“Take some gum,” she says, holding out the pack. “Bet your bubbles aren’t as big as mine.”
I sigh. “Fine.” I slide it open and pull out a piece of gum. “I’m taking two. Better chance at bubbles.”
“That’s the spirit,” she says, then studies me. “I can’t quite figure you out. Bill and Dustin didn’t say anything about you being here this summer, but when I showed up to work you were here.”
I shrug. “How would you have known? We never met before last week.”
“True,” she says. “But Dustin talked about you. You’re Bill’s straight-laced niece. The big achiever. Surely I’d have heard if the prodigal niece was coming home.”
I guffaw and restack our peach muffins for the dozenth time this hour. “Prodigal niece. It was never that serious.”
She lifts a brow. “I think you’re on the run. That’s why you’re here, going off the grid.”
I just shake my head and laugh.
“Who’d you kill? Did you pull a ‘Goodbye, Earl?’” she asks, her eyes lighting up. “I think that guy down there’s got black-eyed peas if you need to finish the job.”
I swat her arm with the back of my hand. “You have too vivid an imagination.” I need a subject change because I’m not ready to spill why I’m here yet. I’m too shaken up from this morning’s dream to talk about it. Instead, I ask about her brother. “You and Dustin close?”
I blow a sad little bubble that collapses way too soon.
She purses her lips, but allows me to shift the topic. “Yeah. Used to fight like cats and dogs, only two years apart and all. It’s probably better that I moved in with Stone. We were both living with Mamaw, and once his Ronnie moved in, we were cramped and cranky.”
I step up to our display table, slowly starting to put excess baked goods away as the market winds down. “I always thought you were tight. Dustin talks about you a lot, or at least he did when we worked together last.”
“He started being protective big bubby when I got my CDL and started trucking. I think he worried I was going to get killed by some deranged trucker or hitchhiker or something. Break down somewhere and get taken advantage of.”
I wince. “Anybody give you trouble?”
She shakes her head. “Not in the four years I did it. I just dressed like a boy and kept my head down. Carried a knife and mace and stuff. But I got tired of it. It’s too many hours of thinking and staring at the road.”
“Bill said you want a farm?”
Her face brightens. “I want a place for my little niece to run around when she’s big enough, Dusty’s girl. And at least a hundred chickens. Them ones that lay the green eggs that snobs like you pay extra for.”
“Hey!” I object. “I’m not a snob.”
She plants me with a look. “You went to college. You’re probably a doctor of taxidermy or something.”
I cackle, trying not to choke on the wad of gum in my mouth. “I am not a doctor of stuffing dead animals.”
She giggles too. “Well, you should be.”
“I’d probably make more as a doctor of taxidermy. Creative writing never made me a damn thing.”
Becca pats my leg. “Well, I think you’re a smartypants all the same.” She looks out over the market. “I’ll see about getting you a taxidermy apprenticeship, though. I know a guy. And my mamaw’s got this opossum she got done, but his eyes have never been right. Need you to fix him.”
I turn to her and she’s holding back a fit of laughter.
I throw my arm around her shoulder, a few strands of her long blond ponytail sticking to my sweaty cheek. “Don’t tell Dustin, but I’m glad I got you this summer instead of him. You’re something else.”
She returns my hug. “Aw, likewise, boss. But next time you come to the bar, no wimping out after one drink. I gotta get your secrets out of you somehow.”
* * *
My throat’s dry.I called the three most important wedding vendors. I tried to call Brianna, but she didn’t pick up. I really need to get home to get the horses out, so I can’t afford to wait here for her to call me back.
I fire off a text to tell her I’ll try to call again later this week and that I love her. Even if we keep missing each other, I know we’ll be okay. She’s my best friend because she’s also my easiest friend. We don’t hold grudges if we’re both MIA for a while. We just pick up right where we left off, and it’s the best comfort. She’ll be here later this summer for our family’s annual Fourth of July blowout, and I may or may not be counting the days until then.
