Fools (Licking Thicket 3)

“Oh, yeah? Thought she worked at the wrap place?” Tucker speared some broccoli with his fork and shot me a look.

I shrugged. Jenn hadn’t mentioned a new job to me. At least, I was pretty sure.

“Mmm. Well, as it happens, she feels like making sandwiches isn’t the best use of her talents. And also, she has a sincerely held belief about eating meat and cheese.”

“She’s vegan?” Tucker looked from my mom to me, like somehow I was supposed to know what the heck Jenn Shipley ate. Who paid attention to that stuff?

“Oh, no,” Mama said. “No, she doesn’t believe it’s right to eat a sandwich without meat or cheese, and she doesn’t think anyone else should either. So she quit.” She shrugged. “I think she’s still not over losing her job at Summer Honey. Selling highfalutin bath and body products was her dream career. She thinks Abilene had it out for her personally, rather than being justifiably upset when Jenn handed out free products to several ladies on the Beautification Corps.”

“As if we can be bought,” Ava scoffed.

“She’s hoping Dunn’ll get her job back for her,” Mama continued.

“And a spot on the Beautification Corps,” Gracie added behind a fake cough. I ignored her.

I looked up from my plate in surprise. “Me?” I said around a mouthful of potato salad. I swallowed. “What’m I s’posed to do?”

“Talk to Abilene, I guess, since you supply all the milk for their products?” Mama shrugged. “I don’t know, honey. That’s your business.”

I was glad something was.

“But in the meantime, Jenn’s out of a job and low on marketable skills. She’s real good at talking on the phone, though, Tucker, and I’m guessing she could write things down and whatnot real well.”

Tucker blinked. “Well, that’s… ah…” He stuffed some broccoli in his mouth instead of replying.

“Besides, how cute would it be if Dunn could see his special girl every time he came by to see you?” she continued.

I narrowed my eyes at her as I felt Tucker’s gaze on my face. “No need, Mama,” I said through a lump in my throat.

For some reason the idea of Jenn around Tucker that much made my potato salad go down the wrong way.

“I think she’s a shoo-in at the Dollar Barn. They need an overnight stocker.”

Everyone gaped at me. “What?” I asked. “It’s good pay, and she can handle it.”

Mama shook her head. “No. I think if you’re still serious about Jenn, you should give her a chance to get to know Tucker better, don’t you?”

No. No, I did not. Not only no, but hellfire and damnation, no.

“Who said I was serious—”

“That’s fine,” Tucker interrupted in his polite I’m lying through my teeth voice. He did not like Jenn Shipley. “It’s just for another six weeks while Annie’s on maternity leave anyway.”

Mama nodded firmly and dusted her hands. Mission accomplished. Although I wasn’t quite sure what the mission was exactly.

Mama made it sound like she was Jenn’s biggest fan, but for some reason, every time her name came up, Mama asked me about Tucker instead.

I called her on it one time, and she’d told me she thought Tucker would make a better “helpmate” for me than Jenn. Ha. As if. I told her she was seeing gay where gay didn’t exist. Which, okay, maybe made sense after everything that had happened with my brother.

“Fool me once,” Mama had said. “Shame on me. But you aren’t fooling me, Dunn. I see the way you look at Tucker. He’s your person. It’s only a matter of time till you get your head out of your derriere and do something about it.”

That’s when I’d replaced her frozen vodka bottle with the Yellow Tail Chardonnay.

And maybe now that she was trying to help Jenn get a job, that meant it was working.

Paul sat forward and reached for a hamburger bun from the basket in the center of the table. “So fill me in on this twine festival I keep hearing about in town,” he said. “I missed it last year, since little Beau, here, was a newborn and our idea of romance was letting each other sleep for an hour.”

“Still is,” Ava sighed. “But the Entwinin’ is where we pull down the old, dried-out wisteria vines and twist them into little mementos for loved ones. I’ve told you about it a million times.”

My parents shared a secret gaze across the length of the table.

I cleared my throat. “It’s, ah, it’s kinda special. Like, um…” For some reason this festival, out of all the others, got me right in the feels. Tucker shifted next to me until our thighs pressed together. I swallowed. “My dad always makes his in the shape of a daisy for my mom.”

Dad nodded and glanced at my mom with a look of utter adoration on his face. “The day we met, we took a walk in a meadow outside of town and I told Cindy Ann her dress reminded me of the pretty daisies growing there. Ever since then, whenever I want her to know how I feel about her, I give her something in the shape of a daisy. Each year for the Entwinin’ I get to remind myself how impossible it is to make old wisteria vines into a circle,” he finished with a chuckle.