Page 35 of The Belle and the Biker

"Hop in before you drown," I call out.

She glares at me, water streaming down her face. "I'd rather eat a toad."

Trust Callie to make it challenging to carry out my karmic duties. "Callie, take the stick out of your butt and get in the car. It's pouring, and I see lightning on the horizon."

"After what you did to my sister?" she snaps. "Everyone else may have forgotten, but I haven't."

Damnation. I really shouldn't have to work this hard to do good deeds. People should just appreciate my niceness and let me help them so I can get on with my day.

"Daisy's over it; frankly, that was between me and her! I'm just offering you a ride, not trying to be your new BFF."

A loud crack of thunder makes her jump. She hurries over to the passenger side of my car. "It doesn't mean I forgive you," she says, climbing into the car and slamming the door. She's so soaked; she makes a squelching noise as she settles into her seat.

She's got a big ring of keys in her hand, and a little doodad hangs off it, shaped like a single lightning bolt emerging from a cloud.

"You still like Heat Lightning?" I ask. She was a secret Heat Lightning groupie back when we were in high school. As I recall, in a rare act of defiance against her parents, she snuck out of her house and went to see them when they played the fairgrounds in Swampy Bottom County.

"No, I just forgot to take that off my keychain. I'll do it later." Subconsciously, she strokes the lightning bolt with her fingers. I arch an eyebrow. Okay, nothing is going on there. "And I am not here to make conversation, thank you very much. I still think you're a conniving skank who throws her legs behind her ears whenever she sees a man with a fat wallet."

I start driving, squinting through the rain-streaked windshield. "And I still think you're a constipated old maid who's going to die a virgin."

"Hussy."

"Prude. Now that we've got that out of the way. How are things with your mama and 'em?"

She perks up. Everyone in the South likes to talk about their families. "Fine, thanks. Gramma Mae's wearing so much perfume because of Beauford that birds are falling out of the sky, Daisy and Chase are happier than pigs in poop, and Naomi's trying to keep the peace between everyone in the family, which is sort of like trying to achieve world peace. You?"

I shrug. "Well, my mother and father are never speaking to me again, my great-aunt's crazy and also ready to go to war with Mae over Beauford, and my cousin just hit on me. So, par for the course."

"Gross. Which cousin?"

"Harold."

She makes a gagging noise. "Good God… Warn me before you say things like that. And have a barf bag ready. Why would he even think he had a chance with you? Or any mammal? And why is he suddenly attracting women like manure attracts flies?"

"Rumor has it he's inheriting big bucks in a few weeks."

"Oh! That makes sense. I just got a text from Bobbi-Sue saying that the town's about to get a new millionaire; I just haven't had a chance to answer her yet."

The sky opens up, and buckets of water pour from the heavens. I slow to a crawl, concentrating on the road ahead of me.

"Did you know Daisy's expecting?"

"Oh! I did not know, but I'm so happy for her!" And I mean it. She and Chase are crazy about each other, and that baby will be born into a big, warm, loving family. I mean, everyone on that side of the family is nuts, but they'd all lie down and die for each other. Unlike my family, most of whom wouldn't spit on each other if they were on fire.

"Yep, she's three months along now. We made the announcement last week."

"The town looks great, by the way. Daisy and Chase have done a fantastic job."

"Yeah, they have." She stares out the window into gray, rain-drenched nothingness.

"What's eating you?" I ask.

"I'm fine."

"Everyone's raving over Daisy and Chase and how they turned things around for the town," I guess. "And nobody's giving you credit for everything you did."

She shrugs moodily. "It's no big deal. Anybody would have done it."

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