“Lammie Loves Cubby” | Fanning The Flames of Long Held Desire

Spring 1976

You can take the girl out of the small town—or can you? Mary Lambert Timmons (Lammie) has lived in the same house in the same town for most of her life. The fictional town of Littleboro, NC is lovingly dubbed “The Little Town that Time Forgot.” Lammie knows all the residents, can walk to work, and often frequents the one restaurant in town. But has time forgotten her too?

For Lammie, the only desire she’s ever had has been right in front of her all along, quite literally. She spent her whole childhood standing in line behind Bernard Quinn Tatum Jr. (Cubby), from five years old up until their high school graduation day when Cubby leaves for the Army. Now that his father, Bear Tatum, is dying, Cubby must return home after 20 years to settle the will. Lammie is determined to realize her dreams of loving Cubby and using the $88,000 she has secretly squirreled away to start a new life together.  

Singular in her devotion to this fantasy, Lammie has tried before to leave Littleboro behind. After attending business school to become a legal secretary, she worked for a senator in Raleigh. A year later, she came home downtrodden and worse for wear harboring secrets of her own. The Timmons family knows something about secrets. When Lammie was small, she watched her father get shot in front of their house by a man accusing him of misbehavior. Lammie’s mother, in present day, is still under the impression that Lammie slept through the incident and didn’t witness anything. But secrets don’t stay secret very long in small towns, especially when Lammie goes digging for the truth. 

Cubby, who has some secrets of his own, is eager to see Lammie and they quickly take to one another, falling in love with a familiarity they unknowingly practiced for years. Their forays to his hotel away from Littleboro afford them privacy from Lammie’s overbearing mother with whom she has a strained relationship. When Cubby claims Lammie sets his world on fire, it may be more than a figure of speech. As their slow burn romance that has been stoked after two decades explodes into something much more dangerous and wild, freelance fire investigator Maureen Boykin, and self-proclaimed highway helper, Joe Corcoran, get involved in a mystery that (according to Joe at least) could be fate. 

The Fire Within

In some ways, Lammie Loves Cubby is very much a story about parents, their children, and the power dynamics between the two. Though Lammie is nearly forty, her mother still lives with her and passes judgement on every move she makes. Cubby, having just lost his father, finds that he feels differently than the rest of the town over mourning the “great” Bear Tatum. Their upbringings dovetail into being lonely and craving love, much as we see Maureen and Joe exhibit signs of loneliness. 

Middle-aged Joe quit his job and set off in his camper van to roam the open road helping fellow highway travelers along the way. After pausing at the same hotel as Cubby and Lammie, their stories become intertwined. Maureen, always hustling for steady work, is called to the hotel to investigate a fire, putting these four characters in direct vicinity of one another. The question becomes who burns brightest in this quartet. Who seeks revenge? Who hasn’t healed from their scars? And does fate really have a hand in things? 

Just Add Oxygen

Unpredictable in the best way, I was unable to put Lammie Loves Cubby down and finished the novel within a matter of days. With emotionally charged characters and intrigue seeping into every environment the author describes, Gaskin has lit our imaginations and ignited long-buried questions like sticks of dynamite. Who is setting fires all around Raleigh and Littleboro? How is Lammie saving back so much cash? What really transpired during her year working for the senator? And will each character find the feeling of belonging they crave? 

~ Allie Coker