Cletus Quotes

Congratulations, Jethro. Happy for you."

"Thanks, Drew."

The two men stared at each other and something passed between them, an understanding of some sort.

"Oh great, now Drew and Jethro can mind-meld. I'm getting out of here." I turned from the group and their chuckles.

"Come on, Cletus. Stick around. I'll gaze longingly into your eyes. Us single guys need to stick together," Beau called after me. ~ Penny Reid

Is there something going on with you?" I asked, giving him ample opportunity to share his troubles.

His eyes lifted to mine and he twisted his lips to the side. He stared at me, carefully masking his thoughts and saying nothing for a time. Then he shook his head.

"Nope. Nothing is going on with me." Beau's tone was deliberately devoid of telling emotion.

I scrutinized him further.

"Stop it, Cletus."

"Stop what?"

"Stop trying to peer into my mind." He cracked a half smile, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"I would never do that, Beau. Your mind is a depraved and dissolute place. I would fear for my eternal soul should I manage a glimpse inside."

He grinned at my teasing and I was pleased to see it. "That's right." He turned to the door and called over his shoulder as he left. "And don't you forget it. ~ Penny Reid

I surrounded myself with different people; races and tongues. And out of them I found heaven, although no one can ever make a hell for me! ~ Emmanuel Chimnecherem Cletus

We were still at the beginning, our beginning, and I'd never been as truly happy in my entire life as I lived and breathed and endured during the moments we spent together. ~ Penny Reid

It's just one of those things people talk about. Like, if you could have a superpower, what would it be?"
"I'd like to be able to fly," Cletus responded as though her question had been asked in earnest.
"Not be invisible? Or read minds? Or be omniscient?" Roscoe suggested.
Cletus shook his head. "Certainly not. That'd be redundant because I'm already all of those things."
"Then make it rain blueberries," Roscoe teased. ~ Penny Reid

More recently, my father has been impressed with how Billy basically started at the bottom of Payton Mills and has worked himself up to South East Region Vice President."

Cletus frowned. "Is that his title?"

"My father thinks so. And he's certain Billy wants to run for state senate. Both my parents like the idea of having a son-in-law in politics. I think that's why they like Jackson so much. I know he has plans to run for office."

"Jackson would make a great politician."

"I thought you didn't like Jackson?"

"I don't. Saying someone would make a great politician is like saying someone would make a great serial killer. It's not a compliment. ~ Penny Reid

Jethro huffed a laugh and shook his head. "You know, Beau. You're a lot more like Cletus then you let on."

"Thank you." Beau grinned at me. "In lightof recent events, I'll take that as a compliment. ~ Penny Reid

Look who finally decided to show up." Cletus greeted me with both hands on his hips, standing just outside the garage. "I was about to send out a search party, but none of Hank's exotic dancers are awake at this time of day." Cletus paused thoughtfully, and then added, "Except Hannah. ~ Penny Reid

But then, out of nowhere, Cletus said, "I guess we're going to have to practice."

"Pardon me?"

"Practice kissing. Like what you did with Billy."

I reeled back as my head whipped to the side, our eyes colliding. I couldn't believe my ears. "You think . . . you want me to practice kissing with Billy?"

"No. No. Absolutely not." Again, Cletus's gaze flickered over me. "I mean you and me. I'll help you practice."

The heart flip returned, but this time it was more forceful than before. And it brought some friends - the tummy cartwheel, the throat cinch, and the chest ache.

What. The. Hell . . .? ~ Penny Reid

Okay. Fine. Why are you disappointed in me, Cletus?"

"Because I provided means and opportunity. All you had to do was exploit the situation."

"What are you talking about?"

"On Friday? With the blankets and coffee? You think that was all by accident? That was arranged."

"Arranged?" I blinked at him while he tore off another piece of his doughnut. It smelled like it was strawberry flavored.

"Yes. Arranged."

Leaning back in my chair, I crossed my arms and examined Cletus. I decided he was odd. "You're odd."

"Yes. I am. But that doesn't negate the fact that you fumbled my pass. If we're going to make this thing happen with Jethro, I need you to bring your A-game."

"This is about Jethro?" I sat up straighter.

"Of course. What'd you think I was talking about?" Apparently I wasn't catching on quickly enough because he sighed loudly and rolled his eyes with great effect. "Do you want my help or not?"

"Yes, yes, yes," I said quickly, leaning forward at full attention. "Yes. I want your help."

"Fine then. We need to coordinate our attack." Cletus punctuated this statement by popping the remainder of the first doughnut in his mouth.

"Good. Yes. Attack synchronization." My phone rang as he chewed. I glanced at the screen, saw it was Marta, and sent it to voicemail.

Marta called back immediately, earning me a severe frown from Cletus.

"Y ~ Penny Reid

Yeah, see, and that proves my point. What killed Housini? A stupid accident. But for one moment of stupidity, he'd have grown old with his Bess and been happy as a big in shit. Notice I ain't young, and if I die, old Cletus would kick my ass for leaving him all alone down here. (Jack) ~ Sherrilyn Kenyon

This is a huge foyer. She spun in a slow circle, taking in the high ceilings.
She'd said the word using its French pronunciation, foy-ay. Cletus said it that way. The rest of us said foy-er, like it's spelled, because we lived in the United States and weren't pretentious nut jobs. Not that I thought Sarah was a pretentious nut job or made such a judgment about all people based on their pronunciation of that single word.
Just Cletus. He said foy-ay and was most definitely a pretentious nut job. ~ Penny Reid

Grandpa?" Declan raised his eyebrows.
"We keep him in the shed out back," Jack said helpfully. "So he doesn't eat dog brains. ~ Ilona Andrews

I'm not an expert," said Cletus. "I'm a scholar. There's a difference. An expert's a man who knows a great deal about his subject. A scholar's someone who knows all there is that's available to be known about it. ~ Gordon R. Dickson

Billy helped," Jethro said, his voice held hesitation.

"Billy?" Duane didn't try to mask his surprise; he and Beau stared at each other, communicating for several seconds without talking. The twins' ability to impart thoughts through a look had always been frustrating. I didn't like being left out of a conversation.

"Yes. Billy. Billy helped," I confirmed irritably. "And will you two cease discussing with your eyeballs. There are several other people in the room who can't brain-link."

Duane lifted an eyebrow, his eyes darting from me to Beau and then quickly to the floor. "Fine, Cletus. Cool your engine."

I grunted, but said nothing. I didn't want to pick a fight with Duane. I only had a few more weeks of him hanging around and the thought depressed me. He was a grumpy, brooding little bastard who had the habit of only speaking when spoken to - and sometimes not even then. I was going to miss him. ~ Penny Reid

Stop it." Cletus snapped his fingers in front of our faces. "I hate it when you two mind-meld through your eyeballs. ~ Penny Reid

That's right. I'm looking for an escape. Drew is out there. And - oh God - Cletus, I'm the worst. I'm so awkward, my awkward is embarrassed by my awkward. ~ Penny Reid

I'm going to give you some advice, Cletus." Duane hit my shoulder. "It's something you once said to me."

"Oh, no."

"Oh, yes." He grinned, big and wide, and that was a sight to see. Duane never grinned, not really, not unless Jessica was in the room.

I braced myself for whatever nugget of excrement he was about to toss at me. ~ Penny Reid

When we give alms, it doesn't seem we have too much, but our assets increase when there's smile on the faces of those we helped; their smiles is our assets, our assets is their smile ~ Emmanuel Chimnecherem Cletus

We all did a lot of staring that day.
The point that struck me as most interesting about our collective staring was the objects at which people stared.
Jethro stared out the window. Billy stared at the fireplace. Cletus stared at the front door. Beau stared at the kitchen table. Duane stared at the refrigerator. Roscoe stared at Momma's sewing desk.
I sat in my recliner and stared at the spot where the hospital bed had been. ~ Penny Reid

Sure, but I think the traps should work." I set my hands on my hips, not wanting to tranquilize the bears unless absolutely necessary.

"The ketamine isn't just for the bears." Drew gave me a sympathetic look, then promptly turned and left, Roscoe on his heels.

"I think he expects me to use the ketamine on the film folks." I chuckled, knowing Drew wasn't serious. It was pretty darn close to a joke though. I was proud of my boss, he rarely made jokes.

"Or use it on each other." Cletus gulped the rest of his coffee, smacking his lips before adding. "If these movie people are as crazy as Drew thinks they are, we can self-medicate until we pass out. It's always good sense to have an escape plan. ~ Penny Reid

Do you want to tell me what happened? Why were those bikers chasing you?" Jessica's gaze bounced between us.

"They were upset I switched their tampons with Depends." Cletus sounded so serious and reasonable, I almost believed him. And I'd been there. ~ Penny Reid

Cletus takes a sizeable gulp from the bottle, then points at Arden. You'd learn something from that one, boy. She's a hard worker. A survivor. Gets things done. That girl doesn't know it, but she's going places in life. ~ Anna Banks

Cletus Byron Winston, you are being rude." I might have my own less than glowing thoughts about my father, but he was my father.

He opened his mouth to respond, then snapped it shut and did a double take, his eyes narrowing on me. "First of all, how do you know my middle name?"

"Your momma used to use it when you were naughty, when you boys would help her shelve books in the library. 'Cletus Byron! Stop stuffing Astrophysics Monthly down your pants!'"

Cletus grinned. Then he chuckled. His eyes lost some of their zealous focus as he pushed away from the tree and strolled closer. "Oh yeah. She did, didn't she?"

"I felt sorry for Billy, though." I scooched to one side as he sat down. "His name always confused everyone, like your momma was trying to talk to Shakespeare's ghost. 'William Shakespeare, would you please stop Beauford from pulling down his pants in front of the girls?'"

Cletus laughed harder, leaning backward and holding his stomach. "I remember that. How old was Beau?"

"He was ten. He was trying to show us his new Tarzan underwear. I don't think he meant any harm."

"He sure did love that underwear." Cletus nodded and he scratched his beard. "I'm going to have to find him some Tarzanunderwear in adult size."

"So you can torture him about it?"

He pretended to be shocked by my accusation. "Certainly not. I don't torture my siblings."

"Yeah, right." I gave him my ~ Penny Reid

Cletus Winston is madly in love with me. *** ~ Penny Reid

Cletus sneered. "You are the opposite of boastful, and your humbleness verges on infuriating." "Gee, thanks." I rolled my eyes. "Look, all I'm saying is that if a person is great at something, she shouldn't have to pretend she's not, and she shouldn't have to downplay her hard work. There's nothing wrong with humility or modesty, Jenn. But - for heaven's sake - take credit for being a badass." I ~ Penny Reid

I'd kiss you but I don't want our beards to tangle. ~ Penny Reid

Cletus frowned at Roscoe, looked like he was about to fill in the blanks, but instead said, "Roscoe, could you take Jethro's truck and run back over to Daisy's for more coffee?"

"You're trying to get rid of me." Roscoe shook his head.

"Yes. We're trying to get rid of you." I clapped my hand on his shoulder. "You're not the law - like Drew - and you're not sinister - like Cletus."

"Plus I want more coffee." Cletus lifted his empty cup. "I can't think without my coffee. ~ Penny Reid

What's wrong?" Billy's question had me looking up. My second-oldest brother was already dressed for work in his suit and tie. "And shouldn't you be fishing with Hank?"

"I cancelled. I have an errand to run." Grabbing a coffee cup from the cabinet, I tossed a thumb over my shoulder. "The toilet is acting funny."

"Like what? You mean satire?" This question came from Cletus, not bothering to glance away from where he was reading at the table. He was still in his pajamas, his curly hair a mess.Nevertheless, I was surprised to see him up so early.

"No, I mean - "

"I hope it's a dark comedy," he added, still not removing his attention from the newspaper.

"Cletus. That's disgusting."Sitting across from Cletus, Duane's tone was reprimanding.

Finally, Cletus tore his eyes from the paper. "What?"

"Dark comedy?" My twin lifted his eyebrows."Meaning poop?"

"No, Duane." Cletus paired this with a suffering sigh.

"That would make it a shitty comedy," I piped in, adding fuel to the conversation fire as I was prone to do, feeling more myself as I smiled.

"Y'all are a bunch of toilets," Billy mumbled under his breath.

We all turned our attention to our older brother, with Cletus speaking for us, "Let me guess, because toilets in this house actfunny?"

Billy tilted his cup toward Cletus. "Exactly."

I grinned, the rawness in me settling. Being around my b ~ Penny Reid

You ask too many questions," snapped Cletus.
I kept my gaze on Roman. "that's because I get too few answers. ~ David Baldacci

I'm . . . concerned. You appear to be upset. What's wrong?" His voice gentled and his eyes searched mine. "What's happened? And what can I do to help?"

I crossed my arms because my stupid heart was fluttering again. He caught me off guard. I was not at all prepared for Cletus Winston's concern.

"Nothing. Nothing is wrong. I just wanted to bring y'all muffins. Can't I bring y'all muffins?"

He was scrutinizing me again. "No. Something's off. Is it Jackson James? Do I need to maim him? Because I will. I could give him leprosy, you know. Armadillos are carriers."

My mouth fell open and a bubble of laughter emerged unchecked. "Cletus Winston, you will do no such thing."

"Sheriff's deputy or not. Just say the word. It might improve him, actually."

"You are terrible." I laughed, even though he was terrible, and I felt terrible laughing at such a terrible joke.

At least, I hope it's a joke ~ Penny Reid

See, Cletus has this thing for cheese, but since he has no thumbs he has to have me give him his cheese on his food every night. If I die, no one else knows about Cletus and the cheese, and poor old Cletus would lose his mind. So I can't die until he does. See how that works? (Jack) ~ Sherrilyn Kenyon

If you give Cletus an inch, he'll take a light-year. ~ Penny Reid