“Which one of you has blood or broken bones? Do I need to come to the hospital?” Irene answered.
“None of the above. It hasn’t come to that ... yet,” Taryn said. “Who’s the blonde that Clinton is seeing?”
Irene giggled out loud. “Red sports car?”
“That’s right, and she carried a casserole up the stairs to his apartment,” Taryn answered.
“That one is Elaine Ferguson. Most likely she bought the casserole from the frozen-food section at the grocery store and put it in something fancy so she’ll have a reason to come back and get her dish,” Irene told her. “Plus, everyone in town knows that woman can’t boil water without creating a disaster.”
“‘That one’? How many are there?” Taryn’s opinion of Clinton was falling by the second.
“Just about every unmarried, divorced, or separated woman in Shamrock,” Irene answered. “They’re constantly pestering him in the evenings with food or some other excuse to come around. Didn’t I tell you that he’s the town hero and the most eligible bachelor in Wheeler County?”
“‘Town hero’?” Taryn’s voice went all high and squeaky on the last word.
“That would be his story to tell, not mine,” Irene said. “This is your one freebie call for this week. I’ll see you on Saturday, and you can learn all the gossip then.”
“But Nana Irene,” Taryn begged, “who am I supposed to talk to? You know I can’t visit with Jorja or Anna Rose.”
“You figure that out. All three of you need to be a family,” Irene said. “Do you still know how to make a chocolate cake? I hear that’sClinton’s favorite, and he’s a good listener if you need someone to talk to.”
“Sounds to me like he’s already occupied with keeping the female population of Shamrock busy, so he doesn’t need anyone to visit with him,” Taryn said with a sigh.
“Bye, now,” Irene said, and the screen went dark.
Taryn picked up her bowl and ate a couple more bites of her cereal. After a few minutes, Elaine came out of Clinton’s apartment. From the look on her face, she hadn’t gotten the kind of reception she’d thought she might. She shot Taryn a dirty look across the parking lot between the trailer and shop, got into her car, and slung gravel all over the place when she peeled out. She’d only driven a few yards when she braked, and more gravel flew across the parking lot. She backed the vehicle up, climbed out, and stomped toward the trailer. The expression on her face said that she meant to mop up the streets of Shamrock with Taryn. But poor Elaine didn’t realize that Taryn wasn’t a teenager protecting her so-called friends anymore, and if push came to shove, she didn’t mind getting dirty.
A rousing, good fight might be just what Taryn needed. However, she did feel sorry for Elaine’s expensive shoes. That pretty red on the underside of the high heels had suffered horribly when she stormed across the gravel parking area.
When Elaine reached the trailer’s ratty porch steps, she shook her finger at Taryn. “Stay away from him. That goes for all three of you. I’m going to win this contest no matter what it takes. Elaine Ferguson does not lose.”
“What contest, and why are you angry withme?” Taryn asked. “I’m just sitting here, eating my cereal and minding my own business.”
“You were a couple of years ahead of me in school, and I rememberyouvery well.” She accentuated her words with a jab of her finger. “I’m telling you to leave Clinton McEntire alone. He’s mine! The contest is none of your business, either.” She whipped around and stormed back to her car.
“Well, that was childish,” Taryn muttered. “I might be the one with the reputation in this town for being a pushover, but I grew up. Evidently, she didn’t.”
Jorja came through the door and sat down beside Taryn. “Is that Elaine Ferguson? What’s she doing here? I hope you told her that the shop is closed.”
“Did you know her when we lived here?” Taryn asked.
“She was in my class at school and always claimed she was royalty, even kin to the duchess of York, that Fergie from England,” Jorja said. “You didn’t answer my question. What is she doing here?”
“Evidently telling us to stay out of some contest that’s going on in town,” Taryn said. “It must have something to do with Clinton because she told me to stay away from him and informed me that he was hers. And she was pretty definite about it.”
Jorja stood up and started back into the trailer but stopped at the door. “Could be that there’s another contest going on, but I bet it’s the wreath contest for all the businesses in town—the one that the Chamber of Commerce sponsors for the Fourth of July.” She frowned and shook her head. “But Elaine doesn’t own a store, so why would she be all up in our face about that? And why would Clinton have anything to do with that contest?” Another frown. “She must be talking about something else.” Jorja waved the gravel dust from around her face. “But I don’t care if Elaine thinks she’s royalty. She’s not telling me what to do. I’ll make the biggest, best wreath in the whole dang town, and we’ll win first prize.”
“I got the impression that the contest she’s talking about has to do with just Clinton, because she warned all three of us to stay away from him—but now that you mention the wreath contest, I vote that we make one with a veteran theme to honor our fallen heroes,” she suggested.
“Sounds like a good idea. You won’t talk Anna Rose into that, you know. She’ll want to have a cowboy or Western theme,” Jorja said.
So much for slipping in and out of town without anyone remembering me,Taryn thought, and then muttered, “The past is always lurking in the shadows.”
“What’s going on out here?” Anna Rose asked as she stood to the side and let Jorja enter the trailer.
“I’m going to make myself some supper,” Jorja said. “After that lunch we had, I’m just having a salad.”
Good old Jorja. Always doing the right thing,Taryn thought, but she didn’t say anything out loud.
