Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 100550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
“The signs of what?” The signs he wanted to be with me? The signs he was so freaked-out he was up all night?
“Not signs, silly, the—”
“Oh, Brooks, thank goodness!” My mother ran in the back door and wrapped me in a painfully tight embrace. “You’ll never believe what happened.”
“It’s a dark day for the Thicket,” Mrs. Ivey intoned, following her in more slowly.
“Never in my wildest imaginings…” Mama broke off with a wet sniffle.
“What?” I demanded. If someone didn’t finish telling me something, I was gonna lose my mind.
“Susie Dupree,” Mrs. Ivey began in a hushed tone. “Of Susie Dupree’s Deluxe Barbecue. She’s…. she’s….”
“Dead?” I whispered.
“Out of business,” my mother sobbed at the same moment.
“Wait, what?” I looked back and forth between the two women.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake.” Gracie appeared in the doorway from the living room, rolling her eyes. “Turns out Miss Susie’s a thief, as well as a purveyor of mediocre barbecue, Brooks, that’s all.”
“Grace Mawbry!” Mama gasped. “I don’t even know who you are right now!”
“Probably because my whole life has been a lie, Mama,” Gracie said solemnly, leaning back against the doorframe. “According to the Bovine Beacon, Miss Susie’s super-secret sauce recipe was actually Beulah Love’s recipe, which was printed in a church cookbook back in 1983—”
“Allegedly!” Mrs. Ivey interjected.
“And you know what that means, right?” Grace continued without missing a beat.
“It means there’s an injunction and all the restaurants are closed,” Mama wailed. “Closed until further notice, Brooks, when they were supposed to provide us with dinner for tomorrow night!”
Oh, damn.
“Yeah, yeah.” Grace strode across the room and laid a hand on my shoulder. “But more importantly? It means every time we thought we were eating Dupree’s Deluxe…” She leaned toward me. “We were actually eating Love Sauce.”
I snickered and Gracie winked. I really did love my sister. “I begin to see how Payton got so terrifying,” I told her.
“Brooks,” Paul breathed. He reached over and whacked me in the arm. “Partridge Pit’s market share is gonna explode. You and I need to get on this! If we call Pamela now, we can—”
“Brooks needs,” my mother corrected, “to do his job as Head Licker and figure out a new plan for dinner tomorrow night! Susie Dupree’s Deluxe has provided dinner at cost for thirty-three years! Half the ticket sales are already tied up in the deposit, and all her funds have been frozen. Your father really shouldn’t be upset in his condition, Brooks—”
“Brooks needs to get out to the football field,” Mrs. Ivey said, checking her watch. “Coach Cosway’ll be wondering where you are, honey.”
I blew out a breath and ran both hands through my hair. A hundred things “Brooks needed” to do, and only one thing I wanted to do, namely finding Mal and kissing the shit out of him. But that was going to have to wait.
“Brooks needs to delegate,” Gracie said in a no-nonsense tone. “And he needs some volunteers.” She held up her hand.
Surprisingly, Ava held up hers too. “I’ll help however I can. But you know, I think you guys are missing a pretty obvious solution,” she offered.
“Ava, honey,” Mrs. Ivey began dismissively.
“Let her talk. Ava has great ideas,” Paul said stoutly, standing at Ava’s shoulder.
Ava blushed just a little and bit her lip. “Well… General Partridge,” she said. “Since y’all are working on his ad campaign, Paul, couldn’t you and Brooks maybe pull in a favor? Ask him to cater this real cheap in exchange for good publicity?”
“Brooks Johnson,” Mama began in a hushed voice. “You’re working for… for…”
“For the guy who could save our bacon in this whole fiasco?” Gracie said excitedly. “Holy crap! Do you think he’d do it, Brooks?”
“I…” I looked at Paul, who gave me a wide-eyed shrug. “I think he might? He’s a really nice guy. He was very sympathetic when I told him about Dad’s heart condition. Told me to take as long as I needed.”
“I’ll call his office,” Paul said, reaching for his phone and stepping to the far side of the kitchen.
My mother frowned. “Well. Hmph. I suppose he can’t be all bad, then.”
“Did you hear that, Brooks?” Gracie shook my shoulder. “Miracles are happening right in this kitchen. Where is Dunn when we need him?”
“Hush, Gracie,” Mama chided. “I can admit when I’m wrong.” She looked from me to Ava to Paul. “And I’m starting to think I’ve been wrong about a lot of things.”
I glanced down at my phone. Still no reply from Mal.
Which was fine. Of course it was! He was sleeping.
And it was bizarre to feel his absence like a sore tooth, anyway.
Still, I unlocked the phone and typed.
Me: Your fake girlfriend just saved the day and you missed it. You awake yet?
“It’s eight forty,” Mrs. Ivey said worriedly. “Brooks, honey, the kids will be waiting at the field.”