alive another day. Old people do those sorts of things.”
“Sure.”
I must have rehung the handcuffs too precariously because they fell to the floor again with another loud thud. The sound duplicated what I’d heard earlier.
“What the—” Jim said.
“Oh, these fell earlier. I tried to put them back, but I guess I didn’t quite get them on the nail well enough.” I picked them up again and found a spot that seemed more secure.
“In all the years I’ve been in Broken Rope, not one of those cuffs has fallen off the wall. Were you looking at them?” Jim asked me.
“No. I was looking in on Gram when it happened. Scared me.”
I turned to see Jim give me a curious look. He seemed unusually perplexed at some handcuffs falling from a nailin the wall. The wall was jam-packed with cuffs. His glance was almost accusatory, as though I’d done something horribly wrong.
“What?” I asked. I looked at Cliff, who gave me a small shrug.
“Nothing,” Jim said. “Nothing.”
I was almost certain I saw him shudder. I’d never seen Jim shudder. Seeing him do it sent a zip of chill up my spine and made me want to do it, too. Fortunately, Verna saved the day.
She opened the door and peered in. “You’re good to go, Betts. Get your gram home and into bed. She’s too old for this nonsense.” Verna looked directly at Jim, who didn’t bat an eye.
“Thanks for coming in, Verna,” he said.
In truth, they adored each other. They’d worked together for so many years that they’d become almost like an old married couple—a couple with two opposite points of view about almost everything, but still their animosity was tinged with fondness.
I said my good-byes and tried not to allow my eyes to linger on Cliff too long. He didn’t seem to struggle with ignoring me.
I stepped out into the night air. It was cooler than I expected it to be and smelled lightly of distant wood smoke.
“Who would be burning wood this time of year?” I mumbled aloud. Or was that the smell from the fire still in my nose? I didn’t think so; I hadn’t smelled it until I stepped outside.
I could see Gram sitting comfortably, her eyes closed, inmy old blue Nova as the crickets scolded those of us crazy enough to still be awake.
I sniffed deeply. Broken Rope was surrounded by the woods of southern Missouri. Some people still lived in those woods and a small group of those people had somehow remained off the grid. They still cooked over open fires and used candles to see at night. The smoke I smelled was probably from someone who’d either fixed a really late dinner or a really early breakfast.
I looked down the boardwalk, toward the Jasper Theater. The small marquee above the front ticket booth was lit with the title of the current film being shown, but the rest of the theater was dark and suddenly seemed very sad. The theater was located on an inner corner and was flanked by Stuart’s shoe shop on the near side and the pool hall on the far side. Continuing farther, past the barber shop and at the end of the street was Mabel’s Broken Crumbs cookie shop. Across the street from Mabel’s was the saloon where Jenna worked. The saloon sold ice-cream treats during the day and beer at night. Jenna worked both shifts.
An alley ran behind the row of businesses. More Missouri woods and a few open spaces snuggled up to the alley. In only a few days, there’d be a hanging platform in the space at the end of the street and in between Mabel’s and the saloon. The cook-off judges would eat atop the platform and hand down their judgments from above to the large crowd below. It seemed like a hundred years away, but it always did at this time. It was amazing to observe how Broken Rope went from quiet to booming in the matter of a couple days.
Tonight, other than the crickets, it was quiet. There was no traffic; Verna had already left and it would be rare to see someone out at this hour even when the tourist season hit full stride.
As I looked
“Sure.”
I must have rehung the handcuffs too precariously because they fell to the floor again with another loud thud. The sound duplicated what I’d heard earlier.
“What the—” Jim said.
“Oh, these fell earlier. I tried to put them back, but I guess I didn’t quite get them on the nail well enough.” I picked them up again and found a spot that seemed more secure.
“In all the years I’ve been in Broken Rope, not one of those cuffs has fallen off the wall. Were you looking at them?” Jim asked me.
“No. I was looking in on Gram when it happened. Scared me.”
I turned to see Jim give me a curious look. He seemed unusually perplexed at some handcuffs falling from a nailin the wall. The wall was jam-packed with cuffs. His glance was almost accusatory, as though I’d done something horribly wrong.
“What?” I asked. I looked at Cliff, who gave me a small shrug.
“Nothing,” Jim said. “Nothing.”
I was almost certain I saw him shudder. I’d never seen Jim shudder. Seeing him do it sent a zip of chill up my spine and made me want to do it, too. Fortunately, Verna saved the day.
She opened the door and peered in. “You’re good to go, Betts. Get your gram home and into bed. She’s too old for this nonsense.” Verna looked directly at Jim, who didn’t bat an eye.
“Thanks for coming in, Verna,” he said.
In truth, they adored each other. They’d worked together for so many years that they’d become almost like an old married couple—a couple with two opposite points of view about almost everything, but still their animosity was tinged with fondness.
I said my good-byes and tried not to allow my eyes to linger on Cliff too long. He didn’t seem to struggle with ignoring me.
I stepped out into the night air. It was cooler than I expected it to be and smelled lightly of distant wood smoke.
“Who would be burning wood this time of year?” I mumbled aloud. Or was that the smell from the fire still in my nose? I didn’t think so; I hadn’t smelled it until I stepped outside.
I could see Gram sitting comfortably, her eyes closed, inmy old blue Nova as the crickets scolded those of us crazy enough to still be awake.
I sniffed deeply. Broken Rope was surrounded by the woods of southern Missouri. Some people still lived in those woods and a small group of those people had somehow remained off the grid. They still cooked over open fires and used candles to see at night. The smoke I smelled was probably from someone who’d either fixed a really late dinner or a really early breakfast.
I looked down the boardwalk, toward the Jasper Theater. The small marquee above the front ticket booth was lit with the title of the current film being shown, but the rest of the theater was dark and suddenly seemed very sad. The theater was located on an inner corner and was flanked by Stuart’s shoe shop on the near side and the pool hall on the far side. Continuing farther, past the barber shop and at the end of the street was Mabel’s Broken Crumbs cookie shop. Across the street from Mabel’s was the saloon where Jenna worked. The saloon sold ice-cream treats during the day and beer at night. Jenna worked both shifts.
An alley ran behind the row of businesses. More Missouri woods and a few open spaces snuggled up to the alley. In only a few days, there’d be a hanging platform in the space at the end of the street and in between Mabel’s and the saloon. The cook-off judges would eat atop the platform and hand down their judgments from above to the large crowd below. It seemed like a hundred years away, but it always did at this time. It was amazing to observe how Broken Rope went from quiet to booming in the matter of a couple days.
Tonight, other than the crickets, it was quiet. There was no traffic; Verna had already left and it would be rare to see someone out at this hour even when the tourist season hit full stride.
As I looked
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