Chapter Twenty-Four
Libby could hear music playing and children laughing long before Benny found a parking spot in the huge lot.
“Oh my!” she gasped.
“What were you expecting?” Opal asked.
“A pavilion where folks buy fresh produce—tomatoes, squash, cantaloupe,” she answered. “This is more like a fair, and there’s a carousel in the middle.”
“We don’t need to buy produce,” Minilee said as she opened the truck door and slid off the seat. “Neither do you and Benny. We come here to buy honey for the most part.”
“I’ve got allergies this time of year,” Opal said as she picked up her empty tote bag and shoved her wallet into it. “Don’t forget to lock the doors, Benny. I’m leaving my purse in the truck.”
Benny opened the door for Libby and extended a hand to help her. She took it and wasn’t even a little surprised at the chemistry that flowed between them at his touch. He kept her hand in his as they walked under the FARMERS’ MARKET sign.
“What does honey have to do with allergies?” Her eyes darted around at the vendors, who were set up in a U-shape around the carousel.
“We mix a tablespoon of local honey with the same amount of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water and drink it twice a day,” Minilee explained. “It helps with our arthritis and with Opal’s allergies.”
“Old home remedies are the best,” Opal added as the four of them crossed the parking lot. “Sometimes we can even buy good homemade vinegar at this place, along with our local honey. How ’bout we meet y’all by the carousel at eleven o’clock? If we can stop at that little burger shop for lunch, me and Minilee will treat you kids.”
“Sounds great,” Benny said with a nod.
“What will they do for two whole hours?” Libby whispered.
“They know about half the vendors, so this is as much of a social day as it is business for them. They’ll catch up on the gossip,” Benny answered. “Which way do you want to go?”
“I want to ride the carousel before we leave, but I’d love to just take a look at all the stands.”
He pointed to the other side of the lot. “Let’s start over here, then. It looks like all the non-food vendors are over there, and we’ll finish up with the produce sellers. I wouldn’t mind taking home some of those peaches. That way we can buy them just before we leave and not have to carry them around.”
“Sounds like a good plan.”
They passed by vendors who sold everything from handmade jewelry to cotton candy.
“This is awesome. Do they have it every week?” she asked.
“Nope, just on the last Tuesday of each month. Grandpa brought me here a few times when I was a little boy. I loved the carousel back then—and of course, the cotton candy,” Benny answered. “Grandpa always got one of the big cinnamon buns and a cup of coffee. We would sit on a bench not far from the carousel, have our treats, and then he would ride the ponies with me.”
“Can adults still ride?” Libby asked and sniffed the air. “I smell the cinnamon.”
“Yes, anyone can ride the carousel,” Benny answered. “The cinnamon bun vendor isn’t far away. Want to get a couple of buns and sit on that bench over there?” He pointed to the left. “We can watch the ponies go around while we have a midmorning snack.”
“Yes, I would, to all of the above. I’ve never been to anything like this.”
“Then our first official date is a winner?” he asked.
She smiled at him. “If this is a date, then it’s the best one I’ve ever been on.”
Benny squeezed her hand gently. “It’s a date, and I agree with you.”
He had dated a lot of women, and the ones from his past circles would never have gone to a farmers’ market in the middle of a field. The ground alone would have ruined their expensive high-heeled shoes. Libby was one of a kind, and he loved that about her.
“Hey, what are you ...” Tatum stopped in front of them and stared down at their hands. “I guess I don’t need to finish that sentence, do I?”
“Nope, you do not,” Benny answered, hoping her presence wouldn’t sour the day.
“What are you doing back in this part of Texas?” Libby asked. “We heard that you had gone to the city to find a job.”
“It didn’t work out ...” Tatum’s full lips turned up in a seductive smile. “So I came back up here to spend some time with my grandmother. I drove her and Ilene down here today. She has never been able to stay mad at me for long. How about you, Benny? Do you keep a grudge forever?”
“Nope,” Benny said.
She laid a hand on his shoulder. “Then do I get a second chance with you if I play nice?”
“I’m not sure you ever had a first chance,” he told her. “Seems to me like it was a choice between you and Elvis.”
She took a step back and glared at him. “I wasn’t asking for a date. That ship has sailed. Evidently.” She turned her evil stare toward Libby. “I just want a good reference. Everyone knows that Walter Taylor was a household name in Texas. A word from you would go a long way for me in landing a good job.”
“I already said I wasn’t comfortable with that, so the answer is still no.” Benny tugged on Libby’s hand, but she didn’t move.
Tatum gave Libby a once-over, starting with the toes of her sandals and traveling all the way up to the messy bun perched on top of her head. “I could change your mind about that, and about your giant of a woman, if you’d give me a chance.”
“Has anyone ever made you understand the word no, Tatum?” Libby asked. “I can understand your ability to talk your way around your relatives, but you were in the service. How did you spend so much time in the military and not learn that no means no?”
“Honey, if you have the right equipment and you learn to use it, you can get what you want any time,” Tatum said with a fake smile. “Some of us have the goods. Unlike you.”
“Bless your heart.” Libby’s words dripped with sarcasm. “Tell Sally hello from me and that I’m looking forward to seeing her at book club next week. Why don’t you move along now and have a wonderful day with all your ‘right equipment.’”
Benny bit back a chuckle. Libby was no pushover, for sure. That just made him like her even more. When he gave her hand another gentle tug, she turned and went with him. He led her to the cinnamon-bun wagon and ordered two, plus two cups of coffee.
“I should apologize,” she whispered.
“What for?” He paid for the order and handed over her cup. Then he picked up the disposable basket with the pastries and his coffee.
“I butted into your conversation. That wasn’t my business, and you were doing a fine job of handling Tatum,” she answered.
“You don’t owe me anything, but I owe you a thank-you,” he said as he led the way to a bench beside the carousel.
Libby sat down on the bench and took a sip of her coffee. “Then let’s just call it even, eat our cinnamon buns, and put Tatum out of our minds. Victoria’s friend June used to say that whoever stirs the shit pile has to lick the spoon.”
Benny burst out laughing. “I’ve never heard that, but I like it,” he said when he could catch his breath.
She picked up her bun and took a bite. “This is an amazing first date, Benny. Can we come back again?”
“Every month, if you want to,” Benny said. “Since I’ve been getting offers for buyouts, we can keep the stock up in the store and still turn a nice profit, and that means I’ll be home more and more.”
“Those kids are so cute,” Libby said between bites. “I especially like the parents that are either standing or riding right beside them.”
“You like kids?” Benny asked.
“Love ’em,” Libby said. “I think I told you before that I volunteered at a women’s shelter in Austin a few hours on Saturdays. Most days, I read to the kids or played games with them for a couple of hours to give their mamas a little time to go to therapy sessions.”
“Miss it?” Benny asked.
Libby nodded. “Some of them were a lot like me at their age. They wanted to be loved so badly that they craved attention of any kind. I tried to fill in the gaps a little.”
“Ever think about having children of your own?”
Another nod. “But, Benny, I don’t know what my background is. What if I was a terrible mother? I have no idea if my mother would have had any mothering instincts. She died when I was born. Then, when you consider nurture ...” She shrugged. “Victoria sure wasn’t a good role model. I would rather never have a child than put one through the life I had.”
“You could use all that as examples of how not to be,” he said. He finished the last bite of his pastry and took a sip of his coffee.
“Never thought of that,” she said. “I loved the kids at the shelter. Dolly, Amanda, and the time I got to volunteer were the reasons I thought long and hard about leaving the area. But my unemployment benefits had run out, and I was depleting what savings I had with rent and food. Dolly kept encouraging me to go somewhere else and get a fresh start ... and here I am.”
“I’m glad you decided to come up here,” he said, and handed her a packet of wet wipes the vendor had put in the edge of the basket. “It’s impossible to eat those things without getting sticky hands. Are you ready for that pony ride?”
“I’m ready,” she answered. “This date just gets better and better. I can’t wait to tell Amanda all about it.”
“Where did you go on dates before?” he asked, leading her to the ticket booth.
“Dinner and the movies, usually,” she said. “Two really boring places. I’d rather go to the river or come to a place like this.”
Benny wondered if all women thought dinner and a movie, or maybe a play, was boring. He checked the time and found that they had a half hour before Opal and Minilee would be ready to leave. The carousel ride lasted fifteen minutes, so he bought extra tickets so they could ride until it was time to go. Libby was right. This was an awesome first date—but in all actuality, it was a second date if they counted the day at the river as the first one. And he certainly did.