Sweet Tibby Mack

Cole found himself standing on her porch almost before he realized what had happened. At least she’d locked the door, he thought as he heard the dead bolt slide home. Holding the paper up to the porch light, he skimmed the front page. The smile that had formed when he heard the lock engage died the moment he read headlines accusing him of hoodwinking the town. “She wants war.” He crushed the page. “Well, then, that’s what she’ll get,” he muttered to himself. “If Gramps gave land away—and that’s a damned big if—there’s got to be a record. I’ll check every scrap of paper in the house even if I have to stay up all night.”

Why was he hanging around out there? Tibby peered between the sunny yellow café curtains she’d stitched up last week. A sigh slipped out as Cole finally stomped down her back steps. With the moonlight dancing off his broad shoulders, he threw a long shadow across her herb garden and onto a big old apple tree. The tree where she’d spent many a summer spying on him—where she’d once foolishly carved their twined initials in a heart.

Tibby dropped the curtain after Cole had disappeared from sight. Lord, but his muscular legs and narrow hips still had the power to stir her blood. Stir her blood, and make her yearn for…for nonsensical things she didn’t have time to dream about. Impossible things…

Brushing at a tear, Tibby went back to working on her press. She wanted to run all the copies tonight and deliver them before daylight. The residents ought to have time to digest her article before they invested in Cole’s folly. They must have known she’d object to their forking over their savings to the whiz kid’s venture. Why else would they have gone behind her back? Cole must have persuaded them by playing on their esteem for Yale. The injustice had her inking rollers with a vengeance.

COLE STOOD in his grandfather’s study and popped the top on a can of beer. Where to begin? There must be thirty file cabinets. The first drawer he slid open seemed well organized, but it started the year Gramps had moved to Yaqui Springs. “Mm.” He tried to gauge the age of the post office. Definitely newer than the store. Roughly five years, he guessed. Otherwise he’d have to start with the most recent date and work backward—which really could take all night.

It was slow work, but interesting. In a way, the receipts gave a history of his grandfather’s life. The old man had bought stock low and sold high. He’d dabbled profitably in bonds and money markets. He’d bought, sold and traded a lot of land in the Imperial Valley, underscoring Cole’s belief that his grandfather wouldn’t give property away.

Cole tensed and downed a slug of beer. Gramps had spoken highly of Lara Mack—but come to think of it, he’d mentioned Tibby more often in their later correspondence.

Hadn’t Tibby admitted spending time here doing his filing? Cole fought a queasy feeling in his stomach. Was bilking people Tibby’s game? A lonely old man was a prime target:

Cole laced his fingers behind his head and tried to imagine Tibby Mack in action. That thick braid of sunstreaked hair swishing across her hips as she talked animatedly. Green eyes filling a heart-shaped face. There wasn’t a damn thing wrong with Gramps’s eyesight. Tibby possessed a willowy frame and small firm breasts that moved seductively when she walked. A swift surge to his loins jackknifed Cole into a sitting position. Now why would he have those kinds of thoughts about a woman who accused him of fraud?

Hurrying to the oak rolltop desk, he yanked up the telephone. Eleven o’clock. It wasn’t too late to call Cicely. Thrusting aside thoughts of Tibby, he went through his billfold until he found Cicely’s number. Then it struck him. This was a woman he thought he was serious about, and he didn’t have her phone number committed to memory. He knew the numbers of ten places that would ship sod anywhere in the world, and the numbers of twenty or so subcontractors. What did that say for his love life?

That he spent too damned much time involved in business, Cole decided as he punched in the sequence of numbers.

The phone rang repeatedly. He was ready to hang up when a sleepy voice answered. “Cicely?” he said. “Sorry, did I wake you? Who? Cole. Come on, it hasn’t been that long since we talked. No, I’m not calling from Italy. I’m in the States. Right here in California, to be exact. At my grandfather’s place out near the Salton Sea. He passed away.” Swallowing hard, Cole listened to her conventional murmurs of sympathy.

Between yawns she asked when he’d be back in Hollywood.

“I’m building a golf course in Yaqui Springs. I called to see if you’ll drive out for the weekend…Oh, you have plans for Saturday? An audition? Well, come afterward,” he said. “We have blue sky and clean air. I’ll cook all the meals,” he promised. Cicely hated to cook. Cole sensed the moment she began to weaken. “Good. Good. Try to get here before dark, or you may miss the road.” He gave directions, then listened to her grumble. “It’s not the back of beyond, Cicely. But it is secluded,” he added, his voice husky with longing. “You’ll love Yaqui Springs.”

After hanging up, Cole leisurely finished his beer. Then he strolled into the kitchen to take stock of his cupboards. Tomorrow, first thing, he’d hire someone to come in and clean. He wanted everything perfect. Dinner on the screened porch. Candlelight, wine—the whole shebang. Cicely counted calories and fat grams, but he made a pretty fair Mediterranean pasta, which he figured she’d find acceptable. He reached for another beer. Did Mack’s General Store carry things like feta cheese and angel-hair pasta?

Wondering that brought Cole full circle to the one person he’d been trying to forget. Tibby Mack. Striding to the window, he peered out. The fool woman’s house was still lit up like Christmas. How many of those damned tabloids did she print?

Mood greatly deteriorated, Cole dumped the rest of his beer down the drain. Snapping off the lights, he made his way to bed. The avid golfers of Yaqui Springs wouldn’t make any of their decisions about the course based on one small article, he reasoned. All she was doing was spinning her wheels. He almost felt sorry for her.

TIBBY HAD FOLDED the last newsletter and was carting the final batch out to her car when Cole O’Donnell’s house went black. My, look how quickly she’d begun to think of it as Cole’s house, considering that it’d belonged to Yale for as long as she remembered.

Had Cole found a copy of the note his grandfather had signed giving her that wedge of land? Tibby frowned. What if neither of them turned up a copy? Then Cole could stir up a lot of trouble. She was afraid he’d like nothing better.

Tired though she was, Tibby decided to search her grandmother’s papers. An hour later she closed her eyes and rubbed at the insistent ache attacking her shoulders.

Lara Mack kept records. She kept everything. It was just that nothing was in any kind of logical order. Important papers were thrown in drawers. Some were boxed but not labeled. Others had been tossed haphazardly into expanding folders. Tibby uncovered what amounted to a couple of years’ worth of correspondence between her grandmother and the office of the postmaster general. Mostly letters concerning the feasibility of establishing a postal center in Yaqui Springs. Lara’s theme—Tibby laughed over the unintended pun—was that driving approximately forty miles into Brawley every day to pick up mail constituted a hardship for senior citizens.

There were applications and receipted filing fees that Grandmother Mack had paid out of her own pocket. From all indications, she had worked harder than anyone to bring postal service to Yaqui Springs. And Tibby intended to do her level best to keep it there. Maybe she should suggest dedicating the building to her grandmother. Yes, that would rally the residents. Why hadn’t she thought of it sooner?

She carefully gathered all the papers she’d found. Before the week ended she’d carve out time to drive to the courthouse and check on deeds. She’d call on her grandmother’s lawyer, too; it couldn’t hurt to pose a few questions regarding where she stood legally. His office was in Brawley. Yaqui Springs had no lawyers—or any other kind of professionals, either.

Slogging through her normal nightly routine, which consisted of little more than brushing her teeth and washing her face, Tibby crawled into bed and lay for a long time listening to the creaks and groans of the old house settling. She felt a wave of loneliness and stared into the darkness, weighing again the pros and cons of getting a dog for company. Not that she was afraid to stay alone. In spite of Cole’s lecture, she’d never felt nervous in this house. But every time she cared for Ariel’s hounds, she enjoyed talking to them. They’d cock their heads to one side and woof a time or two as if responding. Her next trip into Brawley, she’d go by the animal shelter and just look at dogs.

The alarm shattered the stillness, rousing Tibby from a pleasant dream—an unreal dream in which she and Cole O’Donnell were drifting around the Salton Sea in, of all things, her ancient canoe. Lord, it was pitch-black out. She reached over and shook the small alarm clock. Then she remembered. The newsletter. She wanted to deliver it early. She yawned. It seemed as if she’d just gotten to sleep.

Tibby dragged herself into the shower. The water, a bit on the chilly side like Grandmother Mack had always advocated, perked her right up.

Once she went outside and saw that a faint moon and a few stars still shone in the sky, she decided her moped might make less noise. It took only moments to transfer the stacks of folded’ papers to her saddlebags.

When she returned from making a circuit of the sleeping town, golden fingers of sun had begun to brighten the eastern sky. Her sixth sense told her that everything was going to work out to her advantage,

By seven o’clock it was abundantly clear that her sixth sense needed a complete overhaul. The early-morning golfers, who took coffee in her alcove before they headed to Bogey Wells to tee off, were embroiled in arguments with Winnie’s band of moped travelers. Ladies who rarely if ever saw the sun rise—except for today.

“Winnie, dear,” Joe Toliver said, sounding terribly condescending, “surely you didn’t think Cole would just sink cups out among the sage and call it a golf course. Naturally he has to clear the land.”

His wife stood her ground. “Frankly, when we signed the petition, I had other things on my mind—if you recall,” she snapped. “Tibby brings up a good point in her article. What provisions have you men made for preserving our wildlife?”

“What wildlife?” broke in Fred Feeny. “Snakes and field mice?”

Winnie pursed her lips. “You know very well that on our nature hikes we’ve seen coyotes, rabbits and ground squirrels. Even gray fox and bobcats.”

“Big deal.” Pete Banks snorted. “Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is only minutes away. Those animals will find homes quick enough.”

His wife, Justine, normally a pacifist, elbowed her way into the fore. “Clients ask for paintings of our desert chaparral. Who’d buy a painting of a golf course? Why does Cole need so much land?”

Pete gave her a cup of coffee and pointed her toward the door. “For God’s sake, Justine, a top-notch eighteen-hole golf course takes two hundred acres. Would you rather he sold out to one of the truck farmers in the Imperial Valley? Then we’d stare at miles of tomatoes or dates or whatever.”

“I assumed the golf course would be for those of us who already live here. In her editorial Tibby says if Cole advertises, we might have to contend with an influx of snowbirds. What if they decide to stay?”

“Snowbirds don’t like the heat, dear heart,” Ralph Hopple interjected. “Neither do they like snow. Hence their name. When the snow flies in their home state, like migrating birds they travel in droves to the sun. But when the desert hits ninety and the snow melts at home, they leave us again.”

Rosamond Gordon sniffed. “We’re not dumb, Ralph; We know what snowbirds are. Some of us were snowbirds once. We settled here permanently, didn’t we?”

Tibby listened to the quarrel heating up around her, growing more distressed by the minute. Her article had created all this discord. Never had she heard her friends disagree so violently. While considering whether to intervene—wondering if she could even make them listen—she saw Winnie Toliver beckon her group to the door.

“Come ladies, it’s time to rethink strategy. Let’s buy a. loaf of Tibby’s zucchini bread and we’ll make a pot of decaf at my house.”

Tibby quickly bagged a loaf and followed them out. “Would anyone be free to watch the store later in the week? I have business in town. I’d like a full afternoon.”

“I’ll be glad to,” Justine offered. “Especially if your business concerns the wildlife issue. I’m so mad at Pete. He can’t see beyond the end of his golf club.”

Tibby worried her lip. “Don’t blame the men. They must get tired of making the drive to Bogey Wells. I’m sure it’s Cole’s fault—for dangling this opportunity under their noses. He should be ashamed. Yale isn’t even cold in his grave.”

The women gazed at one another guiltily. The look went by Tibby. She continued to firm up plans with Justine. Then, as she turned to go inside, Tibby saw Joe Toliver and Fred Feeny measuring the post office. Pete, who obviously didn’t realize Tibby was watching, said in a voice that carried, “What if we jacked her up, put her on skids and sort of scooted her this way? She’s only resting on pier blocks.”

Joe shook his head. “The post office would still be too close to Cole’s property line for the county to issue him a building permit. We’ll have to brainstorm. Come on or we’ll be late. Let’s discuss it in the car.”

Tibby shrank into the shadow of the doorway. How dared they assume they had the right to move the post office her grandmother had built! “No more sweet Tibby Mack,” she vowed, watching them leave. “I’ll find a dog, all right. A guard dog.”

She was still in a foul mood when the man she blamed for the unrest in Yaqui Springs sauntered through her door a few moments later. Tibby finished cleaning up a mess of spilled sugar and crumbs at the coffee bar. Ignoring Cole, she ground beans for a fresh pot of coffee.

“Mm, that smells good.” He came up behind her and sniffed over her shoulder. “Is it for your use only or do you sell that by the pound, as well?”

Tibby turned and found herself at eye level with his chin and gently curved lips. Luckily for her he had his eyes closed and missed the start she gave when her knees caved. “I, uh, sell’a variety of specialty coffees. They’re on the far side of aisle four. This is vanilla bean. I stock almond and raspberry. Great after-dinner coffees. All decaffeinated. Most of the residents have high blood pressure, so they need to avoid things like caffeine. And situations that cause stress,” she emphasized.

His eyebrows shot up. “Are you saying I’m causing them stress? Golf is one of the least stressful activities. It gets people outside in the fresh air. Cardiologists everywhere recommend golf as a method of reducing blood pressure, in case you haven’t heard.”

“You’re a regular medical encyclopedia, O’Donnell.”

He shrugged expansively. “I’m here to buy groceries, not engage in debate. I have a guest coming for the weekend who’s a fussy eater. Do you carry things like feta cheese, fresh basil and bulgur for making tabbouleh?”

“Yes.” Tibby rolled her eyes. “A chef now. It must be nice to be a jack-of-all-trades.”

He leaned a hip against the coffee bar and studied her through half-closed eyes. “Are you aware that the residents refer to you as sweet Tibby Mack?”

Tibby released her breath and spun away. She’d been anything but sweet to Cole since he’d arrived. But when he stood’as close to her as he was now…“You said you came here to shop, O’Donnell. Why don’t you hop to it and quit harassing the management?”

Cole tugged on one ear. Lowering his gaze, he racked his brain, trying to think of something he might have said or done to make her so prickly. In the end he decided the problem, whatever it was, lay with her. Since it was out of his control, he grabbed a cart and started down the aisle.

Glad to be free of the tension stretching between them, Tibby puttered while Cole made his selections. She watered the hanging baskets of fuchsia and geraniums that brightened the dark wood walls. She snapped dry leaves off the pothos and trailing ivy that lent a homey feel to the coffee bar and small beauty shop. Yet she knew at all times exactly where Cole was.

A few minutes later Tibby rang up Cole’s purchases and sent him on his way with one of her most professional smiles. Thankfully it was the last she saw of him all day.

When the golfers popped in that afternoon, they weren’t as talkative as usual. Pete and Fred muttered that as far as the wildlife went, she was making mountains out of molehills. They reminded her there were rabbits on the greens at Bogey Wells.

That night Tibby went to bed with a splitting headache.

It hung on for the rest of the week. A steady stream of travelers kept her unusually busy. So busy, she barely spoke to any of the men who came for coffee every morning.

During a lull that occurred on Saturday—the day Tibby finally decided business had slacked off enough for her to go to town—Cole dashed in. “I forgot to buy candles,” he said. “Do you carry the short fat kind? And I’ll need a bottle of good white wine.”

Tibby directed him to the proper aisles. She didn’t want to serve him today and checked her watch for at least the twentieth time, waiting for Justine. She was eager to get on with her mission.

Time dragged. No other customer came in to offer distraction. Cole walked up to the counter in that easy way of his that sent a whistle of awareness through Tibby’s midsection. Her best defense was to get mad at him and stay mad.

Fortunately he provided the opportunity as he took the first item from his basket and placed it on the counter. “I asked around like you suggested. No one remembers my grandfather donating land for the post office.”

“What?” Tibby stopped feeding prices into the cash register. She gripped a bottle of expensive coastal wine by the neck. “Who’d you ask, for pity’s sake?”

Cole rubbed his jaw. “The group that headed out to play golf this morning. I met them on the road and we stopped to talk.”

“You mean Joe Toliver, Pete Banks and Fred Feeny didn’t set you straight?”

“They were among the people I spoke with, yes.”

Tibby felt a stab of anger. Those men knew the truth. Why on earth wouldn’t they stand behind her? Had they forgotten what it was like driving forty miles to pick up mail? “I know the land was donated,” she said angrily. “So do they.”

Cole tugged a folded paper from his back pocket and dropped it on the counter. “This is a rough layout of the golf course, clubhouse and pro shop. If the interest is what I predict, later I’ll add a restaurant. So you see, I need that property desperately.”

“Need all you want. I wouldn’t start breaking ground if I were you unless you put the clubhouse somewhere else. You aren’t touching that post office, O’Donnell.”

“Look, I pawed through most of Gramps’s files over the week. He has receipts of transactions dating back twenty years and not one shred of evidence that he gave you the land. Unless you show me proof, I plan to start clearing.”

They were nose to nose, shouting, when Justine Banks scurried in. “Sorry I’m late, Tibby. We met at Winnie’s for coffee this morning. You know how she is when she climbs on her soapbox. Is something wrong? You two having a quarrel?”

Tibby stuffed Cole’s groceries in a sack. “That’s putting it mildly. Instead of entertaining out-of-town visitors he should close up Yale’s house and return to Hollywood, where sneaky double-dealing is a way of life.”

“Resorting to slander now, I see. I do have a witness.” Cole turned to Justine, and the older woman sort of puddled at his feet.

Tibby shoved the sack into his arms. “I believe you were leaving?” she said with sarcastic sweetness.

“Gladly. And don’t hold your breath waiting for me to darken your door again. I’d sooner drive the extra miles to shop in Brawley.”

Justine’s head whipped from one to the other like a baby bird seeking a worm. “My,” she said as the door slammed on Cole’s heels, “it’s like Winnie said not five minutes ago. Our community cohesiveness is going to heck in a handbasket.”

“It goes to show that the person who said one bad apple spoils the barrel knew what he was talking about.” Tibby glared at the door through which Cole had departed. “But don’t worry, Justine.” She patted the older woman’s arm. “Maybe later today I’ll have news to mend this rift once and for all.”

Justine blinked owlishly behind her round glasses. “Yes, Winnie made that same comment. What time will you be back, dear?”

“I hope by four. Help yourself to lunch and try some of that new raspberry-and-rosemary tea I bagged today. I think you’ll find it calming. You’ll need to make sandwiches for the lunch crowd. There are still two loaves of seven-grain bread and one of sourdough. Tomorrow I’ll bake again.”

“You go run your errands. I’ll do fine, Tibby. Take some time and pamper yourself. You’re always doing for us, child. Do something for yourself for a change.”

“Like what?” Tibby balanced on the balls of her feet near the door.

“Oh, a manicure or a new hairdo. You’ve worn a braid since you were fifteen.”

“It’s easy-care and keeps the hair out of my face when I work in the gardens or stocking shelves. What’s wrong with my braid?”

“Nothing, child. But if you gussied yourself up a little, maybe the O’Donnell boy would be more amenable to putting his clubhouse somewhere else. According to Emily Post, a man can’t refuse a well-turned-out woman anything.”

“First, I’m not a child and Cole O’Donnell isn’t a boy. And nobody goes by that old bunk today. There’s equality between the sexes now. And I, for one, don’t want Cole to put his clubhouse anywhere in Yaqui Springs. I’d rather he did sell to truck farmers. End of discussion, Justine. If I don’t hurry, I won’t be back in time for you to start Pete’s dinner. I know you like to have it ready when he comes home.”

“Not tonight. I’m mad at him, too.” She flushed. “My waiting on him is part of that old bunk you mentioned. I think I’ll give him a taste of this equality thing.”

Frowning, Tibby marched back to the counter and collected her sunglasses and the drawing Cole had given her of his proposed golf course. “Isn’t that pretty rash, Justine? Pete isn’t exactly a nineties man.”

The woman smiled and patted her gray chignon. “Don’t fret, dear. After nearly forty years of marriage, I know exactly how to enlighten him.”

CHAPTER THREE

TIBBY COULDN’T BELIEVE she’d forgotten it was Saturday, and the land office was closed. Fortunately Gram’s attorney was in, but that visit proved nearly as fruitless; Lara had never mentioned the land transaction to him. However, the elderly Mr. Harcourt did provide Tibby with one ray of hope.

“I imagine there are strict rules and regulations concerning the relocation of a U.S. post office, Tibby. I’d be happy to file an injunction against O’Donnell to tie his hands until you get a ruling from the postmaster general’s office next week. However, it takes at least two working days to process an injunction. If I file Monday, it’d be Wednesday or so before the county served him.”

“Even that would help, Mr. Harcourt. He’s not at the digging stage, and I didn’t get the impression he’d rip out the building. He’s pressuring me to move it. But there’s no room on my property unless I stick it in the middle of my parking lot.”

“I’ll start the ball rolling, then. First thing Monday you get on the horn to Washington and see what they suggest. Meanwhile I’ll draft a letter telling O’Donnell of our intent to file the injunction. Sometimes that alone makes a person back off. If you’re going to be in town awhile, drop by later and pick it up.”