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Sheryl Ann had run the café for as long as Sweetie could remember.Her parents had started it when they were a young, newlywed couple and Sheryl Ann had taken over managing it as soon as she was out of high school.She was a stout woman with thick black hair she had inherited from her Cherokee relatives and a friendly face that always wore a toothy smile.
She wasn’t smiling today.
Sweetie held up her hand in an awkward wave.“Hey, Sheryl Ann.”She glanced around the café at the people sitting at the tables.Most of whom she knew.“Hey, y’all.Long time no see.”
No one said a word.They all just stared at her.Or more like glared.
She cleared her throat and returned her attention to Sheryl Ann.“There sure is something I need.I need a cup of strong black coffee with plenty of sugar and one of your famous muffins.Sour Lemon Poppy, please.”
Sheryl Ann sprayed some cleaner on the counter and started wiping it down.“Out of coffee.Muffins too.”
Sweetie looked down at the display case where tray after tray of different-flavored muffins sat.It was difficult to keep the bright smile on her face.“Well, that’s too bad.Nobody makes coffee or muffins like you do, Sheryl Ann.I guess I’ll just have a Diet Coke.”
“Coke machine is broke.”Sheryl Ann stopped wiping the counter and glanced up.“You should probably go somewhere else.”
There was nowhere else to get breakfast in town.Bobby Jay’s Hellhole didn’t open until four and Tito’s Taco truck opened at eleven.Not that Sweetie was hungry.Her mama had already made her a huge breakfast of waffles and bacon that morning, before giving her a list of errands she needed to run in town.Sweetie couldn’t say no.Especially when she was there to help her mama.So since she had to come to town, she figured she’d start with Nothin’ But Muffins and let most of the townsfolk get all their anger out at once.
She hadn’t realized how hurtful it would be.
“Okay,” she said.“I’ll go.But before I do, I have a few things I’d like to say.I’m sorry for what I said that night at the football game.Not just to Jace, but also about this town.”
Sheryl Ann scowled.“You mean the part about you hating this stupid Podunk town and not being able to wait until you could shake our dust from your boots.”
It looked like the town had as long a memory as Decker did.
Sweetie swallowed hard.“I didn’t mean it.”
“Which is why you didn’t come back once in the last twelve years,” Sheryl Ann said snidely.
“That had nothing to do with y’all.It had more to do with the fight I had with my daddy over me not marrying Jace.”
Coach Denny Wilson jumped up from his chair, the whistle he always wore around his neck swinging against his barrel belly.“You should have married Jace!Instead, you broke that kid’s heart and were responsible for him losing his chances of getting a scholarship to a top-ten football college!”
As always when Coach Denny yelled, spit flew from his mouth.“The boy was the best quarterback I’ve ever had the privilege to coach, and if you hadn’t publically humiliated him and made him lose his focus, he would’ve gone on to play for the Longhorns or the Aggies.”Half the people in the café lifted their pointer fingers and pinkies in the Texas University Longhorns’ “hook ’em, horns” sign and the other half lifted a thumb in the Texas A&M Aggies’ “gig ’em” sign as Coach Denny continued.“And there’s no doubt he would have gone on to be a top pick in the draft and been one of the best damn quarterbacks in the NFL.”He placed a hand over his heart.“Maybe even better than Roger Staubach.”
Everyone covered their hearts with their hands.
Sweetie knew that, where football was concerned, there was no arguing with the town’s beliefs.It would be best if she made a quick exit with her tail between her legs.But before she could, a loud snort came from the corner of the café.Sweetie turned to see Fiona Stokes sitting at her usual table by the window.
Sweetie was happy to see the old gal looking so well.She still dyed her stiffly sprayed bouffant hair a dark red.She still wore full makeup and enough jewelry to sink the Titanic.And she still dressed in matching skirts and jackets, hose, heels, and a mink stole she wore in all seasons.
Although the mink was starting to show its age.
Not so Mrs.Stokes.
“That is just plain horse hockey,” she snapped before she fell into a smoker’s coughing fit.Something she did a lot.Mrs.Stokes had smoked Winston cigarettes all her life ...and had still outlived three husbands and six boyfriends.According to Sweetie’s mama, she was now seeing a retired podiatrist nineteen years her junior.Sweetie didn’t doubt it.Mrs.Stokes might be old, but old could be overlooked when a person had a boatload of oil leases their daddy left them.
Not wanting to catch hell, everyone waited quietly for the coughing fit to end.Mrs.Stokes was meaner than a rattlesnake and the one person in town everyone feared.Mostly because it was her money that kept the town going.Without it, Wilder would have become just another small town of vacant buildings and lost dreams.Instead, it was one of the prettiest, well-maintained small towns in Texas.
After one last phlegmy cough, Mrs.Stokes continued talking as if she’d never stopped.“Jace didn’t have the arm to make it in the NFL.Y’all were just too caught up on the idea of having the next Staubach come from this town to realize it.”Her eyes narrowed on Sweetie and Sweetie swallowed hard.Like the rest of the town, Mrs.Stokes scared the crap out of her.“But that doesn’t excuse what you did, missy.”
“Yes, ma’am.I know I handled things all wrong with Jace.”
“I’m not talking about what you did to Jace.Relationships are never easy to navigate.Especially when you’re young.”Mrs.Stokes shot a mean glance over at Coach Denny.“Some ignorant people might think you should’ve stayed and continued to kiss Jace’s ass, but I don’t agree.”She looked back at Sweetie.“While the Carson boys have always had nice asses, no woman should feel like she’s only there to support her man’s dreams.”
Sweetie released her breath, relieved that someone in this town understood her side of things.
Her relief was short lived.
