Page 55 of Highball Rush
Betty Sue poked her head out of the back. “How’re we looking?”
“I’ll run the numbers and get you a quote.” I glanced around at the room, looking past the shelves to the building itself. “Y’all have some wall damage and loose trim. Since you’re clearing out to get new shelves anyway, you could fix all that, and the loose floorboards. Get Scarlett on in here and she’ll take care of you.”
She smiled. “Much obliged. I’ll do that.”
I tipped my chin to her and left, squinting in the summer sunshine after the relative dimness of the old shop. I needed some new clamps and a package of sandpaper for my sander, so I headed over to the Rusty Tool. Found what I needed—I knew this store like the back of my hand—and went to the front to pay. I hadn’t been gone long, but I wanted to get back to Callie. Didn’t much like leaving her alone in town.
It was only because I was concerned for her safety. Not because I liked being around her so much.
Jimmy Bob Prosser was at the front dressed in a Rusty Tool t-shirt and jeans. The fact that his daughter was the spawn of evil had never made me dislike him. It wasn’t his fault. I didn’t know why Misty Lynn was the way she was. Maybe the bad genes had come from her mama. Jimmy Bob had always been a good guy.
“Hey, there, Gibson,” he said. “This all for you?”
“That’ll do it.”
Jenny came in wearing a sundress that made her green eyes stand out. She smiled, first at me, then at Jimmy Bob.
“Well, if it isn’t two of my favorite guys.”
I was one of her favorites? I was the son of the man who’d left her, pregnant and alone, after he’d cheated on my mother. And I looked almost exactly like him. But Jenny had always been nothing but nice to me. Especially since she’d come clean about Callie being alive.
“Hi, Ms. Jenny,” I said.
“Look at you, pretty as summer sunshine,” Jimmy Bob said.
She beamed at him. “Sorry I’m early. I can wait until you’re ready to go to lunch.”
“What time do you have to work?” he asked.
“Not until two.”
Jenny was working with Whit and Clarabell over at Moonshine now. Word in town was that she’d be taking over the diner when they retired.
Jimmy Bob leaned to the side, turning to yell toward the back of the store. “Hey, Carl. Can you come on up here?”
Carl scurried out, his skinny arms so pale it looked like he’d never seen the sun. The crop of red hair on his head stuck out at odd angles, and the only thing that made him look his eighteen years was his height. Kid was tall but still had a baby face. He’d started working for Jimmy Bob last year.
“I need you to work the front while I go to lunch,” Jimmy Bob said.
“Sure thing,” Carl said with a nod.
Jimmy Bob took my cash, gave me some change, and handed me a bag. He looked over at Jenny. “I’ll be right back.”
She smiled again. She was always smiling. “I’ll be right here.”
I put away my wallet and nodded to Jenny. “Ma’am.”
“Oh, don’tma’amme, Gibs.” She opened her arms. “We’re not strangers. Come here.”
I gave her a stiff hug, feeling awkward. She gently patted me on the back and pulled away, putting her hands on my arms.
“How’re you doing, honey?”
“Fine.”
“How’s Maya?”
“She’s fine.”
