Hissy Fit (Possum Creek #2), Page 2

  “Damn right. And believe me when I say you're going to have fun doing it.”

  Chapter 2

  “Pappy, is there any way I can I talk to you alone for a minute?”

  Cal's grandfather looked mildly surprised at the request, but the 82-year-old man pushed his empty pie plate aside and stood up. “Porch?”

  Cal nodded and allowed his grandfather to lead the way onto the back porch of the massive Greek revival plantation house that had been home to the Walker family since the Civil War. The old man settled down in a thick-bodied rocking chair and gestured for Cal to take the one across from him.

  “What's bothering you, son?”

  Cal took a deep breath, unsure how to start the conversation he'd been rehearsing all day. “First off, before I say anything else, I want you to know how much I appreciate all you've done for me. Most guys my age don't have half the things I do. I want you to know that I do realize how lucky I am to have a steady, guaranteed job, and the property y'all gave me for graduation.”

  “You're welcome son,” Pappy said softly. “I'm glad to hear you appreciate your life.”

  “I'm very grateful.” Cal wondered if he was making the right choice. This was his last chance to change his mind.

  “But?” Pappy cut right to the point.

  “I'm bored to tears working in the shop,” Cal told him. “I don't want to sound spoiled, but I feel like I need to let you know how I feel. I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. I just can't see myself spending the rest of my life running the cash register, ordering supplies, and stocking shelves like Dad has.”

  “Is that so?” Pappy's expression hadn't changed. He appeared to be more curious than anything as he studied Cal in dim porch light.

  “Yes sir.”

  “May I ask what it is you do see yourself doing?”

  Cal took a deep breath. “I'm not exactly sure yet, but I've decided to enroll in some classes at Callahan Community College and start working towards my bachelor's degree. I've really enjoyed drafting and designing my house. I'm thinking I might try going into architecture and design.”

  Pappy considered the information Cal had just given him and then nodded. “Are you asking for my permission or are you just making me aware of your plans?”

  Cal considered for a moment before he responded. “I'm telling you my plans and hoping you'll support them.”

  “And if I didn't?” Pappy wondered aloud. “Would that change anything?”

  “No sir. I don't think so,” Cal admitted. “I can't spend the next 50 years selling PVC pipe. I'll go crazy.”

  Pappy sat quietly for a moment and then smiled.

  “So what you're telling me, grandson, is that I've worked my whole life to build a company that would support you and your family in complete and total comfort without ever requiring any real effort from you, and you've decided to walk away that cushy life so that you can go work your own rear end off doing something for yourself?”

  Cal thought about his Pappy's words and then nodded in agreement. “Essentially, yeah. That pretty much sums it up.”

  Pappy stunned Cal by breaking into a wide, gap-toothed grin. “It’s about time one of y'all showed some sign of ambition.”

  “What?” Cal's jaw nearly hit the ground. Pappy laughed.

  “I started that business, and both your daddy and your aunt were perfectly content to ride to success on my coattails. April Lynne will be working in my store for the next 50 years. So will Leroy. I knew from the start that neither one of them had an ounce of ambition, but I honestly wondered about you. You're smarter than the rest of them put together. I figured you'd get bored sooner or later. I just wondered if you'd have the guts to go out on your own or if you'd take the easy way out and accept mediocrity like the rest of them.”

  “Dad thinks I'm making a stupid decision,” Cal said, unable to keep the relief out of his voice.

  “Of course he does,” Pappy snorted. “He's never worked anywhere but the hardware store his whole life. He'd have a nervous breakdown if he had to do anything else.”

  “You think I'm doing the right thing?”

  “Absolutely, son. A man's got to make his own way in life,” Pappy said. “In fact, if you're serious about taking college classes, I'd be more than happy to pay for them.”

  “I can't thank you enough.” Cal felt as if a tremendous burden had just been lifted off his shoulders. For the first time in a long time, he felt like his life was getting back on track. “That would be great.”

  “I'm proud of you, Cal.”

  Chapter 3

  “I never thought I liked pink on you, but I think I've changed my mind.” David grinned at Gracie, his green eyes flashing in the dim light that was being given off by the chandelier outside the double-door entrance to Colloway Hall.

  “I never thought I'd go out in public wearing a dress that was completely see-through and made entirely out of lace.” Gracie glanced down at her own flesh, which was pretty clearly exposed through the clingy, hot pink fabric. “Mom was right. You are a bad influence on me.”

  “You know it.” David held his arms out wide, showing off his incredibly well-toned abdomen. He'd bought a black leather Harley Davidson vest during their impromptu detour to University Mall. He was wearing it without anything underneath. He was all toned muscle and tattoos.

  Gracie still didn't think he looked as good as Cal did, but she doubted there were very many girls who would agree with her. David Breedlove was a sight worth seeing when he took his shirt off. “You look yummy.”

  “Good. Now comes the fun part,” he smirked at her. “Now you get to eat me alive.”

  “David, we aren't going to be able to undo this once we start doing it.” Gracie took a deep breath. “If I get expelled, you have to take me home.”

  “You're not going to get expelled.” He threw his head back and laughed. “Believe me, Gracie Jayne, you don't get thrown out of school just for making out with a guy. Hell, I can't believe it’s against the rules.”

  “Me neither,” Gracie admitted as she wrapped both of her arms around his neck. She wasn't used to being tall enough to look him directly in the eyes without looking up at him. The cheap pink plastic high heels she was wearing had eliminated their 3-inch height difference. The whiskey he'd given her in the truck had drowned the self-consciousness she'd felt when he'd first talked her into playing show and tell in front of the entire dorm. “Are you sure this is going to work?”

  “Thirty minutes from now, no one is going to remember you were supposed to go on a date with old what’s-his-name last Friday night. No one. The only thing they're going to remember is what you look like with your tongue down my throat.” He licked the corner of his lip and grinned at her. “Come on, Gracie. Let’s give these goody-goodies a show they'll remember.”

  He pressed his lips to hers before she had a chance to hesitate. His lips were forceful and Gracie opened her mouth for him without thinking about the implications of everything they were about to do. As she leaned into David, he ran his fingers through her hair and opened the door that would lead them into the main recreational room of Colloway Hall.

  Over 100 girls were lounging on various couches, chairs, bean bags and pillows. Roughly half of them were watching the large projection screen at the far end of the room. Most of them had green goop smeared across their foreheads, chins and cheeks thanks to avocado facial night. A third of them stopped what they were doing and stared when David and Gracie spilled into the room.

  Gracie's tongue was so far down David's throat that she wondered if he would choke on it. David grabbed her by the hips and lifted her into him, making it easy for her to wrap her legs around his thighs. He pinned her against the wall with his body, breathing heavy as Gracie focused all of her attention on kissing him. So long as she didn't stop kissing him, none of this could possibly be real.

  “Oh. No. No, no no. Absolutely not!” An official sounding voice broke into Gracie's concentration. Someone started laug
hing.

  Gracie started to pull away but David pulled her back to him. He kissed her deeply and with a passion Gracie hadn't thought he was capable of. She tangled her fingertips in his shaggy brown hair.

  “Excuse me! You two! No, no! This is not appropriate behavior!”

  David let out a low laugh under his breath as he broke the kiss, leaving Gracie feeling exposed with swollen lips. She eased her legs back down his thighs. He held her steady as a chubby girl who Gracie recognized as one of the 4th floor resident advisers came stumbling across the room at them, shaking her fist angrily. The girl had green goo all over her face.

  “What do you think you two are doing?” The girl demanded.

  David looked over at Gracie, his eyes sparkling with genuine amusement. “What do you think we were doing?”

  “No. No. No.” The girl kept shaking her head. “You two know the rules on sexual behavior and you cannot just come in here acting like-.”

  “Gracie, I am so disappointed in you.” Patty had appeared to their left.

  Someone turned all the lights on. Gracie was suddenly extremely aware of exactly how much skin her dress was showing. Every eye in the room was turned to them. David had one arm around her waist. He used it to pull her closer to him and then he winked at her as he slid his hand down her side and made a very public show of grabbing her butt.

  “We're over 18. We're legal adults. We can make love anytime we want to.” David was having entirely too much fun with this, in Gracie's opinion.

  “Maybe, but you can't make love anywhere you want to,” the chubby girl told him angrily.

  “I'd love to see you try and stop me.” David turned his attentions back to Gracie. He wasn't gentle as he pressed his lips back against hers. She kissed him back because she had no idea how not to. He'd pushed the public charade much, much further than Gracie had ever imagined going with it. The crowd of girls who were watching them let out a combination of catcalls, whistles and cheers.

  “No! Stop it! Stop! You can't do that here!”

  Gracie twisted to look at the chubby RA. The girl's face was set in a firm scowl of disapproval. Gracie, for some unknown reason, suddenly found the girl's anger hilarious. She burst into giggles without meaning to.

  “This isn't funny!” the girl snapped at her.

  Gracie giggled louder.

  “Gracie, I'm sorry, but y'all need to go to the dorm office immediately,” Patty said. “You're both going to be written up. I need y'all to follow me to the RA's Office immediately. You have committed a serious breach of the code of conduct, and you're going to have to face the repercussions.”

  Gracie was giggling so hard she had to lean on David's shoulder to keep from doubling over. David pulled her in front of him, wrapped his arms around her waist and nibbled on her neck.

  “Stop. Right now.” The chubby RA grabbed David's arm. “Let her go. Get away from her, right now! You're compromising the morals of everyone in this building. Don't you feel any shame?”

  David laughed outright.

  Chapter 4

  “What do you mean, Kerry's investigating David?” Addison gaped at his Uncle Frank in total disbelief.

  “He swears up and down that he saw David dump that man's body in that damned field.” Frank took a long swig of a lukewarm cup of coffee on his desk and glared at Addison through the upper half of his thick bi-focals. “What the hell were you thinking, anyway?”

  “What was I-?” Addison was momentarily lost.

  “You know what I'm talking about. You're lucky you're not a regular deputy or I'd have no choice but to write your sorry ass up.”

  “Write me up? For what?” Addison crossed his own arms over his chest. He was annoyed by the change in topic.

  “Abandoning a fellow law enforcement officer,” Frank growled.

  “I tried to radio him.” Addison held up his arms in a big, fake shrug. “He never called for help and he never responded to any of my calls.”

  “Probably had something to do with y'all cutting the wires to his cruiser's radio.” Frank opened his mouth as if he was going to say something else, but a loud crash distracted him. Addison glanced across the main office area of the station to see that Kerry had tripped over the door frame between the reception area and the back office. He'd stumbled into Mooney's desk, knocked the filing bin onto the floor and turned his own cup of coffee into a puddle in the middle of the tile file.

  Addison bit his tongue to keep from laughing as Frank grabbed him by the upper arm and stood him up.

  “Hey!” Addy protested as his desk chair tipped over backwards and hit the floor with a thud.

  “Come on.” Frank marched Addison out of the building and past the flustered Kerry without speaking so much as a word.

  “He's a bumbling idiot,” Addison said the moment they were safely out of hearing distance.

  “Bumbling, yes.” Frank was shaking his head, the battered black cowboy hat he'd worn for the last 25 years bobbling along. “Idiot, no.”

  “Did you not see him just now?” Addison asked in disbelief.

  “Oh, I saw him,” Frank snapped. “He's small, clumsy, more self-righteous than a televangelist preacher and he's going to take over this department if y'all don't clean up your act and clean it up quick.”

  Addison blinked at Frank in confusion.

  “Do you not understand what the hell is going on, Addy?” Frank leaned heavily against the black Dodge Dually he'd been driving for both personal and official use for the last seven years.

  “You hired an idiot,” Addison replied.

  Frank shook his head and then stared down Main Street. “He's on trial, Addison. Same as Ian. I only have enough funding to hire one of them.”

  “And you're hiring Ian,” Addison didn't understand where this was going.

  “Are you completely dense?” Frank asked him. “Did you leave the good sense you were born with in some girl's cooter?”

  “No.” Addy absorbed the insult with a scowl. “I just don't see what the hell your problem is all of a sudden.”

  “Addison, that boy in there may not have the common sense of a duck, but he knows the law.” Frank tapped the toe of his cowboy boot against the rim of the truck's tire. “He knows that he's the best qualified candidate for the job. He knows that I'm pretty much legally obligated to hire him. He can sue the department for discrimination if I don't.”

  “What about Ian?” Addison asked.

  “Ian is a good kid.” Frank shook his head. “I want to hire him. But if y'all can't figure out a way to get Kerry's ass out of here, Ian is just gonna have to wait until one of three things happens.”

  “Which are?” Addison was starting to worry.

  “Perkins retires, Kerry finally gets bored with extracting revenge on every bully that ever said an unkind word to him in high school or hell freezes over and I get enough funding from the state to hire another deputy.”

  Addison sighed.

  “Kerry got stuck in a cow pasture for seven and a half hours. Doesn't that count towards making him look bad?”

  “No,” Frank scowled at Addison. “He's already filed a report on that incident that makes us look bad, not him. He was backing you and Ian up and y'all stranded him at the scene.”

  “He could have radioed us for help,” Addison said weakly.

  “Except for, by some amazing coincidence, he says no one’s radio would work,” Frank sighed. “Quit playing stupid, Addy. These childish tricks of yours ain't going to cut it.”

  Addison crossed his arms. “Well, what the hell do you want me to do then?”

  Frank sighed. “First off, I want you to tell me that David didn't murder that drifter we've got laying in Benny Brownstone's freezer.”

  “Do what?” Addison frowned and then remembered the way the conversation had originally started. “David didn't kill anyone.”

  “Well, I hope Cal can alibi him all weekend. Kerry swears it was David's truck he saw in that field, dumping that man's body off
the tailgate.”

  “David's truck? How the hell would that little ass-kisser even know what David's truck-?” Addy trailed off. He knew exactly how Kerry knew what David's truck looked like. He'd seen it in the Walmart parking lot while Addison was giving Gracie the third degree on her secret jolly jaunt home. Addison groaned.

  “What?” Frank looked at him sharply.

  “I know who can give David and alibi, but you're not gonna like it,” Addison said.

  “Who?” Frank twirled the end of his thick, gray mustache around one finger.

  “Gracie,” Addison said. “She was with him all weekend.”

  “Why in the hell?” Frank stared at Addison in disbelief. “Why is your sister spending all weekend with David?”

  “Apparently, they're happy together.” Addison scowled at Frank. “Don't tell Dad.”

  “Wonderful,” Wall said with a sigh. “Our murder suspect is alibied by my niece. That'll give Kerry one more reason to claim we're corrupt when he files his lawsuit.”

  Chapter 5

  “Well, that was a hell of a show. You're not expelled yet?” Kelsey was propped up on her bed with a celebrity gossip magazine in her lap when Gracie finally made it back to the dorm room.

  “No.” Gracie slipped the plastic high heels off of her feet. The straps that had gone over her toes had rubbed blisters on her feet during the four-story stair climb to the RA's main office, which was essentially located in the building's attic. David had offered to carry Gracie up the stairs, but Patty and the other RA had threatened to have him escorted away by campus police if he so much as touched her again in front of them.

  “Patty looked pissed.” Kelsey blew a huge blue bubble with her gum. She popped it with her fingertip. Gracie tried not to gag as she watched the blue goop adhere itself to the end of Kelsey's bulbous nose.

  “Who cares?” Gracie shrugged her shoulders as she began to wiggle her way out of the stretchy lace dress. “It’s a stupid rule. We weren't breaking any laws.”