I returned little Henry’s grin. “I’ll let you help me fill the jars with peas.”
He clapped like that was exciting and I guess to him it was. Funny thing was I hated peas. Every jar we canned meant I’d have to eat them at some point along the way. I’d much rather be canning fruit. Or making strawberry preserves. Then I could appreciate the hard work.
When I stepped inside the phone was ringing. I sat the pot of peas on the table and hurried to pick it up.
“Hello”
“Hey, Sam, Jamie said you couldn’t go tonight. Thought I’d call and see if I could change your mind. I got that ticket for you. Hate to give it to someone else.”
Ben was the sweetest guy I knew. He had moved to Moulton to live with his dad when he was in the fourth grade. Jamie and I had been best friends since kindergarten. We saw the shy little boy with glasses and I pulled him into our pack. The three of us had been close ever since.
Except sometimes I felt like Ben might want more than that. At least lately I felt that way. He treated me different than Jamie. She had brought it up a few times and I had tried to change the subject. But she wasn’t the only one picking that up. Ben was definitely acting interested. Like he had a spotlight on me.
“Momma has us canning peas tonight. You know how much I love that.” I added sarcasm to my voice so he would understand that I had really wanted to go with them.
“That sucks. You don’t think I could talk her into letting you go?” he asked with hope in his tone.
If I tried to get momma in here to chat she might put me in the pressure canner. “Uh, no. She already has me inside starting the canning process. Milly May is on a date and that’s the only child momma can spare tonight. She needs me here. I really wanted to go. Thank you for the invite.”
Maybe it was best that I wasn’t going. I didn’t want Ben to get the wrong idea. He’d always just be my friend. One of my best friends ever and there’s something to say for that.
“Yeah, okay. I understand. Jerry’s wanting to go so he can have your ticket. I’ll miss you though, I will.”
Not a “we will miss you,” but an “I will miss you.” Yikes…I had to get us back to the way we were. Maybe I could fix Ben up with a girl in town or something like that?
“That’s a good idea. Jerry will love it. Y’all have fun,” I told him.
“Bye, Sam.” His voice held a touch of sadness. Me not going was that sadness in his voice. That frightened and scared me I tell you.
“Bye,” I replied, then quickly hung up. I had to talk to Jamie about this. We needed to fix Ben up with someone else and fast. I didn’t want to lose a friendship because Ben might think there was more to us in the future. He was my buddy. He needed to remember that. Ben was Moulton. He’d never leave. I had dreams. And they weren’t in this town.
Chapter Four
I hadn’t expected to see Ben and Jamie walking in the door of the bakery the next morning. Although it was almost lunchtime it was still early for them. I was sure their night had been a late one. I wanted to hear what had happened, but not with momma around.
“Hey y’all,” I said, happy to see them.
Jamie immediately chimed in about the smell: “God it smells like heaven in here. I’d weigh two hundred pounds if I worked here. I struggle enough as it is. How you work in this bakery and don’t get fat is unfair you precious thing.” Jamie always fussed about her weight. She wasn’t fat, Jamie was curvy. She always battled to shed fifteen pounds but I thought she was fine like she was.
“If you had my momma you’d not gain weight,” I whispered, cupping my hand over my mouth.
Ben frowned and looked at the lemon cupcakes alongside the blueberry muffins. Beside them were the apple tarts. “Shame she won’t let you eat that.”
“No it’s not. It’s a gift from God. She’d be fat if she could,” Jamie argued, slapping his arm in a way that seemed less friendly, more “look at me,” which was interesting and intriguing I admit.
“Sam doesn’t eat enough to get fat. And she hardly ever sits still.” Ben argued as if he were defending my weight. Then his eyes shot across me really fast. Like a shadow or a beam from the sun, as if to see if I’d really heard him.
Jamie rolled her eyes, but she seemed a little hurt, annoyed you might say. Maybe I was reading too much into this though there was something in her gestures. Something Ben was missing… and I had also missed it apparently.
“One day I’ll bake my own cupcakes. Eat ‘em until I’m so fat I waddle and then tump over.” I teased, wanting to lighten the mood, because I had to change the tenseness.
Jamie laughed: “sure you will. You’ll marry some guy from another state and run off to see the world. You have the looks, just need Mr. Wonderful to discover you hereabouts.” She sighed and looked around the bakery. “Not sure he’ll find you here.”
“Why would she move to another state?” Ben asked and seemed annoyed.
“Because she’s been talking about it since she was five years old. She doesn’t want to live in a two-story house in the middle of Moulton, Alabama, with five kids and a farmer for a husband. She wants an adventure. Listen to her!” Jamie knew me well. We had stretched ourselves on the steep grassy hill behind my house on many summer days discussing our dreams and wants. We were girls wanting to be women, forgetting that the now was simpler, when later it wouldn’t be. Jamie’s dream was exactly what she’d just said she didn’t want for me. I wondered if Ben knew that.
“Nothing wrong with Alabama or Moulton,” Ben replied, sounding defensive.