Chapter 21
Willa Rose awoke the next morning in her own bed and felt more at peace than she had since her mother had passed away.
Tripp had wanted her to spend the night, but she wasn’t quite ready for that step yet.
Making the decision she did, and being so bold as to lead him to the bedroom, had taken all her courage for one time.
“But it would have been nice to wake up next to him this morning,” she muttered as she threw the covers back.
Her phone rang, and thinking it might be him, she answered it without checking to see who was calling. “Good morning,” she said.
“Good morning to you. This is Cooter, and I’m on the way to your place with everything that was in your mama’s house. I should be there in an hour, and it would be real nice if I had some help getting all this unloaded. I need to be in Wichita Falls to pick up my next transport to Phoenix at noon.”
“I’ll rustle up however many folks I can and meet you at the old store. It’s on the west corner of the T in the road. You can’t miss it.” She pulled on a pair of jeans while she talked.
“Be there soon then,” he said and ended the call.
She scrolled down, found Tripp’s number, and called him.
“Good morning,” he said. “I wished you were beside me when I awoke this morning.”
“Me, too, but that’s moving too fast,” she told him and then said, “My antiques will be here in an hour. The truck driver, Cooter, needs help unloading.”
“I’ll take care of that end if you want to go on to the store,” he told her. “And honey, we can move as fast or slow as you want, as long as we’re going forward and not standing still.”
“Thank you for that, Tripp.”
“See you at the store in a few minutes, and I’ll bring Hank. He’ll want to visit with his buddy while we’re unloading.”
“Thanks.”
“The family will be glad to help. You saw what they all did when the church burned.”
She didn’t know how to end the call, so she finally just said, “See you there.”
Thirty minutes later she was standing in the middle of an empty store wondering how in the world she would ever get a whole truckload of stuff arranged in the place.
By the time the big rig had backed up to the porch, the area was full of vehicles.
As soon as Cooter had the back doors open and the ramp pulled down, the men of the Paradise family started unloading furniture, boxes, and still more boxes.
“I never figured on all this,” Cooter said.
“I told you guys that I was moving to a wonderful place,” Hank told him. “While the boys do this work, I want to show you around the leather shop and my apartment. It’s just across the street in that big old barn.”
Willa Rose tried to tell the guys where to put things, but she finally gave up and said, “Just find a place. I’ll get it all organized later. I’d forgotten how much was in that house.”
Tripp brought in a box marked GLASSWARE and set it against one wall. “There is definitely enough merchandise to stock the store.”
“Hey,” Ivy called out. “I’m here to help you all day if you need me. Looks like you have plenty of help unloading, but I’ll lend a hand to get some of it unpacked.”
“Thank you so much. Just looking at all these boxes bewilders me,” Willa Rose admitted.
“I’m a pro at unpacking,” Ivy said with a smile. “When they get it all out of the truck, we’ll run them off and get busy. You can boss. I follow orders real good.”
The guys were unloading the last two pieces of furniture when Cooter and Hank came back across the road. Willa Rose met them at the front of the truck and gave Cooter a hug.
“Thank you so much for doing this for us,” she said. “What do I owe you?”
“Your dad took care of that a long time ago when he moved my daughter from California to Oklahoma in the back of his empty truck. We’ll just call this a return favor.
Y’all have a good thing going here, Willa Rose.
Don’t mess it up. Hank is happier than he’s been since Vada passed away. He’s found his place.”
“So have I,” she whispered.
“For real?” Hank asked.
“Yes, but don’t say a word. We wouldn’t want to mess up Bernie’s Christmas,” she answered.
“Now I’m even happier. What happened to make you change your mind?” Hank beamed.
“Something that Yasmin said when she told my fortune. We’ll talk about it later. For now, Ivy and I’ve got lots of work to get done.”
“And I need to get on the road,” Cooter said.
“Thanks again for everything,” Hank told him. “If you are coming near here again, give me a call and I’ll meet you for a beer. One of the family members owns a bar in Nocona.”
“I’ll do it,” Cooter promised on his way back up into the cab of the truck. He stuck his arm out the window to wave goodbye.
“Hey, everyone,” Hank shouted. “Before you all split to leave, I want to thank you for everything you’ve done. Willa Rose and I owe you.”
Joe Clay crossed the yard and laid a hand on Hank’s shoulder. “Family takes care of family.”
“Well, know that we appreciate all of you.”
“Likewise,” Joe Clay said and headed toward his truck. “Ivy wants to help, so I’m leaving her here. Will you see that she has a ride home when y’all call it a day?”
“I sure will,” Willa Rose answered.
Within minutes, her SUV looked lonely sitting in the driveway all alone. “But I won’t ever have that kind of feeling again,” she whispered as she headed back into the store.
“You are glowing,” Ivy said. “You’ve made up your mind about whether to stay here or go back to your hometown, haven’t you. Or maybe you are pregnant?”
“I’m not pregnant and never will be,” Willa Rose blurted out.
“I figured you liked kids.”
“I do, but my doctor said it would take an absolute miracle for me to have a baby of my own. The odds are about one in a million that I would ever produce a viable egg,” Willa Rose confided in Ivy.
“You are right about me deciding to stay here in Spanish Fort. However, keep that under your hat until after Christmas.”
“I can keep a secret,” Ivy declared. “I hear Bernie has a betting pool going on. I might do a little of that insider trading, though.”
“What do you know about that?”
“I’ve lived a lot more than most sixteen-year-old kids,” Ivy answered.
“Don’t tell Mary Jane, but I’ve actually finished my home schoolbooks through the twelfth grade.
I really want to go to public school for the next two years and learn about the social side.
If you’ll keep my secret, I’ll keep yours. ”
“It’s a deal.”
“Now that you have made up your mind to stay here, I hope you and Tripp get past the flirting stage and get on down to the business of a relationship,” Ivy said.
Willa Rose handed her a pair of scissors. “You are sixteen going on thirty.”
“That’s what Zeb used to tell me. Now, which boxes do we work on first?”
“If we unpack the breakable stuff, we could put it on the shelves,” Willa Rose answered. “Then we would have room to scoot things around a little. I thought we’d have a living room set up at the front of the store, then a dining room with kitchen stuff, and a bedroom on past that.”
Ivy nodded and opened the nearest box. “I used to get bored packing and unpacking stuffed animals. This is going to be fun. I’ve always loved things like you’ve got here and all the stuff at the Paradise.
In the carnival business we make minimalists look like hoarders.
” She stopped for a breath and unwrapped an antique crystal and silver ice bucket.
“You should pick out a beautiful piece like this to give to Audrey and Brodie for their wedding gift.”
Willa Rose hadn’t thought of a gift, and the wedding was happening on Saturday. That only left Thursday and Friday to shop, and she would have to drive all the way to Wichita Falls if she really wanted to find something nice.
Ivy held up the ice bucket to catch the sunrays coming in the window. “This would be a fabulous gift. Put it with a couple of bottles of Ophelia’s wine, and you’ve got a high-dollar present. Someday I’m going to let Bernie find me a husband.”
“You are right about that making a good gift, but why would you ever let Bernie pick your husband?”
“She’s done very well with all seven sisters and Brodie,” Ivy answered and then lowered her voice.
“I think she really wants you and Tripp to get together. It’s some of that reverse stuff that she did with Tertia and Noah.
She says it’s not, but I don’t believe her.
I want to have a relationship like they all have when I’m about thirty and decide it’s time for settling down.
And I want to come back to Spanish Fort to live when I do. ”
At sixteen Willa Rose hadn’t been thinking any further in the future than the next weekend. Now she was looking thirty right in the eye, and making the decision to stay in town had been difficult. She couldn’t imagine having a path or a goal planned out when she was just a teenager.
“You look like you’re seeing ghosts.” Ivy giggled.
“Not ghosts, just Willa Rose of the past.”
“I don’t know what that means,” Ivy said. “But let’s talk about you and Tripp while I unload this box and put the pretty things on the shelf. Are you ever going to get serious with him? Or have you already?”
“That’s a secret I don’t want to share right now,” Willa Rose answered. “I will spill the beans after the deadline is over for all the bets.”
“Then it’s a yes you have gotten serious, or you would have said no in a loud voice.”
“How did you get so smart, girl?”
Ivy shrugged. “Watching people for nine months out of the year. You think Yasmin was the only fortune teller in the carnival?”
“So, what do you see in my future?” Willa Rose asked.
“A happy marriage and lots of babies,” Ivy said.
“Yeah, sure!” Willa Rose said with half a fake laugh.