"Want some help?" Daisy asked. The electricity between her and Jarod was almost visible and the tension it created was thicker than the walls of a nuclear fallout bunker.
"Naw, we'll take care of supper. Chigger's too pretty to be comin' in the kitchen. Besides, she can't cook worth shit. Only thing she makes that's fit for human consumption is sweet tea." Jim Bob carried the bowl of fish fillets inside the house.
Jarod followed. He felt a need to say something, anything. But not a single word came to mind. Daisy looked good enough to eat, but it was more than that. He knew she was smart, hard-working, and feisty. Cleaned up and dressed up she looked beautiful, but with the intelligence in her eyes and her capable hands, she also looked like a woman who could dance all night, get up at dawn, and work until dusk, and then do it all again. She looked vulnerable and strong at the same time and Jarod had gotten shot with a bolt of lust, and something else, like had never happened to him before.
Whatever it was, it's killing me, he almost groaned.
"I think he liked what he saw," Chigger whispered.
"You really can't cook?" Daisy tried to change the subject. Anything to get her mind off the way Jarod's eyes swept over her, creating a demanding desire that she had trouble controlling.
"Let's get on the same page. Some things is not contagious. Momma tried right hard to infect me with the cooking bug. It didn't take. I was immune to it. But the first time I looked at a Cosmopolitan with a big headline on the front about pleasing a man, I was hooked on sex."
"I'm avoiding Cosmo today. So does that mean you don't cook?"
"Throw that damned cookbook into the fire. I really do not cook. I clean like a maniac and I can make a man moan in the bedroom, but I do not make him do the same in the kitchen. I'd rather be reading a good erotic romance as a recipe. You ever read anything by Jasmine Haynes? Lord, after reading one of her books, it's all I can do to get to the Honky Tonk and find Jim Bob. Saw a hitchhiker last week on the way and almost stopped and picked him up just to take the edge off."
"Damn, Chigger!" Daisy exclaimed.
"Well, I did. I'll bring you a few of her books, but don't you drool on the pages. Bet by damn when you read one of them you'll be peelin' Jarod's clothes off every chance you get. And that stupid rule Ruby had won't even enter your mind. Do you really like to cook?"
"Love it when I have time and people. It's been a long time since I had either," she said.
Chigger shrugged. "How are you in the bedroom?"
"What's that got to do with anything?"
"Woman that's hot in the bedroom and a cook too? Why in the hell ain't you married?"
"I almost was at one time. My cooking or my bedroom skills couldn't keep him tied to one woman. We fought. He hit me and I hit him back. But I only got one hit in and he kept hitting me hard until I figured out he was the meanest one of us. When he finally stopped, I pulled out my sawed off shotgun from the corner and had the hammer jacked back before he took off out the front door. Never heard from him again."
"What'd you do?"
"Shot the glass out of the back window of his pickup truck. Wished the whole time I'd blown the back of his head off but I missed. Only time I ever did."
"What would you have done if you had killed him?"
"I'd have gone to the hardware store, bought a shovel, and buried his sorry ass out in the mesquite. Instead, I packed my clothes and what I wanted out of the apartment we were sharing and started driving. Got to Thurber before my car died. How do you ever know who to trust?" Daisy asked seriously.
"I reckon it's a learned thing. We ain't born with it for sure. I think you can trust Jarod."
"Think ain't good enough for me anymore. It has to be know."
"Then I expect you'd best get to knowin', girl, or else the heat between y'all is going to fry both of you," Chigger said. "Let's go in there and do some supervising since you know how to cook."
"Hey, I didn't say I knew how to cook fish. I can fry chicken and mash potatoes, even make lasagna that's presentable and cook up a roast to die for, but—" Daisy protested.
Chigger cut her off mid-sentence. "That's more'n I can do. We're going inside so you can figure out that oil and water thing, and besides, it does a woman's heart good to see a man in the kitchen. Come on."
Chigger led the way to a couple of stools on the living room side of the bar dividing the living room and kitchen. Together they watched Jim Bob peel potatoes and Jarod mix up cornmeal, flour, and cayenne pepper to coat the fish.
Jim Bob stopped long enough to kiss Chigger on the forehead. "You think you could set the table out on the deck without causin' a disaster?"
"If we're usin' plastic."
"I'll trust you with the good stuff since we got company, darlin'," Jim Bob said.
"I'll help," Daisy offered.
She and Chigger were suddenly bumping into the men in the small area as they gathered up plates and cutlery. Daisy didn't have a single reaction when her arm brushed against Jim Bob's, but when she backed into Jarod's chest her pulse raced like it did the night they both wound up on the floor of the Honky Tonk. Could that have only been three days before? It seemed like weeks.
Damn that Chigger, anyway, talking about erotic romance books. Now every time she looked at Jarod, she pictured him lying on black satin sheets with nothing on but a big smile.
"Excuse me," she said the second time it happened.
"Small kitchen," he said hoarsely. If she touched him again he was going to have to take a cold shower before supper time.
She and Chigger carried the dinnerware out to the deck and set places on the glass-topped table surrounded by four chairs.
"Might as well have a seat. No, not there. You can't see Jarod from that angle. Pull your chair around here beside me. That way we can watch them," Chigger said.
"Chigger, for the last time. We are not compatible. He's a rancher—"
"And you are a vet who loves animals. What better combination? Hell, you could dress up as a nurse in one of them little short sexy things from Victoria's Secret and he could be your horse and—"
Daisy stuck her fingers in her ears. "Shut up or I'm leaving," she hissed. God Almighty, didn't Chigger understand she didn't need a bit of help in creating a scenario with Jarod? And she sure didn't need sexual props. One king-sized bed and candlelight was plenty.
"He sees me as a bartender and that's what I am more than a vet tech, which is not a full-fledged vet at all," Daisy said.
"You're a vet to all the folks around here. You bring that black bag of yours and do as good a job as any certified vet so don't give me that shit."
The tinny ringtone of "I Love This Bar" came from the living room loud and clear.
"Well, shit. I forgot to prowl through your purse and turn that damn thing off. Tell whoever it is that you don't have a vehicle and no one is driving you out to any ranch to pull a calf. Besides, you are wearing my sundress and you can't ruin it." Chigger kept talking the whole time Daisy rushed into the house and fished the phone from her purse.
"Hello," she said.
"Daisy, this is Cathy. I was about to hang up or leave a message."
"What's going on? Are you all right?"
"No," Cathy said.
"Talk to me," Daisy said.
"It got ugly last night. His name is Brad and he…"
"You have my permission to kill him. Want me to send the shotgun by FedEx?"
Jarod and Jim Bob stopped what they were doing and stared.
She covered the mouthpiece of the phone and whispered, "My cousin and her boyfriend. I'll explain later," Daisy explained and turned her attention back to the phone. "What are you going to do?"
"He's gone. He's not moving back in here," Cathy said.
"I can always use a damn good bartender at the Honky Tonk."
Cathy's heavy sigh came through the phone. "Thanks. I hate to leave Mena. It's home and my other job is here."
"Home is where you hang your hat, girl. Keep me
posted."
She flipped her phone shut and turned to find Jarod and Jim Bob still staring.
"What?" she said.
"Someone going to get killed?" Jarod asked.
She perched on a barstool. "If I had my way about it I'd order up a backhoe for the Mena, Arkansas, cemetery today."
"And?" Jarod asked.
"Not that it's a bit of your business, but here's the story. Daddy was in the service and had an army buddy from Cherokee, North Carolina, where Momma lived. So he went home with the friend for a weekend and met Momma. Love at first sight and all that. They got married after a quick courtship and he moved her to Mena where he intended to come back to once he got out of the service. She got pregnant on their wedding night and he got killed a month later. So Granny moved from Cherokee to Mena to take care of Momma, who refused to leave the place where he was buried."
"God, that's sweet," Chigger said from the doorway.
"It was until I was about six months old and she found a new boyfriend," Daisy said. "Daddy had one brother who had a daughter, Cathy. We're only a few weeks apart in age and Mena's not a big place so we were pretty good friends. We usually meet in Dallas once a year for a couple of days and catch up on everything. That's who just called."
"I see." Jarod went back to frying fish.
"So what'd her boyfriend do?" Chigger pried.
"He got drunk and mean," Daisy said.
"Must be a family thing. Does she need your shotgun to make a believer out of him like you did that old boyfriend of yours?" Jarod asked.
He looked up at Daisy. Was that why she hated him? Was he paying for some other sorry sucker's mistake? Was the man a total nut case? Anyone who'd hit a face made for kissing and a body made for loving had to be out of his mind.
Daisy changed the subject. "How long until that fish is done? I'm starving."
"Got to fry some hush puppies and potatoes and cut up a salad and supper will be ready," Jarod said. Suddenly he wanted to know everything about Daisy, especially whatever the old boyfriend did to make her mad enough to get out the shotgun. Was that what she was talking about when he went back to the Honky Tonk for Uncle Emmett's wallet?
"You cooked both of those enormous fishes in that time?" Daisy asked.
"No, we cooked enough for our supper. The rest went into the freezer for the next time," Jim Bob answered.
The question hanging in the air between Jarod and Daisy was whether there would be a next time or not. The answer they came to at the same time was that there probably shouldn't be. Oil and water might mix on occasion. Gasoline and matches did not—ever!
Chigger dragged Daisy back out onto the deck so she could pry the whole story of her cousin and the abusive boyfriend out of her. By the time she had all the details, Jim Bob and Jarod carried supper out. Jim Bob sat down beside Chigger, which left Jarod to sit on the other side of the table so close to Daisy that his knee touched hers.
She couldn't shake the satin sheets vision from her head but kept reminding herself as they passed the food around the table that after that night she'd be a hell of a lot more careful. She would never ever put herself in a situation like that again.
"This is reach-and-get night since the table is so small," Chigger announced.
Every time Daisy reached for something she either touched Jarod's hand or pressed her knee tighter into his. She glared at Chigger. The woman hadn't been born of woman. She'd been spawned in a voodoo kitchen from the sperm of a warlock and the egg of a witch.
To keep from reaching across perfectly good fish and slapping the shit out of her, Daisy tried conversation. "This is the best catfish I've ever eaten."
"Thank you. I'm better at it than Jim Bob." Jarod grinned.
"The hell you are. You always get too much red pepper. If I hadn't grabbed the can, this would be too damn hot for anyone to eat," Jim Bob protested.
Too damn hot! Those words crept into Jarod's mind and flashed across Daisy's face every time he stole a look her way.
Too damn hot! The words snuck in Daisy's head and every time she glanced at Jarod they were branded across his forehead.
"You had a funny look on your face. Don't you eat red pepper?" Jarod nudged Daisy. His touch was damn sure hotter than the red pepper coating on the fish.
"Whatever is on it is wonderful and it's perfect. I didn't mean to have a strange expression. It's just that the last time I had a Sunday supper like this was when Ruby was alive. Sometimes the cycle gang would gather up at her house and we'd cook. I miss that," Daisy said. Hopefully they'd all believe her and not read the real thoughts in her head!
"Who was Ruby?" Jarod asked.
Chigger answered. "You missed something when you didn't have the privilege of knowing Ruby. She was a hell-raiser who was probably the first one in line when the women threw their bras on the bonfire. She was her own person and didn't give a damn what anyone thought of her." She picked up a hush puppy with her fingers and bit into it.
Jim Bob picked up where she left off, "Ruby built the Honky Tonk. She was raised in a little town over in east Texas and wound up in Fort Worth or Dallas with an aunt who died and left her a wad of insurance money. So she decided to put in a beer joint and got just as close to the county line as possible. She built one foot inside the legal limits. Then she bought that big sign out on the highway. Before long she was running the best joint in the county."
"I thought it was the only joint in two counties," Jarod said.
"Why would you think that?" Daisy asked.
"The sign I guess. I didn't see any advertisements for anything else."
"Lots of joints have come and gone in and around Mingus over the last forty years. There're empty buildings with the signs on them to prove it. And there's still the Boar's Nest and the Trio Club on up the road from the Honky Tonk. Trio has been there fifty years, just a little less than the Honky Tonk. Its claim to fame is live entertainment and unescorted ladies get in free on Sunday nights," Daisy said.
"Why don't people go there? How can there be that much trade to support three joints? It seemed to me like everyone in the area was in the Honky Tonk," Jarod said.
"People always like to have a good time and for years Mingus was the first place to find it. Used to be that there were more honky tonks and beer joints that a person could shake a stick at," Chigger said. "You ever watch Cheers, that old sitcom on television?"
"Uncle Emmett never misses it."
"Well, folks like me and Merle and the Walker boys have our favorite place, which is the Honky Tonk, just like Norm has his barstool in Cheers."
"So I'd find a different crowd if I went up the road a few miles?" Jarod asked.
"Hell, yeah," Jim Bob said. "Trio has live entertainment and I heard they even have free hot dogs on Sunday. The Honky Tonk ain't open that night so they get all the trade then."
"Why doesn't the Honky Tonk open on Sunday or have live entertainment?"
Daisy answered, "Ruby said that folks don't care if it's a human singing the blues or a jukebox. They just want to drink, dance, shoot pool, and have a good time. I live by the rule that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. And she said that even a bartender needs one night off."
"So that's why Billy Bob doesn't put in another joint. There're already three and that's all the area will support," Jarod said.
"You got it! Plus he wants the Honky Tonk because he also gets Daisy that way. You know what she says. The only way she'll ever leave the place is when they drag her cold dead body out the doors and she'll have her fingers wrapped around a longneck bottle of Coors when they do," Jim Bob said.
"So a man takes you and the Honky Tonk or nothing?"
Another shrug. "Pretty much."
"That's why old Billy Bob is just the woman for her," Jim Bob said, then jumped. "Ouch! Why'd you kick me, Chigger?"
"Because I don't think Billy Bob is the man for her."
"Why? Don't you like him? He's my brother and just like me and you like me," Jim Bob said.
&
nbsp; "Of course I like you, darlin'. But Billy Bob isn't half the man you are and Daisy is my friend. She deserves someone as good as you are."
A wide grin split Jim Bob's face.
"Let's get the cleanup done and I'll give Daisy a ride home," Jarod said.
Daisy pushed back her chair. "I'll wash."
"Stack them by the sink. Jarod, run along and get Daisy home before midnight. She might turn into a pumpkin or a witch if you don't or maybe even a cute little—" Chigger said.
Daisy interrupted. "No, I'll just turn into a barmaid. You sure about the dishes, Chigger?"
I Love This Bar Page 9
