Page 11 of August Heat
Social murmurs greeted her as the bell jingled and the door clasped shut behind her. The familiar smell of paint, wood chips, and fertilizer greeted her. The concrete floor was shiny enough to reflect her face back up at her, but Siobhan didn’t make a point of looking at her feet when around other people. No, her anti-social maneuver was to keep her sunglasses on her head and pretend she didn’t notice anyone else.
The saleswoman was “busy” behind the register, yakking away with a customer who didn’t look to be buying anything. Just another price one paid when they moved to a small town in the middle of nowhere. Everyone knew everyone, and it wasn’t unusual for people to converge in a shop for a long chat that held up lines. Siobhan could only imagine what the line at the post office would be like when she eventually made her way there.
“…Then the guy gets up, shakes us off him, and asks what the hell happened to his car.” That’s what Siobhan heard as she stopped to check out the fertilizer on sale up front. “You know, the car a few yards away, on fire? The guy was all wet from the spray coming down on us. We had Jaws of Life’d him out only five minutes ago, and all he cared about was the damn car! It wasn’t new, man! That thing was junkier than that car in your neighbor’s yard.”
“You mean the one literally covered in rust and becoming one with the earth beneath it?”
“The very same. It’s a miracle that thing didn’t spontaneously catch fire sooner than yesterday. We told the guy we were taking him to the county hospital, and he looked at us like we had told him we needed him to come down to the station to sign some forms. Just totally ruined the vibe of his day, you know?”
Small towns.Siobhan shook her head, too distracted to read the weights and ingredients of the fertilizer bags.I can’t remember what Aunt Gabriella wanted. And she’ll lose it if I bring back the wrong fertilizer for her damn flowers.The vegetable garden, which Siobhan benefitted greatly from, but she wouldn’t go that far.
“You sure I don’t know this guy?” the cashier asked.
“He’s not from around here. Think he’s from Seaside. Was heading back that way from Portland, anyway.”
“It was the Portland that did it to him. Every time I gotta drive Joanie there, I lose another year off my life. It’s a damn miracleourcar hasn’t blown up yet!”
“Hey, that’s my hometown you’re talking about.”
“I thoughtthiswas your hometown now?”
“Don’t get snooty with me. You know what I meant.”
Were these two friends, or frenemies?
The one taking up the cashier’s time stepped back. Finally, the woman who worked there rounded the corner of the counter and approached Siobhan. “Can I help you find anything? All of our fertilizers are on sale this…”
Siobhan barely registered the tall woman in green and black flannel. She was too busy lowering her sunglasses down her nose and seeing the fine person still standing at the counter.
Damn. Those are some serious abs…The woman wore a black windbreaker, but she stood at an angle that showed off the crop top beneath it.A crop top. In Paradise Valley. Go figure.No, no… that was a sports bra, huh? A big, bulking sports bra that held down the girls while not leaving much to the imagination. The windbreaker was merely a way to keep prying eyes like Siobhan’s away. Not that it was doing much good now.
Only two seconds later did she realize that her knight in gleaming, sweaty armor was Krys Madison. That realization didn’t settle in until Siobhan lifted her eyes and caught Krys’s in the ultraviolet lights.
Was the acknowledgment instantaneous? Or did Krys give that look to every woman who crossed her path?
“Sorry.” Siobhan said to the cashier, before turning back to the fertilizer bags. “Thought I saw someone I know.”
She was met with an incredulous look. “Who, Krys over there? You probably do know her. Everybody does.”
Krys raised her hand before slapping it back against her hip. “That’s right. Everybody knows me. If you’ve ever been on fire, we’ve met.”
“That’s why she walks around town half naked, right?”
“I ain’t half-naked, Lor. I’m in a sports bra and sweatpants. I got a jacket on!”
Yes, I can see that.Siobhan’s throat was dry. Hermouthwas dry. If she licked her lips right now, would it look weird? Too desperate? Foolhardy? She couldn’t claim any attraction to the woman standing a few feet away. For one thing, Siobhan wasnotattracted to Krys. Not like that. She could mentally acknowledge a good-looking woman who checked all the “right” boxes, but it wasn’t like she wanted to drool over Krys.Not when I can think of a few other people who have already.Even if Emily hadn’t gone out with Krys back in those hellish days, it was enough to know that half the town had.
Wait… did Krys not recognize Siobhan? Oh, that was low.
“Hey,” Siobhan said. Her pride may be on the line. Yes, even she could be vain enough to get this woman’s attention. “Nice sports bra.”
“Oh, you like it?” Krys popped open her jacket. Lovely. She had an even tan that suggested she spent a lot of time out in the sun. A people doctor like Brandelyn Meyer would chide Krys for exposing her tender skin to the sun like that, but a vet didn’t care as much.Thisvet in particular was too busy averting her eyes so she wasn’t caught staring at pectorals. “Had to buy it online. They don’t make many good sports bras in my size. Definitely not anywhere around here.”
Lorri the cashier threw her hands up toward the ceiling and returned to her station behind the counter. What did that mean? She didn’t think she was gonna help Siobhan now that Krys had her attention?It’s not like I’m running out of here with her!Although she wished Krys would put a real shirt on. Like the tight T-shirt she wore the other day, when those big, strong muscles brought in a box of mewling kittens.
Oh, God. Someone needed a date.
“A good bra can be hard to find,” Siobhan agreed. She may not have been super well-endowed, but she was picky about underwires and frilly lace on her underwear. “Luckily, you seem to have that mystery sorted.”
