Sully had earned the cold shoulder from me for the past thirty-six hours. After overhearing his conversation with Max and Jake, I had known immediately that he was holding back on the canning business because of me.
Unacceptable.
Sully had talked to Emma and myself for the past year about the cool designs they’d found for labels. He had worked out the logistics in canning. They’d been preparing to begin right around the end of the school year. I should have asked him about it in the past week, but clearly I’d been a bit preoccupied. He and Jake had gone on more than one trip to breweries in the Midwest to learn all they could, the last one just a few weeks ago. So he could deny it all he wanted, but I knew,I knew, that the only thing that had changed since he got back from that last trip was the little bean that was growing inside me.
Nope.
The stubborn ass had tried to give me some song and dance about how he and Jake were putting the brakes on canning for the next year, that there were more expenses than they’d anticipated. Bullshit piled upon more bullshit. I wasn’t having it. Because if Sully was holding back on this brewery because of some sense of obligation to the little bean and me, I was going to be pissed. If he was lying about it, I was going to be livid. And make no mistake about it, he was lying. Cole Sullivan was a crappy liar. It just wasn’t in his nature. He and Max had gotten into a ton of trouble over the years, not because they got caught in the act, but because Sully couldn’t tell a lie to save his ass, or Max’s, it seemed.
So one might ask why, if I was still angry, why on earth I was cruising toward a shed on the edge of Floyds Knobs today with him? Simple story, really. I would do anything for Lou and Verdell Williams, that’s why.
Lou and Verdell, Emma’s former neighbors and honorary grandparents to many of us, had been traveling a lot in retirement, but recently Verdell had taken up a new job. It seems that years ago he had gotten his auctioneer license. The town of Floyds Knobs, twenty minutes from Highland Falls, had an auction every Sunday, and Verdell was the new auctioneer on the first Sunday of each month.
Lou had sent out a request to all the girls. Could any of us help out at the auction today? All that was needed was to bring up items from the tables to the front display where Verdell would start the bidding. It didn’t seem like a hard skill, but they were shorthanded. None of the girls were available, so Sully took Emma’s spot, and we were headed in. Hopefully this didn’t require any speaking on my part, because I really only wanted to talk to him if I could tell him off. I figured he had at least six more hours on my shit list unless he wanted to stop with the lies and actually have a conversation like a grown adult.
I wasn’t holding my breath.
Pulling up, I was shocked to see the cars lining the lot and the road. This place was hopping. Emma and I had always talked about trying to come out on a Sunday, but sleep seemed to win out each week. Lou said there were great deals if you were willing to dig through some real crap. I had a feeling Emma would be sorry she missed out.
Sully pulled to a stop and jumped down from the truck while I tossed my phone in my purse. Before I could move to open my door and get out myself, he was there to help me. I seethed inwardly. It would be a lot easier to be pissed at him if he wasn’t such a nice guy.
Matching my strides, he fell into step next to me. “So, just wondering, is this silent treatment going to be shorter or longer than the one where I strapped your bikini to the dog and then it got torn in that fence? I mean, in my defense, I thought the suit was Emma’s and could never have anticipated that old dog could run that fast.”
I glared at him. That suit had been the perfect turquoise color, and when you are thirteen and don’t have a job, it is hard to get nice things.
“I know, I know. You and Emma had looked foragesfor the suit. I had offered to replace it, if you remember. Mom said something about the good suits being gone, which seemed insane. It had been just a few weeks into summer. You always had to be so stubborn and refuse any help.” He glanced at me and muttered, “Apparently things don’t change.”
I felt my spine stiffen. Oh no. I wasn’t being the idiot here. That was all him. Whatever. We reached the building, and he opened the door for me. Entering the shed, I immediately wished Emma was here. This place was a trip.
A huge shed barn was stretched in front of me. To the right there was a counter to check in and get a number to bid with. Ahead on the right was where people could sit. There were armchairs, kitchen chairs, folding chairs, and a few lawn chairs. In front of them were rows of tables piled high with what can only be described as loads of crap. People milled around, checking out the tables, and the scent of freshly popped popcorn settled over it all.
Each table had a number on it. I assumed that helped you know when the items on those tables would be bid on. Then past the tables facing the seats was a raised platform with a table and a microphone. Verdell was up there, cowboy hat perched on his head, talking to some people standing below him.
Sully and I were easily the youngest people here by thirty years.
“Hot damn, we’ve got workers!” Lou shouted as she headed our way, her silver hair weaving through the crowd of other silver-haired people. She reached us and gave me a squeeze while her gaze raked overSully with an appreciative nod.
“Lou, behave!” I admonished.
“Child, I knew his grandmother. I’m not going to bite him, but I’m absolutely going to appreciate him. You take it where you can get it, if you catch my drift.” Her eyes twinkled, and I wondered, not for the first time, what she was like in her younger years. Hmm. I wondered howshe and Verdell met. Maybe she’d beenlocked up in the county jail? Wouldn’t have surprised me one bit.
“Hey Miss Lou,” Sully said, leaning down and kissing her cheek.
He was immediately swarmed by a group of blue hairs, each squeezing his cheeks, and yes, I think a few squeezed the lower set. These women were shameless. Sully wasn’t fazed, though. It seemed that he knew many of them. To the ones he knew, he greeted them with a hug or a kiss, asked after their family. To the new ladies, he was polite and unfailingly kind.
All sorts of my body parts tingled. Lordy, I wanted to be pissed at him, but I also wanted to jump him. Luckily, a bunch of seventy- and eighty-year-old women were currently blocking my way.
Lou appeared at my elbow. “So, how pissed are you at the boy? My girls will distract him for a bit, but when you think he’s had enough, say the word.”
I glanced over at her wicked grin. “Lou! How did you know I was pissed?”
“Girl, you know better than to try to keep secrets from me. Emma told me Mr. Sullivan over there was in the dog house for being a stubborn man. I figured we’d give him a little penance in the form of these old biddies. Some of them haven’t pressed up against a fine young specimen for many years. They won’t get too handsy, but maybe he will appreciate you a bit more when we’re done.” Lou glanced over at the ladies surrounding Sully, then pointed out one whose hair leaned more toward blue than silver. “That’s Mabel. Watch her hands. She’s always trying to cop a feel, even with Verdell.”
“Umm, Lou, these ‘old biddies’ aren’t a lot older than you,” I pointed out.
“Pul-ease. They have at least six years on me, if not more.”
I closed my eyes, shaking my head and wondering what world I had been dropped into. Opening my eyes back up, they locked on Sully’s, where his grin widened as he met my gaze. He shook his head slowly from side to side as if to say,What the hell has Lou done now?There was really no way to answer that, so I glanced down at Lou and smiled.
