Small Town Rumors

by Carolyn Brown

  “What happened to you?” Charlotte picked up a cup and slung it at the wall. “You used to listen to me.”

  “Yes, I did, and look what it got me. I hated being a cheerleader, but it was important to you, so I endured it. I didn’t want a big fancy wedding, and I was a wreck the whole time you planned it. I hated New York, but you said I’d get used to it. Listenin’ to you hasn’t always worked for me.” She went to the pantry and got a broom and dustpan.

  “Don’t you dare clean that up,” Charlotte declared. “That’s Mabel’s job.”

  Jennie Sue ignored her and swept the shattered glass into the dustpan. “Is it worth it, Mama?”

  “Is what worth it?” Charlotte popped her hands on her hips.

  “All these years of ignoring all Daddy’s affairs.”

  “Was it worth ignoring Percy’s?” Charlotte shot back at her.

  “No, it wasn’t, but after living in this house, I’d been trained to think that was life in general. The husband cheats. The wife ignores it as long as she gets all her pretty little things like new cars and jewelry. I hate all this.” She waved her hand to take in everything. “I’m glad that Percy left, so I didn’t have to leave him. I was sick of what it took to be his wife.” She picked up her coffee cup.

  Charlotte shook her finger under Jennie Sue’s nose. “Don’t judge me, girl! I’ve got everything I want in life.”

  “Good for you if you are satisfied with a relationship like this. But I don’t want another rich husband if this is part of the package deal. I want to eat what I want and wear what I want, and having a fancy house or a new Caddy every year isn’t worth putting up with a cheating husband or a demanding bastard like Percy.” Jennie Sue started out of the room.

  “Well, good luck with that,” Charlotte screamed. “Go on up there and pout in your self-righteousness. Someday you’ll learn what life is all about.”

  Jennie Sue turned around. “Take me like I am or else. That’s my new motto.”

  “Then you can live with the consequences of such a stupid thing, and I’ll see to it you don’t have a dime to live on until you come to your senses,” Charlotte threatened. “I know for a fact that you’ve got less than a thousand dollars in your purse.”

  “You been snoopin’ in my stuff?” Jennie Sue asked.

  “I call it protectin’ my daughter,” Charlotte said.

  “I can always get a job as a waitress somewhere.”

  Charlotte threw her hand over her forehead and slumped down into a kitchen chair. “You are going to ruin me for sure. I don’t know why God couldn’t have given me an outgoing daughter that I could relate to, instead of my mother-in-law reincarnated.”

  “I’m so sorry that you didn’t get what you wanted.” Jennie Sue heard another cup hit the wall as she climbed the steps, but then there was nothing but silence.

  “Tough love,” Jennie Sue muttered. “Well, Mama, that works both ways.”

  In fifteen minutes, she was in the garage with her purse slung over her shoulder and her suitcase in her hand. It was three hours until the daily bus came through Bloom on its way to Sweetwater and then went on to Abilene. She’d buy a ticket for Abilene, spend the rest of the day at the employment office, and then go from that point. Hopefully she could find something—anything from doing waitress work to cleaning hotel rooms—until she could put her degree to use in some kind of business.

  But first, she was using a few dollars to buy a decent breakfast at the café. After that she’d go to the cemetery to visit her daughter’s grave, and then she’d get on the bus and never look back.

  “Hey, Frank, reckon I could borrow a car? I’ll leave it at the bus station,” she said when she reached the garage.

  Frank was bent over her mother’s Caddy and raised up slowly with a hand on his lower back. He’d always been tall, thin, and lanky, but right then she realized how much he’d aged in the past couple of years. Working for her mother would age anyone. Hell, he and Mabel had practically raised her. Wrinkles were etched into his long, slender face, and his hair had gone completely gray.

  He raised an eyebrow. “Where are you goin’? Mabel told me about your troubles, child. You should stay here where people love you.”

  “I can’t live like this, Frank,” she said.

  “Wait till Dill gets home, honey. He’ll straighten out all this between you and your mama. She’ll come around and let you have bacon.” Frank grinned. “Don’t remember you ever goin’ through a rebellious streak as a teenager. Why now?”

  “It’s more than bacon. I’ll gladly drive the old work truck.”

  Nicky came in from outside and tossed his work gloves in the old truck. “I’ve got to go to the feed store to get a load of fertilizer, so I’ll be glad to give you a ride to Bloom, but the bus don’t come through for another few hours.”

  “Thank you.” Jennie Sue threw her suitcase into the bed of the truck.

  He brushed his dark hair back with his fingertips. His face was angular with just a hint of a chin dimple, and his muscles testified that he worked hard at his job.

  “Now, exactly where do you want to go to wait for the bus?” He opened the door for her before getting into the truck himself, then put on a pair of wraparound sunglasses and started the engine.

  “The Main Street Café,” she said. “You’ll pass it on your way through town.”

  “Been there lots of times. Love their breakfast. Best pancakes in the state.”

  “Thanks.” The idea of warm syrup over buttered pancakes almost erased the bitter taste of the argument.

  The old truck rattled to a stop in front of the café. Nicky hopped out, retrieved Jennie Sue’s suitcase, and set it on the sidewalk as she got out of the truck. She picked it up and headed for the first open booth in the café, set it on the seat across the table from her, and picked up a menu stuck between the ketchup and the napkin dispenser.

  “What can I get you? Well, my goodness, I didn’t even recognize you, Jennie Sue,” the waitress said.

  “Hello, Elaine. I hear that you own this place now. That right?” Jennie Sue asked.

  “Yep, it is. Bought it last year when my husband got killed in a car wreck. The settlement wouldn’t support me the rest of my life. All I’d ever known was cleaning house, cookin’, and raisin’ a couple of kids. Figured I could run a café, so here I am. My mama watches my two boys, and Cricket Lawson stayed on as part-time help,” she said.

  Jennie Sue glanced over the menu. “I’m sorry to hear about your husband, but good for you for takin’ control of your own life. And you’re blessed to have family to help you.”

  “I couldn’t do it without them,” Elaine said.

  “While we were drivin’ here, Nicky said I should get the big country breakfast, so I’ll take that and maybe a big glass of milk.”

  “No coffee?”

  “Nope, just drank several cups,” Jennie Sue answered.

  “Then it will be right out.”

  Elaine hadn’t changed much since high school. She’d been a few years ahead of Jennie Sue and had always been super sweet, but she’d never quite fit in with the popular girls. She’d worn her dark hair long in those days, but now it was short and she’d gained probably twenty pounds. Jennie Sue wondered if Elaine’s mother ever fussed at her about the extra weight.

  “Well, well, well! Are you leaving us already? You only got here yesterday.” Lettie shoved the suitcase over and sat down across the table from Jennie Sue. Short, as round as Mabel, and sporting a kinky hairdo that had gone out of style years ago, Lettie hadn’t changed since Jennie Sue was a little girl.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Jennie Sue answered. “How have you been, Miz Lettie?”

  “Elaine, I’ll have a big stack of pancakes and two orders of bacon,” Lettie called out across the café.

  “Got it,” Elaine yelled.

  “So where are you going?” Lettie turned back to Jennie Sue.

  “To find a job,” she answered.

  “What k
ind of skills and experience do you have?”

  Elaine crossed the floor and set Jennie Sue’s breakfast in front of her. “Millie will bring out your order shortly, Miz Lettie.”

  “No rush. Just send me a cup of coffee, and I’ll be happy until it gets here.” Lettie waved her away with a flick of the wrist and turned back to Jennie Sue. “Now, you were about to tell me about your work experience.”

  Jennie Sue picked up the saltshaker and applied an unhealthy dose to her eggs. “I have no experience, but I do have a business degree. The only thing I’m good at is keeping a clean house and organizing fund-raisers and parties.”

  “Hmm.” Lettie pursed her lips. “So why didn’t you have a housekeeper up there in New York?”

  “Percy was never pleased with the way they cleaned.”

  “Was?” Lettie asked.

  “Been divorced for over a year.”

  “Oh, really?” Lettie cocked her head to one side.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Me and my sister, Nadine, lost our housekeeper a couple of weeks ago. The lady that worked for us cleaned for me on Friday and Nadine on Thursday. You interested?”

  Charlotte would probably go into cardiac arrest if Jennie Sue became nothing more than a maid for her archenemies. But hey, it was a job, and Jennie Sue damn sure knew how to clean a house so well that it would pass judgment in the courts of heaven.

  “I might be interested if you could point me in the direction of an apartment or a rental house of some kind that wouldn’t be too expensive,” Jennie Sue answered.

  “I got an apartment over my garage. It’s pretty small, but it’ll work for a single person. I’d be willing to rent it to you furnished. You’ll clean for me on Friday each week, but the last week in the month, you won’t get paid. That’ll be your rent,” Lettie said.

  Jennie Sue could imagine Charlotte throwing whatever she could get her hands on at the wall when one of the Belles called her with that bit of news. Even if she was angry with her mother over trying to mold her into another Wilshire woman, she couldn’t do that to her mother—or could she? How else would she be independent?

  She picked up a piece of crisp bacon with her fingers and took a bite while she thought about the offer. It was a job that she could do. It was a place for her to live. She didn’t have to live in a shelter or sleep on a park bench. However, her mother would never speak to her again, and the rumors would be so hot that they might burn down the whole town of Bloom.

  Elaine arrived with Lettie’s pancakes and set them in front of her. “Sorry it took so long. Got a phone call, so the first ones I made were too brown. I wouldn’t even take those things home to feed to the kids’ hound dogs.”

  “Thanks,” Lettie said and then turned her attention back to Jennie Sue. “I hated to see her husband die, but it’s the best thing that ever happened to her mama. The woman was fairly well wastin’ away after Elaine’s daddy died. Now she keeps Elaine’s kids, and she’s got a brand-new lease on life.”

  A surge of jealousy shot through Jennie Sue.

  Lettie lowered her voice. “Elaine’s doin’ a good job of runnin’ the café and raisin’ them boys.” Lettie glanced out the window and frowned. “Sweet Jesus! There’s Amos. Sometimes I think that man is stalkin’ me.”

  Amos pushed his way into the café and dragged up a chair to Lettie and Jennie Sue’s table without being invited.

  “Hey, Millie, bring me a plate just like Lettie’s,” he yelled across the empty café.

  “Will do. Coffee?” she asked.

  “Yep, black as sin and strong as Hercules.” He grinned. “Now, what are you ladies discussing?”

  “Jennie Sue needs a job, and me and my sister need a housekeeper. She’s thinkin’ about working for me on Friday and Nadine on Thursday. Says she knows how to clean houses since her husband was a neat freak.”

  “That so? Well, if you work for them two days a week, I could offer you three days at the bookstore. I’m gettin’ too old to work two jobs. Our little library is volunteer and stocked by donation, so I keep it open in the afternoons and work in my bookstore in the mornin’s. If I had someone to help me out three days a week, I could keep the store open and have a little time off for myself. It’ll only be part-time and minimum wage, but you can read all the books you want for free,” Amos said.

  “Can I move into the garage apartment today?” Jennie Sue asked.

  “It’s empty and waiting for you,” Lettie said. “But you got to know, Nadine and me are picky. We hate dust and we like our sheets dried on the line when it’s not rainin’.”

  “No problem. I’ll take both jobs,” Jennie Sue said.

  Lettie tapped her finger on the table. “Let’s see—tomorrow is Wednesday, but that’s the Fourth of July. Why don’t you just move in today and get all settled tomorrow, and then you can start work the next day at Nadine’s place?”

  “Y’all know this is only temporary. I’ll start putting out résumés for a job using my business degree and be gone by September or October at the latest. Both y’all all right with that?” Jennie Sue asked.

  Lettie cut into the tall stack of pancakes and shoved a forkful in her mouth. “That’ll give us more time to find someone permanent.”

  “I’m fine with it.” Amos stuck out his hand. “We got a deal?”

  Jennie Sue hesitated, thinking about Charlotte again. She had no desire to cause her mother pain and misery, but she also didn’t want to live in a shelter or a dirt-cheap motel while she hunted for a job. She slowly reached across her plate and shook hands with Amos.

  “I’ll be there bright and early on Monday morning,” she said.

  “Great!” Amos wiggled in his chair like a little boy. “I’ll even throw in lunch on the days that you work for me as a benefit.”

  “Thank you for that.” Jennie Sue looked around the small café. Ten tables for four down the middle and ten booths on one side—not a huge place, but if the burgers were as good as the breakfast, then she might put on another ten pounds by September.

  “And my sister and I always provide lunch for our cleaning lady. You’ll arrive at nine sharp and work until five, with an hour off from twelve until one. And sometimes in the evening, if you are willin’, we pay extra if you’ll drive us down to Sweetwater to Walmart or to the movies.”

  Evidently, Lettie wasn’t going to let Amos get ahead of her.

  “And you’ll have to drive them to our book-club meeting the first Friday of every month. That’s this week, so put it on your calendar. Seven o’clock at the bookstore. We’re reading Scarlett, but we wouldn’t expect you to read it in such a short length of time.”

  Jennie Sue raised a palm. “I’ve read that book already. Gone with the Wind is one of my all-time favorites.”

  “Great!” Amos said. “You’re goin’ to fit right in with the rest of our club.”

  “Yes, she is.” Lettie beamed. “When I get finished with my breakfast, you can ride home with me, and I’ll show you the apartment. I could use some things from Walmart in Sweetwater, so you can drive me down there this afternoon. You’ll need to get a few groceries and things for yourself, I’m sure. Place comes with everything you need in the kitchen except a full refrigerator. You need an advance on your salary for that?”

  “No, ma’am, I’ve got that much covered.” Jennie Sue slathered butter on her biscuit and tore the top off a plastic container of strawberry jam.

  Lettie was getting a huge kick out of this, but Jennie Sue figured that beggars couldn’t be choosers, and neither Amos nor Lettie had mentioned her extra ten pounds or the fact that she was having bacon for breakfast.

  Lettie’s place was a pretty little yellow house with white shutters and an immaculately kept lawn with colorful lantana, impatiens, and marigolds growing in the flower beds. She pulled into a driveway leading into the garage at the back of the house.

  “The apartment steps are inside the garage, so you’ll need keys for both garage and apartment.” Lettie h
anded them off to Jennie Sue. “You go on up there and get settled in. I’ve got to talk to Nadine and tell her that I’ve solved our problem about a cleaning lady. You have a cell phone?”

  “Yes, ma’am, I do,” Jennie Sue said, glad that she’d have a paycheck by the time the next phone bill arrived. She wondered why Lettie had chosen such a small house when everyone knew that she and Nadine were among the richest people in town. Maybe it was because she was frugal, or maybe it was because she didn’t need anything more since she’d always lived alone.

  Lettie fished around in her purse until she found her phone and handed it to Jennie Sue. “Put your number in that. I barely know how to accept calls, and I’ll need to know how to get ahold of you if me and Nadine want to go somewhere.”

  Jennie Sue hit a few keys and handed it back to Lettie. “There you go.”

  “I’m figuring in about an hour we’ll be ready to go to Walmart. We been wantin’ to go for a couple of days, but I don’t like to drive down there in Sweetwater.”

  Jennie Sue’s eyes shifted to the pickup.

  “Nadine has one of them SUV vehicles that seats seven. We always take it when we go places. Trouble is, she’s over eighty and done lost her driver’s license for too many wrecks. Me, I just hate to drive, so I get out of it any way I can,” Lettie admitted. “Right up them steps is your new place. I hope you like it.”

  “I’m sure I will. Thank you, Lettie,” Jennie Sue said.

  “Solves a problem for all of us. I’ll call you when I’m ready to go.”

  Jennie Sue carried her suitcase up the stairs, dropped it right inside the door, and immediately called her mother. Charlotte should hear the news from her daughter’s lips and not the gossip vine of Bloom, Texas.

  “Where the hell are you?” Charlotte answered. “We have appointments to get our nails done at ten thirty and then lunch with a couple of my Sweetwater Belles. I’m hoping to talk them into letting you serve on a committee or two.”

  Jennie Sue inhaled deeply and spit out the whole story. She got nothing but total silence so long that she thought her mother had hung up on her.