“You did all of this for me?” Addie asked.
“Sure did, sweetheart,” Patty Mae replied.
“I’m going to have food for weeks!”
“That’s the plan,” Opal Ruth said.
“There’s even some chocolate gravy for string bean over there.” Fannie Lou pointed to Jerry. “Eat up, sugar!”
Addie didn’t know what to say. She hardly knew these women, and yet here they were in her kitchen, with enough food to feed a small army and then some. She felt warm from her head to her toes. They’d cooked for her, for her family, and that food was love. Addie knew this because it was what Aunt Tilda would have done if she were alive. It was what she’d done for Addie, and it was, Addie now realized, what her aunt had done for Zeke that summer. The love her aunt poured into that food was the love she couldn’t have expressed for him. It filled up the wagon and spilled over into Zeke’s hands that sticky day in July. It was years and years of being strong that had somehow turned to bitterness. It was her aunt’s only way of saying what needed to be said. She hoped Zeke understood. Addie clutched the recipe box to her chest. She wouldn’t let her aunt down. She wouldn’t be bitter.
As her mother and Jerry busied themselves filling their plates, Addie counted the chairs at her table. There were four. “Wanda?” Addie called out. “Did somebody fix my broken chair?”
“I’ll give ya six guesses as to who it was,” she hollered back. “And the first five don’t count!”
“Jasper,” Addie mumbled. Where was he?
“How are you feeling, Adelaide?” Doc was in front of her, a half-eaten piece of pie on his plate.
“I’m okay. A little overwhelmed, but okay.”
Doc nodded. “I tried to tell Wanda that this would be too much.” He gestured around the room. “But she insisted. You know how she can be.”
“Oh, I know.” Addie laughed. “I just can’t believe so many people even wanted to come.”
“We care about you,” Doc said. “Despite our disagreements, I am quite fond of you.”
“About that,” Addie began. “I need to apologize to you . . .”
“Don’t,” Doc cut her off. “Talk to Jasper first, and then you can decide whether you want to apologize.”
“Where is Jasper?”
“I don’t know. But I’m sure he’s around here somewhere.”
Doc wandered off, and Addie was left alone in her kitchen. People were buzzing all around her, eating food, laughing, and waving in her direction. She knew most of them. They were clients from the clinic, friends of Wanda’s and Jasper’s, and people from around the neighborhood. Sitting on one corner of her couch, alone in a tweed blazer, was Augustus Smoot. Addie could hardly believe her eyes.
“Mr. Smoot, what are you doing here?”
Augustus looked up at her. In his hand was a glass of whiskey, his own; Addie recognized it from the day she’d been there. “I was invited.”
“I’m glad you’re here.” Addie sat down beside him. “I’m just surprised, that’s all.”
“Eleonora and I had a talk,” he said. “She told me I was being crotchety and that I should be nicer to the pretty neighbor.”
Addie grinned. “I think I like her.”
Augustus took a sip from his cup and said, “I know you would have.”
“Addie.” Her mother was calling to her from the other side of the room. “Come over here.”
Addie stood up and took Augustus’s hand in hers. “Maybe we could have tea one day this week?”
“I’ll have Magdalene clear my schedule.”
Addie made her way over to her mother and a woman who looked vaguely familiar. She couldn’t place her, but she knew she’d seen her face somewhere before.
“Addie, this is Delores. She says you’ve met.”
“I think so,” Addie replied. “But I just can’t remember where.”
“Lily’s Boutique,” Delores said. “I own it.”
“Oh!” Addie’s eyes lit up. Now she remembered. “How are you?”
“Well,” her mother cut in, “Delores was just telling me how she asked you to bring some of your creations to the store and you never did.”
“I guess I forgot.”
“Well, now you have my official request.” Delores gave Addie a broad smile. “Any friend of Jasper’s is a friend of mine.”
“Have you seen Jasper?”
“I think I saw him out back a few minutes ago,” Delores replied.
“You two will have to excuse me for just a minute,” Addie said. She walked away from them despite protests from her mother.
She opened the back door and Felix followed her. At the other end of the yard, she finally found Jasper. He was standing on a ladder in front of the shed, holding on to a brand-new door. The fresh wood stood in stark contrast to the wood around it, and Jasper was cursing and coaxing it into position.
Felix barked and bounded down the steps, and Addie followed him. “Jasper, what are you doing out here?”
“What does it look like I’m doing?” he huffed. “I’m trying to fix this door. There are just too many things to fix in this house. Too many.”
“Come down from there,” Addie demanded. “You’re going to give yourself heatstroke.”
“I wanted to have everything fixed by the time you got home.”
“Please, come down.”
Jasper sighed and stepped down off the ladder. He squinted into the sunlight at her. “You look better than the last time I saw you.”
“I’d hope so,” Addie said with a laugh. “I was covered in blood and lying on my bedroom floor.”
“I remember.”
“Why aren’t you inside with everyone else?”
“I’ve been trying to make everything perfect for you.”
“Why?”
“Are you in a lot of pain?”
“Yes. But it’s only when I move. Or talk. Or breathe.”
“Addie, I’m so sorry. I should have told you everything. I never should have left you alone here.”
“You came back.”
“I got there too late,” he muttered.
“You shot him!” Addie exclaimed. “You shot him, Wanda told me.”
“I figured you’d find out before I could tell you.”
“You saved my life, Jasper.”
“It’s because of me that your life was ever in danger,” Jasper said.
“I don’t understand.”
Jasper twisted the hammer in his hands. “This whole time you thought you’d brought this trouble into my life when it was the other way around.”
“Jasper, you’re talking in circles,” Addie said. She took a step closer to him. “What are you trying to say?”
“What do you remember about that night? About what Redd said to you?”
“I don’t remember a whole lot of the conversation.” Addie shrugged. “But I told the police that he kept asking me who I was working for, which I thought was strange.”
“What else?”
Addie thought about it. That night was a cloud resting in her brain somewhere, and bits and pieces were still breaking through. “He said something about a DEA agent? On your farm. Said you didn’t know anything about it.”
“That’s what I should have told you about all along.”
“Tell me now.”
Jasper took a deep breath. “The Jones family has been suspected for decades of manufacturing and selling drugs all over Eunice and the state of Arkansas. But nobody could ever really prove anything. When Redd’s daddy died, he took the family business to a whole new level.”
“What kind of drugs?”
“Meth, primarily,” Jasper replied. “Redd took the operation across state lines into Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee. When the Jones farm was foreclosed on and I bought the property, the DEA came to me to ask for help. I agreed to work undercover. So did Doc.”
“Doc was in on this, too?”
“This had been going on for a year before you mov
ed here, Addie,” Jasper continued. “We were deep in the middle of things. And then you found Felix. And started asking questions. We were all afraid you were going to find out and word would leak out to Redd . . . or worse, that you’d end up getting hurt.”
“So this was bigger than Felix,” Addie said. She was talking more to herself than to Jasper. Pieces of the puzzle were starting to come together.
“Dogfights were just one way to distribute and make contacts.”
“That’s disgusting.”
“I agree.”
“Did you know about it?” Addie asked. “I mean, before I jumped in the big middle of it.”
“We had a hunch. We couldn’t confirm it, but that’s one reason that Doc had to work with Redd and his guys. We figured if he helped with the dogs, that he might be able to garner information.”
“But those dogs,” Addie replied. “They were fighting them and nobody was doing anything about it.”
“Addie, we just couldn’t prove it. We couldn’t take a chance that those charges wouldn’t stick. We had to wait until we could get him for something that would keep him behind bars.”
“I wouldn’t have told anyone.”
“If someone had found out that you knew anything, you would have been at risk.” Jasper swallowed. “I thought I could keep you safe if I didn’t tell you. Clearly I was wrong.”
“We were both wrong about a lot of things.”
“The DEA agent that Redd told you about,” Jasper continued, “is Loren.”
“Loren?” Addie repeated. “But he’s so young!”
“He’s actually thirty.” Jasper laughed for the first time. “This was his first undercover case. Admittedly, he made some mistakes. That’s how Clyde found out, and somehow he got it in his head that you and Loren were working together. I guess because you both showed up here within a couple months of each other.”
“This is insane,” Addie murmured.
“And you’re never going to believe this,” Jasper said. “Augustus Smoot called the police. He called in even before Wanda called me.”
“What?”
“He said he saw some suspicious activity over at your house. He was even wearing pants when the police showed up. Nobody quite knows what to make of it.”
“I can’t believe it.”
“I know it’s a lot to take in,” Jasper said.
“How many people were involved? I mean, in Redd’s operation?”
“Redd, Frank, Clyde, and five others have been arrested. They’ll be charged with drug trafficking across state lines,” Jasper replied. “The list of charges is about a mile long. But Redd Jones will go away for the rest of his natural-born life if I have anything to say about it. Right now he’s being held on your attempted murder.”
The words attempted murder bounced off Addie’s ears and pinged around the yard. Attempted murder. Someone had tried to murder her. She closed her eyes.
“I would have killed him, Addie,” Jasper continued. “I wanted to kill him.”
Addie took the hammer from Jasper’s hands. “I’m glad you didn’t.”
“I never wanted to lie to you. Please believe me. I never wanted any of this.”
“From now on, just tell me the truth.”
“From now on?” Jasper looked from his hands up at her. “Aren’t you going to go back to Chicago with your parents?”
“Why would I do that?”
“You said so yourself that you never planned to stay here. And after everything, I figured this would be the last place you’d want to be.”
“You figured wrong, Jasper Floyd.”
“You want to know the truth?”
“Yes,” Addie said. “I want to know the truth.”
“The truth is that all I’ve ever wanted, from the first time I saw you, is just to be next to you.”
Despite her shattered shoulder, despite the pain, despite everything that had happened, Addie felt something she never thought she’d feel again—she felt safe. It was a feeling she hadn’t felt in a long time, a feeling she hadn’t felt in years. She allowed Jasper to pull her close. There was nothing in that moment that she wanted more. “And that,” she said, burying her head into his chest, “is why I’ll stay.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
IT IS WITH SINCERE AFFECTION AND ADMIRATION THAT I’D LIKE to thank the following:
Priya Dorwaswamy—for taking a chance on me and this novel, for being my biggest cheerleader, and for being patient when it was obvious that I had no idea what I was doing.
Lucia Macro—for being the best editor that anyone could ask for, for being hilarious, and for being a fellow Idiot Girl.
Nicole Fischer—for answering every. single. stupid. question.
My husband—for putting up with the light of the computer, the iPhone, and the iPad at 3 a.m.
My son—who gives me strength I never even knew I had.
My mom and dad—for always encouraging my ridiculous dreams, for always giving me a place to live, and for setting an example that only fictional characters could ever dare to top.
For Mimi—for being a writer.
Nicole Hunter Mostafa—for her unflinching loyalty and nearly two decades of friendship. I could not have done this without you. I love you, Lucy!
Brittany Carter Framer—for reading (and writing!) fan fiction with me fifteen years ago and for the hours spent quoting Blink-182, *NSYNC, and Richard Marx.
Lindsey Davis—for reading my drafts with an eagle eye. You are, without a doubt, one of the most talented people I know.
Louis, Ruthie, Lillie, Winnie, and every other rescue dog out there—for teaching humans what it truly means to love and be loved. This book is for you.
P.S. Insights, Interviews & More . . . *
About the author
* * *
Meet Annie England Noblin
About the book
* * *
Recipes
Reading Group Discussion Questions
About the author
Meet Annie England Noblin
ANNIE ENGLAND NOBLIN lives with her son, husband, and four rescued bulldogs in the Missouri Ozarks. She graduated with an M.A. in creative writing from Missouri State University and currently teaches English full-time for Arkansas State University in Mountain Home, Arkansas. Her first novel, Sit! Stay! Speak!, was inspired by the year she spent teaching developmental English in the Delta of Arkansas, a place she says still has her heart. Her poetry has been featured in publications such as the Red Booth Review and the Moon City Review.
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About the book
Recipes
Fannie Lou’s Chocolate Gravy
4 Tbsp. cocoa
1½ cups sugar
1 stick butter (not margarine)
3 cups milk (whole milk)
Mix dry ingredients together. Put in skillet or pan, add milk slowly so there will be no lumps. Cook on medium heat so it doesn’t burn. Best made in black cast-iron skillet. Serve over hot buttermilk biscuits.
Ms. Rubina’s Cornbread
1 cup yellow cornmeal
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. sugar
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
Combine in mixing bowl. Set aside.
Heat oven to 425°F, put 2 Tbsp. of grease in black skillet. Put skillet in oven to heat it up. In mixing bowl, make a well in the center of meal mixture. Drop in 1 unbeaten egg. Add 1 cup buttermilk. Mix well. Take skillet out of oven. Pour hot grease into mixture. Stir well. Immediately pour mixture back into skillet. Bake 25–30 minutes till done. Serve with molasses butter.
Aunt Tilda’s Hush Puppies
2 cups yellow cornmeal
1 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. chopped onions
1 whole egg
&nbs
p; 1 cup buttermilk
Mix together all ingredients. Drop by spoonfuls into hot grease in black skillet. Turn in grease 2–3 times till golden. Serve with fried catfish. In a pinch, perch will do!
Aunt Tilda’s Buttermilk Biscuits
1¾ cups unsifted flour
4 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. cream of tartar
¼ tsp. soda
⅓ cup shortening or lard
¾ cup buttermilk
Mix together dry ingredients and then cut in shortening in pea-sized portions. Add buttermilk. Knead on floured surface till soft.
Pat out dough. Dip small glass in flour and cut out biscuits. Place in pan. Cook in hot oven at 450°F for 12 minutes.
Artemis Floyd’s Cheese Grits
4 cups boiling water
1 tsp. salt
1 cup grits
1 stick oleo
1 egg, beaten
½ roll garlic cheese
Boil water, salt, and grits for about 5 minutes. Add oleo and cheese. Beat together. Add beaten egg. Pour into greased casserole dish and bake 25–30 minutes at 350°F.
Southern Spoon Bread
3 cups milk
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup yellow cornmeal
3 level tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
Melted butter—about the size of a walnut
Stir meal into 2 cups milk. Let come to a boil, making a mush. Add remainder of milk, well-beaten eggs, salt, baking powder, and melted butter.
Bake in moderate oven for 30 minutes or until brown at 350°F. Spread and serve in baking dish.
Aunt Tilda’s Sugar Cookies
1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup oil
1 cup powdered sugar
2 eggs
4½ cups sifted flour or 5 cups unsifted flour
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. cream of tarter
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix dry ingredients together. Add to creamed mixture.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Drop by spoonfuls on greased cookie pan. Press flat with glass dipped in sugar. Bake 8 minutes.
Sit! Stay! Speak! Page 29
