See Bride Run! (7 page)

“Sounds like he has multi-tasking down to an art,” Annie said.

Lillian smiled. “I’m just guessing, but I think he’d like to get out of the used car business. Between the restaurant and his practice, he has his hands full.” She paused. “I don’t mean to change the subject, but where are you staying?”

“Darla has kindly invited me to crash on her sofa for the time being.”

“Hope you like Elvis,” Ira muttered under her breath.

“I heard that,” Darla said, coming by to pour fresh coffee and tea.

“How long do you plan to be in Pinckney?” Ira asked.

Annie was too embarrassed to admit that she had
no idea
what she was going to do, that she had been in such a hurry to escape her wedding that she had forgotten her purse, meaning she was indeed flat broke at the moment, so broke she was having to borrow Darla’s clothes.

“I don’t have transportation to leave at the moment,” she said. “My father’s, um, limo is in the shop. I’m not sure
what
I’m going to do,” she said. “I just want to stay as far away from Atlanta as I can.”

“So stay in Pinckney for a while,” one of the other women named Cheryl said. “You could rent an apartment for a few months, see if the town suits you. You should look at Hillcrest Apartments,” she added. “They’re really nice; all high-end appliances and granite countertops. They can even furnish them for you. I could drive you over tomorrow since you don’t have transportation at the moment.”

“I think I need to find a job first,” Annie said, “before I look for a place to live. I don’t have much cash on me since I left my purse at the church in my mad rush to escape.”

“Where do you bank?” Cheryl asked. “I can take you there first.”

Annie blushed. “I’m afraid that’s not an option.” All eyes were on her. Annie figured they would find out the truth before long so there was no sense keeping it a big secret. “I did not want to discuss my personal problems,” Annie said, “but all my accounts are frozen, and my credit cards canceled.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Lillian said. “Your father is a real bastard.”

Annie was surprised by Lillian’s harsh comment, but she suspected the woman knew more than she was saying.

“I can give you money until you get on your feet,” Lillian said.

Annie shook her head. “No. This is my problem. I should have guessed what my father would do once I tried to call off the engagement. I think it’s safe to say he has washed his hands of me.”

“Okay, so you have a place to stay, at least temporarily,” Cheryl said. “You’ll need to find some kind of job. Problem is, this is a small town and jobs are scarce. But I have a good friend who runs an employment agency, so who knows? What kind of work have you done?”

Annie wished she had an impressive resume she could whip out, but that was not the case. “I’ve never really worked,” she said. “I did not attend college. I had hoped to go to join my brother at Duke University, but that was not to me. After I graduated from high school, my father sent me to finishing school.”

“Finishing school, huh?” Cheryl said. “Isn’t that the same thing as charm school?”

“Not like the charm school of yesteryear,” Annie said, “where the student’s GPA was based on how well she married. The school I attended emphasized personal growth. I was taught etiquette and poise, of course, but we reread all the classics, stayed on top of current affairs, attended plays and operas, took cooking and nutritional classes, studied early childhood education, and—” She paused and look about. “What?”

“All that sounds great,” Cheryl said, “but did you learn any job skills?”

Annie shook her head. “Unfortunately, no,” she said.

“So what have you been doing since you graduated from this school?” Ira asked.

“I take care of the estate and plan dinner parties for my father,” she said. “I run a lot of errands for him.”

The women at the table stared at her but remained silent.

“I’m sure there’s something you can do,” Cheryl said. “You may have to start at the bottom and work your way up,” she added.

“What would the bottom be?” Annie asked, hoping it wouldn’t entail taking off her clothes.

“You can make beds, can’t you?”

Annie smiled. “I’m sure I could if somebody showed me how.”

Ira dropped her fork. Cheryl stared back at her, mouth agape.

“You’ve never made a bed?” Cheryl whispered.

Annie chuckled. “I’m teasing. Of course I know how to make a bed. I had to train housekeepers.”

“What’s wrong here?” Darla asked, arriving with their fried chicken dinners. “Everyone looks so serious.”

“Oh, we were just discussing what kind of job Annie might be able to find in Pinckney,” Cheryl said. “She doesn’t have much experience.”

“I’ve already thought about the job situation,” Darla told them. “I’m going to get Sam to hire her.”

Darla barely got the words out before Sam came through the swinging doors leading from the kitchen. He had dispensed with the tie and rolled up his shirt sleeves. He quickly looked around as though assessing the situation, grabbed an armful of menus and met a party of four who stood just inside the front door.

Annie was having trouble finding her voice. “You mean as a waitress?” she asked. When Darla nodded, she went on. “But I have no experience.”

“Then you’re very lucky that you’re going to be trained by the best,” Darla informed her.

“He doesn’t even like me,” she said.

“Maybe he
does
like you and that’s the problem,” Darla said, “but that’s neither here nor there. Sam might balk in the beginning, but he’ll eventually come around.”

Annie shook her head. “I don’t think—” Annie paused and sucked in air. “I’ve never carried a tray. I can barely carry a glass of water without spilling half of it.” But Darla had already shot off like lightening to the next table.

Lillian covered Annie’s hand with hers. “Listen to me, Annie,” she said in a soft voice. “Don’t ever tell yourself you can’t do something. I was terrified when I opened my store. Terrified! Don’t let it stop you. Just take a lot of deep breaths and move one foot in front of the other. You’ll be okay. I promise you.”

#

“No. Absolutely not. I can’t believe you would even suggest it.”

Darla kept silent as Sam counted the day’s earnings from the cash register and made out a deposit slip. They were alone. Flo and Patricia had already clocked out and headed home. Lillian had driven Annie back to Darla’s place.

“Sam, just tell me this. What do you have against Annie?”

“I don’t even know the woman, how can I have anything against her?”

“Then what have you got against me?”

He looked up in surprise. “Now, that’s a dumb question if ever there was one.”

“You obviously don’t care about my health. And if you don’t care about my health, then—”

“What the hell are you talking about? What’s wrong with your health?”

“I’m getting old.”

“You’re thirty-five, for Pete’s sake. That’s not old. Anybody who can dance all night at that redneck bar on the edge of town, then come in the next day and work a double shift is definitely not old. You’re in your prime, Darla Mae Jenkins.”

“I can’t keep up like I used to. I have corns on my feet trying to run this place by myself. My corns have corns. Do you know how unattractive that is, Sam? Why do you think I had to go out and buy that expensive new garter belt? It’s to keep men looking there and not at my feet.”

“Maybe you should try going home at a decent hour once in a while. Here’s a thought. Go to the library and pick up a few good books.”

“Oh, now that sounds fun,” she said. “Do you go to bed every night with a good book?”

“Most nights I do.” When she gave a snort, he looked at her. “I’m thirty-five years old, too, honey. My hell-raising days are over.”

“Don’t you ever get lonely?”

“I’m too damn busy to get lonely,” Sam said, “but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy female companionship. I’m human.”

“The fact is, you promised to hire someone before the Okra Festival, and now it’s less than a week away. You know what that’s like. There is absolutely no way I can handle those crowds by myself.”

“I’ve got an ad in the newspaper.”

“Forget it. By the time someone responds, I can have Annie trained. The festival starts a week from yesterday.”

“Then I’ll find someone with experience.”

Darla’s lips were pressed into a grim line as she reached beneath the counter for her purse. “Good night, Sam.”

He glanced up, surprised. “What, you’re not even going to wait for me to finish closing out? At least let me walk you to your car. You know I don’t like—”

“I don’t need for you to walk me to the car,” she said. She unlocked the front door and left without another word.

#

Annie was waiting for Darla when she arrived home. She had showered and dressed in a pair of Darla’s cut-offs and tee-shirt. Unable to sit for long thanks to a bad case of nerves, she’d scrubbed Darla’s kitchen and bathroom until they sparkled, and she’d washed a load of towels. Finally, she had dusted the living room, taking great care with the Elvis decanters.

“Place looks nice,” Darla said as she came through the door, “but I don’t expect you to clean.”

“I was jittery. What did Sam say?”

Darla slumped into a chair and kicked off her white uniform shoes. “He’s going to think about it.”

“At least he didn’t say no.”

“I’m beat,” Darla muttered.

“Can I get you something from the kitchen? A glass of iced tea?”

Darla gave her a weary smile. “No, thanks. As soon as I grab a hot shower I’ll be good as new. Think I might drive over to Ernie’s.”

“Who’s Ernie?”

“It’s a place not a person. Just a little waterin’ hole on the edge of town,” she added. “I usually go have a cold beer and it relaxes me so I can come back and get some sleep. Hey, you might be interested in going. Meet some of my friends. It’s only nine-thirty, and it’s Saturday night. The place will be hoppin’.”

“Sure, I’ll go. I can change back into the dress I had on earlier.”

“Most folks wear jeans. It’s a country-western bar.”

“Your jeans are probably too short on me.”

“I’ve got a pair that needs hemming. They’ll probably do. I also think I have an extra pair of boots that will fit you if you keep those thick socks on.”

The two women were on their way a half hour later. Although Annie was exhausted and would have preferred climbing into a comfortable bed, or sofa, she figured it would be rude not to go with the woman who was offering her a place to stay. Besides, it was to her advantage to meet as many people as she could, since the subject of her employment wasn’t yet settled. She was more than a little nervous at the thought of working at the Dixieland Cafe. What did she know about waitress work?

It was her own fault for not standing up to her father years ago when she was planning her education. She should never have let him send her to some dumb finishing school, where the staff was more interested in teaching her to set a lovely table or plan a party for one hundred guests than how to support herself.

Now here she was, almost thirty years old, and didn’t have a clue what she was going to do with her life. Annie frowned when Darla pulled into the parking lot of a large one-story cinderblock building. The place was surrounded by motorcycles and pickup trucks, some of the trucks so high off the ground it would have taken a stepladder for her to reach the door. “Is this it?” she asked, although a massive neon sign flashing beside the road clearly spelled out Ernie’s Place.

“This is it,” Darla said, parking beside a truck with a full gun rack in the back. “Do I look okay?”

Annie wasn’t sure how to respond to someone wearing a leather miniskirt, tank-top blouse, and a blue-jean jacket. “Let’s just put it this way, Darla. You will definitely stand out in a crowd in that outfit.”

The woman smiled. “Thanks, darlin’. That’s just the kind of thing a girl likes to hear. Come on. Let’s play.”

Annie climbed out of the car and followed Darla toward the building with mounting trepidation. If the music blaring outside the building was any indication of how loud it was inside, she knew she was in for a long night. But her poor eardrums were not prepared for the moment when Darla opened the door, or the loud squeal Darla gave the moment they stepped inside.

At first Annie thought her friend had hurt herself somehow, but a second later Darla threw her arms around a man’s neck. Annie decided the woman must be very happy to see him. And he to see her, from the way he picked her up and swung her around as if she were weightless. The two carried on for a good five minutes while Annie entertained thoughts of climbing into the backseat of Darla’s car for a long nap.

“Hank, it’s so good to see you,” Darla said, giving him another hug. She glanced at Annie as though realizing for the first time she was standing there. “Oh, I want you to meet my new roommate, honey. This here’s Annie. Annie, meet Hank, my old boyfriend. We go way back.”

Annie smiled and offered her hand, but Hank obviously decided a bear hug more appropriate. By the time he set her down, Annie was certain all the bones in her body had been crushed.

“C’mon and let me buy you pretty gals a cold one,” he said, dragging them toward a bar that ran the entire length of the room. Darla paused a number of times to speak to someone she knew. By the time they reached the bar, Annie’s head was splitting from the music.

“What’ll it be, miss?” the bartender asked her. He wore overalls and looked as though he’d been plowing a field all day.

“Just give me a diet soft drink,” she said, and received a good deal of ribbing from Darla and Hank, both of whom ordered a draft beer. Annie had barely managed to take a sip before a tall red-haired man named Jesse tapped her on the shoulder and asked her to dance. She turned him down, only to have Darla insist she dance with him because he was a friend of hers. Annie soon found herself trying to keep time to a tune with fiddle music and before long she had more dance partners than she knew what to do with.

#

Sam was surprised to find Darla’s lights off and the car gone when he pulled into the driveway of her mobile home. She’d rushed from the restaurant in such a hurry that she’d forgotten her wallet. She had pulled it out when she’d cashed her tips out at the end of the night, swapping change and small bills so Sam wouldn’t have to worry about going to the bank to replenish them. He knew she was ticked off at him, and it wasn’t the first time, but she would eventually get over it. The bottom line, he was still owner of the Dixieland Café, and Darla would just have to accept the fact that she was his employee.