Jed Had to Die

“Alright, looks like he’s distracted so now’s our chance to grab everything and get over there,” Emma Jo states, opening her car door.

“Hold on, let me make sure I have video ready to go on my phone. If Payton bites it, I want it documented for future enjoyment,” Bettie says.

I curse at her and she laughs while getting out of the back seat. With one last deep breath for courage while Bettie and Emma Jo get everything out of the trunk, I quickly open my door and get out with Baby Cecil in my arms.

The two of them lead the way and I hide behind them because I’m too much of a chicken shit to face Leo first. I’m hoping that by the time he sees them and says hello, it will be too late and too awkward in front of all these people for him to order me off his property.

I hear his voice speaking to people the closer we get and it brings tears to my eyes. I’ve missed him and his voice so much that it hurts and it almost makes me want to turn back around and go hide in the car because I’m so afraid that low, baritone voice that I adore so much is going to turn hard and angry when he sees me.

“Don’t you even think about going back to the car,” Emma Jo mutters under her breath to me, reading my mind.

“Ladies,” I hear Leo greet Emma Jo and Bettie with a smile in his voice when we get close enough for him to notice them. “How are you doing this ev-”

He comes to an abrupt halt when the two of them part, and I watch his smile disappear when he sees me, his face a mask of complete nothingness.

I swallow over the lump in my throat, remind myself that I’m a strong woman, and continue to move forward between Emma Jo and Bettie. His eyes stay locked on me as I move under the tent and behind the tables, but I look away to concentrate on what I’m doing before I break down into tears from nerves. One of his workers starts to take orders and fill up bags of sweetcorn for customers while Leo continues to stand there perfectly still where I can see him watching me out of the corner of my eye as I set Baby Cecil down on the table with sweaty hands and plug him into the extension cord connected to the strands of lights.

Emma Jo and Betty busy themselves on the other side of me, setting up the paper cups, lids, cream and sugar, and the other items Emma Jo brought with us. When we’re all finished I power up Baby Cecil while Leo continues staring at me without saying anything.

Sliding a mug I brought with me that says “I love coffee” under the nozzle of Baby Cecil, I press a few buttons and watch as liquid gold comes pouring out of him, filling the cup with steamy goodness, the smell perking me up and giving me a little extra courage. When it finishes, I slide the mug out, turn and hand it to Leo without saying anything, my eyes meeting his briefly before I quickly turn back to the machine. Just that one glance into his eyes was enough to make my hands shake and my knees almost give out, but I forge ahead. Grabbing the other mug I brought with me, the one Leo gave me that says “Bald Knob” with a giant red heart around it, I fill up my own cup of coffee, grabbing it and turning back around to face him with a deep breath.

Leo takes a sip of coffee and I almost want to chuck my cup at his face for looking so casual and relaxed when I want to throw up. I refrain from doing that, though, since I really like his face and don’t want to mess it up.

He leans to the side to look around me, nodding at Emma Jo.

“I see you brought pies,” he states.

I try not to let it get to me that he hasn’t said anything to me yet, but again, I deserve this and I’m just happy he hasn’t called Buddy to haul me away in cuffs.

“Yep! I’ve got some apple and cherry to sell,” Emma Jo exclaims brightly.

“What, no blueberry?” he asks with a twitch of his lips, raising one eyebrow.

“I decided to retire from the blueberry pie making business. They cause cancer, didn’t you hear?” she replies sweetly.

Leo chuckles softly, the sound making my stomach flop as he turns his eyes toward Bettie.

“Emma Jo’s selling pies, what are you selling?” he asks her.

“Oh, I’m not selling anything. I’m just here to watch Payton make an ass of herself. Got any popcorn?” Bettie asks.

I remove one shaking hand from around my mug of coffee and flip her the middle finger over my shoulder without taking my eyes off of Leo. I watch as the smile he gave Emma Jo and Bettie slowly slips away when his eyes finally land back on mine.

“So what are you doing here?” he asks in low voice that gives me goose bumps and makes my heart beat faster.

“Just sharing my coffee with the town of Bald Knob,” I reply, my voice sounding shaky and high pitch in my ears.

“I heard your coffee has been a big hit.”

He speaks with absolutely no emotion, taking another sip from the cup in his hands.

“What can I say, my coffee is very loveable,” I tell him with a shrug, feigning nonchalance.

He stares at me quietly for a few minutes before sighing and setting his cup down on the table next to him and then slides his hands into the front pockets of his shorts.

“It is, but it’s also stubborn and a giant pain in my ass,” he retorts and I immediately realize he’s not talking about coffee anymore.

“But my coffee can also be really sweet, and knows when it made a huge mistake, and will do anything to make it better, because the customer is always right.”

I finally see the corner of his mouth twitch as he looks down at me, and my courage goes up a few notches knowing he’s trying really hard not to smile and the chances of him kicking me out have lowered extensively.