See Bride Run! (17 page)

“You have a problem with that?”

“Of course not,” she said.

Sam climbed out of the car and helped her manage her crutches so she could exit the passenger’s side. He walked beside her to the front door and opened it.

She came to a sudden halt at the sight of Darla holding a cake with the word, “Congratulations,” scrawled across it. Lillian, Kazue, Ira, Cheryl, and even Flo and Patricia stood near Darla and yelled, “Surprise!”

“What’s all this?” Annie said.

“We’re celebrating your first day of class,” Darla said.

“And we have presents for you,” Lillian told her. “Look, crayons and glittery stickers, and paste, and—”

“We shouldn’t have to tell you this,” Ira said, “but you are
not
allowed to eat the paste.”

Annie could not believe all the gifts on the table, just little things that hadn’t cost much but were priceless as far as she was concerned.

Flo and Patricia gave a proud smile as they handed Annie their gift, a Barbie lunchbox.

Annie was so genuinely touched it brought tears to her eyes. She turned to ask Sam if he knew about the party, but he had slipped out the front door. She watched him climb into his Jeep and pull away from the curb.

“What’s his problem?” Darla asked.

Lillian shrugged. “Who knows? Poor guy,” she added. “He’s probably sick of being around all this estrogen.”

#

Sam knew he had been rude by walking out on Annie’s little party, but he had not been in the mood for socializing. Even so, he kept looking up from his desk, hoping to catch a glimpse of Annie. Okay, so he
had
overreacted when she had referred to him as her uncle in front of the college guy who couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her.

Sam hoped Betty from the front office did not tell Annie that he had been sitting outside her second class for half an hour waiting for her to come out. He felt she had punched him in the gut by calling him her uncle, mainly because he feared that’s how she felt. Perhaps she wasn’t attracted to him. If that was the case, he needed to back off.

Correction: He should never have gone there in the first place.

The door to the Dixieland Cafe opened, and Lillian stepped out, holding it open so Annie could exit with her crutches. Kazue and Ira followed behind carrying a bag with her gifts. They helped her into Lillian’s car.

That meant he didn’t have to run her home. Good. He had better things to do with his time. A pickup truck pulled onto his car lot, and a couple got out. Sam watched them, trying to decide if they were looking for a lawyer or a good used car. Finally, they made their way to a newer-model truck sitting on the front row. Sam shrugged out of his jacket, rolled up his shirtsleeves, and went to work.

#

Annie sat in the overstuffed chair in her apartment, her foot propped on a cushion on the matching ottoman, the ice pack pressed against her ankle. Not only was her ankle sore from being on her feet all morning at school, she was tired from struggling with crutches.

Even worse, she was still down in the dumps after her spat with Sam. The fact that he had become so upset over her silly joke made her wonder what was really going on between them. Had she mistaken his kindness for friendship when there was more to it?

A knock at the door made her jump. She pushed herself up, and hobbled to the door. She checked the peephole and saw Sam. She unlocked the door and opened it. He held up her tote.

“You left this in my Jeep,” he said. “I figured you might need it.” He handed it to her.

“Thank you,” she said. “I was so tired when I got back from the restaurant that I completely forgot. May I offer you something? A cup of coffee?” she asked. “Iced tea?”

He did not respond. Instead, he stepped inside and pulled her into his arms. Annie was too stunned to do much about it, the next thing she knew he was kissing her. She dropped the tote as his kiss deepened. She sensed an urgency as he pulled her against him. When he finally released her and backed away, Annie had to grab the chair to keep from falling.

“Would your uncle kiss you like that?” he demanded. Without waiting for an answer, he swung around and exited the apartment.

#

Annie awoke early the next morning to a chilly apartment. She grabbed a blanket from the closet and wrapped it around her, then, headed for the kitchen to make coffee. She was surprised how much better her ankle felt, there was almost no swelling and she did not need the crutches. Still, she planned to stay off of it as much as possible, meaning she would spend the day studying because she wanted to be in tip-top shape when the festival started.

She was so engrossed in her studies that she did not realize it was almost two p.m. until Lillian arrived bearing finger sandwiches and a large shopping bag. “Did I wake you?” Lillian asked, obviously noticing Annie was still in her pajamas.

“No, no, I started reading
Accounting 101
,
The Fundamentals,
and lost track of the time.”

“I can see how something like that could steal your entire day. You’ve taken the bandage off your ankle. It must be better.”

“Yes, I am definitely on the mend.”

“I hope you like chicken salad,” Lillian said. “I had to make a tray for the garden club. As usual, I made too many.”

Annie suddenly realized she was starving. She reached for one of the sandwiches and bit into it. “Mmm, this is great.”

“I can’t stay long,” Lillian said, setting the tray on the ottoman and taking a seat on the sofa. “Guess where I’ve been?” she whispered. “The second-hand store,” she said. “I was cleaning out my closet, and I took a load over. Look at the nice things I found in your size.” She offered Annie the bag.

Annie looked inside and saw that it was crammed full of clothes—a pair of skinny jeans that looked almost new, dressy taupe-colored slacks, and a couple of sweaters. “Oh, Lillian, everything is so
nice.
“

“Look at the very bottom of the bag,” Lillian said excitedly.

“Oh, nice loafers,” Annie said and pulled them out. “It doesn’t look as though they’ve ever been worn.”

“You wear a size seven, right? Try them on.”

Annie put the loafer on her good foot. “Perfect,” she said. “Thank you so much for picking these up. I love everything. How much do I owe you?”

“Don’t be silly. I could buy a potted plant for what that cost me.”

“I don’t want you buying my clothes, Lillian.”

“Okay, then buy me a potted plant. But I wanted to tell you, they have several lovely dresses that you can wear to Darla’s wedding. They are very reasonable. I thought you should go look for yourself. I don’t mind taking you when you’re ready.” She looked around. “Is it my imagination or is it a bit cool in here?”

“I did not want to turn on the heat until I checked with you to see if it needed to be serviced or checked first.”

“It should be fine,” Lillian said. “I bought a new heat pump when my mother moved in. The thermostat is in the hall as you’ve probably noticed. It has two settings, on and off. Easy as pie to operate,” she added. “I’ll get mad if I think you’re trying to save me money by not heating the place.”

“Okay,” Annie said. “By the way, these are absolutely delish sandwiches.”

“Glad you like them.” Lillian was quiet for a moment as she studied Annie. “Well? Aren’t you going to tell me what’s going on with you and Sam?”

Annie blushed. “He’s been very kind to me since I sprained my ankle,” she said.

“And?”

“And that’s all I have to report at this time, Barbara Walters.”

Lillian smiled. “You know, there are a lot of women in this town who would love to sink their claws into that man. Hell, no telling what he is worth,” she added. She paused and rolled her eyes heavenward. “But why am I telling you? You’ve got more money than all of us put together.”

Annie grabbed another finger sandwich. “Correction. My father has a lot of money. He has probably disinherited me after what I did.” Annie shrugged. “I don’t care. Money has never held much importance with me.”

“That’s because you’ve never had to rake and scrape for it, hon.”

“That’s true. But I sort of like knowing I can take care of myself. It’s a little scary, of course. I certainly hope I can go back to work soon.”

“Annie, nobody in this town is going to let you go hungry or homeless. That’s just the way we are.”

“So I’ve noticed. It’s so refreshing to live in a small town,” Annie said. “And one day, when my new friends need a good accountant, I hope they’ll come to me, because I’m going to give them a special deal.”

“I know you will. And you’ll have plenty of business, believe me. Earl Burnsed has been my accountant since I moved here. He was old when I first hired him. I have no idea why he keeps working. Folks say he’s so old, he farts graveyard dust.”

Annie laughed so hard that she almost choked on her sandwich. Lillian hurried into the kitchen and grabbed a canned soda from the refrigerator. She popped the top. “Here, drink this. I don’t want to have to call an ambulance.” She waited until Annie had pulled herself together.

“Now, the other reason I stopped by,” Lillian went on. “I thought it would be fun to throw Darla a little bachelorette party. Invite those of us who are real close to her, no more than six or eight gals. What do you think?”

Annie nodded enthusiastically. “What a great idea. But let me have it here, Lillian. After all, Darla has done so much for me.”

Lillian looked around. “I suppose this place is big enough for that many people. Now, I plan to supply the food and drinks, so you needn’t worry about any of that.”

“When are you thinking of having it?”

“We’ve no time to waste. Once the Okra Festival begins, the two of you will be too busy. Is tomorrow night, after the restaurant closes, too soon?”

Annie thought about it. That would give her time to straighten the place. “That’s fine,” she said.

They spent twenty minutes discussing the party. “How am I going to get Darla over here?” Annie asked.

Lillian pondered the problem. “Well, she knows you’re on crutches. You’ll just call her and tell her—” She grinned. “Tell her you’ve fallen and you can’t get up.” They both laughed. “One more thing,” Lillian said, “and you can’t tell anybody. Not even the others.” She leaned close and whispered. “I’ve hired a male stripper.”

Annie’s eyes almost popped out of her head, but she was grinning. “No way!”

Lillian blushed. “Yes. He’s just a kid, but he looks good in blue jeans, so I have to assume he’ll look just as good in a thong.”

Annie shook her head, but she was more than a little amused. “Oh, Lillian, you are so bad.”

The women jumped when someone knocked on the door. “Remember, not a word to anybody,” Lillian said, getting up. “If Darla catches wind of it, it’ll ruin the whole surprise.”

“Cross my heart,” Annie said.

Lillian opened the door. “Oh, hello, Sam. I see you brought lunch.”

Sam stepped inside, looking a little self-conscious with Lillian there. “Hi,” he said, then, noticed the plate of sandwiches. “I see I’m a little late,” he said, obviously disappointed.

“Oh no!” Lillian protested, “I just this minute brought these over. Annie hasn’t had time to eat.” She winked at Annie as she picked up the plate. “I’ll just wrap these and put them in the refrigerator, and you can have them for dinner. How’s that?”

Annie, who’d been stuffing finger sandwiches in her mouth since Lillian arrived, merely nodded.

“I hope you’re hungry,” Sam said.

“The poor girl is starving,” Lillian called from the kitchen.

“I didn’t know what you’d like,” Sam said, “so I bought you a foot-long hot dog, large fries, and a milkshake.”

Lillian rejoined them. “That sounds yummy,” she said, patting Annie on the back and giving her a devilish smile.

“Why don’t you stay and split it with me?” Annie suggested.

“Oh, I have to be on my way, dear. Besides, you need to eat. You’re a bit on the skinny side, if you ask me.” She turned to Sam. “Don’t you think Annie’s a bit on the skinny side?”

Sam wasn’t sure how to respond. He thought Annie was perfectly proportioned; he especially liked her curves. And he should know because he had seen quite a bit of her. He smiled at Lillian. “She fills out her uniform nicely,” he said. “Some of our male customers can’t take their eyes off of her. Hey, don’t rush off because of me,” he said. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“You’re not interrupting,” Lillian said. “I’m in the middle of a big project.”

“Let me guess,” Sam said. “You are completely redecorating your house, and Kazue is measuring for new drapes.”

“Not quite
that
big,” she said. “I’m cleaning out my closets this afternoon. Have to run a bunch of clothes over to the second-hand store before it closes.”

Sam just looked at her; obviously he had no idea what she was talking about. “It’s officially called Second Time Around, and people donate their very gently used clothes which other people buy. The profits go to local charities.”

“I like the sound of it,” Sam said. “Do you think I could donate a gently used waitress?” He motioned toward Annie.

“You might have to wait until her ankle heels,” Lillian replied. She winked at Annie. “Enjoy your lunch,” she said.

When Lillian was gone, Sam shook his head. “I feel like I missed something? What are you and Lillian cooking up?”

Annie gave him her best innocent look. “I don’t know what you mean. We were just discussing what we plan to wear to the big wedding. Why don’t we have lunch at the dining table,” she suggested.

“Do you need help getting there?” Sam asked, then, noticed she wasn’t wearing the bandage. “The ankle must be better.”

“I’m still babying it a bit, but, yes, the swelling is down, and it’s a lot better.”

“That’s good news,” he said. Sam followed her the short distance to the dining room table. He pulled out a chair for her to sit and began unloading the sack. He didn’t notice the dubious look on Annie’s face as he shoved the gigantic hot dog and fries in front of her. “I probably should have called first,” he said, “but I was afraid you wouldn’t have lunch with me after the way I acted yesterday.” He paused. “If that weren’t bad enough, I later showed up and all but manhandled you.”