Chapter 3 JR
JR
Meet me at The Beaver and Boot
It had been three days without a single word from Archer. Not that I expected results the next day exactly. I knew all too well that if he was going to fix things, it was going to take some finesse.
Grabbing a coffee mug, I filled it to the top and headed out, yanking on the damn door that wouldn’t shut properly. It took me a solid minute to get the lock to latch, and when I turned around, I was greeted with the woman who talked to her vehicle.
“—okay, we’ll have you warmed up in no time.”
Frowning, I looked in her back seat, hoping and praying I had imagined the whole damn thing. Sadly, it was the same as the other day. There was no one there, and worse, she had named her vehicle Delilah.
“I’m so sorry to be so rough on you this morning. The ice is so thick, so you’ll have to excuse me for chipping away at you like this.”
I didn’t understand it, and I didn’t want to. I had to get out of here and figure out what was going on with Archer before I lost my mind and ended up like the neighbor, talking to inanimate objects.
My hand was on the door and I was just about to escape in my truck when she called out to me.
“Oh, hey neighbor!”
Sighing, I maneuvered around the door just enough to lift my cup in acknowledgment. I figured that would be enough, but when she skipped my way, I knew I wouldn’t get out of the drive in the next five minutes.
“Hey, do you need to borrow my scraper?”
She waved the thing around like a damn flag, and that smile on her face…who the hell was that chipper at seven o’clock in the morning?
“Why would I need it?”
“To scrape the ice off your windshield, silly.”
My eyes slid to the window, and for the first time, I saw the thick ice built up from the overnight rain.
“You’re not from around here, are you? I could tell. I mean, you arrived in a light coat instead of a winter coat. Well, that and your plates say Tennessee.”
“You caught that, did you?” I muttered sarcastically.
Laughing, she acted like the whole thing was so damn funny. “I know. That would be the first sign, right? Did you need a warmer coat? I mean, technically, this is beautiful spring weather. You’ll even see people driving with their windows down to enjoy the warmer temps.”
“No,” I answered, hoping that would be the end of it.
I shifted back to the truck, but she stopped me again.
“So, did you need the scraper?”
I had been so damn close, and yet, she was right. I did need to borrow her scraper.
“Thanks,” I grumbled, setting my cup inside before slamming the door.
“I can do it for you, if you want. I have gloves.” She wiggled her thick-gloved fingers in front of me, waggling her eyebrows.
“I think I can handle it.”
“Okay, well, have at it,” she said, pretending she was going to whip it at me. Then she tossed her head back and laughed. “Sorry, just trying to cheer you up. You look a little grumpy.”
“It’s seven in the morning.”
“I know,” she sighed, closing her eyes as she inhaled deeply. “I love this time of day. And even better is when you sit out on the porch with a hot cup of tea. Of course, I like to snuggle under a blanket.”
I grunted, taking the scraper from her. With any luck, I could get this done quickly and she would leave me alone. But the moment the scraper hit the windshield, I realized this was going to take some elbow grease.
“So, what are you doing up here from Tennessee?”
“Visiting a friend.”
“Oh, do I know him?”
“Why would you?” I asked, jamming the scraper against the window and chipping away at the ice.
“Well, I know everyone in this town. That’s what happens when you grow up here.”
I grunted in reply, but kept my back to her and continued to scrape the damn ice.
“Do you want to borrow my gloves? They’re one size fits all.
Although I’m not really sure how that works.
People have varying degrees of large and small hands.
How can someone with large hands wear something the same size as someone with small hands?
Wouldn’t the person with small hands get lost in the glove? ”
Sighing, I turned to her. “Do you always talk this much?”
“Yep!” she smiled.
“And no one ever told you that?”
“Oh, all the time,” she laughed. “My brother, especially. He’s always ragging on me to stop talking.
He’s not exactly a morning person. He’s probably still in there sleeping.
Snoring, more like. And when it gets really loud, that means no sleep for me.
I usually end up playing white noise to drown him out.
Which doesn’t always work, so then I put in noise-cancelling earbuds, but have you ever tried sleeping with those in? ”
“Nope.”
“It really hurts your ears, and when you try to sleep on your side, they push into the cartilage. It’s so annoying.”
Finished with the front, I moved to the side window. This was fucking ridiculous. Who lived with this much ice all the time? I hadn’t noticed the past two days because I hadn’t left so early in the morning. Now, I was regretting my decision.
“So, how long are you in town for?”
“Hopefully, not more than today.”
“Oh, really? Have you seen all that the town has to offer? I don’t know many people who want to leave after they’ve taken a stroll down Main Street.
Or visited the falls, for that matter. Murky Falls is such a beautiful place.
Not that you can access it easily. You have to get permission from the owners to go there, but that’s never been a problem for me. ”
“Because you know the family,” I mused.
“Exactly,” she laughed.
I only had two windows scraped, but that was really all I could tolerate. I’d never met a person who talked so much to someone before the sun was even fully up.
“Thanks for the scraper.” Giving it back, I didn’t stick around to find out if she would say anything else.
“Oh, no problem!” she shouted after I slammed my door. “You know, the back window isn’t scraped! You should really do something about that!”
I gave a slight wave, about to back out, when I saw my side mirrors were still iced over. There was no fucking way I was going out to talk to a person that damn bouncy at seven in the morning.
Rolling down my window, I craned my head out and backed up, ignoring the way she was yelling at me. Whatever she had to say, I didn’t want to hear it.
“Wait! Stop!” she screeched.
I hit the gas and slammed right into something behind me. Sighing, I shifted into park and flung the door open. “Just what I fucking need,” I grumbled, then stopped when I saw a cop get out of his car, eyeing me with disdain. “Fuck.”
After scoping out the damage to his cruiser, he strode over, his eyes immediately scanning my truck.
And the damn window I didn’t bother to scrape.
“Well, now I can see why you couldn’t see me driving down the road. Are you aware that scraping the ice from your windows allows you to see out of them?”
I was about to say something really stupid when the neighbor came bouncing up behind me, all full of smiles and sunshine.
“Hey, Remi! It’s such a nice morning, isn’t it?”
“Not particularly,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Oh, right!” she laughed, bonking her hand to her forehead like she hadn’t noticed the accident that occurred right in front of her. “Well, aside from that, I mean. The sun is rising and spring is in the air. It really is a wonderful day.”
Her eyes flicked to the damage on the cruiser. “Aside from that.”
“Josie, always in a good mood, I see.”
“Well, you have to be when the sun rises after winter,” she smiled. “How’s your momma?”
“Fine.”
“Oh, come on. I know she’s more than fine. I heard that she’s thinking of entering the Great American Pie Baking Contest this year. I know she’ll win. I don’t think I’ve ever had a pie so good as her caramel apple pie.”
“Well, she does bake a pretty mean pie,” he grinned, a dimple popping out pointed directly at her.
Were they flirting over pie?
“Now you’re just being modest. I don’t think anyone around here could bake anything as delicious as she does.”
“You know, she was thinking about expanding the bakery.”
Josie’s eyes lit up in excitement. “I would be in every day!”
“You would not,” he laughed. “You don’t eat sugar.”
“Hey, everyone has a sweet tooth.”
“I’ll let her know you’re all for it.”
I shook my head in amazement as this woman somehow managed to turn the scowl on the man’s face into a grin. How the hell had she done that?
“Well, if you’ll excuse me, I have some paperwork to catch up on.” He tipped his hat at her, then turned to me with a slightly less happy face. “Scrape your damn windows.”
I nodded as he got into his car and drove off without another word. I still wasn’t quite sure what happened. I had never witnessed anything like it.
“It pays to know everything in a small town,” Josie said as she walked up beside me. “Remi’s a good guy, but he’s not really a morning person either. But one word about his momma’s baking, and he’s all smiles.”
She turned to me, an expectant look on her face.
“What?”
“A simple thank you would not be amiss.”
“Thanks,” I muttered, turning to my truck.
“You’re welcome, Tennessee!” she called out as I got in.
I was about to leave when she knocked on my window. I couldn’t exactly leave when she’d just gotten me out of trouble.
“Yeah?” I asked, rolling down my window.
She handed over her scraper. “I have a spare. You might want to keep that with you.”
I took it from her, watching as she bounced away without a care in the world. The woman was strange, as was her scraper. It was covered in designs.
Hearts, to be precise.
There was no fucking way I was using that thing.
Tossing it in the back, I was just about to leave when I saw her rubbing her hand over her vehicle and talking to it again.
“Fucking weird.”
I hoped Archer would already be at The Beaver and Boot when I arrived, but the lot was empty, aside from one vehicle, and I was pretty damn sure it wasn’t his.