chapter three
1530 Words
It was the first day of summer. Scarlet
had been in Pleasant Hill Springs for
two weeks, and it was good so far. She
hadn't seen anybody looking at her the
awry way, or anyone rubbing her off the
Wrong way.
Pleasant Hill Springs was a small town
of three thousand, eight hundred and
fifty population, and she had only
spoken to only five other people apart
from John O'Brien and his wife, Kimmy.
She had been indoors mostly in Linda's
bed and breakfast inn and only went out
three times; one to the store to get a
bottle of wine to take to the O'Brien for
the dinner they invited her to the second
night in Pleasant Hill Springs. The
second trip was to the sheriff's
department to give them the pie she'd
baked all night long. It was good to
have the cops on your side. She'd met
one of the deputies and he was so nice.
The third visit was to the house she
was looking to buy.
It was a moderate house and a bonus
that it was sandwiched between two
houses that belong to the mayor and
the town's bakery owner; a sweet lady
she must say, right across the town's
pizza hut.
She had spoken to the realtor and they
had concluded on the price. He had
even been okay with collecting cash
which she paid already.
John had helped her get a carpenter to
help get it in shape and it should be
ready in another week. Once it was
done, she was going to go to the local
kernel and get herself a dog. He or she
could serve as her friend because she
wasn't planning on having any. She
wasn't going to drag anyone into her
mess.
She would teach her dog French and
Spanish languages. She was good in
those but her Chinese wasn't that good.
Her mother had forced her to take those
classes as a kid, now they came in
handy. She spoke Spanish with her
mother sometimes when she didn't
want her stepfather to hear their
conversation.
Creepy old fool. She had always
wondered why her mother married that
silly man in the first place. He just
annoyed her at every point in time. Such
a creepy man, he was. His looks made
her skin crawl.
She could bet he had irritating thoughts
of her when he was alone.
Scarlet shook off the memory as she
wrapped the towel tighter around her
body. She needed to get a sim at the
store. She needed to get a new charger
for her laptop, as she had left it in
Florida and she needed to check out her
emails.
Post, her friend from college had
installed something on her phone that
won't allow her email to be traced, or
get her location from it
She also needed to get a safe-like box,
something she can keep her money in.
She didn't want to have a safe installed
in her house. This was a small town,
she didn't want anyone talking about
why she needed a safe or anything like
that.
After she got dressed in a black jean
and a purple tank top, she wrapped a
flowery socarf around her neck and slung
her cross bag across her shoulder. She
wore her boots and out of habit, picked
her car keys from the dresser.
Blue was still in the mechanic shop and
she hopes it will be out of there soon.
She had worn out the engine which was
why it broke down.
She would go there after her little
shopping to check things out.
She dropped the car keys back on the
dresser and went out of her room,
locking it behind her.
This would be the first time she would
be going out in the morning in this town
. She knew most people already heard
she was in town, even heard that she
bought the Garrison Murray's house but
they haven't seen her. She had to brace
herself for the stares and the whispers.
As she left the bed and breakfast, her
stomach grumbled. She had missed
breakfast this morning. She would grab
something to eat and the cafe. She also
needed caffeine. She wasn't a coffee
person and was more of a tea person
but she needed it today, and badly.
She walked into Sue Ann Coffee shop. It
was one of the two coffee shops in
town and she had already heard from
Linda that they were the best in town.
She would see for herself today.
The bell jingled above as she entered
the shop, indicating that a customer
had arrived. The inside of the place
smelled divine.
She walked to the front counter and a
young woman of about her age came to
stand in front of her with a smile. She
had blonde hair and a big green eyes.
She was a very pretty woman.
Scarlet smiled. "Hello, can I get a cup of
coffee and a sour cream coffee cake
with the cinnamon-walnut swirl?" She
said.
The woman smiled right back. "Of
course, you can." She extended her
hand over the counter. "I'm Sue Ann.
You must be Scarlet. It's nice to finally
put a face to the name"
Scarlet grinned and took her hand. "Yes,
l'm Scarlet. It's nice to meet you too."
She must be the owner of the cafe
"God, John didn't do justice to
describing you. You look like an angel
will fire on her head. Your hair is
fabulous."
"Thank you, Sue Ann. I love your hair too
" She replied.
Sue Ann nodded and gestured to a
young girl. She handed her Scarlet's
order. The bubbling girl turned on her
heels and went through a door into a
backroom that must be the kitchen.
Sue Ann turned to the coffee maker and
poured some into a to-go cup.
The door jingled to signal the arrival of
another customer. The place seemed to
be doing well, getting people to go and
come on a regular basis. The chairs
inside we're almost full as well.
Scarlet saw Sue Ann roll her eyes. The
sweet woman she had just met a
moment ago was gone and the smile
on her face was replaced with a sour
look. She turned to see a tall woman,
about five feet nine walking in. She had
a short red gown on, with a sandal on
her feet.
When she got to where Scarlet stood,
she ignored her and faced Sue Ann. "T
have one butterscotch pecan scone and
a coffee." She said.
Sue Ann ignored what the woman said.
"Uhm... Meet Scarlet, Diana." She
offered.
Diana looked at Scarlet with an
appraisal from head to toe, slowly, with
a frown on her face.
"Oh! It's you. You're who the town has
been talking about. Well, I'm Diana"
Scarlet disliked her immediately. No
one should have that much hate in them
She had never met Scarlet before and
she treated her like she was dirt on her
foot. That was an unacceptable
behavior. Out of habit and politeness,
she offered her her hand.
"Nice to meet you, Diana." She said.
Diana looked down at her hand but
ignored it. She turned back to Sue Ann
and said. "I need that scone and coffee
now, Sue. You know how grumpy I can
get without at least one in my
bloodstream."
"Oh please, Diana. You're just a naturally
grumpy person." She said and she
turned back to the coffee maker to go
get her the coffee. With her back turned
to Diana, she winked at Scarlet and
dropped three sugars into her coffee
Diana hated sugar in her coffee. She
always drank her coffee bare. She
pretended she had to keep in shape, but
in reality, she just wanted all the men to
look at her with lust.
Sue Ann handed her the coffee and
grabbed a cold scone from the display
shelf. She handed that to her as well.
Diana dropped her money on the
counter and with a small wave to the
construction men on the left, she left.
Scarlet watched Diana leave, and turned
back to Sue Ann when she was gone. "
Why was she so rude? Did I do
something I shouldn't have?" She asked.
Sue Ann shook her head. "Oh no, please
you didn't do anything wrong." She
assured her. "She's just a jealous slut,
pardon my French. That's why l added
sugar to her coffee when I know she
hates it. The whole town knows who
she is."
"Oh!" Scarlet said. She collected her
coffee and her cake. "Thanks!" She
muttered.
Sue Ann came around the counter and
stood in front of Scarlet. "I'm so sorry
for all that drama. This is on the house."
She said pointing to the goods in
Scalet's hand.
"Thank you! I'm not offended though."
Scarlet said. "It was really nice to meet
you."
Sue Ann grinned. She pulled Scarlet into
a hug and said. "You're just too
fabulous. You smell amazing too."
With one last smile towards Sue Ann,
Scarlet left the place and headed to her
next destination, the store....
- Writer
