Sweet Tea and Secrets (20 page)

They filed into the hall and headed toward the door.

“I guess I’ll see you tonight for the fireworks.” Connor cuffed Garrett’s shoulder.

“I’ll be there around four to set up,” Garrett said.

“I’ve got parking lot duty. How come I always get stuck with parking duty?” Connor complained.

“You look good in that fluorescent vest,” Garrett said, mocking him.

Connor shifted his attention to Jill. “Come to the gate by the pond and I’ll give you a good parking spot tonight for the fireworks.”

The whole town would shut down at noon and the picnickers would start filing into the fairgrounds shortly after that. So many people would show up at the fairgrounds that it would take over an hour to empty the lot when it was all said and done. That steady stream of blinking brake lights would be like another show.

Jill and Carolanne used to sit with Aunt Milly and Pearl in their spot under the big oak tree and wait until Garrett and the rest of the pyro team came by. Pearl always baked her famous cookies for the guys. They’d meet up afterwards to munch on the special treats and share all the mishaps and bloopers that they’d experienced during the day.

Connor clicked his fingers in front of her face. “Earth to Jill.”

“Huh?”

“Where were you just then?” Connor asked.

“Nowhere, sorry. I’m not going tonight,” Jill said.

“All the oohing and ahhhing. How can you miss it?” Connor asked.

“I was planning to head back to Savannah this afternoon. I have some commitments for work I need to take care of, but if I change my mind I’ll keep your offer in mind. The gate by the pond, right?”

Garrett nodded. “It just isn’t Fourth of July without the hunt club barbecue and fireworks.”

Connor winked at Jill. “Are you turning into a city girl on us?”

“No way. You can’t take the country out of this girl.”

“I don’t know about that,” Garrett muttered under his breath.

Jill spun toward Garrett. “What did you say?”

“I said I’m running late.” Garrett turned and walked toward the truck.

She eyed him, not quite believing him.

“He’s my ride. Thanks Connor.” She jogged to catch up and fell in step behind Garrett.

Jill hiked herself up into the big truck and slammed the door shut before Garrett got in. She put her purse between them on the seat, feeling the need for a barrier.

Garrett twisted the key in the ignition and dropped the truck into gear.

Jill wondered how she’d explain this to Bradley. In his mind, he’d already sold Pearl’s place and reinvested the money in his head a hundred times over the past week, and she knew he had no intentions of moving to Adams Grove. Not that she was sure she’d want him to anyway.

Jill thought about Connor’s offer. She had a lot of great memories from Fourth of Julys over the years. Maybe she didn’t have to leave this afternoon.
Lord knows, I’m not in the mood to dress up in a fancy gown and put on a smile all night.

“When will you decide?” Garrett asked as they sped through a yellow light.

“About the property?” she asked.

“I wasn’t talking about the fireworks. Yeah, about the property. What else?”

She caught the sarcasm in his voice.
Of course, that’s what he’s asking about. He couldn’t know she was contemplating whether she’d go back to Savannah tonight or not.
She tapped out the days on her fingers. “I’ll let you know something by next Wednesday.” That would give her five days to sort everything out.

“Pearl’s five-day rule,” he teased.

“You know me too well,” Jill said.

“Pearl’s rule of five. If in doubt wait five days,” he recited.

Everyone in town had probably heard Pearl’s rule of five speech at some time. She swore that five days was the perfect cooling off period. Time enough to look at an issue without clouding a decision with emotions, and not so long that it was impolite. Like so many of Pearl’s little pearls of wisdom, Jill thought Pearl probably made it up, but if it bought her five days, she’d leverage it.

She cringed at the thought of discussing any of this with Bradley before she made up her own mind. He’d have strong opinions about the will, and they’d be all business. But, if she stayed, she’d need to get some clothes. There were only so many days she could wear Pearl’s granny panties and polyester. What better time to shop than on Fourth of July. There were bound to be some good sales. Not here, though. Everything in Adams Grove would close down for the day in a couple of hours. But, there was always Roanoke Rapids and that was only a short drive.

Garrett slowed at the town square stoplight. Railroad crossing arms blocked the intersection as a freight train rumbled down the tracks.

Jill silently counted train cars as they swept by, chugging and clanging. Even is good, odd is bad.

Garrett put the truck in park.

Jill held her eyes fixed to the rambling train, keeping count.

Garrett reached his arm across the back of the seat and dropped two kisses on her unsuspecting lips.

“What are you doing?” She twisted away.

“We used to kiss at the train crossing. You said you could keep better count that way.”

She unclicked her seatbelt. “Well not anymore. Are you crazy? You didn’t get the hint last week?” She opened the door and slammed it behind her as her feet hit the pavement.

“Why are you still mad at me? You know I didn’t swindle Pearl.” He slapped the steering wheel.

Thunder moaned from the sky, and nickel-sized raindrops splattered against the sidewalk. She tucked her chin and marched down the street.

Garrett rolled down the window and hollered her way. “Hey lady, you want a lift?”

She glared at him.
Not funny.

“Stop, Jill. I’m sorry.” He edged the truck forward keeping pace with her. “What are you doing? C’mon, I said I was sorry.”

She threw up her hand and kept right on walking.

“I won’t let it happen again. Get in. It’s too far for you to walk. Look, you’re getting wet.”

“I’m fine.” She squinted through the raindrops dripping from her bangs.
Hiccup.

“Don’t be so hard headed.” Garrett idled alongside her.

“Look who’s talking.” She edged closer to the buildings, trying to put more space between them.

A car honked behind Garrett. He waved them around. “You’re going to catch pneumonia. You’re hiccupping. I know what that means. You’re mad. I’m sorry. Really.”

“Leave me alone.” Too many unexpected changes made her feel off balance. The size of Pearl’s property and how she wanted to distribute everything was almost too much to take. Hearing that her grandmother had been married had been the tipping point. Garrett was the last thing she needed to deal with today. She touched her lips where he’d just kissed her.
Why did he keep doing that?
And why hadn’t she stopped him before he did? She’d known what he was about to do.

Garrett tossed something bright orange her way from the truck.

She instinctively snagged the object out of the air. “A ball cap?”

“At least it’ll keep your head dry,” he explained.

She tugged the hat down over her head, and dipped her head forward to get the rain out of her face. Peeking from the side, she saw Garrett talking on his cell phone, the truck still idling alongside her.
Leave already, would you?

“You sure you won’t let me take you home?”

“I’m sure. Go!” She picked up her pace. He finally gave up and drove off.

A truck drove by kicking a spray of muddy street water up onto her already damp clothes. “Great.”

The sound of a horn startled her. She resisted turning around.
Why can’t he just leave me alone?
The vehicle slowed. She turned to give him a real piece of her mind, but it wasn’t Garrett’s truck. It was Macy. The limo swerved to the shoulder just ahead of her. Macy jumped out of the driver’s seat in her Outback duster slicker, and rounded the front of the vehicle to swing the back door open.

“Heard you needed a ride,” Macy shouted over the rain. “Come on.”

Jill stepped up to Macy, shivering. “I can’t get in your car. I’m soaking wet.”

“Give me some credit. I’m prepared.” Macy motioned to the inside of the car.

A quilt covered the fine leather seats. “My hero. Thanks, Macy.” Jill slid into the back seat.

Macy shut the door and jogged back to the driver’s seat.

“Garrett called you, didn’t he?”

Macy snickered. “I don’t care where I get my customers from. You don’t need to explain. You sit back and relax.” She raised the privacy window between them.

Jill clung to the blue and white quilt. The Jacob’s ladder pattern was supposed to represent a path or direction, just like the one that had been on her bed when she was a young girl. She closed her eyes and cried softly into the quilt. “God knows, I need some direction right now.”

***

By the time Macy and Jill got to the house, the sun had come back out. Chilled from her damp clothes, Jill went straight inside and escaped the shivers in a hot bath. While soaking, she decided she didn’t want to deal with Bradley while she made her decision about the property. It wasn’t his decision to make. She decided to spend at least another week here in Adams Grove. He wasn’t going to be pleased, but that was just too bad.

She got dressed and headed to Roanoke Rapids to shop. Thank goodness there’d be no more granny panties. Underwear, a couple tops and a decent pair of jeans were a necessity. Three pairs of pajamas found their way into her keeper pile too, mostly because she couldn’t decide which she liked best. The shopping had lifted her mood to match the now sunny day.

In the car, the bags fluttered noisily against the breeze coming through the driver-side window as she belted out the latest Toby Keith song, off key.

When she got home, Garrett had made a first run on the repair of the ceiling over Pearl’s bed and gone. He probably thought she’d already headed back to Georgia. Through the open window, she could see that he’d hung the quilt on the clothesline next to the one that Macy had provided her earlier. She wanted to be mad at Garrett. What made him think he had could come in the house when she wasn’t there? However, fixing her mess was a nice gesture.

Jill pushed Pearl’s hanging clothes tight to one end of the closet to make room for her new ones. She went ahead and boxed up all the contents of the dresser drawers, except for Pearl’s housecoats. She couldn’t part with those. The church would make sure the other things were put to good use.

Seeing Pearl on the DVD had been strange, but comforting—in an odd way. Jill stripped the sheets from the bed and got a fresh set from the closet. Pearl had always refused to buy anything but white sheets, so the choice was easy. Jill pulled the fitted sheet tight and then fluffed the top one like a parachute above the bed, finishing with perfect hospital corners, just the way Pearl had taught her. After tossing the pillows back on the bed, she held a small rectangular one with tasseled fringe to her chest. Pearl had embroidered it years ago. Colorful needlepoint flowers framed the phrase,

Too many tears of sorrow

Precious memories tucked safely away

Your love helps me get to each tomorrow

Until we meet again someday.

Jill wept aloud, clinging to the pillow. She’d never asked who or what Pearl had been thinking of when she stitched the delicate pillow, but the poem echoed Jill’s feelings today.
Were these thoughts Pearl had embroidered memories of John Carlo?
She plucked two tissues from the box on the nightstand. The mascara she had carefully reapplied after being out in the rain was making a mess of the tissues as she dabbed at the tears. She huddled on the bed against the pile of pillows.

All of her memories of Pearl were joyful ones. She’d been blessed to have a happy life filled with love. Losing Pearl would be the first hard thing she’d have to go through without her. Memories pushed and crowded to the front, making it hard to quiet her mind even though she was exhausted. Finally, she drifted off to sleep with the damp tissues squished in her hand.