Page 79 of Always a Bridesmaid
“Describe this kid stuff,” Violet said.
“Wemight’vebeen changing the marquee at the school from ‘Due to the championship football game, no class on Friday’ to ‘no ass on Friday.’”
Violet giggled. She could totally see him and his friends doing that back in the day.
“Then there was the time we moved the soda machine into the school elevator. It was Addie’s idea, and she was the smallest, so she pulled while we pushed. Then—since there was hardly an inch of room to spare, save the top—she climbed up and over to sneak back out.
“Lottie was at the school that day for some reason. I think she was picking up her daughter.” Ford secured Violet to his side as they skirted past the ring toss booth. “A few of the teachers thought it was funny, but not Lottie. She pointed at me, Shep, Addie, and Tucker and said, ‘I guarantee those are your culprits right there.’”
“In her defense, she wasn’t wrong.”
His sigh held mock disappointment. “You must’ve been one of those goody-goody kids.”
Violet gasped, even though he wasn’t exactly wrong. “Well, inmydefense, the school I went to wouldn’t have found it funny or even referred to it as a prank. I would’ve been suspended at the least, and I was all too aware that I needed perfect grades and a spotless record in order to get a scholarship if I wanted to go to college.”
Ford dodged a family of five with a double stroller. “I reckon I would’ve ended up in juvie if I’d grown up in a city instead of this small town.” He jerked his chin toward the table just down the way.
Lottie sat behind a row of clipboards, chatting with Nellie Mae, who’d approached her in the Old Firehouse a couple weekends ago and outed her presence to Dad. The tablecloth had a sign over the front, identifying them as the “Craft Cats,” a ball of yarn speared through with knitting needles on one side and a cat on the other.
“Is this where we deliver the catnip?” Violet asked, and the two women furrowed their brows as the guy at her side snorted a laugh.
Tough crowd.Violet cleared her throat and tried again. “Lottie, I just wanted to thank you for switching up the layout for Maisy. I super appreciate it, and she does, too. Everyone’s loving decorating the cupcakes themselves.”
Lottie crossed her arms over her ample bosom. “I hope you’re not spreading that news around. If I make an exception for you, people will be clamoring for me to do the same for them.”
“Um, okay. Anyway, thanks again.”
Lottie’s gaze lifted to Ford. “Mr. McGuire. Good to see you out supporting our community. Although I seem to remember you tellin’ me that you’d be too busy tonight to be our auctioneer.”
“My, uh, schedule freed up. A bit. Not enough to be here for the whole auction, but enough to—”
“Accompany Miss Abrams. Yes, I see that. Shame, though. You’re so good at running your mouth.”
Shock left Violet blinking at the older woman. Residual nervousness rose up, as in she now realized how scared sheshould’vebeen to ask for the switch-up.
That was some brutal honesty, which Violet had always considered someone justifying being rude before running their mouth. Despite what those type claimed, there was a way to be honestwithoutthe brutality.
Angry heat flared, setting fire to every other emotion. “As the biggest busybody in town, you could surely give him a run for his money.” Violet hooked her hand in the crook of Ford’s elbow. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, my escort and I need to go find a corner to make out in.”
Seriously, if she hadn’t had the positive interactions with Misaki and so many of the other townsfolk earlier, Violet would be tempted to storm all the way out of the building.
As soon as they’d stepped away, Ford said, “You didn’t have to do that. I can handle it.”
“Well, I can’t. I swear half this town is blind.” It seemed to be the wealthier, older half, too. Or maybe that was her biases rising up.
“It’s the yin and yang of small towns. Sometimes you can’t outgrow your reputation. Or your father’s or grandfather’s. Particularly with the older generation.” Ford shrugged. “Several have come around, though. And when it comes to Lottie, it’s personal. One of her daughters married and then divorced my brother, and her other daughter just got divorced as well, so I think she’s bitter at men in general.”
“She shouldn’t take that out on you.” Hypocritical, perhaps, since she’d sworn off men herself. Not that she’d lasted long.
“I’d rather her aim it at me than someone else. Like I said, I can handle it.” Ford banded his arm around her shoulders and nuzzled her neck. “But I appreciate that you worry about me.”
Would he appreciate that she more-than-worried?
Evidently her give-a-damn was broken tonight, so she ran with it. “I get that reputations can be hard to overcome, but to blame you for something your father or your brother did…?”
Thanks to her past, she was extra passionate about the subject. It just took seeing people judging Ford for her to get pissed enough to say something about it.
“That sucks, and people should get over it. Seriously, if you weren’t around, who would put out the town’s fires? Who’d show up for medical emergencies and find their lost loved ones in the wilds of Alabama?”
