“I do like the pies,” Grant nodded.
Hailey slapped Grant’s shoulder. “Sometimes I swear I don’t know what I see in you. You are awful…”
“Look at my arms,” Grant said, pulling his sleeves up, no hands on the wheel. “Look at all these bruises from where you beat me up yesterday. Are you proud of yourself?”
“What?” Hailey examined his right arm as he stretched it back toward the steering wheel. There were indeed curious, faint, purple bruises all down his arms. “What are you talking about…when did this happen?”
“Like when I was tickling you, and you were slapping me…” Grant recalled.
“Really?” Hailey frowned.
“Yeah,” Grant shrugged. “I have a huge bruise on my leg where you slapped the fire out of me on the porch.”
“Are you serious?” Hailey gasped.
“Yeah,” Grant nodded. “It’s like a handprint. I told you; you don’t realize how hard you hit.”
An involuntary noise that sounded more like a whimper than anything else escaped Hailey’s lips.
Grant shrugged dismissively. “It’s not your fault. I mean, you’ve beat me pretty consistently since we met, and I’ve never had bruises to show for it.”
“Stop saying that I beat you!” Hailey exclaimed. “That sounds awful!”
Grant pulled into Granny’s and noticed the station wagon parked in her driveway.
“Great,” he groaned. “She has company.”
Grant got out of the truck and slowly gathered up the brown paper bags. “Be sweet now,” Hailey pled, making a face as she carefully pulled each of the sleeves of Grant’s hoodie down to cover his arms.
“Protecting your reputation, I see,” Grant winked at her.
“Don’t you dare show her those,” Hailey sighed. “I’ll be having to meet with the preacher.”
“Granny!” Grant called, knocking on the door as he entered. “We got your groceries!”
Entering the kitchen, Grant and Hailey found Granny and her two best friends, Alice and Louise, wearing aprons over their moo-moos as they worked about the kitchen, their perfectly permed, blue hair unphased by the early hour.
“Well, y’all look, there is my handsome grandson and his sweet gal,” Granny announced. “Grant, just sit those bags down anywhere, Darlin’, and put everything in the ice box that needs to stay cold. You can stick my change in the breadbox, will ya? I do have change, don’t I? I declare, I told Barbra Harper last week that I can about go to Memphis for what it’s costin’ me to do my shoppin’ at The Country Stop these days!”
Granny motioned Hailey over to the stove. “It smells so good in here, Granny!” Hailey exclaimed, squeezing Louise’s hand as she passed, as a sort of greeting.
“Doesn’t it, Sugar?” Granny waved the aroma toward her with her dishrag before wrapping Hailey up in a hug.
“Got to be ready for the Christmas rush at Maude’s,” Hailey grinned.
“You bet your bottom dollar,” Granny said proudly. “They’ll be her biggest sellers; you watch!”
Grant stared at the plethora of pies cooling on the table, particularly eyeing a pecan pie on the end. “How about a nice slice of pecan pie for your delivery boy, Granny?” he smiled.
“We have boysenberry, cherry, lemon, pecan, and there are some apple pies in the oven now,” Alice announced.
“We’re making pumpkin too,” Louise yelled, not meaning to per se, but Louise tended to yell everything since her hearing had began to decline.
“I’m whippin’ up some chocolate pies too,” Granny added. “I’m tellin’ you ladies, you have never met any boy that loved chocolate more than my Eisenhower. I’m tellin’ you, that Ike could eat him some chocolate, couldn’t he Grant?”
Grant glanced at Hailey, and she offered him a soft, encouraging smile. Grant nodded his head. “Yes, Ma’am, I reckon he could,” he said.
“Grant, sit down, I’ll get you some pie,” Granny motioned. “Land sakes alive, how’re you feelin’? I was flabbergasted when your mama told me the last batch of elixir I made you didn’t quite do the trick.”
“Dottie, did you use the quarter teaspoon of cinnamon powder and garlic like I told ya?” Louise hollered.
Grant and Hailey turned their noses up.
“Of course, Honey; I ain’t lost my sense yet!” Granny snapped.
“That cayenne pepper will cure anything, Dottie,” Alice declared. “Nora Jean probably didn’t give him a proper dose three days in a row.” She pointed at Grant, wagging her bony little finger. “Did your Mama give it to you three days runnin’…that’s what you gotta do?”
“I’m feeling a lot better,” Grant nodded.
“Are you sure ‘bout that, Sugar?” Granny asked as she served Grant a slice of pie. “I’ll sure be happy to boil up somethin’. You can ask your mama…she was never sick a day in her life. As soon as it seemed like somethin’ was creepin’ up or goin’ ‘round, I took care of it before it had us drivin’ up to Doc Mason’s.”
Grant raised his fork. “This is good stuff, ladies,” he smiled.
“Well, come here, Hailey Jane, let me teach you a couple secrets to makin’ a pecan pie that’ll earn you a grin like that,” Granny declared.
After a quick lesson, Granny put Hailey to work making a pie as she peered over her shoulder. Alice was taking apple pies from the oven and Louise was stirring up some sort of interesting cinnamon drizzle.
“Hailey, how’s your daddy?” Alice asked.
