Chapter 18
Piper thumb-tackedthe last flier to a light pole in downtown Mercy and pushed her sweaty bangs off her forehead. A park bench beckoned from the shade of the huge oak tree in the town square and she made her way to it and sat gratefully.
She'd visit every business on the square and gotten something donated from each for the Streetpups annual fundraiser auction. The sense of satisfaction from a job well done almost overcame her heat stress.
A cold drink sure would go down well right about now. As she contemplated the energy involved in getting up and walking over to the Grits and Gravy for some sweet tea, a gray utility truck pulled into the parking slot closest to her and her cousin, Jason got out. She hid a inward groan. He'd gotten so much more annoying lately. Showing up in unexpected places like this had become a regular happening.
"Hey, Piper." He called as he approached. "Are you okay? You look a little overheated."
With a sigh, she waved. "I'm good, Jason. Just taking a bit of a break. I've been putting up fliers for the big Streetpups fundraiser next month."
He joined her on the bench, stretching his long legs next to hers and giving her a shy grin. He wasn't really a bad guy. It wasn't his fault she found him a bit too much to take on most occasions. She should be nicer to him, though. He was the only family she had outside of her Daddy.
He tended to drone on and on about his job with the state as a geologist. And she just couldn't get interested in all that detail about dirt and rock. If she was honest though, and for some reason she felt a need for it right now, she could be just as boring about her work.
She smiled at him. "It's a scorcher. But I'm done for now. I was just trying to summon up the energy to walk across the street for some sweet tea."
He stood and held out his hand. "Come on. I'll buy you some sweet tea."
She took his hand, letting him pull her to her feet. They strolled into the café where she gave a small sigh of pure please at the air conditioned interior. Helen, who'd been the main waitress here as long a she could remember, was waiting on a couple she didn't recognize.
They slid into a booth along the wall and she glanced at the new table-top juke box to see what the selections looked like. She hadn't heard anyone actually using one yet. Jason pushed a couple of quarters into the slot and punched in a couple of selections. Hm. He must've played them before since he knew the numbers without looking. Elvis croonedHeartbreak Hotelquietly into the space between them.
"I love Elvis." Jason said. "Don't you?"
"Uh. Sure. Doesn't everybody?" She laughed. "I'm not crazy about the movies though." She paused. "But I would sure love to have some of their marketing magic for Streetpups."
He quirked and eyebrow. "I bet you do pretty good yourself. I think I heard you've really gotten people to contribute to the auctions and put the organization on the map around here."
Heat rose in her cheeks at the over–the-top praise.
"You sure know how to win a girl over." She laughed. "For somebody who wasn't raised around here you've got the laying-it-on-thick trick down to an art."
"Just being honest."
He fiddled with the napkin wrapped silverware on the table between them, seemingly at a loss for words now. Luckily, Helen chose that moment to come over and take their order for two sweet teas, breaking the awkwardness.
The bell over the door jangled and Ian entered, waving to Helen and looking around. He spotted them sitting at the booth and came straight over. Piper wasn’t sure if she was angry or relieved he'd shown up. Thing had begun to get a bit awkward between her and her cousin. She could never think of anything to talk to him about.
"Hey!" Ian said dragging up a chair from a nearby table and straddling it next to them. "What are you doing here?"
She smiled, determine to use this opportunity to make a break from Jason. "We're just cooling off with a glass of tea. I've been putting up fliers for the Streetpups auction and Jason found me nearly melting in the town square and offered to buy me some tea." She motioned across the table. "I don't think you know my cousin, Jason. He moved here after you'd left."
Jason gave Ian a dirty look, startling her. "I believe I've heard some things about you."
Ian looked taken aback, but laughed. "I bet you have. Mercy is a very small town. With not much to do other than talk about everybody."
Animosity crackled in the air and the diners at other tables, sensing that something was about to go down, turned their attention to them. Well, this was certainly taking a turn for the worse.
Piper jumped in. "So what brings you in, Ian?"
Ian slowly turned his gaze to her, and the tension eased.
The other diners looked away, seeming disappointed. She sure wasn't disappointed. She didn't think Jason had any kind of fight in him and knew from past experience that Ian could whip the butt of any guy who wanted to go toe-to-toe. It hadn't happened often --- Ian was slow to burn --- but when it did, the opponent had usually regretted riling Ian up.
"Same as you. Looking for some cold tea on a hot day."
"I have some business to take care of, Piper." Jason said as he slid out of the booth. "I'll see you at supper tonight."
