Chapter 14 #2
“One more thing before you go,” Willa Rose said. “What do you figure Knox is talking about to that woman over there?”
Dara picked up her plate and took a step. “Have you got something for him?”
“No, but since you study people…”
“Knox is chatting up Julie, who takes care of the cotton candy and popcorn booth. Her mama is retiring this year right along with Zeb. Maybe she’ll go home with Knox tonight, but it won’t be for anything serious.
And now I’m looking at Finn and Yasmin. He got jealous when she was flirting with Tripp, so he will pay attention to her all evening. Anyone else?”
“Nope, that about covers it.”
“Then it was right nice meeting you, and maybe we’ll visit again when we’re setting up for the program.”
“Great visiting with you, and let’s make sure that tomorrow we find a corner to ‘study people.’” Willa Rose air quoted the last two words.
***
Tripp pulled up a chair beside Willa Rose and sat down. “Yasmin said that she read your palm. She tried to grab mine over there in the corner, but I shoved both of my hands into my jacket pockets. I didn’t want Finn to think I was moving in on his property.”
“So, women are property to you?” she asked.
“No, ma’am, I am not that kind of guy, but it’s no secret that he has staked a claim,” Tripp replied.
“That makes her an acre or two or maybe more of nothing but dirt?”
“I’m not going there,” he answered. “Did Dara put you in this mood or did you hate the fortune that Yasmin told you?”
“I like Dara, and I don’t believe in fortune telling,” she snapped, “but she did make me aware of choices having consequences and to be careful that I don’t regret my decision.”
“About?” Tripp asked.
Before she could answer, Bernie brought two beers over and handed one to Willa Rose and one to Tripp. “I’ve got my liquor in this root beer.”
“That sounds horrible,” Tripp shivered.
“Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it,” Bernie said. “All the Cokes were gone, or I’d be having Rum and Coke. But there was lots of root beer left, and it’s not bad at all with a little kick of Maker’s Mark. I’m legal because it’s way after five o’clock.”
“I didn’t see any hard liquor anywhere,” Tripp said.
“There isn’t any, but I carry a couple of little single serves in my purse. A crowd like this reminds me of my bar when things were hopping. I think we should figure out a way to use the carousel in the Christmas program so we get more use out of it.”
“You are jumping from one topic to another, Aunt Bernie.” Tripp chuckled. “How many of those little bottles have you had tonight?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but I started with one, and I had an extra that I put into this root beer,” she answered. “If you want to go out to my trailer and get yourself a few, it might loosen you up a little.”
“This beer will do fine.” Tripp held the up the bottle and touched her can of root beer with it. “Now what idea have you got about the carousel?”
“It’s right about where the smallest kids will be singing about Santa Claus coming to town and about old Rudolph,” Bernie answered.
“They’re always picking at their noses or their butts instead of singing, but if they were sitting on the carousel horses, it would make things easier.
I asked Dara if the music could be turned off, and she said that wouldn’t be a problem. ”
“That sounds wonderful,” Willa Rose agreed—to Tripp’s surprise. “Does anyone know if the choir robes survived the church fire?”
“All the costumes were stored in the same room, so I imagine they did,” Bernie answered.
“Hey, Yasmin,” Willa Rose yelled across the room and motioned her over to the table.
“Want me to redo your fortune?” Yasmin asked.
“Not right now,” Willa Rose replied. “But I’m making a few last-minute changes to the program.
This old barn has lofty ceilings and most of our sound equipment got burned up in the church fire.
We need a backup choir to line up around the edges of the building and help us sing.
We’ve got robes, or y’all can wear street clothes. ”
“You got it, but the robes might have a smoky smell. We’ll just wear our regular clothing,” Yasmin said.
“And can we have the carousel until after the program?” Bernie asked. “I know it’s asking a lot for you to get it torn down in time to leave on Monday.”
Yasmin shook her head. “After the kindness y’all have all shown us, we’re glad to help anyway we can. I’ll talk to Dara and tell her the new plan.”
“Thank you,” Willa Rose said.
“Could we do a little practice run tomorrow when we get everything set in place?” Yasmin asked.
“That way we’ll all know where our places are, and maybe you should print off some sheets with the songs on them.
We go caroling in Ringling every year a day or two before Christmas, so we probably know most of them, but just to be sure, it would be good to have the music in front of us. ”
Willa Rose nodded. “Yes, we can. I’ll ask Mary Jane to do that for us, and Ivy will hand them out just before the program.”
“I love it!” Bernie said. “This is going to be the best program ever. I just wish I could ride the carousel while I sing.”
“Why not?” Willa Rose said. “We can put the sleigh over to the left in the second staging area, and when we pull the curtains, whichever of you elderly folks who want to gather around it, or else take a place on the carousel.”
Bernie narrowed her eyes into nothing more than tiny slits.
“Who are you calling old? Yasmin told me I will live to be past ninety and that’s a ways off.
And honey, I’ll be the one with the outfit that sparkles the most on Sunday.
I think Ivy should do a reading in between acts.
She’s the new little sister in the family.
Just before the last curtain is drawn, she can do that part out of the scripture about when Jesus was born. ”
“I might as well throw my notebook away,” Willa Rose barked.
“Sounds like a wonderful idea to me. We’ve been needing some new ideas to spice the program up,” Bernie said.
“And while we’re at it, rethink that business of a carousel and then the sleigh being fully visible when you pull the last curtain and there’s the camel and sheep with baby Jesus in the manger. ”
“Sweet Lord! That won’t work at all, will it?”
Tripp couldn’t suppress his laughter any longer. This whole thing was fast turning into a circus. He wondered if Bernie would even remember what she had organized the next morning.
“I have an idea,” he said when he got control of himself. “Why don’t you forget about curtains up at the front part? Let the sleigh and carousel both be visible together with the cutout decorations around the sides where your singers will be standing.”
“We have to have a manger scene,” Willa Rose said.
“Yes, ma’am,” Tripp said, “but you could close off the side over there where we have the animals already penned up. The congregation would only have to turn slightly to see what was happening in that staging area. Ivy could do her reading up front, then someone could swing the curtains back and there will be the animals and the manger. They’ll be in a pen, but that won’t be too bad. ”
Bernie patted him on the back. “You just proved that men are good for something after all.”
“Some men,” Willa Rose added.
“Hey, now!” Tripp snapped.
“I didn’t call any names, and your idea is wonderful. We’ll only have to rig up one curtain that way,” she said. “I just hope Endora isn’t disappointed.”
Bernie turned slightly and laid a hand on her shoulder. “Honey, she is so wrapped up right now in those new babies that she wouldn’t care if we had the program in Bo and Maverick’s bar. Which reminds me, I’m supposed to tell you that Bo will hold a microphone and lead the singing.”
“Sounds like we’re all set then,” Tripp said and turned to Willa Rose. “Since you don’t have a ride home, I could take you.”
Bernie finished off her root beer and tossed the bottle in a nearby trash can. “I figured you were spending the night so you could get an early start in the morning.”
“I’ll bring her with me and Hank,” Tripp said as he stood up.
***
Willa Rose pushed back her chair. “I sleep better in my own bed, so good night, Bernie. And thank you for the reading, Yasmin. Even though I’m not a believer, I got some good lessons from it.”
“Any time.” Yasmin waved as she walked away. “Next year when we come to Nocona, I want to hear what path you chose.”
“You got it,” Willa Rose told her as she slipped off the back of the chair. “Even if I don’t decide to stay here, I’ll come back for the holidays to visit my dad.”
“Oh?” Yasmin whipped back around. “I thought that decision had already been made, and the crossroads had to do with romance.”
“It might if I can find a suitable match for her,” Bernie chimed in.
“Well, either way, I want to hear the story in a year,” Yasmin said and disappeared into the crowd.
How Bernie could even walk a straight line, much less move across the barn floor as gracefully as a ballerina was a total mystery to Willa Rose. “That woman amazes me and scares me more than a little bit.”
Tripp draped an arm around her shoulders. “You just proved you are a smart woman. And this show of affection is to throw her off, so don’t be thinking that there will be a good-night kiss.”
“My SUV is parked in front of the house, so you won’t be walking me to the door, just across the yard. And if you are expecting a make-out session in the front seat…”
“Console gets in the way in the front seat, darlin’. Let’s crawl in the space behind the back seats where there’s more room. You do keep a quilt or a blanket back there, don’t you?”
She shrugged his arm away when they were outside, but he scooped her up in his arms and carried her to her vehicle. “You have got to start wearing boots, woman.”
She pointed toward her feet. “I am. See? You can put me down.”
“My dad said that a good man always finishes a job he starts, so I’ll take you to your SUV,” Tripp said.
Even through his coat, his heartbeat sounded loud and clear in her ear. Maybe she should stay in Spanish Fort and see if the chemistry between them could lead to something.
No, no! That idea is terrible. I’m not taking the right fork in the road that leads to a permanent place in Spanish Fort. I’m going to run down the left one back to what I know. I will soon forget this whole area.
Yasmin’s words about being sure she made the right decision and not having regrets later came back to haunt her, sending a shiver down her spine.
“Just a little bit more and you’ll be behind the wheel and out of this bitterly cold wind,” Tripp assured her. “I’ll follow you home. Even though Brodie plowed a path from his place to the Paradise, the rest of the trip could be slippery. Don’t want to find you have frozen in a ditch tomorrow.”
“Why not?” she asked.
“I’m just worried about my youngest sister. Endora would be frantic if you weren’t there to supervise the decorations for the program. We don’t need to upset the new mama, do we?”
That settles a lot right there. Basically, you just said that I’m only someone to flirt with. When it comes time to get serious, you will want a woman who can give you a houseful of kids.
“No, we do not want to stress Endora out,” she answered.
Somehow, he opened the SUV door for her without even putting her on the ground and slid her in behind the steering wheel.
“I’ll follow behind you. Are you going to invite me in for a cup of coffee or maybe hot chocolate?”
No! the voice in her head screamed.
“Of course,” she answered. “After being carried across the snow, it’s the least I can do.”
“And maybe a movie or a couple of reruns of Justified ?”
“Don’t push your luck. But I won’t walk you to the door and linger behind for a kiss.”
He sucked in a lungful of air and blew in out in a huff. “I guess I can’t ask for anything on the first date, now, can I?”
“This is not a date,” she snapped.
“That’s not what I intend to tell Knox and let him accidentally ”—he grinned—“let it slip to Aunt Bernie.”
“Well, in that case, maybe it is,” Willa Rose said. “I’ll see you at the house.”