“Is it really that easy?” Anna Grace asked. “From the way Aunt Sugar talked, I thought it took a long time. The recipe in the book I looked through yesterday looked harder than that.”
“Do you know anything about cheeses?” Cricket asked.
“No, but it said to grate the cheese, and doesn’t that take a long time?” Anna Grace measured the half-and-half for Cricket.
“Not if you buy it already grated,” Cricket answered. “There are some shortcuts. You will have to go shopping with me one evening after work.”
“That would be great,” Anna Grace said, “and now back to the kissing. How did it make you feel?”
“It was totally different from when any other guy kissed me,” she said.
“That’s the way I felt when Tommy kissed me good night on the second date,” Anna Grace sighed. “It was like two soulmates found each other, and he says the same thing.”
“But what if Bryce doesn’t feel the same?” Cricket asked. “He told me that he was lucky to have found me, but what if that’s not real, and when something better comes along, he breaks my heart? I’ve been hurt bad before, and I don’t want that again.”
Anna Grace put all the ingredients back where they belonged. “Just trust your heart. I did mine, and I’m happy for the first time in forever. And, Cricket, the way Bryce looks at you tells me that he’s not going to break your heart. He really does like you a lot.”
Cricket slid the pie in the oven and started for her bedroom. “Thank you for that. Who would have thought I’d be getting romance advice from you?”
“Who would have thought I’d be sharing a house with you and learning to cook and garden?” Anna Grace stopped her long enough to give her a side hug. “This is a whole new world, and I’m loving it.”
Cricket hugged her back and then stepped away. “I don’t think I’d love your world if our situations were reversed. When Jennie Sue’s parents were killed in that car wreck, Rick and I came to the house with her.”
“I remember that night,” Anna Grace said. “You stayed out by the pool most of the evening.”
“Yep, because I let the whole bunch of you intimidate me,” Cricket admitted. “But that’s in the past, and we’re living in the present.”
“And so, looking forward to the future,” Anna Grace grinned.
* * *
Amos, Lettie, and Nadine were all waiting at the front door when Bryce opened the drugstore that morning. The three ordered coffee and honey buns and sat down at one of the tables together.
“Heard you went fishin’ last night,” Amos said. “Catch anything?”
“Nope,” Bryce said. “They weren’t bitin’.”
“Goin’ back tonight?” he asked.
“No,” Bryce answered. “Tonight, Cricket and I are going to Sweetwater after work for ice cream and a drive through the country.”
“So y’all are dating?” Amos asked.
“I hope so,” Bryce said with a grin.
“We’ve got a whole raft of prescriptions coming in,” Tandy yelled from the back of the store. That started a day busier than any he’d had all week. Bryce could hardly believe it when he looked at the clock, and it was ten minutes until five. Ilene was wiping down all the tables, and Tandy was counting out the bills in the cash register.
At exactly five o’clock, Ilene locked the front doors, Tandy put a bag of cash into the safe and locked it, and Bryce hung up his lab coat. “I can’t tell you two how much I appreciate your efficiency. I’m so glad you stayed on to work for me. This could have been a nightmare if you hadn’t.”
“You ever think maybe we’re putting a little more pep in our step because we don’t want you to be late for your date?” Ilene teased as they all three left by the back door.
“Well, thank you for that too.”
Bryce got into his vehicle, drove around to Main Street, and parked in front of the bookstore. He turned off the engine, waited until half a dozen cars went by, and then slung open the door and slid out from behind the wheel.
Anna Grace was sitting on the sofa with a glass of sweet tea in her hands when he went into the store. She looked up and pointed toward Cricket’s desk. “She’s in the bathroom right now, but you can wait on her. How was your day?”
“Fast and furious,” he answered. “I don’t think I stopped counting pills from the time we opened until we closed, but that’s good. That’s what I’m in business to do. How about y’all?”
“The same until about five minutes ago. Cricket says that she sold more books today than she usually does in a month,” Anna Grace answered.
“It’s been crazy,” Cricket said as she crossed the floor. “Are you ready to go get ice cream?”
“Don’t you have to wait until six to close up shop?” he asked.
“Not when I have help. Anna Grace can turn off the lights and lock the doors,” Cricket replied.
“For real?” Anna Grace asked.
Cricket tossed her the store keys. “Didn’t you ever close up shop at the oil company?”
“Yes, but…”
Cricket shook her head and held up a palm. “No buts. When six o’clock gets here, lock it up and…” She dug around in her purse and laid her car keys on the coffee table. “And go home. Tommy said he would make sure anything in the garden that needed picking got picked. There’s food in the pantry and fridge. You’re on your own. If you’re afraid to cook anything else, make sandwiches and take them to the creek for a picnic. Jennie Sue says that you can skinny-dip this time of year.” She sent a broad wink toward Anna Grace. “Nobody will be home for a while to catch you!”
Bryce ushered Cricket out the front door with his hand on the small of her back, opened the vehicle door for her, and waited until she was settled before he closed it. He hurried around the back of the SUV, made sure no cars were coming, and slid into the driver’s seat.
“This is a real treat, getting to leave this early,” he said, “but what do you say we stop by the Bloom Café and have a burger for supper before we drive down to Sweetwater to the ice cream shop?”
“That sounds great.” Cricket smiled. “But you do realize that if you take me there to eat, folks are going to talk.”
“Then we’ll keep the phone lines hot tonight.” He grinned as he drove to the end of the block and snagged a parking place.
When they were out of the SUV, he draped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her on the cheek. Only one booth toward the back of the café was empty, so he drew her close to his side and whispered in her ear all the way from the entrance to it. The whole place was buzzing when they walked in, but even a deaf person could have heard a pin drop until the moment they both slid into the same side of the booth, and he brushed a sweet kiss across her lips.
* * *
Sparks flew around them, and even though it wasn’t funny, Cricket giggled.
“I hope my kisses aren’t that bad,” he whispered.
“Not at all. They make my knees go weak and my heart race. I can’t stop laughing at all the people’s faces. What they’ve heard about the new pharmacist in town is true. He’s spending time with Cricket Lawson when he could have had any woman in Bloom,” she whispered.