Read Fried Pickles and the Fuzz Online
Authors: Calico Daniels
Fried Pickles and the Fuzz (7 page)
“Thank you.” The older woman was
a fixture in
T
he Pickle. More than once
H
eather wondered what she would do if she ever had to go it without her. “Go ahead and head home. I'll see you at the auction.”
Erma waved and left the two friends alone in the café.
“I'm heading out too. Tons of things to do before this afternoon.” Beth Ann dropped a quick kiss on Heather
'
s cheek and darted out of the kitchen
,
leaving Heather alone in the
quiet
restaurant.
With
T
he Pickle closed for the rest of the day
,
the only thing Heather had to contend with now was her box
ed
lunch for the auction. Well, that and the auction itself. Knowing that Bronson would be there as the auctioneer sent her stomach rolling.
They hadn't spoken since Thursday
,
when she had gone all crazy
-
psycho on him after her depressing phone call with Carl, the local bank manager.
The loan she had applied for to purchase a small farm on the edge of town had been denied
.
Unless she could come up with a bigger downpayment
,
she was out of luck.
Now she was stuck trying to find another place to keep Gus that Bronson would approve of
,
and her week was almost up.
She sighed. There was nothing she could do about it today though
,
so she might as well get in the Big Creek Day
s'
spirit and join in the festivities.
In years past, the contents of her box
ed
lunch contribution
had
consisted of her double
-
battered fried chicken, fried yellow squash
,
and mashed potatoes, but this year she just couldn't get in the frying mood. Instead of fighting it
,
she decided to just let her instincts kick in and see what her imagination would bring forth.
Moving around the kitchen on
autopilot
, she prepared a lunch for two of
BLTs on homemade sourdough bread with crispy hickory
-
smo
ked bacon and heirloom tomatoes, spicy jalapeno chips
,
and a decadent
peach
pie for dessert. Topped off with a half gallon of
T
he Pickle's sweetened peach tea
,
and it was a box
ed
lunch any southern girl could be proud of.
Now if only she could come up with an apology to match
,
she might not be stuck eating crow.
****
“Sheriff, can I talk to you for a minute?”
Bronson looked up from the mountain of paperwork on his desk and suppressed a shiver. Beth Ann stood just inside
the
office door, her fiery red hair pulled up in a haphazard ponytail that reminded him vaguely of Medusa. Not that he would ever breathe that comparison out loud
,
but Heather
'
s best friend was a veritable pit
bull when it came to defending those she cared about. He'd seen it firsthand on a couple of occasions
,
and
it left him wondering how Billy kept even a scrap of his masculinity intact when the two butted heads about anything. “I'm a little busy right now. Any chance it can wait until later?”
Beth Ann walked up to his desk, planted her fists on the paper littered surface
,
and glared at him. “Nope.”
“In that case, sure
,
I've got a minute.” Leaning back in his chair, Bronson folded his arms across his chest and did his best to look as intimidating as she did. Somehow he seriously doubted it was working
,
though.
“Good. First off, when are you gonna open up your eyes and realize that what Heather's doing for that mangy old horse goes a lot deeper than just some bleeding heart wanting to take in strays?”
“I'm not sure I follow.”
“Then pay attention, Sheriff,” she practically spat the last word, “because I'm only
gonna say it once
,
and you sure aren't going to hear it from anyone else in town. Granny Joy was sweet on Gus'
s
old owner. That crotchety old fart would sooner poke you in the eye as to look at you
,
but he and Joy had something special for about the last five years or so of Joy's life. For some reason
,
that mean old man made her happy. Brought a sparkle back into her life that died when her husband
passed on
nearly twenty years ago.”
“What does that have to do with Gus?”
Beth Ann cast him a threatening glare. “I'm getting to it.
Old man Tucker wanted to put Gus down about three years ago, just before Heather left
for college
,
and Joy wouldn't stand for it. Said she'd quit cookin' for him if he did
,
so he kept him. Just to please Joy. To Heather, that horse is more than just a raggedy old bag of bones. He's
something special, flesh and blood that her Granny loved
.
You take that away from her
,
and you'll have lost any chance you ever had with her.
”
“What's that supposed to mean?” Bronson tilted his head and looked at the cocky redhead.
“Oh
,
come off it. Everyone in town knows you've got a thing for Heather. You get all doe
-
eyed every time you're around her.”
“I do not.”
“Yeah, you do, Sheriff,” Martin chimed in from
his desk at
the
back of the room.
“You keep quiet, Martin,” Beth Ann pointed a finger at the dispatcher, “or I'll tell your girl what you really do on Tuesday nights when she thinks you're playin' poker with the boys over at the feed barn.”
Bronson craned around in time to see Martin turn a deep shade of red and quickly return to his computer monitor.
“Second off,” Bronson turned back only to find himself the focal point of Beth Ann's full fury once again,
“get
off your duff and tell
Heather
how you feel before you do something too stupid to ask forgiveness for.
” Beth Ann straightened and pinned hi
m
with a frosty glare.
“Anything else?”
“Yeah, make sure you win her box
ed
lunch today.
It'll give you the perfect opportunity to apologize.
” With that, the spitfire
flashed him a million
-
watt smile then
turned and walked from the building
calling, “Have a nice day, Sheriff,” over her shoulder as she went
.
Bronson sat for a moment in the deafening silen
ce
of the office
,
letting everything Beth Ann said soak in. While it had never been his intention to hurt Heather, Beth Ann's revelation had changed things. He needed to make some calls and figure out a workable solution that would make everyone happy. Especially Heather.
A low whistle came from the back of the room. “You sure mad
e
her mad, Sheriff.”
Bronson turned and looked at Martin. “So, where
do
you go on Tuesdays?”
The other man promptly returned to his attention to his computer.
****
Heather crossed Main Street and joined the growing crowd on the town square lawn. Many of the locals smiled and nodded their greetings as she made her way to the gazebo in the center of the square.
Two long tables were positioned in the center of the structure, each one laden with uniquely decorated boxes and baskets, but all filled with home
-
cooked fix
i
n
'
s made in honor of the tradition of a box
ed
lunch social. In turn, each lunch and the woman or girl who had prepared it would step up to the auction block
,
and the male residents of Big Creek County would commence the bidding war. The auction proceeds benefited the Historical Society and would be used to maintain many of the historically significant structures in the county.
Because of the sheer number of entrants this year
,
it had been decided that the auction would be split into two parts in the hopes that the live event
would move a little quicker and allow folks to enjoy their meals
. All during the week
,
the list of ladies
participating
was available at the Community
C
enter
,
and folks were allowed to stop by and place their bid silent auction style. The final bidding would happen today live
,
right in the center of town.
After climbing the steps to the main floor of the structure, Heather handed
her wicker basket to Mildred Bonam, President of the Historical Society. “I'm sure it will fetch a nice bid, Heather.”
“I sure hope so, Mrs. Bonam. I'm just glad I'm back in town and able to join in.” Heather stepped back to make room for the other women who were bringing up donations and headed off to find Beth Ann.
Within minutes she found her best friend leaning against the trunk of a hundred
-
year
-
old oak, her arms folded over her
chest. The far
-
off expression on her face and unfocused look in her eyes made it pretty clear to Heather that Beth Ann was woolgathering in a big way. About what, she didn't know
,
but that was one thing she knew she could count on from Beth Annâ¦
a full
,
uncensored account of anything and everything that was running through her mind.
When the redhead failed to acknowledge Heather even though there was only a foot of space separating them, Heather reached out and waved a hand in front of Beth Ann's eyes. Her friend started slightly, focused her gaze
,
and graced Heather with a beaming smile.
“What had you a million miles away?”
Beth Ann laughed. “I was just thinking âbout all the things I need to make sure and pack for later.”
“I thought you were going home to do that when you left the café earlier?”
“I got sidetracked.”
Heather nodded but wasn't entirely convinced. Beth Ann was nothing if not dependable and exact. Preparedness was one of her biggest pet peeves. It was, in fact, the only thing that she and Billy seemed to disagree about. The male half of the duo seemed to live by the motto that God would provide, while Beth Ann insisted that God provided them with a brain and the sense to use it.
“Well, at least you look cute.” Heather motioned to her friend's ensemble.
The other woman was fearless when it came to clothes. Cutoffs, hot pink cowboy boots
,
and a teal sequ
i
ned tank
-
top.
Her unruly auburn curls were pulled up into their usual messy pony and from her ears hung silver hoop
s
that were so big
,
they nearly touched her shoulders. “This town expects it from me. Besides, if they're
cacklin' about
what I'm wearin'
,
then they're leavin' some other poor soul alone.”
She assessed Heather from head to toe with a critical eye. “What's your excuse?”
Looking down at her pale blue t-shirt, faded jeans
,
and
square-toed
boots, Heather shrugged. “I'm not wearin' anything different than what I normally wear.”
“Mm
m-
hmm. That's my point. After everything we talked about a couple hours ago
,
and here you are, about to see
el guapo
, dressed in the same clothes you were cookin' in all mornin'.” She shook her head. “I swear
,
woman, if I didn't love you so much
,
I'd have to beat you with a fashion magazine.”
“You're the clotheshorse
,
not me. And one of these days I'm gonna have you convinced that you need to pursue your passion.” Heather poked her friend in the side and scanned the crowd. Her gaze seemed to zero in on Bronson almost instantly. Tall and handsome, he walked slowly through the crowd, greeting citizens along the way to the gazebo where he would announce the beginning of the auction and turn it over to the ladies of the historical society.
Stars above
,
but that man was
gorgeous
. Every time she caught a glimpse of him, even just in passing, her heart did a funny little stutter and her breath hitched a bit. There was no doubt that Bronson was a looker
,
even when he came dragging into the café at the end of a hard day, his uniform wrinkled and his jaw line covered with a day's worth of growth. But freshly shaved and wearing a crisp uniformâ¦
“Speaking of
pursuing
passion
s
.”
Heather jerked her attention away from Bronson. Beth Ann giggled harder then linked their arms together. “Come on. Let's go sit down and wait for your lunch to come up in the rotation.”