Chapter 10
Mylie and Jodi watched the scene across the street with growing interest. They’d barely managed to maneuver the truck into
Mylie’s driveway without hitting a pedestrian.
“What the hell is going on over there?” Jodi asked. “Is Ben having a party?”
“With every Sunday school teacher we’ve ever had?” Mylie asked. “Seems unlikely.”
“They’ve all got food,” Jodi said. “Did somebody die?”
“Hey,” Mylie said, pointing to the crowd of about six women. “Isn’t that your mom?”
“Oh shit.” Jodi reached into the back seat for a shirt to throw on over her bikini top. “It’s worse than death!”
She flung open the passenger’s side door of Mylie’s truck and hopped out. Mylie barely had time to find her own clothes before
Jodi was halfway across the street, making a beeline for her mother, who stood next to Ben. She was alternating between staring
up at him adoringly and pointing down to her phone.
“I’m telling you, Benjamin,” her mother was saying.
“MOM!” Jodi yelled, her bare feet making slapping noises on the concrete sidewalk.
Jodi’s mother looked over at her, guilt and surprise written all over her face. “Oh, hi, sweetheart,” her mother said. “We
were just...”
“We were just going home,” Jodi replied, her tone just above boiling. “I cannot believe you! I have a boyfriend, you know!”
“It’s been five years, Jodi! If he wanted to marry you, he would have done it by now!”
Mylie snuck a glance over at Ben. He was staring at the scene like a victim of a car crash, glassy-eyed and confused. Behind
him, there was a mountain of food. If Mylie hadn’t been so horrified on his behalf, she would have laughed.
Jodi’s mother was undeterred. “Ben, you remember my daughter, Jodi, don’t you?”
Beside her mother, Jodi rolled her eyes. “Of course he remembers me, Mom. We were in the same class.”
“Hey, Jodi,” Ben said. “Nice to see you.”
Jodi’s face reddened. “Hi, Ben. I’m so sorry for my mother.”
Mylie couldn’t help it, she let out a snort. It was just too much.
Ben looked over at Mylie and grinned. “Enjoying this, huh?”
Mylie covered her mouth. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I just didn’t realize what a hot commodity you were in town.”
“Really?” Ben asked, his bare arm brushing up against hers as he spoke. “You hadn’t noticed?”
Now it was Mylie’s turn to blush.
“I guess it was kind of hard to get a good look while you had a shotgun pointed in my face,” Ben continued.
“You were breaking into my house,” Mylie replied.
“I thought it was my house,” Ben said.
“But it wasn’t .”
His arm was still pressed up against hers, and she turned to look at him. He was staring down at her through his black-rimmed glasses. They weren’t too big for his face anymore. In fact, they did something for his jawline that made Mylie’s lower body tingle. She wanted to reach up and take them off so he could bury his face in the right spot to make it stop.
“Mylie?”
“Huh?” Mylie blinked. Oh God. She’d been fantasizing about him while he was standing right there .
Ben pointed to the edge of the yard, where Granny was dashing over, Stanley at her heels, a cigarette in her mouth and a broomstick
in her hand.
“What are you people doing?” Granny demanded, pointing the broom at the crowd of women. “Don’t you have the sense God gave
you to behave proper?”
“We were just welcoming Benjamin back to town,” Jodi’s mother said. She looked down at the dish in her hands. “I brought a
pie.”
Stanley sniffed at the woman and sneezed.
“Oh, bullshit,” Granny replied, waving her off. “You ladies, and I use that term loosely, should be ashamed of yourselves.
Now go on, get out of here. Get!”
With that, and the threat of a sound beating from Granny’s broom, the women dispersed, muttering to themselves. Jodi followed
her mother, refusing to even look back at them. Mylie couldn’t wait to give her hell about it later.
Stanley let out a bark for good measure, herding a few of them as they went.
“Jesus Christ on a cracker,” Granny fumed. “They’ve lost their minds.”
Ben gave Granny a grateful smile. “Thank you,” he said. “I’ve spent the last two hours standing on the porch.”
“That damn sheriff,” Granny replied. “He must’ve told the whole town.”
Mylie shook her head. “Jodi said he didn’t even mention it at the Cracked Egg this morning.”
“Hmm...” Granny rested her chin on the handle of the broomstick. “Maybe his wife.”
“She’s in Missouri with her sister for the next few weeks,” Mylie replied.
“Did you stop anywhere on the way in?” Granny asked. “Who’s seen you?”
Ben shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I stopped for gas just outside of town.”
“Was it the gas station with the red pumps or the one across from it that sells bootleg moonshine?” Granny demanded.
Ben laughed, but when he realized Granny was being serious, he replied, “It wasn’t the one with the red gas pumps.”
“Damn Margie,” Granny said. “She’s the biggest blabbermouth in town.”
“So, all of this is because I stopped at the wrong gas station?” Ben asked.
“You’ve been gone too long, son,” Granny replied. “Did you forget the way Clay Creek works?”
Ben scratched the back of his head and then gestured to the porch behind him, covered a mile high in dishes. “What am I going
to do with all of this?”
Granny peered around Ben and said, “When was the last time you had a home-cooked meal?”
For a moment, it looked like Ben might not answer, and Mylie realized that the last time had probably been when his mother
was still alive. Before he could say anything, she chimed in. “Granny is cooking tonight. Why don’t you come over?”
Granny gave Mylie a wink. “You read my mind.” She turned her attention to Ben. “Bring over some of that food, and we’ll help you eat it.”
“Are you sure?” Ben asked, looking first to Granny and then to Mylie. “I don’t want to put anybody out.”
“Hush up,” Granny replied. “I won’t have any of that Yankee talk around here. We’ll see you in an hour.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Ben said.
“Anything but Doris Ship’s green bean casserole,” Granny called over her shoulder. “Throw that straight into the trash.”