They stopped on the sidewalk in front of the library. Kate dug down under the candy to get the books that were due. A garden club meeting must have just been breaking up, because several women were standing at the top of the steps. The only three she knew were the librarian, a retired history teacher named Mrs. Mayfair, and old Mrs. Bainbridge.
“Will you look at that!” exclaimed Mrs. Mayfair. She came down the steps and scratched Billy between the horns. “Aren’t you a darling old thing!”
The librarian read the words on the side of the cart. “Oh, are you selling candy?” she asked Ruby.
“Yes ma’am,” Ruby said. “What we have here is for a client, but we’d be glad to take your order.”
“Candy, did you say? How much?” asked Mrs. Mayfair. Kate went inside to put her books on the librarian’s desk. When she came out, Mrs. Bainbridge, who was about eighty years old, was hobbling down the steps with her cane. The librarian put her hand on Mrs. Bainbridge’s arm to steady her, but Mrs. Bainbridge jerked it away. Even though she tottered, she never allowed anybody except her son Junior to help her. When Mrs. Bainbridge got to the bottom of the steps, she stopped and glared at Ruby. “Are you Ruby?” she asked. She thwacked the lettering on the cart with her cane. “That Ruby?”
“Yes,” Ruby said. “I am.”
“Don’t mind bragging on yourself, do you?” Mrs. Bainbridge said in a cranky voice.
Kate rushed down the steps. “It’s the candy we’re saying is ex … um … exqui—”
“Just as I suspected. You can’t even pronounce it,” Mrs. Bainbridge looked down at the word “exquisite” in gold lettering on the side of the cart. “Spelled it right, though.” She turned her glare back on Ruby. “You gave my son a box. And he gave you a dollar.”
Kate saw Ruby’s embarrassed look. Ruby had probably figured out that old Mrs. Bainbridge was the mother of Junior Bainbridge, who ran the gift shop. Kate was sure Ruby hadn’t forgotten how he gave them a dollar and told them to “run along.”
“That was only a sample,” Ruby said sharply. “I told him—”
“Waste of breath,” Mrs. Bainbridge interrupted. “Junior wouldn’t know good chocolate from a stick of licorice. Luckily, I do. I’ll take one. Write it down. One pound for Clair Bainbridge.”
“Your address, please?” Ruby asked, pencil poised over her small notebook in a very businesslike manner.
“Everyone knows where I live,” Mrs. Bainbridge said haughtily.
Ruby cut a sideways glance at Kate. Kate nodded to let her know it was true; everyone in town knew the huge house where the Bainbridges lived, a house that looked like something out of Gone with the Wind and made creaking noises when you went by. But nobody ever said it was haunted, because it was a well-known fact that Mrs. Bainbridge wouldn’t tolerate a ghost around the place for one minute.
“So that’s one pound, Mrs. Bainbridge?” Ruby asked.
“Yes. Every Saturday.”
“Every Saturday?”
“Is there any reason why I shouldn’t have fresh chocolates every week?” Mrs. Bainbridge demanded.
“No ma’am,” Ruby said, ducking her head and trying not to smile.
Mrs. Bainbridge gave one final glare at the other women gathered around the cart. “Chocolates are good for me,” she announced. “They improve my disposition.”
The librarian ordered a box of candy and Mrs. Mayfair ordered two. Ruby wrote their names and orders under Mrs. Bainbridge’s. Then they led Billy up Main Street to Miss Tutweiler’s hotel.
Ruby surprised Kate by saying, “I’ll take the order in today. You stay with the cart.”
Kate didn’t mind waiting outside at all, because people smiled when they saw the cart. Children tugged at their mothers’ hands and pointed, and some even crossed the street to get a better look. All the children loved Billy, except one toddler who cried when Billy snatched the cookie out of his hand and ate it in two bites. The little boy’s mother didn’t see what happened and thought her child was crying because he was scared. She picked him up and kept saying over and over, “There, there, don’t be afraid. He’s a nice goat. He won’t hurt you.”
Ruby came out of the hotel with shining eyes. She cracked her purse to show Kate some bills. Kate gasped. For the first time she really had a sense that they were “in business.”
As they started back down the street, Kate saw Bubba watching them from the gas station.
“Oh, sweet mama!” Bubba said in a loud voice. “Here she comes.”
Ralph laughed. “That gal ain’t coming, Bubba. She’s going.”
Ruby kept walking like she hadn’t heard a word they said. Kate covered her mouth to keep from giggling.
Bubba started combing his hair. “Man, what you don’t know about women!”
José scooted out from under the car he was working on and sat up. “Bubba, you loco. That pretty thing is not even looking this way.”
“The goat looked over this way,” Ralph said to Bubba. “Maybe it took a shine to you.” He and José laughed.
Bubba revved his motorcycle. Kate saw that he was going to follow them the same way he did before. She hoped he wouldn’t come too close. The noise of the bike might upset Billy, who was hard enough to manage as it was.
Just then Mr. Jackson came hurrying up behind them. “Excuse me,” he called. “Ruby? Ruby Wilson?”
Kate pulled Billy to a stop. Ruby looked Mr. Jackson up and down, from his short black hair to the books he was carrying under one arm. “Do I know you?” she asked in a cool voice.
“I know him,” Kate said. “He’s Justin’s math teacher.”
“I just moved here recently. When school started.” He stuck out his hand. “My name’s Richard Jackson.”
Kate thought Ruby was going to ignore Mr. Jackson’s hand, but just then Bubba roared up on his motorcycle. Ruby turned so that her back was to Bubba. She smiled at Mr. Jackson in a friendly way and shook his hand.
“Where are you from, Mr. Jackson?”
Bubba slowed for a second, then revved the engine and roared away. Billy looked after the motorcycle with an evil eye. Kate held tight to his harness until Bubba and his bike were out of sight.
“I’m from Chicago,” Mr. Jackson told Ruby. “What about you?”
“I grew up here, but I’ve been away awhile. Living in New York.”
“Bet you’re glad to be back,” Mr. Jackson said. “This is a great town.”
Ruby looked astonished. “You like this town?”
Kate noticed that Mr. Jackson was carrying a big bag full of candy boxes. “You bought some of our chocolates!” she exclaimed.
“Well, yes. I did. I just picked them up from Miss Tutweiler. In fact, I’d like to get one more box.”
“She doesn’t have any more?” Ruby asked in a voice that said she knew Miss Tutweiler did have more.
“She does, yes, but I didn’t want to take all of them. She’ll be needing some for her other customers. I’d be glad to drive out to your house to pick it up.”
“Sure!” Kate said excitedly.
“Well, Kate’s my partner. If it’s okay with her, I suppose it’s okay with me.” Ruby smiled at Mr. Jackson in a teasing way and Kate realized that they were talking about more than candy.
“Do you like music?” he asked Ruby. “There’s a great jazz group playing in Orlando this weekend.”
Ruby looked at Kate. “What do you think, partner? Should I give him my phone number?”
Mr. Jackson reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out one of Ruby’s cards, the kind she gave to each of their customers. He flashed it at Kate.
“I already got her phone number. From Miss Tutweiler. I was just asking permission to use it.” He arched an eyebrow at Ruby.
Ruby tossed her head, causing the sunshine to sparkle on the beads woven through her tiny braids. “Call if you like, but you’re wasting your time.”
Ruby took hold of Billy’s lead rope and started walking. Kate turned back to wave good-bye. The math teacher was grinning happily.
Kate snuck a peek at Ruby’s face. She seemed excited and maybe a little jumpy, but pleased. Kate didn’t think Mr. Jackson was wasting his time at all.