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“You sure make waves wherever you go, Mr. Presley,” Flo laughed. “Though I remember when you were growing up, you always did seem to cause a bit of commotion.”
“Did I?” I ran my fingers through my hair and watched Shelby’s truck disappear around the corner. “It didn’t seem like I did.”
“In a good way,” Flo laughed. “Shoo, if I had been thirty years younger, I would have thrown my hat in the ring.”
“Oh, stop it, Flo.” Ms. Del stepped onto her front porch and folded her arms over her chest. It was crazy that these two were still so spry and feisty. They each had to be close to ninety. “You would have to be sixty years younger to possibly have a chance with him.” She turned her eyes on me. “Hell, probably a ton of cosmetic surgery, too. He sure is a handsome one.”
“You even have the elderly panting after you,” Macon murmured.
“Who are you calling elderly?” Flo spat. “I have half a mind to take my slipper off and smack you upside the head, Macon Tanner.”
Macon bowed his head sheepishly and stepped back from Flo. “Sorry, Ms. Flo. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
Flo huffed and turned her nose up on him. “I was on your side with your whole divorce, but I didn’t know you were such a sassy one.”
“Thank you, Ms. Flo. I do appreciate the kind words, and I’ll try to be less sassy.” If Macon had been wearing a hat, he would have whipped it off and clutched it in his hands.
“Boy,” Del laughed. “Are you letting her get you?” Del cackled and shook her head.
“No, ma’am, I mean, yes, ma’am.”
Del and Flo were the only ones I knew of that could make an almost thirty-year-old cower with fear.
I nodded to Del and Flo. “Well, I think we’ll get back on the road, ladies. Macon was showing me all the things that have changed around Adams since I left.”
“Maybe you should give us that tour, Macon, because I can’t think of anything that has changed in nine years. Maybe that new gas station on the edge of town.” Del waved her hand at Flo. “Oh, there is that new dent and bent grocery.”
Flo chuckled. “I don’t think those are the type of things that would excite Wilder and Macon.”
“Well, there ain’t much else they are going to find,” Del huffed.
“I guess it will be a short tour then, ladies.” I pasted a charming smile on my lips that always seemed to soften people and nodded to them both. “We’ll let you get back to your day.”
Macon tucked his tail and booked it back to the truck.
“Oh, Wilder,” Flo called when I was halfway back to my truck. “We look forward to seeing what kind of decorating Shelby does for you.”
I nodded to them. “I’ll be sure to get her over to my house.”
“I’m sure she’ll be able to fit you in, even though she’s booked out for months,” Flo laughed. “Just head on over to her house on Maple to get an appointment booked.”
“Don’t take no for an answer,” Del added.
“I never do,” I called. I hopped into the truck and cranked up the engine.
“Did we really need to stop?” Macon grumbled.
“You’re the one who kept telling Shelby Lyn that she should get looked at by a doctor,” I laughed. “It would have been mighty rude of us to keep driving.” I shifted into park and pulled away from Del and Flo’s house.
“She was fine,” Macon assured me. “It was just shocking to see her fall,” he explained.
“So you’re saying you don’t deal well under pressure, Dr. Tanner?” I laughed.
Macon flipped me off and sat back. “I deal with pressure just fine. It’s not like I’m there when my patients break a bone or whatever.”
“Sure, Macon. I wonder what you would do if Flo and Del came into your waiting room. Would you tell the other doctors to take the two elderly women?” I laughed.
“Oh yeah?” Macon grumbled. “Why don’t we talk about how you stopped this truck on a dime and rushed to Shelby like she was a burning building.”
“I’m not sure I get your analogy, Macon.”
He rolled his eyes. “Like you’re a fireman, and you saw a building on fire. You’d rush over and put it out.” He splayed his hands in front of him. “She’s the fire.”
“I’m pretty sure Shelby Lyn is the one who hit her head, Macon, but you’re talking like you got a head injury.”
“You know what I’m trying to say, Wilder.”
“No, I don’t, Macon. Why don’t you just spit out what you’re trying to say.” I flipped on my blinker and headed toward the gas station Del had mentioned.
“What I’m saying is, what about that Shelby Lyn, Wilder?”
“Don’t call her that.” I glanced at Macon.
“Um, what should I call her?”
“Shelby.”
“Isn’t that what I just called her?”
I shook my head. “No one calls her Shelby Lyn.”
A smirk spread across Macon’s lips. “Except for you.”
“Can we just move on to something else?” I asked. “Is that new gas station this way?”
Macon smugly folded his arms over his chest. “I think we just met your other reason for coming back to Adams.”
I grunted but didn’t say anything.
I had decided to come back to Adams for lots of reasons.
Was Shelby Lyn one of them?
Yes.
*
