Refuge for Flora by Deanndra Hall

Chapter 4

She’d founda few pairs of shoes, some jeans, socks, tees, two pairs of shorts, and a couple of decent tops. Most of it had come from clearance racks, and Barrett hated that, but at least she was frugal. There were a lot of things he was sure Flora was, but wasteful wasn’t one of them.

“Is there anything you needed to get?” she asked as they rounded the end of an aisle, her cart littered with odds and ends.

“Nah. I don’t think so.”

“Nothing? I mean, don’t you need to go get, um, something from health and beauty? Or, I dunno, something for the truck, or―”

Barrett squinted one eye at her. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”

“Um, I’ve just gotta, uh … Bras and panties.”

“Oh! I’m not sure what you’re so embarrassed about. First, I know you wear them. Second, I’m going to see them in the checkout anyway. Third …” He watched as she jacked up one eyebrow. “Uh, okay. Yeah. There are a couple of things I need to get, I guess.”

The muscles in her face relaxed and he almost laughed. “Okay. Please.”

“Sure. Sorry. I can be kinda insensitive sometimes.”

“Nah. It’s okay. It just feels, I dunno, weird?”

That did make him chuckle aloud. “I get it. I’ll be back in a little bit. Take your time.” But before he turned away, he took one last look at her cart and started thinking.

By the time he got to the front of the store, he had the colors memorized. Did she have pierced ears? He was pretty sure she did. There was a whole rack of all kinds of earrings, and one card had gold hoops and silver hoops, smaller ones, so he got those. Then he looked for some with colors of some of the things in her cart. There were a lot of earrings with tassel stuff on them, and he figured those must be popular, although he couldn’t imagine why. Then he found some that had turquoise crystals on them, and he remembered that color from her cart. A little farther down was a whole set―earrings, bracelet, and necklace―with stones that sparkled and were a sort of rusty color. “What the hell is druzy?” he whispered to himself as he picked up the little presentation box they were nestled in. The price was on the bottom of the box, and when he held it up to look, he was surprised―it was a really good price for the entire set. He kept going and found a couple of nice-looking rings that seemed like something she’d wear, just decorative bands, nothing flashy.

Then he came to what he was really looking for. He picked out a cheap sports watch and then another watch that was a bit nicer and looked like something she could wear if she was just going somewhere to shop. There was a lady behind the jewelry counter, and when he stepped up, she turned toward him. “Do you have a few watches that are a little better quality?”

“Yeah, over here in this case. I think the cheapest one is about fifty dollars and the most expensive is about two hundred. If you see something you like, I can get it out for you.”

“That one right there.” He’d spotted it as soon as he stepped up to the case, and it was beautiful. Tastefully elegant was probably a better term. There were no flashy stones or weird designs, just something simple and a little more delicate. “Do you think she’d like this?”

“I dunno. Does she like a lot of makeup and dressing up, or is she kinda a country girl who likes the natural look and would rather have jeans than a dress?”

“Oh, definitely the no makeup, country, no dress kinda girl.”

“Then yeah. That one is really nice, but it doesn’t scream ‘cocktail party.’ It’s more like ‘Valentine’s Day dinner at a fancy restaurant once a year’ pretty.”

“Exactly. Yeah. I want that one.”

“You’ll have to pay for it here,” the woman announced as she locked the cabinet.

“That’s fine. Can I pay for these other things too?”

“Sure! No problem.”

When he’d finished, he took the bag to the truck, then headed back into the store and shot off a quick text: Where are you?

Flora replied almost immediately: Health and beauty.

She’d added shaving cream, razors, some shower gel, a bottle each of shampoo and conditioner, and a toothbrush and toothpaste to the cart, along with a tube of deodorant. It was quite the array of items. “Looks like you’ve got pretty much everything.”

“I think so. Thought I’d go back to the garden center and see what they’ve got in the way of bedding plants.”

“Okay.” As she pushed the cart, he followed about two feet behind, but something flew through his mind. “Hey, do you like to swim?”

She stopped in the aisle and turned to stare at him. “What?”

“I said, do you like to swim?”

“Uh, yeah, but where the hell am I gonna swim?”

“I have a buddy who works for the fire department. Zyan. He and his wife put a nice pool in, and I go over there sometimes. Would you like to go over and swim sometime?”

He watched as her cheeks pinked. “They don’t know me, and I don’t think―”

“They’d be fine if you came with me. He’s a super nice guy, and you’d love his wife. They have a little girl, and she’s adorable, and he hasn’t really said, but I think they’re trying to have one of their own. He adopted her. Landee’s little girl. Annalise.”

“Oh. Um, I don’t have a swimsuit.”

“This is the place to get one. Let’s go back over there and see what we can find.”

“Okay.” He could see she wasn’t sold on the idea, but he wasn’t going to let her back out. Zyan and Landee Martin were wonderful people, and Flora needed some friends, people she could count on. They didn’t come any finer than Zyan, and he and his fellow firefighters could sure help watch out for her if she ever had any trouble with asshole Darryl.

As they stepped up to the racks, he asked, “So what size do you wear?

“Probably a medium.”

“Okay. You look through that one,” he said, pointing, “and I’ll look through this one. One piece or two?”

“I’d prefer one.”

“Got it.” He poked through the rack and was dumbfounded. Shit, the damn things were skimpy! Not that he wouldn’t like that, but for someone who was going to a family home where there were children, those things … No. Absolutely not appropriate. “Find anything?”

“Not yet.”

“Yeah, me either. Most of these over here are three triangles with a bunch of strings.”

“Noooo. Not interested.”

“Yeah. I didn’t think so.” He scooted two more hangers down and then smiled. “Hey, what about this one?” he asked as he held it up.

“Oh, yeah. That’s perfect.” It was a one-piece with a halter top and a square neckline. The back dipped down, but not too far, and the legs weren’t cut up extremely high. It was a really pretty shade of coral with little white stars printed on it. Flora joined him and took it from his hands, looking it over and over. “I like it. Looks like it would fit nicely.”

“Yeah. Looks like something a young mom would wear to the beach with her kids. Something that would make her husband smile but not make every guy there stare at her and drool over her.”

“Exactly.”

“And you need some flip-flops to wear to the pool. Saw a bin full for a buck right over there,” he said and pointed.

“Works for me. I’ll get three pairs. Oh, and I should get some kind of sleep shirt, I suppose.”

“Might need to.”

By the time they were done, the cart was full. “God, I hope I’ve got enough money.”

“If you don’t, I’ll spot you,” Barrett assured her. He waited while she went to the in-house bank and cashed the check Mrs. Murphy had given her, then rejoined him. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

Ten minutes later, they were packing bags into the back seat of the truck. “Boy, this is a lot of stuff,” Barrett said, eying all the bags. “How much did all this cost?”

“Would you believe a little over four hundred? I got some good buys,” Flora said as she shoved another bag in.

He let out a laugh. “You’re quite the shopper, Flora Stevens!”

“I’m used to trying to make very little go a long way. I’m pretty much a pro at that.”

“Well, it paid off today.” As soon as they were finished, she was in the truck, and he’d returned the cart to a cart corral, he climbed into the front seat and reached into the back until he found the bag he’d put in earlier. “Here. This is for you.”

“What is it?”

“Open it up.”

She opened the bag and pulled out the card of hoops. “Oh! These are nice! I can wear them with a lot of stuff. What is … Oh! These match one of the tops I bought! What’s … Oooo, so pretty!” The sparkly druzy jewelry glittered. “That matches some of my stuff too! Oh, and a sports watch. And a casual watch! Oh, these are nice! I love this ring, and this one too. And this set is so pretty! And …” She stopped. “Oh, god, Barrett, this is … I can’t accept this,” she said as she turned to him, tears in her eyes as she held the box with the nice watch in it.

“Why can’t you?”

“Because. Because it’s not right for you to spend money on me. I don’t … I can’t …”

“You deserve to have some things that make you smile, Flora. You’re a good person.”

“I stood there while he … with the chainsaw …”

Without thinking twice, Barrett grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “Stop it. You didn’t have anything to do with that.”

“I did! I could’ve―”

“You could’ve died, that’s what you could’ve done, but you didn’t. You did what you had to do to stay alive. Stop beating yourself up for that.” The horrors she’d had to live through were unimaginable, and she probably had nightmares about it. She’d be odd if she didn’t, he supposed. “You should celebrate the fact that you survived all of that every damn day.”

“Yeah, and it could come crashing down around me any day.”

“No. It won’t. I’ll see to it. So put those things on. Wear them with a smile. You, Flora Stevens, are a survivor. You shouldn’t feel ashamed that you survived and someone else didn’t. You should just be thankful you made it. I’m thankful you made it.”

“Why? What do you care?”

“I care. I really do care. You’re my friend.” She started to say something when he added, “I wouldn’t mind if you were a good bit more than just a friend.”

“I’m married.”

“I know, and I know why. And that doesn’t bother me. Do you want to go back to him?”

“Hell no!”

“Then it doesn’t bother me at all. Now, let’s go around the side so you can pick up the car, and I’ll follow you back and help you get all of this in the house.”

She sat there for a few seconds, seemingly stunned, before she said, “So you like me?”

“Yes. I like you very much. Do you hate me?”

Her face wrinkled up and she scoffed, “Well, no! I like you!”

“Good. Something to work with. Now, let’s go.”

The whole time he followed her as she drove the car, he thought about the words that had just been said. Flora was hung up on the fact that she was still married, but to him, it hardly seemed like a marriage. From what she’d said, it was more like servitude, like she’d been held a slave. That was the moment he decided he needed to have a talk with Mrs. Murphy, not to scold, but to help her understand where Flora was coming from. It would be in Mrs. Murphy’s best interest to know what was going on, especially if the asshole showed up.

And he’d realized something in that simple conversation. Flora Stevens was the type of woman he wanted to find. It wasn’t that he was looking for someone who’d be beholden to him for lifting her from the dregs of her life. No, it seemed more like having someone he could respect, knowing where she’d been and how far she’d come. He could see Flora as a starry-eyed teenager, blown away and attracted to Darryl Stevens’ bad boy image, but two years later finding herself at the bottom of the food chain, unable to find a way to be anything other than prey. It sounded like her parents had been solidly middle class. How horrifying had it been to her when they’d written her off because of him? What had caused them to do that? He had a lot of questions and no one to ask, but he certainly intended to do some asking.

Flora wheeled the big car into the driveway and, to his surprise, Mrs. Murphy was sitting out on the porch in a lawn chair. He’d never seen her outside the house. Instead of putting the car back in the garage, she stopped in the drive, opened the door, and climbed up on the rocker panel, her arms folded on the car’s roof. “Well? Whaddya think?”

Mrs. Murphy was laughing loudly. “I think it needs a bath!”

“Yeah, well, that’s comin’. But I think Barrett back there didn’t think it would ever run again,” Flora yelled back, laughing and pointing.

“You’re right! I thought it was hopeless,” Barrett said as he headed toward Flora with his hands full of bags.

“Lord, girl, what did you do?” Mrs. Murphy asked as they made their way to the house.

“Just got a few things I needed. Got you some of those chips you like so much too. And I got myself some shaving cream and razors so I don’t look like a wooly bear,” Flora said. He assumed she’d forgotten he was behind her because when he caught sight of her face, she was blushing a deep crimson.

“Well, I know that’s right. And I’m guessin’ you were her partner in crime?” Mrs. Murphy asked Barrett as he climbed the porch steps.

“Yep. Got wrangled into that one, I sure did.”

Flora appeared in the doorway again and took the bags from Barrett’s hands. “Did you eat while I was gone?”

Mrs. Murphy sounded a bit put out. “Nope. I did not.”

“Okay. I’ll fix you something real quick.”

“You don’t have to―”

“Oh, yes I do. It’ll only take me a few minutes.”

“I’ll keep her company,” Barrett offered, mentally crossing his fingers.

“Yeah. That’s good. I’ll fix something and bring it right out.” Then she disappeared into the house again.

“You don’t have to―” Mrs. Murphy started again.

Barrett sat down in the lawn chair beside hers and placed a hand on her forearm. “How much do you know about her?” he asked Mrs. Murphy quietly.

“Not a lot. Just what I need to know.”

“She’s trying to stay away from an abusive husband.”

“Yep. I knew that.”

“Did you know he killed a woman right in front of her?”

“What? No, she never―”

“And cut her up with a chainsaw and fed her to his alligators?”

“What? Lawd!” Barrett pressed his finger to his lips and she quieted. “Naw. She ain’t told me none-a that shit.”

“Yeah. And I have reason to believe that he may be coming this direction.”

“Lookin’ for her?”

“Possibly. Or another place to raise alligators.”

Mrs. Murphy stared into his eyes. “What makes you think that?”

“Just a phone call I got from another state telling me that somebody’s claiming there are alligators being raised down here somewhere. It could be coincidence. It could be somebody else entirely. Or it could be that he’s figured out she’s down here somewhere and he’s looking for her.”

“He comes on my propitty looking for her, I’m-a cut that sumbitch’s legs out from under his ass with my thirty aught six,” the old woman huffed.

“I believe you and, by god, I’ll back you one hundred percent. But I felt like you needed to know that she might be in danger, and that could mean you’re in danger too.”

Mrs. Murphy snorted. “You looky here, young’un, I’ve had a long, interesting life. I ain’t worried ‘bout me. But that sumbitch tries to hurt that girl, well, he might kill me, but I’ll give him somethin’ to remember me by, I can promise you that.”

“Thank you. I just don’t want anything to happen to her.”

Mrs. Murphy leaned back and stared at him through squinted eyes. “You sweet on her?”

“I don’t know if you’d call it―”

“Yeah, yeah. Dress it up however you want, but you’re sweet on her. I can see it. And that’s okay. She could do a lot worse.”

Barrett chuckled. “Thanks, I think.”

“Yore welcome. You know I don’t cotton to most of the folks ‘round here. They’s too uppity and snooty these days. But you, boy, you’ve always been kind and decent. Yore folks is kind and decent too. Nice people. So if’n you like Flora, I reckon that’s good for her.”

“Thank you. I don’t want her to know I talked to you, but I felt like you had a right to know.”

“I ‘preciate that. I do. Thanks for shootin’ straight with me.” The door opened and Mrs. Murphy glanced up. “What did you do?”

“I made you some corn dog nuggets, and I’ve got mustard here for them, and some chips, and a drink. Oh, and napkins,” Flora said as she set the tray down on the little table between the two lawn chairs.

“Need me to help you take the tags off all that stuff you bought?” Barrett asked.

“That would be nice, but don’t you have to go to work at some point today?”

Barrett looked down at his watch. “Oh, shit. Yeah, I told my captain I’d come in around four, and it’s almost three thirty now.”

“So where do you have to go to work?”

“That’s just it. ‘Coming in’ kinda means getting in my work truck.” He grinned at her and watched as a big smile stretched across her face. Something about getting her to smile that way made little sparks run down his spine, and he loved it. “But yeah, I’ve gotta change into my uniform and get some stuff together, so I guess I should get going. I’ll probably see you in the next few days.”

“Okay. Well, thanks for taking me to lunch and to get the car. And shopping. And the presents. I appreciate it.”

“You’re quite welcome. It was fun, and I hope we get a chance to do it again sometime soon. So I’ll see ya. Bye, Mrs. Murphy.”

“Bye, son. You have a good evening and thanks for the conversation.”

He knew exactly what she was talking about. “Yeah. Good talking to you. Take care.”

“Oh, I will. You can bet I will.” She winked at him as he got into his truck, and he felt a tiny glimmer of relief.

He was leaving Flora with someone he was sure would fight to the bitter end to protect the two of them. He wasn’t sure if Flora knew how to shoot a shotgun, but he damn sure knew Mrs. Murphy did. And that made him feel better.

But only a little.

* * *

He was barely outof sight when Mrs. Murphy looked at her and grinned. “That young feller is sweet on you.”

“Me? Nah. He’s not―”

“Oh, yeah. He shore ‘nuff is. He ain’t gonna come right out and say it, but he is. And he’s a looker too.”

“Yeah. He’s pretty cute.” Flora sat down in the lawn chair where Barrett had been sitting and sighed. “But I think you’re wrong. He wouldn’t want me.”

“Oh, I’m right and I know I’m right, ‘cause I asked him.”

“Mrs. Murphy! You didn’t!” Well, there went any hope she had of ever snagging Barrett Quarles.

“I did. And you could do a lot worse, young lady. Barrett’s a good guy. His parents are good folks. They’s hardworking and honest. Barrett never meets a stranger. Everybody who knows him calls him friend. Hell, he’s been comin’ down here to mow my grass for years, and he ain’t never complained. Don’t ask for nothin’, not even a glass of water. Don’t ask for money for gas for the mower either, just brings gas and puts it in. And I didn’t ask him. He just stopped here one day and said, ‘Mrs. Murphy, looks like yore grass needs cuttin’. That mower of yourn work? I’ll be ‘round tomorrow to cut it. Nah, you don’t gotta pay me nothin’. I’m yore neighbor.’ And he’s been mowin’ it ever since.”

“That’s really nice of him.”

“Yeah, it is. Ain’t too many men like him anymore. After what happened, I figured he’d just quit comin’ ‘round, too embarrassed and all, but he just―”

“What do you mean, after what happened?”

“Oh. He ain’t tol’ you?”

“Told me what?”

“Nope. That’s his story to tell. Ain’t mine. He’ll tell you eventually. I know that young man. He ain’t gonna hide nothin’. He just needs time, that’s all. So don’t go pressin’ him for information. It was a kinda private thing, and I don’t blame him.”

What the hell was she talking about? After what happened? What happened? Flora wanted to scream, but it was clear Mrs. Murphy wasn’t going to tell her anything.

The afternoon and evening wore on, and after they’d watched a couple of TV shows, Mrs. Murphy announced that it was her bedtime. She didn’t seem to have a bedtime, as far as Flora could tell. She slept on and off all day long, so what did it matter what time it was? As soon as she was in her room with the door closed, Flora cleaned up everything in the kitchen, turned off the light, and headed to her little bedroom.

It took her thirty minutes to take all the tags off everything she’d bought, but she was really excited. Some of the tops were very cute, and she’d gotten them at such good prices that she was really proud of herself. Even though the shorts were just cargo-type things and not very flattering, they’d be cool and comfortable for the hot weather that was on its way just any day. She looked at the swimsuit and smiled. What would Barrett think when he saw her in it?

She took most of the things into the laundry room and started the washer, then headed for the bathroom. Once she was finished there, she pulled on an old tee shirt and sat down on the bed with a magazine. It made her snicker a little to think about those magazines Barrett had in his truck. Wonder if he looked at them every night, or just occasionally? Did he like that kind of woman, big boobs, and a round butt, and a tiny little waist? One caked in makeup? Hell, all men liked to look at them, but none of them wanted to be married to a woman like that. They didn’t want to have to spend all their time and energy defending their territory. She’d learned that in high school.

It would’ve been nice if she’d thought to find some reading material while she was at the store, but that hadn’t even crossed her mind. The shelves in the bedroom were full of books, but most of them were things that a teenage girl would like. She did, however, find a book of short erotica that Mrs. Murphy certainly didn’t know was there or she would’ve pitched it. Flora took it back to the bed and started thumbing through it. The stories were pretty weird. There was one in which the woman liked to be kept in a big wooden box and pissed on. What the hell was that about? Another was about a woman who didn’t want to have sex unless she had a doll under her shirt to pretend she was pregnant and then give birth after the sex was over. That was creepy. Almost to the back of the book was a story about a woman who was in love with her boyfriend and his best friend. It was all about their sexual escapades as a threesome, and just as she was getting to the part where they were performing their menage a trois publicly in a club to make money, her phone buzzed. Few people even had her number, and when she checked it, her face burned with shame even though there was no way he could know what she’d been doing. “Hello?”

“Hey! Hope you don’t mind that I called you.”

“Uh, no! That’s fine. It’s nice to have somebody to talk to.” I just wish I hadn’t been reading a dirty book before you called, she wanted to say, but that wasn’t something she had any intention of divulging. “What are you doing? I thought you were at work.”

That deep voice of his chuckled through the phone. “I am. Apparently you don’t really understand what I do.”

“I guess not.”

“Well, right now, I’m sitting in my truck in total darkness, parked in a gravel drive that leads to a cornfield, and I’m watching for anybody in this field who’s spotlighting deer.”

She knew all about spotlighting deer. “Folks still doing that?”

“Oh, hell yeah.”

“They doing it on foot?”

“Not usually, but this farmer says there’s been somebody out on his property with a four-wheeler. We think they’re shooting deer, then dragging them back to their truck with the four-wheeler. We just can’t figure out where they’re parking because there are like three hundred places they could be. So I’m just sitting here, watching.”

“How long will you sit there and watch?”

“For another hour or two. What have you been up to?”

“Took all the tags off my new clothes and started washing them. And now I’m sitting in bed, reading.”

“What are you reading?”

“Oh, just a fashion magazine.” Well, I’m a lusty liar, right? she chided herself.

“Mrs. Murphy okay?”

“Yeah. She’s been asleep for like two hours. She doesn’t really have a bedtime because she just sleeps on and off all the time.”

He laughed. “Yeah, I know what you mean. We’ll all be sitting there, talking and laughing, and then we’ll hear a sound and look to find my dad sitting in his recliner, sound asleep, head tipped back and snoring to beat the band. I swear, I told my mom she should have him checked for narcolepsy, but she does the same damn thing part of the time.”

Flora sighed. “So that’s what I’ve got to look forward to.”

“Yeah. I guess we all do.” The phone got quiet. She certainly wasn’t expecting him to say what came next. “I just wanted you to know that I really enjoyed this afternoon. I really like spending time with you.”

“Oh, that’s sweet. Thank you.”

“No, it’s not me being sweet. I really do like you, Flora.”

“I really do like you too.”

“Good. So I’m probably going to be home every night this week, if you want to come down sometime and use my computer. If you’ll let me know you’re coming, I’ll fix us some dinner or something.”

It might not have been a date so to speak, but that sounded really good to Flora. “Oh! Yeah, okay. I’ll do that. Sounds good.”

“Great. So I guess I should probably … Oh, shit. There’s somebody with a light. Gotta go. Stay safe, babe.”

“You too! Bye!” The phone went dead, and Flora gasped. Jesus, she hoped he wasn’t in any kind of danger! Then it struck her.

He’d called her babe.

Oh, holy hell. Now what? She thought about him for a minute, about those intense, hazel eyes and that close-cropped, milk chocolate-colored hair. She usually liked men with facial hair, but Barrett was clean-shaven and, for him, it absolutely worked. Any kind of beard or scruff would cover up that strong, gorgeous jawline, and that would be a shame.

Barrett Quarles liked her. And he was a fine-looking man. Boy, she wished Darryl could see that!

And at the same time, she was extremely thankful that he couldn’t.

* * *

His mom would bethe wrong choice. She meant well, but she’d have a coronary. No, his dad would be the better choice. But the best? Definitely Rochelle. His little sister had made some very good judgment calls over the years. Just as he started to hit her contact, he thought of someone else entirely, and flipped down to find their contact instead.

The voice on the other end answered with, “Don’t tell me. You just finished arresting some poor guy for shooing pigeons off his back deck. Am I right?”

“Well, I would. If it was illegal. Which it isn’t. I’d just find something else to arrest him for to make it worth my time.” He heard his friend snicker. “What’s going on in your world?”

“Well, ummm, let me see … Annalise has a boyfriend.”

“Nuh-uh! How does Daddy feel about that?”

“Not too good. Not too good at all. Landee thinks it’s just the cutest thing in the world, them walking along and holding hands. I’m like, ‘Yeah, right now they’re holding hands, but in a few years, he’ll be holding a box of condoms.’ And she’s like, ‘You’re being ridiculous. They’re eight.’ I don’t think I’m being ridiculous. Do you think I’m being ridiculous?”

“I think you’re being a little bit ridiculous.”

“Oh, is that right? Way to back a brother up, Barrett.”

Barrett was laughing aloud. “Hey! You asked my opinion, and I gave it!”

“It’s supposed to match mine!”

“Sorry. I didn’t see that in the Zyan Martin friendship rules book.”

“Well, it’s in there. You need to read that thing again. But this is not why you called me. So why did you call me?”

“Because I need to run something past somebody who won’t bust my balls over it.”

Zyan snickered. “Yeah, I don’t do that. That’s my wife. And the balls are mine.”

“Are you talking about me again?” Barrett heard a female voice call from somewhere in the background on the other end of the phone.

“Me? Oh, baby, no. I would never do that.”

“Liar. Who are you talking to?”

“Barrett.”

“Oh, hell. I’m sure you’ve got a lot of things to say about me between the two of you. Just make sure only fifty percent of them are lies and I’ll try to live up to them.”

“Fair enough. So,” Zyan asked with a sigh, “what’s this about?”

Barrett launched into the story of Flora and how she came to be there, and Zyan never said a word. When he was finished, he asked, “Well? What do you think?”

“What do I think?”

“Yeah. I didn’t just call you to hear the sound of your voice, although it does give me goosebumps,” Barrett said and added a silly little giggle.

“Oh, shut up. So do you think she’s on the up-and-up? You think she’s told you the truth?”

“I can’t imagine why she’d lie about stuff like that. I mean, it’s kind of a fantastical story, I’ll give it that, but c’mon. Telling that kind of shit on yourself? I don’t think anybody would do that just to be sensational.”

“People are weird.”

“I know that. But still …”

“So do this. Call Pikeville. Ask them if they’ve got a missing person case for this, what’s her name?”

“Velma.”

“Yeah. Velma. Call them and ask. Tell them you’re just a citizen from somewhere else in the state and you heard someone talking about a woman who’d gone missing. You don’t have to tell them anything else. See what they say. At least then you’ll know if she’s telling the truth about that part.”

“Okay. That sounds reasonable. But what I’d really like to know … I mean, I’m not sure if I should …”

“You want to get involved with her, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I kinda do.”

“No ‘kinda.’ Either you do or you don’t. Which is it?”

“I do.”

“Okay then. Now we’ve got something to work with. Have you slept with her yet?”

“No.”

“But you want to?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Have you told her about Jessica?”

“No. Not yet. I mean, she knows I’m divorced, but―”

“Barrett, she told you some potentially damaging things about herself. Shouldn’t you honor that by being honest with her?”

He rubbed his temples with the thumb and ring finger of his free hand. Thinking about all of it gave him a headache every time. “It’s just so hard to talk about.”

“Yeah, I know. But the more you do it, the easier it’ll get. By the way, I can’t believe old Mrs. Murphy is still alive. I thought she died years ago.”

“Nope. During mowing season, I mow her yard pretty much every week.”

“And Mrs. Murphy is aware of all of this?”

“Yeah. I told her. I thought she deserved to know. She’s been very good to Flora, and―”

He heard Zyan snicker. “Are you sure we’re talking about the same woman? Short? Dumpy? Yells more than she talks?”

“Yeah. It’s her.” Barrett and Zyan had gone to high school together, and Zyan hadn’t lived that far from Mrs. Murphy’s house either. “Hey, wasn’t it you she caught picking apples off that tree in the back and―”

“Yeah. Came running out of the house with that shotgun. I was like fifteen, I think? Scared the shit outta me. I think I pissed myself.”

Barrett was laughing. “Now you see why I told her? I think Flora’s got a protector in that old woman.”

“I think you may very well be right. She’s a tough old bird.” Zyan was quiet for a few seconds, but then he said, “Okay. To recap. What are we going to do?”

“We’re going to call Pikeville and ask about a missing person.”

“And then what?”

“We’re going to tell Flora about Jessica.”

“Anything else?”

“Yeah, and then we’re going to stop talking about me in plural pronouns.”

“Paid attention in English class, did ya?”

“I did. I especially paid attention to Miss Hagar’s cute little skirt.”

“Ooooo, lawd, it was fine, right?”

“Very.”

“Okay, bro. Looks like you have a plan of action. Is this somebody you want us to meet?”

“I told her about your pool and got her to buy a swimsuit.”

“Excellent! Well, when you take that plunge―pun intended―let me know and we’ll do a cookout so the womenfolk can meet.”

“Sounds like a plan. Thanks, Zyan. I knew I could count on you.”

“And I know I can always count on you. We … should … probably get off the phone before we start whispering sweet nothings to each other.”

“Yeah. That would be tragic. Later, bro.” Barrett ended the call, laughing the whole while. Call Pikeville and ask about a missing person. And tell Flora about Jessica. The first one? Not too terribly hard. The second?

It felt impossible.