Page 38 of As It Was (Strawberry Springs #1)

CAIN

Strawberry Springs Neighborhood Watch

Dale Garrett

The storms are a comin’ this week, people! This might not be the week for sleeping naked.

Comments:

Atticus Thompson : It’s these temperature changes! Damn Tennessee weather.

Hu Gh : I’ll go out of this world the same way I came into it! If the world sees me naked, then they see me naked!

Tammy Jane : You already posted your whole rear end in here, Hugh. It’s nothing we ain’t seen before.

Jade Clark : Think Hugh’s ass will scare off the storms?

Marjorie Brown : Don’t forget your wigs either! I’ll warn Henrietta.

Henrietta Brown : Don’t make me take your phone again.

“You look cozy. ”

I jumped at the sound of Mollie’s voice. She was sitting at the dining-room table with a steaming cup of coffee in her hands.

“Why are you awake? It’s barely seven.”

“I couldn’t sleep.” She shrugged, but I could see the way yesterday’s events weighed heavily on her shoulders. “I kept thinking about what Trevor could be telling my mom and dad. I don’t suppose I could speed run getting over my embarrassment and be able to talk about it tomorrow?”

“It doesn’t work that way, princess.”

She sighed. “Then I suppose I’ll have to slowly work on it. But on the bright side, now that I don’t have a job, I can join you in taking care of the animals.”

“You already did that a few times.”

“Yeah, but then I got in trouble. Now I won’t get in trouble at all. I’m a free woman. One who wants to charm Hennifer.”

“She’s probably already forgotten you.”

“But I haven’t forgotten her.”

“Wear a thick jacket,” I said. “If you have one.”

“Um, can I borrow one of yours?”

I let out a sigh. “You need actual work clothes if you’re gonna be doing this full time, not whatever you brought from the city.”

“I hate shopping by myself. Who am I supposed to go with to get opinions on how I look? The only person I know who wears work clothes is currently filming a TV show.”

“I’ll take you.”

She blinked. “What?”

“Come on, princess. I can tolerate a little bit of shopping.”

She raised her eyebrow. “And food?”

“We’re supposed to be seen together, aren’t we?”

“Fine, but I’m helping you this morning. ”

I opened the door for her. “And once you feel how cold it is, you’ll regret it.”

Mollie didn’t complain, but I could tell she was freezing. Fall was giving way to winter, and even with her jacket, it wasn’t enough. Hennifer immediately jumped at her when the coop opened, which resulted in one hell of a rip on the shoulder of her cheap hoodie.

“What do I need to do to make her like me?”

“It might just be you.”

“Unfair,” she pouted, but focused her attention on the other hens. “S-see?” she said when she was able to pick up a chicken, one that Eric had named Jumpy. “N-not all hate me.”

“Usually, she’s a runner.”

“I must have an aura.”

“The only aura you have is cold. Your lips are turning blue.”

“No one asked you to look.”

I rolled my eyes and unzipped my jacket as I pulled her to me. “Get over here.”

“But s-shouldn’t we do our usual banter?” Her cold nose pressed into my neck. “Damn, you’re so warm.”

“We’re going to the square right after this,” I said, rubbing my arms up and down her back. “It was originally cute when you were underprepared. Now it’s dangerous.”

“You think I’m cute?”

I hid a smile as I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Some days.”

“Who knew that just a little bit of time would turn you into a softie?”

“I’m many things, but I’m not that.”

“You are where it counts.” Her hands fisted in my shirt again. “The town will see it soon.”

My entire face flushed, and I wondered if it would help her warm up faster. I was having thoughts I didn’t know what to do with, like taking her back to either one of our bedrooms and completely forgetting any plans we had for the day.

But the moment was broken by the sound of her stomach rumbling. “Sorry,” she said as she pulled away. “I didn’t eat much yesterday.”

“Let me go milk the cows and wash up. Then we’ll get breakfast and clothes.”

“Really?”

“Yes. And if you don’t wanna be alone, Eric’s up. I bet he’ll bother you as much as you want.”

“He’s never a bother,” she said, rolling her eyes. “But I’ll take you up on that.”

“Welcome in,” Tammy said as the door jingled closed. “I’d say this is a surprise, but with all the rumors flying around, I’m surprised I didn’t see you in here sooner.”

“It took him having a burger in Nashville to tell me how good the ones here were,” Mollie replied.

“Nashville?” Tammy’s eyebrows rose and she looked at me expectantly.

I froze. Most people didn’t even try to talk to me these days.

“Yeah,” I replied. “Mollie needs to see the way a real burger’s cooked.”

“You’re a little early, but I can make something happen.”

Tammy smiled at Mollie, but the expression carried over to me.

I didn’t know what to do. Was Tammy finally warming up to me?

“Glad you tried something new. A change of pace is good for you, right, Cain?”

I blinked. “Yeah. I guess it is.”

Tammy grabbed three menus. Mollie elbowed me.

“Did you see that?” she asked. “It’s working!”

I waved for her to walk in front of me, but I was as excited as she was. I didn’t think it would ever be possible for the town to see me as anything other than the punk kid who’d gone at Donny.

But maybe I was wrong.

“I’m guessing a coffee, a water, and an orange juice for Eric,” Tammy said as we sat.

“You would guess right,” Mollie replied.

“I always do. Be right back.”

“Everyone seems to be in a good mood today,” Eric noticed.

“As they should,” Mollie said. “Things are looking up.”

I usually didn’t agree with that sentiment, but Tammy warming up to me meant something. Someone who might be willing to say Eric was better off with me than Waldren. One more person on my side.

“So, do I get to hear why you two were in Nashville, or is that a secret?” Tammy asked as she put the drinks down.

“Jackie said it was a date ,” Eric said.

“That wasn’t the intent,” I said. “And Mollie gets to decide if it’s a secret or not.”

She obviously didn’t like to tell people about her past, and I’d keep it quiet if she wanted me to.

Mollie dumped creamer into her coffee. “I have this ex in Nashville. Cain knew I was gonna be seeing him at my mom’s birthday party and drove up just in case I needed him ... which I did.”

“You drove three hours just in case she needed you?” Tammy set her hands on her hips .

“I-it was nothing.”

“You and I have a very different definition of nothing.”

“He’s not a man of many words,” Mollie said, smiling over at me. “But his actions count.”

“That’s what I always say,” Tammy agreed. “You two are cute together.”

I had no fucking clue what to say. I was busy trying to decide if this was even real.

Thankfully, Tammy didn’t compliment us much more. I wasn’t sure if I could handle it if she did. Instead, she took our orders and walked away to help other customers.

Mollie nudged me with her foot. “You should ask her.”

“Ask her about what?”

She pointedly looked at Eric.

My entire back tensed. “I don’t know if she’ll say yes.”

“You’ve come in here with him before, and she seems to like you.”

“Just say please,” Eric said, looking up from his coloring page. “It always works for me.”

I blew out a breath. Saying please sounded so easy, but nothing worked like that for me.

Mollie reached out and grabbed my hand. “You’ve got this.”

Nodding, I stood before I could talk myself out of it. Tammy was by the front, checking her phone in a rare moment of quiet.

“Hey,” I said. “Can I talk to you about something?”

“Did I forget straws again?” she asked with a sigh. “They’re normally in my apron, but I keep running out?—”

“No, it’s not that. It’s ... something else.”

She crossed her arms. “You look like you’re about to give me bad news.”

“Hopefully not. It’s not bad for you. Probably. I, uh, need something.”

Both of her eyebrows rose .

God, I hated this. I hated every second of it.

“There’s ... something going on. And I need people who have seen me with Eric to write a letter talking about what they’ve seen.”

“For a custody battle or something?”

I closed my eyes. “Yeah.”

“Okay,” she said.

“Okay?”

“I’ll write it.”

“You will?”

“You’re many things, Cain Smith, but bad with kids is not one of them. I may not know the whole story, but I do know you dropped everything for that child sitting in the booth over there. I’m happy to help.”

My shoulders slumped in relief. “Thank God.”

“And I’ll keep this between us,” she added with a wink. “I know how you like your secrets.”

“I wasn’t aware anyone else kept secrets,” I said.

“Not all of us run to the Facebook group with everything. At least not when it’s serious like this. I can tell by all of this ,” she said as she gestured to me, “that you’re not having a fun time.”

“Thank you,” I said. “I didn’t expect you to be so nice about this.”

“I can be nice when I wanna be. I also don’t just believe what I hear. You know what I mean?”

“I don’t think I do.”

“Some people listen. Others watch. You’ve got a good thing going over there.”

“Mollie’s helped a lot.”

“She has, but you had it before. With Eric.” She smiled. “When do you need the letter?”

“As soon as you can. ”

“It’ll be in the mailbox tomorrow.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“You won’t thank me when you see my next egg order. I hope you have a good stock.”

“I have plenty, but trust me, I won’t complain about a large order.”

She nodded. “Good. Now get back to your table. I think Mollie’s stared at us long enough.”

I turned, and true to Tammy’s word, Mollie was looking over at us while she drank her coffee. She didn’t even look away once she saw we’d both noticed.

“Did that go well?” she asked after I rejoined them at the table.

“For once, yes. She agreed. And it’s not gonna be front-page news in the Facebook group.”

“Yes! One down, more to go.”

“Hopefully they’ll be as easy,” I said.

Tammy brought our food out only minutes later. As she set it down, Mollie spoke up.

“Thank you for being so nice about the thing you’re writing.”

Tammy looked at me. “She knows?”

“She knows basically everything.”

She hummed. “Interesting. But you’re welcome. It’s not a big deal. Anything for that cutie.” Tammy pointed at Eric, who currently had two pancakes shoved into his mouth.

“Eric, manners.”

“I wike da food!” he said as he kept eating.

“You know, I sometimes eat like that too,” Mollie said.

“So,” Tammy started as she leaned on the table. “Any fun plans?”

“We’re heading over to Treasure Trove,” I said. “Mollie needs clothes that don’t fall apart when she’s working outside. ”

It was one of the few surviving original shops, and it was now owned by Grace, who’d taken it over when the last owner retired. It had tougher clothes as well as a new section of trendier items. Most of the younger women in town went there.

“A whole new wardrobe, huh?” Tammy asked. “You plan on doing a lot of farming?”

“Yep,” she replied. “I’m officially staying. Probably for good.”

Tammy’s eyes lit up. “Oh, if only Bennie were here. He’d be thrilled. What about you, Cain? Are you thrilled?”

I only looked at Mollie. “Very much so.”

Her rewarding blush and smile were worth the possibility that Tammy would go back on her word—at least regarding news about us.

Hugh called Tammy over before she could tease me any more.

Mollie took a bite of her burger. “Yeah, you’re right. This is so much better.”

“Told you.”

She rolled her eyes, but was too busy eating as fast as Eric was. Tammy came over to check on us a few times, but seemed just as friendly every time she saw me.

I didn’t know how to react.

After lunch, we walked over to the boutique, and she went straight for the florals.

“Nope,” I said. “Farm clothes.”

“But there’s a strawberry shirt!”

“Work clothes. Then fun clothes.”

She muttered a curse, but followed. Eric immediately found the kids’ boots and begged to try them on.

“Hi, Cain!” Grace said with a smile when she saw us. “Need new jeans? ”

“I’m here with her.” I gestured to Mollie, who waved from behind a rack of overalls.

“Mollie!” Grace’s eyes lit up. “It’s so nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much about you!”

“I’m still getting used to it. Hopefully it’s only good things. I can only think of one person I’ve pissed off.”

“Do you mean me?” I asked.

“That’s a given,” she replied. “I mean someone not you.”

“Brooke,” Grace said. “Yeah, I’ve heard all about that since she’s my sister.”

Mollie paused with wide eyes. “Oh, um. Sorry about that?”

“Don’t be. She loves to start things she can’t finish.” Grace waved her hand. “I get along with everyone.”

Mollie’s eyes cut to me, and I knew what she was thinking. Grace could be another contender. If this hadn’t happened this morning, I would have disagreed, but now I had hope.

“How has business been?” I asked her.

It was out of character and we all knew it. Grace’s eyes were wide when she finally responded.

“Good. Kinda steady. I’m just glad for cheaper rent for the shop, you know?”

I nodded.

“Small-town life has its benefits,” Mollie added.

“Rent prices and everything else actually went up for a while,” she replied. “Kinda like everything in the world seemed to, but we got some sort of small-town grant that stabilized things, which was just in time. We only lost the library and the town hall.”

“A small-town grant?” Mollie narrowed her eyes. “I haven’t heard of anything like that.”

“Something about the preservation of historical towns.” She shrugged. “None of us complained.”

“It’s how Jackie can afford rent in the square,” I added.

“And how Jade and I can stay open.”

“Does the farm have it?”

“Never needed it,” I said. “But it’s always there if we do.”

“I’ll have to look into that in case the weather ever messes with anything.”

“Jade told me you were only here temporarily. But it kinda sounds like you plan to stay.”

“I do,” Mollie said. “So you’ll all have to get used to me.”

I knew this. But hearing her admit it twice to other people made it feel real. Mollie was a permanent part of my life. She was here. Living with me , of all people.

“And how do you feel about that?” Grace asked with a teasing smile.

I could have said something smart. Or I could tell the truth.

“A little like I won the lottery.”

Mollie dropped a hanger, looking at me with dark pink cheeks.

Grace laughed. “All right, then. Now I see all the rumors were true.”

Normally, that sentence would have made me bristle. Instead, I nodded at Mollie before walking to help Eric take off a shoe that was stuck on his foot.

After we had multiple bags of new clothes for both Mollie and Eric, we walked back to the truck.

And I opened the door for her before she got in.