He nodded and then started to lean over—maybe to kiss me again?—but then he stopped himself and took a step back toward the door.
"Gotta rush. Things to do. See you soon."
Before I could even say goodbye, I heard my front door open and then close behind him.
"Hm," I told Lou, who was snuggled next to me in bed. "That's weird. I guess maybe he's feeling as odd as I am after that kiss."
But I didn't have time to think about it. I took the coffee with me into the bathroom to get ready. The GYST bus waits for no woman.
On the way to work, I stopped for a couple dozen donuts. The possibility of my bus tour customers having icing-sticky fingers when they touched the merchandise was outweighed by how the sugar seemed to put everyone in a buying mood.
The bakery was busy, but the customers all seemed to be a tiny bit disgruntled.
"Speak clearly and slowly when you give your order, Tess," Granny Josephine told me on her way past me to the door. She clutched a white bag in one hand and her cane in the other. "Mellie's cousin isn't the sharpest tool in the shed."
Luckily, I didn't think anybody had heard her over the noise in the shop, especially not poor Vern.
"Granny J! That's not nice. It must be a lot, taking on such a busy shop. And it's nice of him to help Mellie out."
She just grumbled something I didn't quite catch, so I held the door for her and smiled as she toddled out.
The line was fairly long and took about three times as long as it usually did, but I caught up with some friends and acquaintances, mostly talking about how everybody was out sick with this cold. When I finally got to the front of the line, Vern gave me a big smile.
He was a pleasant guy. Pleasant smile, pleasant attitude, and pleasant company. I'd known him forever, because he visited Mellie a lot. He lived in Orlando, I thought. Or maybe Jacksonville. He was unfortunately shaped, kind of like a bowling pin, Uncle Mike had said one time, and the image had stuck in my mind. Tall, with a rounded belly and a slightly too-small head. But he was just as nice as Mellie, so I'd always liked him.
"Here's your GYST order, Tess," he said, handing me a bag with two boxes inside. "Mellie gave me specific instructions. And I added a special jelly donut just for you."'
He beamed, and I returned his smile. "Thanks, Vern. It's good of you to help Mellie out. How's she doing?"
"Not great. It might take her all week to get over this one," he said, frowning a little.
The man behind me, who was one of the Jenkins's cousins from out of town, I thought—we get lots of relatives in town on festival week—whistled.
"Yeah, seems like half the town has a cold. I hope it doesn't ruin the weekend."
"Me too." I thanked Vern and paid and then headed out, hoping my donut order was at least partly right but figuring it wasn't the most important thing in the world if not. I knew one thing for sure: I would not be eating the 'special' jelly donut.
When I pulled up in front of Dead End Pawn, I was pleased to see that Eleanor was already there. I was lucky to have her, even part-time, and spent a lot of time hoping that she wouldn't decide to quit working altogether to spend more time with her grandson.
"The decorations look great," she said, looking up from polishing the glass countertop next to the cash register when I walked in. "Nice job. I hear Jack is back. How was the date? Did you get me a chocolate glazed?"
She must have talked to Aunt Ruby. My date hadn't had time to hit the general gossip mill.
I laughed and put the bags on the counter. "Let me lock my tote bag in the back, okay? And thanks, yes, Jack is back, the date was great, and I have no idea what donuts are in here. Poor Vern was having a hard time keeping up. He gave me a 'special' jelly donut."
She raised her eyebrows. "You hate jelly donuts!"
"Right? But the poor guy is overwhelmed. I wasn't about to tell him that when he was so pleased with himself." I grinned at her and headed to the back room, where I locked my purse away in the vault and started a pot of coffee.
Eleanor pushed open the door and stood in the doorway, and in the bright light I noticed that she looked tired.
"Are you okay? You're not getting sick too, are you?" I studied her. "If you don't feel well, please go home and get some rest. I can handle this group on my own. And you know you'll need to feel better by Friday so you can take Zane all over the festival. I hear he and Shelley are planning to eat one of every single different type of fair food."
She smiled a little but then bit her lip. "No, Tess, I'm not sick. I wouldn't bring something contagious here for you to catch. No, it's just… I…"
The chimes over the front door sounded, and she shook her head. "Nothing. I'll tell you later. Time to get to work."
But it was Susan, not Mr. Holby, who walked in the door just as my phone rang.
