying step up and step down, in her monotone voice. Fine.” I shrugged hoping this conversation was taking the heat off me and my confused feelings about Charlie and Sean’s date.
“Still, it has to hurt that your ex asked her out right in front of you.” Cheri patted Willow on the butt.
Willow danced a little back jig, twirling her tail like a whip-a-whirl.
“I don’t have feelings for him.” I pointed to the chandelier. “I got what I wanted.”
“You sure did. And now my ex-ass wants what I got.” Bernadine brought it back full circle. “I do want a beer.”
That was all it took for me to finish cleaning up the little snippets of wire, crimp beads, and glass beads from the Wine and Bead class. I figured I’d find the crimp tool later.
Cheri took Willow for a quick walk and got her snuggled in her bed in the storage room. I would stop by after a quick drink and get her.
Bernadine didn’t lift a finger to help. All she did was cuss and fuss over Henry, which I didn’t blame her. If it wasn’t my own shop that needed to be cleaned, I probably wouldn’t have raised a finger either.
When I first opened The Beaded Dragonfly, Sean alluded that he wanted a piece of it since I had to use his alimony to help make the payments, but I shot that down. Hell, his alimony payments were few and far between. When he did make them, they were never on time.
With the three of us wedged into my little VW Beetle, we drove through Swanee to the other end where The Livin’ End sat on the edge of town. The parking lot was full which put me at ease a little. If Sean was in there with little Miss Prissy Pants, I would be able to hide in a dark booth.
The thought of him with the beanpole did piss me off. She was exactly the type Sean liked before we did get married and when I was a beanpole. I had already lost ten pounds, but had at least thirty more to go.
“Let’s go.” I got out of the car and immediately spotted Sean’s handyman truck on the side of the building.
We scurried across the parking lot, each of us knowing what the other was thinking without saying it. But then Bernadine did.
“I’ll back you.” Bernadine did a double-fisted jab in the air. “Maybe I can take my frustrations out on someone.”
I knew better. If Charlie said something to Bernadine, Bernadine would melt talking to her.
“I’ll kick him square in the nuts.” Cheri did a sidekick like the one Donovan had taught us in class.
“I don’t care about Sean and Skinny Ass.” I shrugged.
“You might not have feelings for him, but he shouldn’t flaunt it in your face.” Bernadine flung the door open.
The jukebox blared some slow country song. The drunks that were belly up to the bar sang along while holding their mugs in the air, swaying back and forth as if they were reliving some sort of fun past. Smoke like an early morning fog hung over the pool tables to the far left of the bar.
Cheri held her finger in the air, pointing over to an open bar-top table.
I mouthed “no”, but it was too late. Bernadine had nearly knocked over everyone in her line of vision getting to the last table in the place. The only problem was that it was right in front of the dance floor.
The last thing I wanted to look at were happy couples slow dancing to Garth Brooks or Little Big Town. That didn’t bother Bernadine or Cheri any. They toe-tapped their way into the chairs, not worried a bit about me. All that I’ve got your back crap had flown right out of their heads.
“This is a great seat,” Cheri said and gave the bartender a little nod and held up three fingers.
That was the only thing you had to do to get a bottle of beer at The Livin’ End. Within seconds, a cold brew was right in the palm of our hands.
I glanced around the bar and spotted Sean on the far end. Alone. Charlie wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Maybe she did have some sense in her to not fool around with a no good sonofabitch like Sean Harper.
“Do you see them?” Bernadine asked.
“I see him.” I nodded toward the end of the bar. “He’s alone.”
“See. He didn’t follow through.” Cheri clinked the top of her bottle to mine. “He probably didn’t even call her.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure.” Bernadine craned her thick neck around me. Her eyes seared toward the entrance. “And dressed to seduce.”
In awe, the three of us stood there with our mouths wide open. Every single man in the bar stared and since almost everyone in the bar was a man, the entire place went silent, except for the jukebox. Her long flowing blond hair had been straightened and was as shiny as a new penny. She wore black leather pants so snug that no-way, no-how Sean Harper’s hand was going to fit between her skin and the tight-fitting pants. The fitted white blouse was tucked in and contoured to every curve on her boobs and waist. The black push-up bra peek-a-boo’ed at the fourth unbuttoned button and her cleavage was as tight as bark on a tree. Silver chained jewelry dripped around her neck and was perfectly placed on the blouse. The bangles up her wrist were a far cry from the glass-beaded bracelet she was working on at The Beaded Dragonfly Wine and Bead class.
“Shit. I want to look like her.” Bernadine picked up her beer and swigged it down. She nudged me. “Holly?”
It was like a trance. An old slow motion movie. Sean stood up. His eyes locked with Charlie’s. Both had big grins on their faces. She wrapped her skinny, long fingers around his neck, bringing him closer, and whispered something funny in his ear because Sean belted out in laughter, tossing his shaggy hair to the side. The two of them sat down. She didn’t order a beer like the rest of us. She ordered a martini.
“Who orders martinis at The Livin’ End?” I asked in disgust and turned back around.
“Her,” Cheri snarled.
We all hunched over the table in silence having one round after the other. After a few rounds, my eyeballs began t
o float. I excused myself and made my way back up front to where the bathrooms were located.
“Excuse me.” I was too busy looking down, feeling sorry for myself when I ran smack dab into Noah Druck.
“Noah!” I held my hand up to my heart. “You nearly gave me a heart attack.”
I moved my way around him, but he stepped right back in front of me. His hand rested on his gun that was snapped into his holster buckled around his waist. The lines between his blue eyes creased. He took a deep breath.
“Have you had one too many, Holly?” he asked with conviction in his voice.
“I’m not breaking a law. I have to pee, so if you will excuse me.” I walked around to his other side and he stepped in front of me again. “Noah Druck, I will not dance with you tonight.” I laughed and barreled my way around him.
It was a shame Noah was a bull-headed cop. He was cute and Sean’s old best friend. If I was to go out with Noah, that would really get Sean’s goat. It wasn’t that I was still in love with Sean, I was still angry with Sean for leaving me. Any revenge sounded good. Especially right now with a little liquid courage in me.
All three stalls in the bathroom were taken. My toe tapped waiting, holding back the pee-pee feeling. The sound of a flush made me happy to know I was next.
“Well, well. I had no idea you were married to Sean Harper.” Charlie stepped out of the stall.
Without giving her the time of day, I darted in the stall and locked it. I glanced at the toilet. Charlie probably peed sprinkles of gold. Or angels sang when she urinated.
The other two people in the other stalls flushed. I took my time so I didn’t have to face Charlie at the sink, but my plan failed. She stood looking at herself in the mirror. She got her lipstick out of her clutch and slowly rolled it up. Red.
“I can’t believe you ever let a man like Sean go.” She talked and glided the matte finish across and around her lips before she pressed them together. She quickly took a picture of herself with her cell phone. “Hashtag selfie. Hashtag best date ever.”
