I take another sip of my own beer. “You mean the whole Rowe’s-bad-luck thing?”
He shrugs. “That, plus if you two figure out your deal, then maybe the town will stop talking about you.”
Tallulah bounds up to the porch, her little tail swishing from side to side. She spots me and makes her way over, wiggling happily as she brushes her body against my leg, starting with her shoulder and ending at her hindquarters. I bend over and pet her, tugging playfully on the pink tuft atop her head.
She must be hungry, so I drop a hot dog in her food bowl. The pig snorts in thanks.
“Hey.” Ron points to the piggycorn. “Isn’t that supposed to be one of your rules? You don’t feed the animals? I heard it from Jennifer, who heard it from Clarice.”
I brush burnt hot dog marks from my hands. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Then, to Isaac, I say, “The whole town’s gossiping about Rowe and me?”
He nods toward Rowe. “Well, she hasn’t dated anyone since Luke, uh ...”
“Dumped her publicly for Sally,” Ron finishes.
I frown and feel a crease slice between my brows. “That was a long time ago.”
“Yeah,” Ron starts. “But what he did to her after—”
Isaac shoots him a fierce look.
Now my curiosity’s piqued. “What’d he do?”
Ron takes the hot dogs off the grill and sets them on a disposable foil platter. “Might as well tell him. We already started.”
“Youalready started,” Isaac corrects. “I was keeping my mouth shut.”
“Fine. I started.”
“Then you finish.”
When he doesn’t say anything, McCauley folds his arms and settles onto the balustrade. “Go on, Ron. Put your money where your mouth is.”
“All right, but you know I hate gossip.”
Isaac and McCauley burst into laughter. “Right you do,” the bartender jokes.
Ron rolls his eyes. “Anyway. Most of this is rumor, but Jennifer heard it from Rowe, who told her because they’re friends.”
“Heard what?” I ask.
Ron pauses, and Isaac gestures at him to keep going. “Don’t stop now. Tell the man the whole thing.”
Ron grimaces. “Well, when Rowe first came back with Luke, everybody liked him.”
“Her dad referred to him asson,” McCauley adds.
“But Luke had them all fooled,” Ron explains, wiping his hands on his apron. “At first he was great, helping around the farm, doing everything that was needed.”
“People were still buying piggycorns then,” Isaac adds. “The Wadleys had a deal with Sally Ray across the street. She’d send business their way, and both families profited. The farm wasn’t run-down then, either. Rowe’s dad worked hard to keep it up and profitable.”
I’m putting pieces together. “So her mom wasn’t hands-on.”
“Not with day-to-day activities. That was all her dad. And then Luke came in, and he took over a lot of those roles,” Isaac explains.
“Ron, are the hot dogs done?” A short woman with long, dark hair steps up onto the porch. She grabs a beer from the cooler and notices how eerily quiet all of us have gone. Her eyes narrow in suspicion. “Are y’all gossiping?” When no one answers, she nods. “Y’all are gossiping. Don’t let me interrupt.” Her gaze lands on me, and she extends her hand, knuckles up. “I’m Jennifer. You must be Pane. You’ve been keeping my husband working late.”
I take the hand she offers. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that.”
