Chapter 5 #2
He set her down and she ran into her igloo.
He found a couple of chunks of concrete leftover from when they cleaned up the tornados mess and shoved them into the holes.
“That should hold until Brodie can figure out something else. After the holidays, I’m going to suggest we dig an eighteen-inch trench all the way round this pen and fill it with concrete. That might slow you down.”
Pansy answered with a squeal but didn’t come out of her safe house.
“Don’t you sass me. I heard the carnival in town had a petting zoo with goats, sheep, and even a potbellied pig. If you dig out again, I will make sure that you leave with them,” he threatened.
***
Willa Rose snuck away to the sunporch again that afternoon.
She pulled a fluffy throw up to her neck and looked out over the land at the bare trees and cattle on the ranch next door.
She had no intention of staying in this part of Texas, no matter how beautiful and quiet the scene before her.
One year from now, hopefully before that, she and her father would be back in Poetry where they belonged.
This was like a little extended vacation.
If her store did well, she might consider turning the big two-story house where she grew up into an antique store.
“Aunt Bernie said she saw you come out here,” Rae said as she came through the door with Endora right behind her.
“We’ve both been trying to corner you all day to talk to you,” Endora said.
Willa Rose pushed the throw away from her neck but left it lying on her lap. “Bernie said that you want me to help you with the young kids’ Sunday school class. And Endora, you want me to be kind of your understudy with the church Christmas program?”
“That’s right,” Endora answered. “These babies might not wait until the middle of December, and I need a backup.”
“Why not one of your sisters?” Willa Rose asked.
“They will be helping, but I need a planner—kind of like a wedding planner, only you won’t be rushing around for a wedding.
Your job will be to get the kids or the old people waiting backstage to go on at the right time,” Endora answered.
“I have a notebook from last year, so it shouldn’t be a problem, and I hear you are really good at organizing. ”
“Hank says you taught second grade and helped your mother with a Sunday school class, so please,” Rae begged.
“I’m all out of ideas to keep them occupied when they aren’t onstage for their part of the program.
If you weren’t putting in an antique shop, I would try to recruit you to either substitute teach or else put in your application for the fourth-grade position that’s coming open at my school. ”
It will just be a one-time deal for the program and a few weeks of helping Rae in the classroom and some Sundays at church. It will give me something to do other than sort through antiques and get the store ready for the grand opening in February.
“Okay, I’ll be glad to step in and help y’all,” she answered.
“Thank you! Thank you!” Rae said.
“Yes, thank you so much,” Endora added. “We’ll be helping get the Paradise all decorated for the holidays, but early next week, we’ll sit down with my notebook and go over it.”
Before anyone could say another word, Heather and Daisy rushed out of the kitchen into the sunroom. “Mama, I need to show Willa Rose—I just love that name—the pictures of us at the carnival.”
“I’m going to have all baby girls, and I’m going to name the first one Willa Rose,” Daisy declared. “Heather can have all baby boys.”
“Hey, I want some girls, too,” Heather pouted.
“Let’s hope neither of you have to worry about baby names for a long time,” Rae said.
“And that you change your mind a dozen times before you have a child,” Willa Rose said. “I always wished I had a more modern name like my sister, Erica, did.”
Both girls seemed to ignore her advice, and Heather laid a book in Willa Rose’s lap. “Aunt Bo had this book made for us in Nocona. The carnival people had a pig like Pansy, a bunch of goats, and sheep. And we’ve got all the pictures that were taken that day.”
“We thought they would have pony rides, but they didn’t,” Heather said, “but they’ve got a camel, and we got to ride him. Daisy was scared, so we rode him together. Look at this picture. His name is Clyde.”
Endora giggled. “I wonder if they named him after that old song by Ray Stevens about Clyde the camel?”
Daisy turned the page. “And here’s one of us with the pig like Pansy. His name is Porky.”
“I wish we had a camel and a pig,” Heather sighed.
“Oh, no!” Rae put an end to that idea. “You’d want to bring them into the house on cold nights, and that is not happening.”
“We could build a barn and have stalls for the animals and have all kinds of critters,” Daisy said. “If Daddy says yes, then I want a camel of my very own for Christmas.”
“Santa doesn’t have room on his sleigh for a real camel, but I bet you might find a stuffed one under the tree,” Rae said.
I want a set of hyperactive twins for Christmas, Willa Rose thought. They wouldn’t take up nearly as much room in Santa’s sleigh as a camel.
“Look!” Heather pointed out the window. “Uncle Tripp is back. Come on, Daisy, we got to go show him our new book. I bet Uncle Brodie will let us keep a camel on his farm if Daddy says no.”
They rushed out just as quickly as they had appeared and left the door open.
Rae closed it, sat back down, and nodded at Endora.
“You’ve got that to look forward to, little sister.
I have a whole new appreciation for Mama these days.
She raised two sets born so close together that we might as well have been quadruplets. ”
“I can’t wait,” Endora replied. “But right now, I’m going back inside. Parker and I are leaving as soon as I help Mama put out the leftovers for supper. The weatherman says the temperature is going to drop even more and we might even get some early snow or ice.”
“What about all the decorating Bernie told me about?” Willa Rose asked.
“Honey, we’re like the mailman. We deliver in rain, snow, or sleet,” Rae told her.
“The Paradise has a reputation for getting decorated no matter what the weather is and having our annual Christmas open-house party as well. By Sunday this place will look better than the North Pole. We’re glad you are here to celebrate with us.
But a little word of warning: Aunt Bernie does not want you and Tripp to get together. ”
“Or you and Knox,” Endora added.
Willa Rose frowned. “No worries there, but why?”
“She swears that you won’t like Spanish Fort and will move either back to Poetry or to another place before you even have a grand opening for your store. She’s even playing bookie with bets from some of the folks in town as to when you’ll leave,” Endora said.
“Oh, really, think one of y’all could place a bet for me?” Willa Rose chuckled.