“The familiar tones of an incoming emergency call blare through the shop, and the boys all reach for their radios as the dispatcher announces the destination of their next call.
“Bye, baby. I’ll call you later,” Trevor whispers against my lips before giving me a chaste kiss and running out the door behind Jason, Matt, and Dave. They jump into the shiny red engine and head out as the lights begin to flash and the sirens wail. I wonder if they washed it for this impromptu photo shoot? Better the engine than Trevor, I muse. If anyone is going to be prepping his pecs and abs for publicity photos, it’s me.
Chapter 4
Tuesday
Standing behind the counter, I smile at the two busy bodies who are knit picking every single thing in my floral shop. This isn’t the first time they’ve been here, so I’m prepared this time. On their last visit they asked a bunch of questions, my answers all met with an expression that looked like they were either constipated or just in a permanent bad mood.
I knew that opening a new anything in this small town wouldn’t be easy. I mean, why would I expect some blue haired old hen to fork out their hard earned social security money on flowers they could likely grow themselves on their farm? But I had to try. And Addison reassured me that with hard work and a good product, the sales would come.
“Well, I practically knew Belinda was pregnant before she did. Roberta at the pharmacy told me she picked up a pregnancy test on her lunch break.”
The other blue hair shakes her head back and forth in indignation. “You know that kinda fast behavior runs in their family. Her momma used to sneak around with Belinda’s daddy’s cousin.”
Oh, good lord.
“Did you see who was parked outside Belinda’s house last weekend?”
“No. Who?”
“Marcus.”
“What? That thick necked muscle man is old enough to be her daddy. Did you see him leave?”
“No. I overheard Charmaine at the salon telling Eunice. I mean, it’s not my fault I heard their conversation. She was shouting over that hair dryer loud enough you could hear her coming off the highway exit.”
The two of them cackle. I can’t for the life of me figure out why they even stopped in here. I doubt they have any intention of buying anything. Heck, they probably just came in here to find something else to gossip about.
The metal bell chimes as the front door opens, drawing my attention away from the gossip festival in front of me to beautiful Addison.
“Ladies,” Addison greets as she walks in my direction, rolling her eyes the moment her back is to the two of them. “Hey, girl.”
“Hey.” I beam.
“Brought you a coffee and a Danish.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s gorgeous out there today. You should bring them outside and enjoy them on the bench.”
I nod in the direction of the busy bodies in front of me and shake my head. Addison clearly catches my meaning.
She drops her volume, leaning toward me. “Don’t you worry. I got this.” She spins on her heel. “Peggy. You and Louise should stop next door and ask Alden for a sweet roll. They came out extra special this morning. Just tell him I said it’s on the house.”
The two women immediately perk up. “Why thank you, Addison. It’s nice when businesses know how to treat the locals.” The woman with the large up-do that looks as if it might be providing shelter for a rodent for the winter gives me a look of disdain.
Hells bells.
The two of them saunter out of the front door, each with their purses slung over their arms that I’m sure they have no intention of using to support the local economy. As the door closes behind them, I give Addy a flat stare.
“Haha. Don’t let ‘em get to you. That’s just life in a small town.”
Carrying my coffee and Danish, I trail along behind Addison to the bench out front of the store. I watch as she waves as an old Dodge Dart rolls by. Do they even make those anymore? “Do you know everyone in this town?”
“Practically. I’ve lived here long enough. But even if you don’t, just lift your hand up when they roll by. If you don’t wave when folks around here drive by, you’ll get talked about.”
I pull the coffee cup from my lips. “Jeez. For real?”
