Jamie slowed and peered at the porch of Old Lady Jackson’s house. Unable to resist, she turned into Jackson’s drive, climbed out of her truck, and helped Petunia down in time to enjoy the final verse of the national anthem.
“Well, if that doesn’t put you in the mood for the Fourth of July weekend, I don’t know what will,” Jamie said, eyeing Clarice’s bright red stretch pants and blue pullover with huge white stars. She looked ready to run up a flagpole.
Jackson and Clarice grinned happily from their rocking chairs…and from behind extra dark sunglasses. It was a sure bet she’d find very dilated pupils behind those glasses.
“We’re just taking a break from our baking and the day is so pretty, we just burst into song,” Clarice said.
“I’m happy you two are getting along so well.”
Clarice waved a dismissive hand. “It was a big misunderstanding. She brought over some of her special brownies the very next day.”
Jackson nodded. “And she baked lemon bars for me the day after that. I love lemon bars.”
Clarice stopped rocking, sat forward in her chair, and stage whispered. “I volunteered and ATM got me in the program. We’re baking enough brownies to fill the freezer in my bomb shelter out back of the house.”
Jamie figured it would take a while to fill the freezer because they appeared to be eating most of what they baked. “ATM?”…the girls said it stood for All That and More.
Clarice nodded. “Agnes Teresa Marie. That’s her name, but when we were buying brownie mix at the Piggly Wiggly, I heard one of her friends call her ATM. Jackson said I could call her that, too.” Clarice beamed and Jackson grinned, but not for the same reason.
Petunia stared at the plate of brownies resting on the porch railing.
“I think she wants a brownie,” Clarice said, reaching for the plate.
Jackson stopped her. “Uh, no. She has a sensitive stomach.” She wrinkled her nose. “Gets gas really bad.” She grinned at Jamie. They both knew why Petunia was staring at the brownies.
Jamie cleared her throat. “Well, her stomach problem has been fixed, but the chocolate isn’t good for dogs.”
Clarice grabbed on to Jackson’s arm. “Oh, no. Are they bad for pigs, too? Mrs. Ludwell came by on her daily walk and Annabelle ate three brownies.”
Jamie chuckled. “I’m not sure, but I think a pig would have to eat a whole lot of brownies for the chocolate to make them sick. But I’ll ask Dr. Beaumont just to be sure. She’s volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club today, and I’m headed over there, too.”
“Annabelle has such a pretty pink harness.” Clarice wasn’t listening because her “special brownie” buzz was still focused on her memory of the pig.
Jackson slid her dark glasses down her nose and squinted. “I heard you and the doctor are bumping boots now.”
Heat crawled up Jamie’s neck, but she wasn’t going to deny it. She was still a private person, but this was her home now and she wouldn’t hide her relationship with Trip, or ask that of Trip. “We loaded up my U-Haul last weekend and emptied it out at her place.”
“Well, congratulations.” Jackson laughed at Jamie’s use of lesbian code and sat back in her rocking chair. “You might want to watch your back for a while, though. There’s going to be a lot of unhappy women around Pine Cone now that you’ve taken Fast Break off the market.”
Jamie replied with a mock salute and a signal for Petunia to heel. “Y’all have a good day now.”
Clarice’s wavering soprano started up the first verse of “America the Beautiful” as Jamie backed her truck into the street, and ATM Jackson’s smooth alto joined in as she pulled away.
* * *
Trip held the leveling tool against the metal post that would support one side of the arched bronze sign announcing MISS M’S PLAYGROUND.
“That’s good. Shovel in the concrete,” she told Jubal.
“I can’t believe you got all this done so quick,” he said, carefully spading wet cement around the base of the pole while Trip continued to check it.
“I had a lot of help from people you wouldn’t imagine. How’s that pup doing?”
Jubal smiled. “Bruiser’s chill. He’s already graduated from puppy class, and Jamie is teaching us hand signals now. Bruiser’s really smart. He’s just a pup, but he figured out right off to be careful around Mama.”
“That’s great, Jubal. You’ve done a good job with him.” She tamped down the last of the concrete. “I guess that does it. These posts will need a few days for the concrete to set before the men come out to install the sign. Looks like they need some help with the playground equipment over there. I’ll wash out the wheelbarrow for you.”
Trip paused and watched Jubal join the group that was unloading bulky playground equipment parts from a flatbed trailer Jerome had conscripted from the farm. Amani stood in the middle of the organized chaos, holding a master plan for the playground and pointing to where each part should be left for assembly.
An arm slid around her waist, and Trip smiled when a wheat-colored blur streaked past on a direct path to where Essie sat on a newly installed park bench, handing out cups of flavored water and snacks.
“Everything going okay here?” Jamie asked.
“Perfect. We’ve got so many volunteers, they’d be falling over each other if Amani wasn’t such a great organizer.”
The lot was filled with Jubal’s gang, a few men and women from the police and fire departments, Toby and Pete, Edmundo and a few cousins, and several men from both the Baptist and Methodist churches. Trip and Jamie had intentionally arranged a diverse group, and Jamie had prepared the kids at the Boys and Girls Club with a talk about seeing people as individuals rather than making assumptions from their clothing or hairstyle or skin color. And about ways to get people to see them as individuals, not just as minority kids from a poor neighborhood.
“So, are you helping or just watching other people work?”
“Oh, crap. I need to wash the cement out of this wheelbarrow before it hardens. Can you grab that shovel and bring it?”
Jamie followed Trip across the street to an outdoor spigot and hose behind the Boys and Girls Club building. Trip set the wheelbarrow down and took the shovel from Jamie’s hands.
“First things first.” She tugged Jamie into her arms and kissed her. “I missed you.”
“You just saw me a few hours ago,” Jamie said. Still, she punctuated that statement with another kiss, this time lingering with a bit of tongue that made Trip’s belly tighten…in a good way.
“How’d your meeting go with the contractor?” Trip was very excited about the new business Jamie would be starting soon.
“We agreed on a schedule. He’s had another project delayed by some new city regulations, so his crew can get started as soon as he gets the building permit from the county. He estimates six weeks to two months, maybe less if the weather holds up and there are no surprises when they run the water and electrical lines out from the road.”
An apologetic phone call from the director above Suzanne—now unemployed Suzanne—was indeed the consulting offer of Jamie’s dreams. It didn’t take much to persuade Jamie to ask Amani’s advice on starting a business, but convincing Jamie to let Trip help finance the start-up took a lot more convincing. Trip knew Jamie wanted to rescue shelter dogs by turning them into valuable working dogs, but she also wanted to explore the use of therapy dogs for soldiers dealing with PTSD. The Strange Foundation was only offering seed money for the detection dog training program, so the PTSD program was the ace Trip played to deal herself in.
Grace was trying to be a good sport about losing Jamie, but was happy after Jamie promised to continue with the department until she could train a replacement. Turned out, Jamie already had her eye on Anderson. The rookie couldn’t seem to remember to put his squad car in park, but had a way with dogs.
“That’s great news.” Trip tightened her arms around Jamie and sighed. “You’re going to be really busy for the rest of the summer, juggling your deputy job and getting your new business off the ground.”
“Probably as busy as you’re going to be until you find another veterinarian to hire.”
Trip nodded. “Let’s make a pact now that we’ll never be too busy with our own stuff that we neglect the kids down here.”
“Deal, and I’m sorry I’m late today.” Jamie stepped out of Trip’s embrace to turn on the water. “I thought I was having some kind of strange flashback, and I had to stop for a few minutes.”
Trip tilted the wheelbarrow and studied Jamie while she hosed it off. “You okay, babe?”
“No. I might have to wash my eyes out.”
Trip relaxed at Jamie’s teasing tone. “Why?”
“When I drove past Old Lady Jackson’s house—”
“Only Grace calls her that. She’s not that old.”
“I know, but you’re interrupting.”
“Sorry. I’m working on that.”
Jamie smiled and shared everything—the songs, the special brownies, the dark glasses, and the new friendship. By the time she’d finished, Trip was bent over and clutching her sides.
“Stop, stop. My stomach is going to be sore tomorrow from laughing. We have to go past there on the way home to see if they’re still there.”
“Only if you promise not to eat any food they offer you.” Jamie’s grin faded, and her expression turned serious. “Trip? Is it okay for pigs to eat brownies?”
Trip’s throat constricted around the first gasp of laughter and she choked when she tried to swallow. Trip coughed and wheezed, trying to draw in a full breath while Jamie pounded on her back.
“Are you okay? Can you breathe? Are you choking?” Jamie’s voice rose a few octaves with each question.
Trip tried to answer the rapid questions with nods and shakes of her head, but she couldn’t keep up. Just as Jamie was moving behind her for what Trip feared was to be a Heimlich maneuver, her throat relaxed a bit and she gasped out a few words. “Image…Annabelle…on porch…in pink—” Her throat finally relaxed enough for a deep cough to clear it. “I had a flash of the three of them—Jackson, Clarice and Annabelle—lined up on the porch in their rocking chairs, the pig dressed in one of Clarice’s pink housedresses, and all of them wearing dark glasses like they’re the Blues Brothers.”
Jamie stared at her. “You’ve already been by there, haven’t you?” She grabbed Trip’s jaw. “Open your mouth. I want to see if there are brownie crumbs in there.”
Trip laughed even harder when Jamie joined in and they walked arm-in-arm back to the playground in progress. Life was good. Turned out that settling in Pine Cone hadn’t been a gamble after all, because they’d both come in first in this winner-take-all adventure.