Chapter 5 #3
“Nope.” He set the sack down and nodded toward his brother’s beer. “Got another one of those?”
Tripp handed him a beer. “You’re the one making supper tonight, so I guess the strawberries are for you.”
Knox reached inside the bag and brought out a handful. “I’ll have these for a snack while we wait for supper. What are you making?”
“Meat loaf,” Brodie answered, and took a long gulp of the beer.
“Now, tell us what got you so dirty,” Tripp said.
“You go first and tell me about the barn.” Brodie hoped that if he changed the subject enough he could bypass the story altogether.
“We measured and drew up a rough draft to divide the barn into a back workroom, a front room for the store, and a little shotgun apartment over to the side,” Knox told him.
“When the realtor arrived, who by the way was not Linda today, I made an offer, and he was sure the sellers would take it,” Tripp added.
Brodie stood up. “That’s great. I’m excited for you, Tripp. This has been your dream like the farm has been mine. Who would have thought we’d both find it in this little place?”
“Not me,” Knox answered. “Now, it’s your turn. In addition to the front of your shirt looking like you wrestled with an alligator, there are a couple of dirty handprints on the back. What happened? Damsel in distress?”
“Nope, more like organic farmer in trouble,” Brodie laughed, and sat back down on the step.
If he hadn’t lived through it, he wouldn’t have believed it, so most likely his brothers would think he was weaving a tall tale.
“The truth is stranger than fiction. Audrey doesn’t want Linda to be her neighbor, so…
” he went on to tell them what had happened.
“I’ll go pack up my bags,” Tripp said when the story ended and he had stopped laughing long enough to catch his breath.
“Why?” Brodie asked.
Knox wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. “Linda is going to call Bernie, and she’s going to come in here with a pot of tar and a rail to run us out of town. We need to make a hasty exit before she gets here.”
“Hey, guys,” Joe Clay came from around the end of the house.
Tripp handed him a beer. “I made a bid on the barn, and we’re celebrating.”
“Before we light a shuck out of here,” Knox teased.
Joe Clay took the can and pulled the tab from the top. “I’m glad that you are going to put in a leather shop, but y’all don’t have to be in a hurry to leave the Paradise. We love having you guys with us.”
“Thanks, but Brodie has done gone and wore out our welcome,” Knox chuckled.
“Why would you say that? There’s no way you guys can—” Joe Clay declared.
“Don’t be so quick to judge,” Brodie butted in, and then told him what had happened.
When Joe Clay stopped laughing, he said, “Bernie has a trailer. If she don’t want to be around you guys, she can stay in it. There’ll be no running you off, and if she comes out here with a bucket of tar, I reckon the four of us can take it away from her.”
“Thanks, Dad.” The word slipped out as easily as if he’d used it all his life. He cut his eyes around to find Joe Clay beaming.
***
Brodie had just put a bowl of mashed potatoes on the table when a flash of lightning lit up the sky that evening, and rain mixed with hail pelted against the windows.
The lights flickered a couple of times, then finally went completely out.
“Thank goodness everything is done and that the strawberries were harvested today instead of next week. This hail would have destroyed them,” he said.
Joe Clay fumbled around in the kitchen and brought a couple of jar candles.
“Looks like we’ll be eating by artificial light, with bursts of lightning flashes.
And while you are thanking goodness, whoever or whatever that is, we can also be grateful that the orchard trees aren’t in full bloom.
A hailstorm could have destroyed your crop. ”
Mary Jane brought another candle from her office.
“I heard what you just said, Joe Clay. And I’ve always felt like blessings come in all forms.” She sat down and smiled.
“This all looks wonderful. I didn’t know I was getting cooks as well as sons, and eating by candlelight makes everything taste better. ”
“Our mother made sure we knew how to take care of ourselves before she kicked us out of the nest,” Knox said, “but Brodie is better in the kitchen than me and Tripp.”
“Speak for yourself,” Tripp disagreed. “I can outbake both of you.”
The back door flew open, and Pepper ran into the dining room, stopped long enough to shake water off his whole body, and then headed for the living room.
“Does she have a bucket of tar?” Brodie leaned over and whispered to Joe Clay.
His father leaned back in his chair and shook his head. “Nope, but the look on her face would melt the barbed wire in Hades.”
“Come in, Aunt Bernie,” Mary Jane called out in a sweet voice. “We haven’t even said the prayer yet, so grab a plate on your way.”
Brodie heard dishes rattling around and then another loud clap of thunder.
Bernie stepped into the dining room, and lightning flashed through the window, lighting her up.
Her eyes seemed to glow with anger, and Brodie dreaded the next few minutes.
It was too late to run, so his only option was to take his medicine like a man and hope that she didn’t throw her plate at him.
She sat down and held her tongue until Joe Clay finished a short prayer. Then she turned her glare on Brodie. “Are you in love with Audrey Tucker?”
He passed the mashed potatoes to her. “No, ma’am, I am not,” he sputtered.
She put two big scoops on her plate and exploded.
“Well, that much is good news. I don’t like that woman and despise her aunt, so I forbid you to get mixed up with her.
I never figured Linda for a fool. I’d heard that in the past she tended to get serious way too quick, but I gave her the benefit of a doubt when I fixed her up with my kin.
She called me whining about what happened out there.
I know there’s two sides to every story, and I want to hear yours before I completely take her off my matchmaking list.”
“What happened?” Mary Jane asked.
Brodie glanced over at Joe Clay.
“Don’t look at me, son. It’s your story,” Joe Clay chuckled.
“I’ve already told it twice,” Brodie groaned.
“The third time is the charm,” Bernie said.
“Okay, here goes. I was about to go pick some strawberries for tonight’s supper, when…” he went on to tell how everything went down.
Knox raised a palm. “And she’s been stalking him all week.”
“She’s a disgrace to my service,” Bernie said through clenched teeth. “She needs to grow up and act her age. I’ll find you another woman, Brodie, and this time I’ll pay more attention to the rumors.”
“I really—” he started.
Bernie held up a hand and cut him off. “But Audrey Tucker is off-limits. I will not be related to Hettie—not even through shirttail kin. Why would Audrey do such a foolhardy thing anyway? A decent woman don’t throw herself at a man and kiss him.
I ran a bar in Ratliff City, Oklahoma, and I thought I’d seen everything, but this takes the cake. ”
“She said that she didn’t want Linda to be her neighbor,” Brodie answered, glad that Linda and Audrey were taking the brunt of Aunt Bernie’s anger.
The electricity blinked again and then came back on.
“Let there be light,” Mary Jane said. “Aunt Bernie, I tried to tell you that Linda had some issues. I guess next time around you’ll listen to me.”
“Yes, I will, and I’ve got another lady already lined up for Brodie.
You will be going to Tertia and Noah’s restaurant with her tomorrow night for dessert and coffee.
Just a little getting to know each other evening.
She’ll meet you there at six o’clock. You are welcome.
Now I want to hear the part about the mud fight again.
God, I wish that had been me and Hettie going at it. I would have won the fight for sure.”
“Is everyone ready for dessert?” Tripp asked. “Brodie picked fresh strawberries and made shortcakes from scratch.”
“Yes!” Joe Clay said. “Knox and I will bring them in.”
Brodie told the part about the mud wrestling one more time, but he hadn’t told anyone, not even his brothers, about the strawberries that he’d left on Audrey’s porch for payment.