Chapter 7 #2
He hopped out of his truck, got a running start, and slid right up to the bottom porch step.
But he missed the newel post when he grabbed for it and fell forward.
His feet were still on the ground, toes against the bottom step, and face planted firmly on the cold porch when his hands finally wrapped around the post.
The door flew open, and Knox stepped out. “Drunk or just clumsy?”
“Neither one,” Tripp answered as he took his brother’s offered hand.
Knox’s feet slipped on the icy porch, and he went down right beside his brother. Tripp managed to find enough footing to sit up, but Knox’s eyes focused on the sky for several seconds.
“Are you drunk or clumsy?” Tripp asked without cracking a grin.
“Probably the latter with a little stupid thrown in for coming out here in my socks,” Knox panted as he sat up. “Maybe we should both crawl into the house and come back out with some salt for the porch and steps. You go first. I’m still trying to get my breath.”
Tripp moaned when he got up on all fours and silently fussed at himself for being so cocky earlier. “We ain’t kids anymore, sliding on hardwood floors.”
“Is that what you were trying to do?” Knox grabbed a railing and tried to stand but it didn’t work, so he followed his brother into the house on his hands and knees.
“Yep, but I didn’t do a good job.” Tripp almost added, like the first time , but changed his mind at the last minute. If anyone knew that he had kissed Willa Rose or that she had kissed him, the teasing would never stop.
Knox took off his wet socks and stood up. “I need a cup of hot chocolate to warm me up. How about you?”
“Yes, a big mugful,” Tripp said.
I’d rather have a longer make-out session with Willa Rose to heat me up.
When Tripp finally got to his feet, he went straight for his bedroom to change into a pair of flannel pajama pants and a warm sweatshirt.
He heard Knox’s deep voice scolding someone when he headed back to the living area and found his brother shaking a finger at Bernie when he peeked around the corner into the kitchen.
“Tripp and I both took a tumble on the ice, and you surely should not be driving on these slick roads.”
“I’m not clumsy,” Bernie argued, “and I’ve taken care of myself for more than five decades, so don’t fuss at me. I came to talk to Tripp. Where is he?”
Tripp stepped out from the shadows. “I’m right here. What’s on your mind, Aunt Bernie?”
“I took Pepper out to the barn to meet the animals. From what the weatherman says, the carnival folks might be here a while, so I expect the critters will be nice to Pepper after they get to know him. They were a little standoffish to him today,” she answered and sat down at the table.
“Fix me a cup of that chocolate. Next time I buy a truck, it’s going to have a heated steering wheel. ”
“Give her mine,” Tripp told Knox, “and I’ll make myself another one. Did you come out on the ice to tell me that Pepper got his feelings hurt?”
“Of course not,” Bernie barked and took a sip of the hot chocolate that Knox had set before her.
“While I was out there, I met and visited with the owner of the carnival. His name is Zeb. Right nice man. Mary Jane has invited the whole crew to join us for Sunday dinner tomorrow and told them to feel free to use the bathroom out in the barn since we don’t have one of them portable toilets like the cities provide when they set up the carnival.
Some of them have tiny little bathrooms in their RVs, but some of them live in makeshift quarters behind their vendor’s stands, so I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if they even set up cots in the barn for those. ”
I don’t need to know about the carnival folks since God created dirt, Tripp thought as he made another mugful of hot chocolate in the microwave.
“I’m not surprised that Mary Jane and Joe Clay are being so kind,” Knox said. “They sure took us in without hesitation or questions.”
Bernie took another sip of her chocolate. “I’m starting to thaw out. So, I met Zeb, and he is retiring. When they get home to Ringling, Oklahoma, his son, Finn, will inherit the business.”
“O…kay,” Tripp drew out the word.
Bernie frowned and set her mouth in a firm line.
“Don’t you take that tone with me. I saw the way Willa Rose was looking at you during Thanksgiving.
Then she followed you out to the sunroom.
I had to leave the football game to rescue your sorry self.
That woman is bad luck. She arrives in town on Wednesday and the church burns three days later. ”
“Aunt Bernie!” Tripp scolded. “A rat caused the church to burn, not Willa Rose.”
Although if she had kissed me in the foyer, it could have heated up things enough to cause a blaze.
“Maybe that rat came with her from Poetry and crawled from the old parsonage to the church,” Bernie argued. “I say she is bad luck, and I’m going to do everything in my power to see to it that she doesn’t stay here.”
“That’s not fair. I need Hank to be happy in Spanish Fort, and if she leaves, he might go with her since that’s the only family he has,” Tripp said.
“Are you going to drug her and send her off with the carnival?” Knox teased.
“Something like that,” Bernie answered. “I’m going to introduce her to Finn and work my butt off to be sure they get to spend a lot of time together. After all, this is the holiday season, and magic can be conjured up.”
A shot of hot jealousy shot through Tripp. “What if she doesn’t like him, or what if I decide I like her and change her mind about staying here?”
“She is helping Rae and Endora with their Christmas programs, so she might decide that she loves it here,” Knox reminded Bernie.
“That don’t mean jack squat,” Bernie protested.
“I don’t want her to stay here, and I don’t even care if she takes Hank with her when she goes.
She’s not good enough for either of you boys, and I’m going to start something up between her and Finn.
He’s not as pretty as you Callahan men, but he’ll work for what I need him to do. ”
Tripp pulled a bill out of his pocket and laid it on the table. “Want to put your money where your words are? I bet you that twenty that she doesn’t like Finn.”
Bernie’s eyes twinkled. “Make it a hundred, but before you do, remember that I have power on my side.”
“What power is that?” Knox asked.
“Christmas is when miracles happen, and then there’s just my natural skill at manipulation. I know it’s a bad word, but it’s the truth. I manage to get what I want when I want it,” she declared.
Tripp thought of the two kisses and laid out four more twenties. “Knox, you can be our bookie.”
Bernie took a hundred-dollar bill from her purse and tossed it into the middle of the table.
“I’ll buy Pepper a whole new wardrobe of rhinestone-studded collars with your money, plus I will stand on the edge of the road and gloat when she leaves.
Ringling, Oklahoma, is only forty-five minutes from here, so it won’t be a bit of trouble for them to see each other often.
Now, I’m going home, and don’t either of you say a word about walking me out to my truck or taking me back. Bernie takes care of herself.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Tripp agreed. “Is it all right if I help you with your coat or open the door for you?”
“No, it is not, and it’s not all right for you to flirt with Willa Rose,” she snapped.
“All’s fair in love and war, and bets,” Tripp told her.