"Ol" Chet torched the woods good. Had we not gotten that rain recently, he might"ve burned down his place and a few others, too. He"s a lucky old fool. I guess you"re gonna miss your backup."
"Nothing I can"t handle. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers," Jaclyn said with a smile and handed him the bag. She made quick work of the next customers and smiled at Morgan as she slowly approached the counter. "You were awfully cute this morning, I just couldn"t wake you. I hope you don"t mind."
Morgan pulled Austin"s crib notes from her pocket and held it out to Jaclyn. "I a.s.sume you talked to him this morning because he made me this so I wouldn"t mess up with you."
Jaclyn laughed as she read it, then sighed. "I love that kid," she said as her gaze met Morgan"s. "He saw us sleeping together on the couch and was full of questions. I told him that we"re dating."
"I"d like to keep that if you don"t mind." Morgan pointed at the paper. Jaclyn gave it back to her, and she returned it to her pocket. "He seems okay with it, right?"
"More than okay," Jaclyn said with a beaming smile that slowly slid from her face. "My time is going to be limited now. I"ll close each evening at five instead of six, but I"ll have to help Bailey on the weekends, and Chet won"t be around to step in."
"I was thinking about that when I was watching you a minute ago. I just wanted to remind you that there"s this unemployed woman in town, who has a lot of time on her hands except when she"s working on a not-boat. Her help won"t cost you anything but a smile."
Jaclyn leaned on the counter, her b.u.t.ton-down shirt opening slightly, revealing her cleavage. "I couldn"t do that to you. Besides, if you were here, that"s where I"d want to be, so it wouldn"t be a break for us."
Morgan felt heat envelop her as she looked away, her mind struggling to deal with the desire to touch and taste. Her voice was raspy when she said, "Could you stand up straight and not do that again when others are in here?" Morgan"s gaze swept over the sight again, unable to resist the urge.
Jaclyn looked at her oddly for a second, then followed her gaze. She abruptly stood straight as her face colored. "Sorry. Actually...I"m not, I didn"t do it on purpose, but I can"t deny that I like the look in your eyes right now."
"I haven"t showered or brushed my teeth yet, don"t provoke me. You"ll close much earlier than five."
Jaclyn chewed her bottom lip, obviously having no smart comeback. Morgan smiled.
"We both know I"m going to be right here because like you I want to be wherever you are. Use me, I"m begging you."
"Are...are we still talking about you working here?"
Morgan rubbed the back of her neck and laughed. "At the moment, I"m not sure."
"I"ll take advantage of you, if that"s truly what you want." Jaclyn folded her arms and leaned against the counter.
Morgan grinned as she backed toward the door. "I"m going home to shower, then I"ll be back. You"ll find that I"m an extremely fast learner, and I"m easy to train. I"ll do anything you want."
"Okay, run." Jaclyn laughed when Morgan tore out of the door like a rocket and nearly plowed over Betsy.
"She"s in a hurry this morning," Betsy said with a nervous smile. "Is she...okay?"
"She"s just fine," Jaclyn a.s.sured, though the same could not be said for her. Had Betsy not walked in, Jaclyn feared she might"ve locked up and chased after Morgan. Every fiber of her being was begging her to do it.
"Harlan"s up at the hospital, he just called me. He says Chet"s doing very well, and they may go ahead and put him in a regular room. The burns weren"t that serious. It"s just the leg that they were concerned with coupled with his age."
"That"s fantastic news. Would you like to celebrate with a cup of coffee?"
"Oh, no," Betsy said with a weird laugh. "I"ve been doing too much celebrating lately, and it"s showing on my waistline. That was sure something last night, very scary."
"Yes, it was," Jaclyn said as the events began to replay in her mind. Images of Betsy in her underthings flashed across her brain. If Betsy wasn"t going to offer an explanation, she sure as h.e.l.l wasn"t going to ask for one. "I haven"t seen you much lately. You used to come by at least twice a week."
Betsy"s face and neck flushed. "I"ve...uh...been doing a lot of sewing lately. You know how that is. You just get all absorbed...st.i.tching and sewing." She hung her head as her shoulders sagged. "I know you saw us last night. I should"ve never done it! Crazy Clarice and her lunar urges." Betsy sniffed and looked back up at Jaclyn. "We caused that explosion."
Jaclyn was becoming more confused by the second. "You were making moonshine with Chet? Is that what happened to your clothes-they burned off?" She stared closely at Betsy"s hair and saw no signs of it being singed.
"We were undressed before the explosion." Betsy cast a nervous glance toward the door.
"Okay, if you"re about to admit to some kind of moonshine orgy, I don"t think I can hear about that."
"It was nothing s.e.xual. We were celebrating the stupid moon." Betsy put a hand to her forehead and sighed. "Clarice and Ida like to run through the woods naked, and last night, they were very insistent."
Jaclyn"s brows shot skyward. Clarice was bats.h.i.t crazy, plain and simple, and Ida had a few extra bats in her cave, too, but Betsy was always the sensible one. "You...stripped down to your underwear and ran through the woods...at night...and nothing was chasing you." Jaclyn put her hand over her mouth and bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing.
"Trotted was more like it." Betsy put a hand to her chest. "At my age, the only things running in my life are my pantyhose. But then I saw Chet, and the thought of him seeing me that way put fire in my old legs, pardon the expression. Well, I just turned and ran the other way. At night, it"s easy to get turned around, so I hid behind one of those big oaks, and that"s when everything just exploded. We startled him, you see, and I guess he knocked something over because I heard a big clang. I just feel so bad, Jaclyn. I could"ve at least helped him, but I was," Betsy lowered her voice, "indecent."
Jaclyn took a moment to digest what she"d heard and to compose herself. "Were Ida and Clarice hurt?"
"Darlin", with as many hibiscus flowers as they were seeing, they could"ve been run over by a truck and not felt a thing, but Clarice tripped on a root and Ida tripped over her. They"re both bruised, but neither of them was injured in the blast, by G.o.d"s grace, I"m sure."
"Hibiscus flowers?"
"That"s what they say they see when they smoke that mess. Clarice claims it"s from Hawaii. I feel so bad about Chet." Betsy wrung her hands. "One minute, Harlan"s worried about him, and the next, he"s furious because he said Chet could"ve burned our house down." She shook her head. "I can never tell Harlan the truth, he"ll never understand."
"I won"t say anything to anyone," Jaclyn a.s.sured her.
"Did Morgan and Austin see..."
"I"m afraid so, but neither of them will say anything, either."
Betsy looked as though she was in agony as her face managed to turn a darker shade of red.
"You"re not totally to blame. Chet knew better than to fool with that old still. He doesn"t exactly have a good track record. He didn"t have any business being out there, either."
"This is gonna hurt you, too. Chet used to help out when you needed a break. I don"t know anything about cash registers, but I"ll sure do what I can to fill his shoes."
"That"s very sweet, but Morgan has already offered. We"ll make do, don"t you worry."
Betsy"s color began to turn back to normal, though her cheeks were still a bit flushed, and the skin of her neck was blotched. "She"s a fine woman. You know...she may enjoy working here at the store, then maybe she won"t have to-" Betsy sniffed. "Well, I"ll leave that alone. I hope it works out."
"Me too," Jaclyn said with a nod.
"I"m gonna get back to the house. Thank you for allowing me to unburden my soul." She walked over to the door and put her hand on the handle. "Augie would"ve liked Morgan, you know that."
Jaclyn smiled. "I think so, too."
"Lord, I hope she wasn"t watching me last night."
Chapter Twenty-eight.
"Thanks for stopping in, y"all come back now." Morgan stopped short of saying, "ya hear?" She"d gone a little too country for her liking.
"Your exuberance is scaring the natives," Jaclyn said with a smile. "You did tell the truth, you"re a very fast learner."
"I ran a register in high school at an ice cream shop." Morgan frowned. "I"ll have to practice with the crickets." She reached into her shirt and pulled out one of the insects. "They get a little friendly, don"t they?"
"I"d hide in your bra too if someone was planning on putting me on a hook." Jaclyn grinned and winked when Morgan shot her a glance.
"You"re naughty, I love it."
Jaclyn wanted the opportunity to prove her right, but finding time alone to do that was going to be tricky. She took the cricket from Morgan"s fingers and put it back into the cage. "I didn"t have time to put anything in the Crock-Pot, do you want to join us for some leftover chicken? There"s a ton of it in the fridge."
"I"d love to. What are the chances that we could snuggle on the couch and watch a movie afterward?"
"That would be wonderful, and I wouldn"t mind it a bit if you fell asleep on me again. We weren"t on that couch thirty seconds and you were dozing."
"The excitement got to me."
Skip walked in, went straight to the coffee station, and made himself a cup. "I"m so glad ol" Chet is okay, and I"m so mad. I told him not to fool with dat old still. We can make it right on his stove. It don"t make as much as the still, but it"s safer."
"It"s not safe either way. Fumes build up in the house, it"s not safe to breathe." Jaclyn cut up a potato and took it to the cricket cages where she dropped it in. "Y"all would just rather be doing stuff in the woods that you really shouldn"t, just admit it."
Skip waved a finger at Jaclyn, then Morgan. "Y"all ain"t no better. The whole town knows y"all did it in the goldenrod field and didn"t watch for ants. You both got beds, ya know."
"We were..." Morgan stopped before telling the truth. No one would believe they were playing hide-and-seek. h.e.l.l, she wouldn"t have, either. "Nature calls, you know?" she said with a shrug.
Skip looked at Morgan"s arms. "How"re your bites?"
"Not as bad as they were, and thanks to Clarice, they don"t itch."
"Clarice mixed up a paste," Jaclyn explained as she rejoined Morgan behind the counter, "and she made us some of her special tea."
Skip took off his cap and scratched his head. "You drank her tea?"
"She insisted, and we felt obligated." Jaclyn cast a sideways glance at Morgan. "Skip, she jacked us up big-time."
"Oh," he said with a smile, "she made you her sweet weed brew. She made Rene some that time she broke her toe. Dat woman sang, she danced on dat toe, then she ate everything in the kitchen and blamed it on me the next day. Dat"s big love from Clarice, y"all better feel special. She"ll probably make Chet a brew too."
Jaclyn"s nostrils flared, her pupils were dilated, she barely breathed as her hand moved slowly, steadily. Morgan was captivated by the intense concentration. Her own breathing slowed. She held it as Jaclyn"s hand hovered for a second.
"Don"t mess up," Austin taunted as she skillfully set the block of wood on top of the tower.
Jaclyn sighed when everything stayed intact. "Your move, Morgan."
Austin"s expression was full of mischief. "I can"t believe you never played Jenga. It would really suck to lose on your first game."
Morgan shot him a look as she contemplated which piece to pull next. Austin inhaled sharply when she reached for one of the wooden blocks.
Jaclyn"s voice was smooth and low. "Don"t let him psych you out. He"s terrible at this game and knows he"s probably going to be the one to topple the tower."
"I"m playing with a handicap, my hands are huge. I"ve heard it said that big hands mean big p.e.n.i.s, and in my case, it"s true."
"Austin!"
Morgan jerked her hand away from the tower as she laughed. "That"s cheating."
He tapped his temple. "It"s a game of concentration and skill. You have to focus."
"I can"t wait until it"s your turn." Jaclyn looked at him. "We"ll see how well you focus."
Morgan held her breath as she carefully slid the piece she"d chosen out of its place, then moved it to the top.
Jaclyn smiled. "Now when he knocks down the tower, you"ll be the winner because you made the last successful move." She and Morgan waited quietly for Austin to decide on his piece. As he reached for it, Jaclyn sang out, "I don"t know, but I"ve been told, Skip"s old chicken has a green b.u.t.thole."
Austin froze in mid-reach. The muscles in his face twitched as he tried not to laugh. He exhaled slowly and carefully put his fingers on his choice. And Morgan then began to sing, "I don"t know, but I"ve been told, Austin has a little tiny pole."
Blocks rained down onto the table and floor, and Austin slumped in defeat. Morgan and Jaclyn b.u.mped their fists and yelled, "Jenga!"
"Yeah, yeah. I know, loser picks up the blocks," Austin said drolly amidst their celebration. "Then I"m going to bed because I don"t like y"all right now."
Morgan helped him with the task as Jaclyn straightened up the rest of the kitchen. "Get plenty of rest because we"re going to connect the chicken wire to Thor tomorrow for the decorations."
Austin put the last of the pieces in the box and closed the lid. "Me and my giant pole will be ready."
He b.u.mped Morgan with the game box and kissed Jaclyn on the cheek before going upstairs. When they heard the door to his room close, Jaclyn said, "It must be hard going through life worshipping a body part even most straight women aren"t that enthralled with."
Morgan stared at Jaclyn"s a.s.s that looked especially nice in the tight jeans she was wearing. "I"m enthralled right now with one of yours."
Jaclyn looked over her shoulder. "Some of yours are still in my mind"s eye. I have fond memories of smearing paste all over you."
"You could roll in some ants, and I"ll be happy to return the favor."
Jaclyn shook her head as she dried a skillet. "You can rub me down anytime. We don"t need ants for that."
One of Morgan"s brows arched. "How long does it take for Austin to fall asleep?"
The skillet clanged in the sink as Jaclyn dropped it. She turned around and opened her mouth when her phone rang. "I"m not going to answer that."
"Good," Morgan said with a nod as she stood. "I"m still recovering from my ant trauma, but I have a long list of things I"d like to do to you."
"Oh, it doesn"t work that way with me, and I don"t care about your spots. I just wanna-"
"Mom," Austin called out. "Aunt Maddie"s looking for you. She said Dawn and Caleb are puking all over the place. The doctor called in some medicine to the pharmacy, and she needs you to pick it up because Uncle Heath is in Jeanerette."
Jaclyn closed her eyes as her head lolled back. "I don"t think we"re going to have to worry about taking things slow. Everyone else in this town will handle that for us."