Page 13 of Sultry Nights

She let her shoulders fall. She stopped her hand from pulling her apron off the hook it hung on near the door. Her mind whirled around all she needed to do. But, a nap couldn't hurt that much, could it?

Deciding to take a break, she nodded. Thanks, Mom. I won't be gone long."

Her mom smiled and waved. She was still a pretty woman. Hanna had gotten her dark hair from her mom. She'd gotten her blue eyes from her father. Her height from her mom. She stopped growing at five foot one. She'd even gone so far as to sit in a tree as a young girl and Jalyn tied heavy rocks to her ankles using an old t-shirt and let them hang hoping her legs would stretch. Jalyn was tall. Five foot eight. But Hanna never did grow another inch. It was frustrating.

She silently stepped outside into the heat of a summer afternoon in Florida. The temperature was close to its high today. Ninety-five was the weatherman's announcement this morning. Stay hydrated, he'd said.

She climbed into her SUV and started it up. There was no time better than the present. She drove down the alley behind her business, and others’, turned left onto the square, and a slight left onto Main Street. Staying left at the fork, she drove past the fire station where Jalyn worked. She was Blossom Springs’s very first female firefighter, and Hanna was incredibly proud of her best friend. They'd been friends all through school and into their adult lives. Hanna moved away to go to college at her first choice in Colorado to further enhance her knowledge of baking and culinary skills. Jalyn went off to learn how to be a firefighter like her father was before her.

Jalyn was outside, polishing one of the fire trucks. Her friend waved at her and trotted toward her as Hanna lowered the window.

"Hey, what's up? Couldn’t wait to see me?"

"They have you out here polishing that damned truck? It's hot as blazes out."

Jalyn laughed. "Need I remind you I fight fires? Nothing's hotter than a building on fire."

Hanna shrugged. "Ya got me there."

Jalyn leaned her elbows on the sill where the window had been. "What's going on with you?"

"Mom's at the bakery and told me to go home and take a nap, but I won't sleep because I've got too much on my mind. I didn't know if you were off today or not."

Jalyn looked at her watch. "I'm off in five minutes. I was going to go home and shower before coming by you, but if you wait here, I'll run in and grab my purse and you can take me home while we talk."

"How did you get here if you need a ride?"

"I walked."

"You're nuts."

"I've been told. Hang tight." Jalyn patted the door and turned.

Hanna watched her tall, thin friend jog into the fire station. Two of the male firefighters were still polishing the fire truck. She waved and smiled, and they waved back.

Jalyn reappeared and jogged toward her car. She hollered goodbye to her co-workers and hopped into Hanna's SUV.

"Okay. All set."

Hanna put her SUV in drive and slowly pulled away from the curb.

Jalyn didn't wait too long. "Tell me what's up."

Hanna told her about the thrift store a couple of days ago and her pathetic bank account. "I called the bank yesterday to find out just what had happened, and after some back-and-forth phone calls most of the day, they came back with the news that Isaac had sweet-talked that new little red-haired clerk into giving him access. Apparently, he told her he was related to the bank president, and it would be okay this one time. He claimed I'd stolen money from him and he just wanted it back."

"That son-of-a-bitch."

"Yeah." Hanna turned into the subdivision Jalyn lived in. "That's not the half of it. Yesterday, a woman called me and told me Isaac had stolen more than twenty-thousand dollars from her and she wanted me to pay her back. Claimed I'm as much to blame as he is."

Jalyn turned in the seat and stared at her. "Are you making shit up?"

"No!" She raised her voice.

"Over the years, that stupid bastard has pulled some bullshit on you. My gawd, how many cars of yours had he gambled away?"

"Three."

"Three fucking cars. That you had to work your ass off to pay for when you didn't even have them anymore. Three! And I believe the last two he forged your name on the title. He should be in jail for that."

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