Page 23 of Refuge for Flora

“Maybe he’ll call you. Would you?”

“Let you know? Oh, hell yeah. You know it. If somebody’s got gators here, I most definitely want to know. I found a trip wire last night and a bunch of coyotes. I donotwant to walk up on a gator in the Barlow bottoms.”

“That could definitely spoil your day.”

“You know it. But you’ll hear from me as soon as I know something.”

“Thanks, Barrett. I appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome. Talk to you soon.” Barrett ended the call and sat there. Had Frankie questioned them about their comment? Or had he brushed it off and ignored Barrett’s request? He made up his mind that, one way or another, he was going to find out.

* * *

“Hello?”

“Is this Ms.Stevens?”

“Yes.”

“This is the tire center. Your car is ready. Hey, you wouldn’t want to sell that thing, would you?”

“Not mine to sell. Sorry. How much is all the work?” Flora wrote down the amount and thanked the man. “Mrs.Murphy, they’ve got the car ready. I’m gonna get Barrett to take me to pick it up.”

“Okay. Get the money from the sugar bowl and pay for it. And while you’re out, could you get me some potato chips?”

“Sure will. No problem.” Flora headed back to her bedroom and hit the contact, then waited.

“Hello?”

“Barrett?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s Flora.”

“Oh! I didn’t put your name with your number! Guess I should do that, huh?”

She laughed. “Yeah, probably! Hey, the car is ready. If you can’t take me, I understand, but I thought?”

“Oh, no, I definitely can. I’m getting ready to drive into town myself. How about maybe in thirty minutes?”

“Sure! That sounds good. I’ll be waiting.”

“Okay. See you then.” And the phone went dead.

For reasons she couldn’t understand, Flora felt like putting on lipstick. She made sure her hair was brushed nicely, then looked in the closet. She had two pairs of jeans and three tops. Not much to choose from, and he’d seen all of them.Why the hell do I care what he thinks?she asked herself, but she knew the truth. She was wildly attracted to Barrett even though she really doubted he felt the same way about her. Still, she wanted to look nice. He’d probably never notice, but at least she could tell herself that she tried.

When she was finished getting ready, she wandered into the living room and sat down. “Mrs.Murphy, are you going to pay me?”

The old woman turned to look at her. “What?”

“Are you going to pay me? I mean, you told me you’d give me some money, but I didn’t ask how much, and I kinda need some.”

She was afraid her employer was going to have a yelling fit, but instead, Mrs.Murphy smiled. “Honey, whatever is in that sugar bowl is yours to use too. When there’s no more money in there, just tell me and you can get more from the bank to put in there. You needin’ somethin’?”

Flora could feel her cheeks warming. “Yeah. I don’t have very many clothes and I’m washing them to death. I could use more jeans, some tee shirts, socks, underwear and bras…”

“You buy whatever you need. How much money’s in there right now?”