Chapter 16
Bernie met Willa Rose at the door when she arrived thirty minutes late on Saturday morning. “Well, well, well,” she said with a head wiggle. “You’re wearing the same clothes you had on last night when you left.”
“I fell asleep in my clothes and overslept.”
“In whose house?” Bernie asked.
“I’ll give you three guesses and the first two don’t count,” Willa Rose answered.
“I’m so proud of you,” Tripp whispered from right behind her.
His warm breath on her chilly neck sent a shot of heat through her body.
“You are late, too,” Bernie said.
“What I was doing this morning made it worth an extra thirty minutes,” he teased.
“One of these days you are both going to regret the decisions you are making, and you can write that in stone,” Bernie said and then left in a huff.
Willa Rose smiled up at Tripp. “What do you regret about last night?”
“That I didn’t get to see all that movie.” His twinkling eyes told her that he loved every minute of the bantering. “How about you?”
“That half a bottle of very good strawberry wine got poured down the drain this morning,” she said and pointed to across the room. “But right now we’re wasting time. You are on the schedule to help Joe Clay and Remy move the sleigh back into the barn.”
“Do you remember what we talked about just before you fell asleep?” Tripp asked.
“No, I don’t. What was it?” she asked.
“It will come back to you eventually. When it does, we can talk about it some more, but right now I should be getting outside to help the guys.”
Dara and Ophelia seemed to show up out of thin air. But then, Willa Rose had almost gone into a trance trying to figure out what she had said the night before. Had she done something totally stupid like say she was considering staying in Spanish Fort? If so, she would blame it on the wine.
“We need to know if you want two curtains hung around the manger scene or only one,” Ophelia said. “And what’s going on between you and Tripp?”
“Two will give it more folds and make it tougher for folks to peek behind before it’s time for that part of the program, but one looks more like a wall,” Dara added. “Are you and Tripp just flirting or is there some feelings?”
“Two curtains,” Willa Rose said, “and to tell the truth, I’m not sure about anything when it comes to Tripp.”
“Bernie thinks y’all are already getting involved, and she’s not a happy camper,” Ophelia whispered.
“I know,” Willa Rose said. “Ain’t it a hoot?”
***
Folks often said that not liking Texas because of the weather was a sorry excuse, because it could change in thirty minutes. That thought came to Tripp’s mind as the heat from the bright sun melted the icicles hanging from the roof of the house.
“Looks like the snow will be gone by the night of Brodie and Audrey’s wedding and the Paradise Christmas party,” he said as he helped load the sleigh onto a flatbed trailer.
Joe Clay winked at Tripp. “Looks to me like the heat between you and Willa Rose has already melted part of it.”
“Maybe the rise in the temperature is the result of Aunt Bernie’s anger instead of romance between Tripp and Willa Rose,” Remy said.
“Could be,” Joe Clay said. “She’s determined to find Tripp a wife that is not Willa Rose.”
Dara’s husband Eli and Finn rounded the end of the house. “Hey, y’all need some extra hands out here?”
“Yes and thank you. We never turn down help, and this thing gets heavier every year,” Joe Clay said.
“We’re used to hoisting up heavy equipment,” Eli said as he picked up the back of the sleigh and helped Tripp slide it onto the flatbed.
“Might be easier if you’d put wheels on it,” Tripp said.
“That’s a great idea for another year,” Joe Clay agreed. “Maybe some that could be taken off and put back on easily.”
That statement triggered Tripp’s thought pattern into thinking about Willa Rose.
Was she just having a good time with the matchmaking business, or did she possibly feel the chemistry between them like he did?
Was she simply putting wheels on the idea of going back to Poetry to tease Bernie?
Or was she seriously considering putting down some roots right there in Spanish Fort?
“You look like you are arguing with yourself,” Finn said as he and Tripp took their places on the trailer and held the sleigh in place.
“I’m glad we’ve got a few minutes alone.
I have been meaning to tell you that I didn’t know you and Willa Rose were an item when we first got here.
Bernie seemed all excited about introducing me to her, and Yasmin and I were going through one of our rough spots, so… ” Finn shrugged.
“No problem,” Tripp said before Finn could finish.
“We get along very well the three months we’re in Oklahoma,” Finn went on, “but by the time we get to Nocona, we’re having problems.”
“Every year?”
“Yep. I’ve asked her to marry me, but she says she wants a family, and she isn’t raising kids in a carnival. I’m unloading on you. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Tripp said. “I’m a good listener, but tell me, what do you want?”
“I want to settle down in Oklahoma and do carpentry work for a living. I’d like to have a house with no wheels, a place out to the side or at the back to build furniture—somewhat like Joe Clay has here—and have that family that Yasmin talks about.”
“But? I hear a ‘but’ in that dream.” Tripp thought of his own dream being fulfilled right there in Spanish Fort.
“But my dad inherited this business from his father, and now it’s my turn to step up to the plate and do my duty,” Finn answered.
“I feel you,” Tripp said. “I was CEO of a big oil company for the same reasons you are talking about. When my folks passed away, my brothers and I sold it. Our dreams brought us here to Spanish Fort. Have you talked to Zeb?”
Finn shook his head.
“You might start there and be honest with him.” Tripp suggested. “I wish I’d talked to my dad like Brodie and Knox did. But I was in the same spot you are—guilt and responsibility rolled into one big ball.”
“Thanks for listening,” Finn said. “I’m glad to have the air cleared.”
“No problem,” Tripp assured him, but he wasn’t totally sure the air was cleared.
He had feelings for Willa Rose, and he thought maybe she might have something for him.
But the chances of her staying in Spanish Fort were slim to none, and Tripp had a home, a business, and more importantly, a family now.
Before Tripp could say anything else, Joe Clay had backed the trailer inside the barn. Finn and Tripp hopped off and half a dozen carnival workers jogged over to help get the sleigh set in place.
“Just a little to the left,” Willa Rose yelled from the other side of the barn.
“That’s just about right,” Bernie shouted from the other side.
Tripp jogged back to where Willa Rose was standing and gave the moving crew a thumbs-up.
Bernie made her way over to them and smiled brightly. “This is for you, Tripp, and this is for you, Willa Rose.” She handed each of them a piece of paper.
“What is this?” Willa Rose asked.
Tripp looked down at a name: Melanie O’Dell. “What does this mean?”
“I went home to check on Pepper and glanced through my online matchmaking site. I found the perfect matches for each of y’all and fixed each of you up with a blind date on Monday night.
I would have invited Melanie and Zachary to the program and the potluck tomorrow morning, but I think you should each meet them alone the first time,” she said with a bright smile.
“But…” Willa Rose stammered.
“No buts about it. You will meet Zachary,” Bernie said.
“Not me,” Tripp said.
“No, you won’t meet Zachary, but you will have coffee and dessert with Melanie.
I will not take no for an answer from either of you.
You will each meet your dates at Noah and Tertia’s café at five o’clock on Monday.
I arranged a coffee and dessert date. Whether it lasts for half an hour or if maybe you take them home for a long evening is up to you.
Noah and Tertia close up at six o’clock, so you have an hour to make that decision. Merry Christmas, and you are welcome.”
“I can’t go anywhere at five o’clock,” Tripp said. “Hank and I will be working late.”
“I’ve talked to him, and he says he’ll finish up the evening for you,” Bernie said.
Willa Rose crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not going on a blind date with anyone.”
“Thank you, Aunt Bernie,” Tripp said after he got over the initial shock of being blindsided at that very moment. “Can you tell me a little about Melanie? Have our paths crossed before? Maybe at Bo and Maverick’s bar or at church?”
“Nope,” Bernie beamed, “I’m not handing out hints to either of you. The only thing I’ll tell either of you is that Melanie is from Henrietta and Zachary lives in Saint Jo. The rest I will leave up to you to find out.”
***
If Tripp was going on a date, then by damn, Willa Rose would do the same. “I’ve changed my mind. I will be at the café on Monday at five. It will be love at first sight.”
No way in the real world, she thought. Especially not with a guy named Zachary. Willa Rose shivered. A little boy she’d had in her class when she went through her practice teaching was named Zachary. He picked his nose and wiped it on his jeans or else put it in his mouth.
“I expected y’all to fight me a lot more on this. You aren’t going to wait until the last minute and cancel, are you?” Bernie gave each of them a shot of evil eye.
“No fight left in me,” Tripp said. “I’ll go on this one date, but only if you promise not to set me up with any more until after the holidays.”
Bernie shook her finger at Tripp. “If you are nice to Melanie and truly give some serious thought to taking her out on a real date, I’ll make that deal with you.”
“What if Pepper gets lost and you need me to go hunt him down tomorrow night?”
“I promise I will call on someone else,” Bernie said.