Chancey Jobs (Chancey Books Book 4) Page 7

  The fact there are store windows to be plastered, though, is a good thing. The row of businesses is intact and seems to have power. Moonshots is fully lit, giving off the effect that a spaceship has landed in the dark, little mountain town. Everyone seems to have a Moonshots cup in their hands, apparently because the door is propped open with a hand-lettered sign advertising free coffee. Through the window, Jordan's blond hair is easily spotted.

  Leaving the row of businesses, the camera finds the damage done to the row of old homes on the other side of the square. The tree lying on Missus' and FM's house is huge, and when the roots came up, they destroyed the side of the neighboring home. Blue tarps cover the roofs, and under a huddle of umbrellas, I see familiar faces. Peter has his arm around his mother. When the reporter pushes the microphone in her face, she turns away. Peter steps forward.

  "Yes, everyone in these houses has been accounted for. Just property damage. Pretty severe, but nobody was hurt." He turns his back, and the camera pans for a closer look at the row of homes, seen through the curtain of tree branches.

  "Poor Missus. Poor FM," Savannah says.

  I scroll through my phone. "Patty and I have been texting, she's okay and so is our store, but she says it's crazy down there. Moonshots is giving out free coffee, and Ruby's isn't even open. Some of the little roads getting to town are pretty much blocked, so Ruby’s probably stuck out at her farm. The highway is open, which is good for the police and firemen and news crews, but not for anyone not already living downtown that might want to get there."

  A loud knocking at the door causes us all to jump, then Bryan gets up and runs to it. He jerks it open, and Griffin comes inside, carrying with him a gust of warm, humid air.

  "Hey guys, the road to our house is fine, and Georgia Power crew has okayed our whole neighborhood. I just wanted to stop in before I go downtown."

  I stand up. "Thanks, Griffin. You want some coffee?"

  "Did you see us on TV?" Bryan asks. "They're right downtown."

  He grimaces. "Yeah, you’re not the only ones watching it. Apparently Ruby has electricity, but also a tree across her driveway ’cause she's been calling me constantly ever since that news crew talked about Moonshots giving away free coffee. And, thanks, but no coffee. I've been up drinking it all night." He steps to the door. "So y'all are good and the roads are clear down the hill, but I'd stay put for a while until they get things more settled."

  Bryan follows him to the door. "Is Grant up? What's he doing?"

  "Yeah, Grant's up. He's doing what you're probably getting ready to do—driving his mom crazy wanting to go downtown. Head over to the house in a bit and distract him if you want." As the screen door shuts, Griffin pulls it back open. "But no wandering off downtown, you boys will see it all soon enough."

  Of course, Bryan doesn't hear him because he's already halfway up the stairs to get dressed.

  I smile, watching my son bound up the stairs. "I'll tell him," I say. "Is there anything anybody needs?"

  Griffin shrugs. "Council folks that can get there are meeting downtown. If I find out anything, I'll be sure to let Susan know, so just keep in touch with her." He lets the screen door close completely this time, and he's gone.

  "I'm going back to bed," Savannah says, stretching. "I couldn't sleep in your bed. It's not very comfortable."

  I cross my arms. "You sure looked comfortable stretched out like you were dead, while pushing me out of my own bed. Wish I'd known how much you were suffering."

  "Whatever." She's too busy looking at her phone to roll her eyes at me, but I felt it anyway.

  As she walks up the three stairs to the landing, something catches her eye outside. As she looks back down at her phone and makes the turn on the landing, she says, "Your friend is here."

  Outside I see Griffin talking to someone and then he steps toward his car, and I see its Laney. How in the world did she get here? She lives clear on the other side of town, at least a mile off the highway.

  She has on cute, bright pink rain boots with green hearts on them. Her rain jacket is green with pink hearts on it. The hood is up, and she scurries up the sidewalk with her head down. On the porch, she shakes off and pushes her hood back as I open the door.

  "What are you doing out?” I ask. “Didn't you hear you're not supposed to be out?"

  She unsnaps her coat, pulls it off, and lays it on one of the porch rocking chairs. "They didn't mean me. Just people that don't know what they're doing." She scoots past me. "Besides, I needed to check on the B&B, didn't I? I have a lot riding on this, you know." From the kitchen she asks, "You need a refill on coffee?"

  Cup in hand, I follow her. "I'll get it. So, guess there weren't any trees down on your road?"

  She flits bright pink fingernails at me. "I just drove around them. Be stuck at home all day with Angie and Jenna? There isn't a tornado made that can stop me from getting out when I want to get out.”

  I cluck knowingly as I pour more coffee. "Savannah went back to bed."

  "That's ‘cause she doesn't have a sister to fight with. Those two are driving me crazy. It was so much better when they just ignored each other. And glad to see thing look good here. Should be no problem having the Mother’s Day brunch Sunday. Griffin says the roads will all be cleared by tonight."

  Tornados in the mountains don’t usually leave those large swaths of destruction seen in the Midwest. It’s spotty, and usually has to do with fallen trees and branches.

  "Mom, I'm going to Grant’s," Bryan yells from the living room.

  "Wait!" I instruct from the kitchen door. "No going downtown. You do just as Susan says, understand?"

  "Sure," he says as he bangs open the screen door and runs across the porch.

  Laney has sat down at the kitchen table, and when I turn toward her, she grins, but not a happy grin. A closed-mouth flounce of a grin.

  "What is it?" I ask as I join her. Looking past her out the French doors, the dark clouds racing across the sky catches my attention.

  "Um," Laney says and then nothing.

  Now she has my full attention. Laney not knowing what to say is not a good thing, I'm guessing. I've never actually experienced it, but I'm guessing it's not good.

  "What? Is everyone okay?"

  "Well, you saw the news, right? It's like an emergency, right?"

  "Yeah, yeah, I guess."

  "So we have to do our parts, right?"

  "What exactly is our part? Laney, what is going on?"

  Her eyebrows raise, and her eyes widen along with her smile. "I've booked the B&B solid. Isn't that great?"

  "Why do I think it's not so great? And what does it have to do with the storm?"

  "Well, you know we have two of the rooms full this weekend with those two couples who are coming all the way from Chicago. They're train people."

  "Okay, I remember. They'll be here three nights, right?"

  "Right, and Gertie Samson gets here Friday for an indefinite stay. Patty says she told you."

  "Yeah,” I frown. “How could you do that to me? That woman is a royal pain."

  "Hey,” Laney shrugs. “Business is business. And so that's all the rooms full for the weekend, but with the emergency and all… well, well." She pauses to lick her bottom lip and then her eyebrows jump again. "Yes, Missus and FM are going to be staying in Will's room through the weekend. Then, when Will and Anna get back Sunday from their honeymoon, they'll need Will's room, and FM and Missus will move into the Orange Blossom room until they can move back into their house."

  My eyebrows have joined hers on the ceiling, and they only start coming down when I find a way to talk. "No way. Uh, no, this won't work."

  She picks up her mug and takes a sip. "Oh, Carolina, you should've expected this. Where in the world did you think they were all going to stay?"

  Now that she's delivered her news, she's all matter of fact.

  "I hadn't thought about it,” I say. “Missus' house didn't look that badly damaged. I mean, I can see Will and Anna ne
eding to stay here, but Missus is just causing trouble."

  "It's a done deal. Peter and I have it all worked out. Insurance will be paying for Missus and FM, so we can charge them our full rate. Gertie, of course, is paying the full rate since she's, as you said, such a pain. And that leaves us a room for real guests. If we need more than one room, we'll move Missus and FM into Bryan's room, and he can stay at Grant’s. See? No problems.” She switches tacks. “So, how's the bookstore coming along? Looks real nice from what I could see through the windows. I always check your windows now to see if there's something happening on the couch." She laughs and then goes on and on about something else.

  I can’t hear her because I’m busy picturing our house, caught up in a tornado like Auntie Em’s in The Wizard of Oz, being flung to kingdom come.

  Ah, why can't life be like the movies?

  Chapter 12

  “Peter Bedwell! Get in here.” I pull my head inside the door of our shop and yank my arm back to open the door further.

  Peter turns around on the sidewalk, retraces his footsteps past our front window, and comes inside. He stops next to me, his arms crossed and eyes looking over the store. “Hey, Carolina. So good to hear things were okay with y’all in the storm. Store looks fine, too.”

  “I bet you were happy things were fine with us, since you needed a place for your mother and father to live. Why can’t they stay with you?”

  His head pops back toward me, and his eyes squint. “With me? Where?” Then his eyes relax and he nods. “That’s right, you haven’t seen my house. I’m remodeling, remember? That’s why Anna had moved to Mother’s.”

  “You’re not done with that yet?” I release the door and walk toward our newly painted desk.

  He follows. “The kitchen and dining room, but we just tore the bedrooms apart last month. I’m sleeping on a couch in the living room with everything from the bedrooms piled around it.”

  Behind the work desk and checkout counter, I place my hands on its top and look down at them. Now that he’s here and we’re alone, I remember why I’ve avoided him. We got too close. Too close.

  “Feeling safer behind there?” he asks, and my eyes dart to his, which are darker in here. He’s leaning on the counter across from my hands, so I retract them back to me and shove them in my pockets.

  “Okay, never mind,” I say. “I did forget about your remodeling. You can go on, wherever, go on to finish whatever you were doing. I didn’t mean to yell at you, I just thought that this was some scheme of Missus’ and, well, yours.”

  He plants his elbows on the counter and leans his chin on his folded hands. “No, Caro, I told you playing the ghost up at your house was the end of my games. And I am glad you and Jackson are doing well. However, you can’t keep me at arm’s-length, you know. Nothing gets small town tongues a-wagging like two people avoiding each other.”

  “Okay, whatever you want. You just need to leave before Shannon or Patty comes back.”

  Peter sighs and pushes away from the counter. “People are attracted to people they aren’t married to all the time. It doesn’t have to mean anything. We’re friends, that’s all. You’re not dead, and I’m not going to just disappear. I live here now. You live here. It’s a small town.”

  “I know. I know exactly how small towns are. That’s why you need to leave.”

  “All right.” He walks toward the door. “I’ll bring the rest of Mother and Dad’s stuff up later. The insurance adjustor has been in town all morning, and he’s at their house now.” He looks around before he opens the door. “So no damage here at all?”

  I’ve laid my hands back on the counter, and I see him notice that before he looks up towards the high ceiling.

  “No, at least not inside, Patty says. Adjustor is going to get up on the roof, though. Gertie Samson, Patty’s mom, is coming this weekend, so she can make decisions about the building and the roof. Apparently she owns several places in the area.”

  “Yep, I’ve heard that,” he says as he yanks on the door. He opens his mouth as if to say something but then closes it, shakes his head, and leaves.

  I breathe a sigh of relief.

  He thinks he knows small towns, but I haven’t met the man yet who really understands them. But he could be right about not avoiding him. He has been a good friend, and he does understand all life doesn’t begin and end in Chancey. We just have to hold off the flirting. Leaning on the counter, I watch the activity out on the square and daydream about, well, about stuff.

  “What ya thinking about? You look awful happy for such a bad morning.”

  A deep breath brings me standing upright at Patty’s question as she comes down the back stairs. “Nothing. I wasn’t thinking about anything really.” Lord, I’m blushing. “What are these?” I look down and wave my hand at stacks of boxes behind the counter area.

  “Books. Andrew knew a vendor at the flea market who’d bought out a bookstore when it closed. The guy forgot books would be a pain to keep dry since he has an outdoor spot, and they wouldn’t sell closed up in boxes. Andrew bought the whole bunch for only seventy-five bucks.”

  I’m disappointed to be left out of business decisions. “Don’t you think you should’ve asked me first?”

  “I did think that.”

  “And…?” I probe, hoping to get a little more. She comes to stand beside me and look at the boxes.

  “Well, I remember thinking that, and then I remember thinking about other stuff.”

  “What?” When I turn to her she’s looking at me with a big grin.

  “Me and Andrew. I had other things to think about than books.”

  She’s beaming, and I can’t help but smile back at her. “So, you’re happy with Andrew?”

  “Real happy. We didn’t even hear the storm last night. We were…”

  “Nope,” I interrupt. “Don’t want to hear any details. And guess we had to get some books somehow. I don’t own nearly enough to fill all these shelves. So, we’ll say the books I’ve brought were worth 75 dollars, and we have somewhere to start for our records.” Pulling up tape off the top of one box, I chance a peek at her, peeling tape off another box. She is still wearing baggy jeans and a faded tee shirt. Her hair hangs over her face and has no style or body to it. But I find I’m happy for her. I’m not sure what I think of Andrew, but he’s opened her up to life. She’s always felt like a closed book, now it’s like she’s breathing.

  I pull out a couple books. “These don’t look bad. Fairly new, but used. Must’ve been a used book store.”

  “So we just pile these on the shelves anywhere?”

  “No, we need to write them each down probably. Guess we need to decide how to mark the shelves and how to divide them up.”

  Patty reaches under the counter and hands me a pad of paper. “There’s pens on Shannon’s counter. I’ll start listing the books, and you can decide about the categories.”

  Now that was a bit more than being happy, she actually gave me an order. At Shannon’s florist counter, I take out two pens and then walk back to our side. At least, she’s taking a real interest, and we’re getting something done.

  We work for a couple hours, and our only interruption is a call from Shannon saying her road had finally been cleared, and she’d be coming to the shop around four.

  When she pushed open the door, I saw it was closer to four-thirty. Looking at our shelves you could see the progress.

  “Did y’all see what’s going on out there? Atlanta news crew is grilling Jordan. Something about kids and her husband? Did you know her husband is the owner of Moonshots?”

  Patty drops her pad and pen on the counter as she rushes past us. “Oh, no! They found out.”

  “No idea she could move that fast,” I say as I follow her out the door and into the crowd in front of Moonshots.

  Jordan is no longer outside, and the newscasters are all talking at their cameras. The sign is turned to “closed” on her front door, but after Patty knocks on it, one of the employees
lets her in. All I can overhear from the reporters are bits about South Beach, Diego, Catalina. It looks like most any channel will have it covered on their newscasts tonight, so I can get the details then.

  Back in front of our store, I pause to look down the street. Ruby’s is still dark, so I guess her road isn’t open yet. Peter, Missus, and FM are standing on their front lawn talking to another man. Insurance adjustor, probably.

  The air feels clean, and the breeze has dried up the last of the puddles. Storms, even tornados, are part and parcel of living in the South. I love how they clear the air. Of course, I don’t want anyone to get hurt, and usually no one does. Storms spin off a small tornado that darts down, and trees fall or a roof is messed up. But then another one pops out down the road to take out a gas station canopy, leaving lots of aluminum and plastic scattered around.

  Most of the damage to Missus’ house is toward the back and side, and if you don’t look past the front yard, the property looks fine. Branches and shingles have been cleaned up, and the plastered leaves fell off the windows and cars once they dried. “Everything is almost back to normal,” I say out loud and then groan when I remember. Missus and FM are coming to live with me.

  “Wait’ll you see this,” Shannon says before the door even closes behind me. “Jordan is all over the news. She’s like a big deal in New York, and she’s even been on TMZ. How did we not know we had a celebrity right here next door?”

  “TMZ? Isn’t that the, um teen-age TV channel newsie thing or something?”

  Shannon rolls her eyes. “It’s not just for teenagers; its news. Celebrity news.” She steps up and turns her phone to me. “See? From January. Jordan and her friends got drunk somewhere, and there’s video of them in some crazy bar. Watch.”

  On the small screen it’s hard to see, but I do see blond hair that looks like Jordan’s. There’s lots of whooping and hollering, and they all have drinks. Then a guy dancing on the stage reaches down and one of the women with Jordan goes up on the stage with him and the other men. Men who are very good-looking and barely wearing any clothes.