Chapter 13
Rae deliberately waited until the other four were in Endora’s car before she came down the stairs. When she went outside, Bo rolled down the window and yelled, “We’ve got a full car. You’ll have to take your truck, but we’re all planning to catch a ride back with you.”
“Why?” Rae asked.
“Endora needs to take care of a few things at the church,” Bo answered.
“I got half my wish,” Rae mumbled as she braced herself against the cold wind and jogged out to her vehicle. Her phone rang before she could start the engine, and Gunner’s name popped up on the screen.
“Hello,” she answered. “I’m glad you called. There’s been a slight change of plans with the girls.”
“Please don’t tell me that you can’t keep them,” Gunner groaned. “They’re on cloud nine, and now they don’t even mind going to a new school.”
“No, I’ve got the schedule all worked out,” Rae answered. “I’ll be substitute teaching the pre-K and kindergarten classes at Prairie Valley School next semester. They can come to my classroom after school, and I’ll take them home.”
“Are you sure that’s not…?” Gunner started.
Rae butted in and said, “It’s not too much for me. Did I tell you that I have a double degree? One is in criminology and the other is in early childhood. I didn’t know which way I wanted to go back then. I tried the police work for a while, but now I want to dip my toes in the teaching field.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Gunner said. “The reason I called is to ask you if you would be willing to meet me at the house this afternoon. I rented it sight unseen because of the location and availability. I’d like to get an idea of what I need to move before I start packing. Aunt Rosie is already bringing boxes and packing things like stuffed animals from the girls’ room. It’s like she’s saying that she will miss us, but it’s time to get the hell out of Dodge…or in this case Nocona. I don’t think she would have cared if we were moving into a tree house as long as she doesn’t have to babysit anymore.”
“I’ve got to be at the school at three thirty, but I can meet you right after lunch. Say one o’clock?”
“Great,” Gunner said. “I’ll see you there. I’m not even sure where it is, so could we meet at the winery and go together from there? I’ll be the one in the car with ‘Police’ written on the side.”
“Then that’s what I’ll look for, and why did Rosie…?” She paused, not knowing whether the question she was about to ask was too personal.
“Why did she keep the girls in the first place?” He finished for her. “She and Stacey were very close, and she wanted to come help with the girls when Stacey took sick. One thing led to another, and when the girls’ mother died, Rosie insisted on helping even though her health wasn’t good. I’ve got a call coming in, so I should go. See you soon. Bye and thank you again.”
Rae tossed the phone over onto the passenger seat and headed to the church. She had never been in the rental house, so she couldn’t tell Gunner how it was laid out. Jake’s cousin, Conor, and his girlfriend came to Spanish Fort six months ago to help in the winery. By the middle of the summer, she was pregnant and homesick, so they sold the house to Jake and moved back around her parents.
Everything happens for a reason. Rae’s old partner’s words popped into her head.
***
“Bo, you did a wonderful job making the quilt top,” Mary Jane said when she took one of the chairs circling the quilt frame and threaded a needle.
“Thank you, Mama,” Bo said. “My sewing machine was the one thing I was determined not to leave in Nashville, and I’m glad I brought it along.” She heard a vehicle door slam, and then someone coming down the hallway. Rae pushed open the door and sat down in the last chair.
“What took you so long?” Endora asked. “I was about to call you to be sure you didn’t have a flat tire or that you hadn’t caught a stomach bug from Aunt Bernie.”
Bernie handed a threaded needle to her friend and Ursula’s mother-in-law, Vera. “I did not bring home a bug. Gladys and I had a dose of seasickness, which was a sign that we should never get on another boat. I figured as skinny as you are that the wind blew you all the way over the river and into Oklahoma.”
“I’m not skinny,” Rae protested. “I had a phone call, but according to the weatherman I heard on the radio, this wind is going to blow in a storm later this evening. Good thing our Paradise Christmas party isn’t until the end of next week.”
“The almanac says we’re in for a hard winter,” Frannie said. A tall woman with a pixie haircut and big pink-framed glasses, she was one of Bernie’s best friends.
“Maybe it’ll freeze out the mosquitoes and ticks,” Vera said. “Next year, our precious grandson, Clayton, will be walking, and I hate to think of those miserable insects biting him.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Bernie added. “Do you think it will be cold enough to murder all the fire ants? I hate them even worse than ticks.”
“At least all of those things have died out for this year and won’t bother us during the holidays. I’m excited about the Paradise party. It’s the one time during the holidays that I get to dress up,” Frannie said.
“Me too,” Bernie agreed. “I always look forward to it.”
“Good save by changing the subject to the weather,” Bo whispered to Rae, and then lowered her voice even more. “You were talking to Gunner, weren’t you? Sit down here beside me and start hemming the edges. Aunt Bernie has offered to keep needles threaded for all of us so we can keep working.”
“We want to have the quilt done today so we can display it on Sunday out in the foyer for the silent auction,” Endora said without even looking up from her place on the other side of the quilt frame. “It’s sure worked out to be a piece of art with all the pretty holiday fabric that Bo found.”
Frannie raised her hand. “I believe that we should vote Bo in as the head of the quilting committee. She’s the one who does such a lovely job of making the quilt tops, and there ain’t a one of us can match her stitches.”
“I second the motion,” Bernie said as she changed out Frannie’s empty needle for a fully threaded one.
Bo stopped hemming for a minute to shake her finger at her aunt. “You just want me to be committed to something so I don’t leave.”
“Yep, but you are good at this, and Endora needs help,” Bernie declared. “And besides, I will hog-tie you and chain you to the walls in the barn if you start up anything with Maverick Gibson.”
“If you don’t want him, you can throw him across the fence to me,” Frannie said.
“How do you know Maverick?” Bo asked.
“His boss, Dave, is my cousin, and he introduced us. I’m old enough to be his grandma, but oh, honey…” Frannie used her hand like a fan to cool her face.
“Good Lord, Frannie!” Vera scolded.
“Wait until you see him,” Frannie snapped. “He’d make a nun’s underbritches fall down around her knees, and honey, there’s not a holy woman sitting amongst us, even if we are in a church house.”
“Hold on,” Endora said. “My mama has a halo that shines in the dark.”
“That’s sweet,” Mary Jane said, “and I’m really glad I’ve got you fooled, but, darlin’ daughter, if I have a halo, it is crooked and probably has some scorch around the edges. Now let’s turn this conversation to next year’s cookbook committee and electing a president for the quilting business.”
“That’s not nearly as much fun,” Rae said, “but since Aunt Bernie is opposed, I suppose we should think of something other than crawlin’ between the sheets with Maverick or else Bo might get jealous.”
Bo reached over and slapped her sister on the arm. “You just don’t want us to get started on you and Gunner.”
“We’ll save that for the next meeting,” Endora said. “Rae should head up next year’s cookbook committee, and Bo should take over the quilting. That will free me up for the other duties that a preacher’s wife has.”
Rae shook her head. “Starting next week, I will be babysitting, and then after the holidays, I have agreed to do some long-term substitute teaching. Choose someone else for the cookbook business.”
“I’ll do it!” Bo threw up her hand and volunteered. “I’ve already got the templates made in my computer, so the next one won’t be as tough or time-consuming as the Christmas one. Maybe we could just do something like Grannies from Spanish Fort Cookbook .”
Several conversations began about who could contribute their ancestors’ old recipes. Bo didn’t even try to listen to them, but leaned over and whispered to Rae, “You owe me one. Who were you talking to on the phone?”
“Thank you, and it was Gunner. He wants me to go see the rental house with him before he moves into it. I’m meeting him at the winery at one, and then I’m talking to Holly at the school at three thirty,” Rae answered.
“Two hours is enough time to get into trouble.” Bo grinned. “Maybe you should take Ursula with you.”
“Hush!” Rae snapped. “You sound like Aunt Bernie. Gunner and I barely even know each other.”
“That’s about to change whether Aunt Bernie likes it or not,” Bo told her.
She had barely gotten the words out of her mouth when a vision of Maverick came to her mind. Now where did that come from? she wondered.
The last stitch was put into the hem by Endora, and then she took a picture of the quilt in the frame and one with each of the ladies holding up a section before it was hung in the foyer for the auction. “I want all of you to know how much I appreciate all the work that’s gone into this project. The missionary family our little church supports over in Thailand is going to be so tickled to get the money the quilt brings in. I hope that we can construct two next year: one in the summer and one at Christmas. Another special thanks to Bo for sewing up the top. To get all those corners even would have tested every ounce of Jesus that I have in me.”
“Amen!” Mary Jane said. “Bo is the only one in the whole family who enjoys sewing.”
The ladies showed their appreciation with a round of applause.
Bo did a perfect curtsy. “Thank you. After that much attention, I’ll have to really outdo myself to make the summer quilt even better and prettier than this one. Now can we adjourn to the fellowship hall? Tertia can’t be here, so she whipped up some finger foods for us for lunch.”
***
Lightning zipped through the sky when Rae skipped the lunch and slipped out the front door. The thunder that followed was so loud that it rattled the windows of the church and sent her running across the parking lot. Cold wind was supposed to bring snowflakes or sleet, not a rainstorm. But then Texas weather had always been, and would most likely always be, as unpredictable as a pregnant woman’s food cravings.
Her phone rang as she slid behind the steering wheel, and by the time she picked it up from the passenger’s seat, huge raindrops had begun to hit the windshield.
“Hello, Mama,” she said on the third ring.
“Where are you?” Mary Jane asked. “We’re waiting on you and Bo to say grace so we can start eating.”
“I told Bo I had to skip lunch,” she answered. “I’m meeting Gunner at one o’clock to go see Jake’s rental house, and then I have a meeting at the school after that.”
“I see,” Mary Jane said.
“Aunt Bernie is close, isn’t she?” Rae whispered.
“Yes,” Mary Jane answered. “I see Bo coming now. But I understand. Tell Holly hello for me. See you at home later this afternoon.”
The windshield wipers had to work double time, and she had to drive slower than she would have, but she still made it to the winery with a few minutes to spare. The vehicles that were parked outside said that people were waiting for the rain to slack up before they made a mad dash for their vehicles.
Her phone rang again, and this time it was Ophelia wanting to FaceTime. She touched the screen and her sister’s face appeared. “I’ll bring an umbrella if you want to come inside.”
Rae shook her head. “No, thanks. I’m meeting Gunner here in a few minutes. He asked me to go look at the house with him.”
Ophelia raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really?”
“It’s not like that,” Rae frowned. “He needs to make some decisions about the girls’ rooms, and he wants my opinion since they seem to like me.”
Ophelia grinned. “If you say so. He’s already got the keys and paid the rent. Is Rosie moving in with him?”
“No,” Rae answered. “I’m going to keep the girls for him after school and when he has to work on weekends. I’m surprised that Mama hasn’t called you already.”
“About what?” Ophelia tilted her head to the side.
Rae told her about working at the school, and how she was arranging her schedule to keep the twins.
“You are one brave woman,” Ophelia said. “I hear those little girls are a handful.”
“I already know that from having them in Sunday school class, but like I said, they seem to like me, and here’s Gunner pulling up right beside me,” Rae said.
“Be careful.” Ophelia giggled. “He has handcuffs.”
“So do I. See you later,” Rae said with a giggle and ended the call.
She only had to take a couple of steps from her vehicle to his, and for a split second, a little nostalgia washed over her. “I kind of miss my police car,” she admitted.
“There’s a place for you on my staff if you want it,” Gunner said.
“Thanks, but no thanks. I really am excited about giving this teaching position a try,” she said as she fastened her seat belt. “The path will be a little bumpy, especially since few people have even traveled back here since Conor left.”
By the time they reached the house, the rain had stopped as suddenly as it began, and the sun popped out in a pale winter-blue sky. A lovely rainbow appeared right over the pretty little ranch house. The bare trees glistened with water droplets, and at the sound of a truck’s engine, a flock of cardinals took flight. A couple of cottontail rabbits hopped out from under the porch and stared at the truck for a full minute before they disappeared out into the thicket on the other side of the road.
“The girls are going to love this,” Gunner whispered. “It will so be worth the extra miles I have to drive to work.”
Rae was totally speechless at the sight before her. With the light shining down on the pale-yellow house, it truly looked like it was the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Was it a sign or just a coincidence?
“It’s so peaceful,” Rae finally whispered. “It kind of reminds me of a Thomas Kinkade painting.”
“You are right,” Gunner said. “Aunt Rosie gave me a calendar last year with his works on it. Birds, bunnies, and a rainbow. Think it’s a sign that I’m making the right choice?”
“It just might be,” Rae said with a nod as she opened the door on her side of the truck, got out, and started toward the porch.
“Thank goodness for the grass, even if it’s dead,” Gunner said. “After that rain we could be walking in mud. As it is, we probably should take our shoes and boots off at the door.”
“I was just thinking the same thing,” Rae said.
Gunner’s eyes darted around as if he was trying to take in everything at once and plan for the future at the same time. “The girls could have a swing set—and maybe an aboveground pool next summer.”
“Do they have bikes?” Rae remembered how riding her first bike up the lane to the road to get the mail had been a really big deal.
“Not yet,” Gunner answered. “But they should be safe out here.”
“I would think so,” Rae agreed, “but they might like a four-wheeler better.”
Gunner pulled a key from his pocket, unlocked the door, and swung it open. “Oh, no! I love my girls, but I also know them, and anything bigger than a bike would be asking for double trouble, probably in the form of emergency room visits for broken arms or ankles.” He stopped just inside the room and removed his boots. “The living room is bigger than the one in the house I’m living in, and thank goodness, it’s got vinyl flooring. I’ve always felt like keeping the carpet clean in the house is like having a second job.”
Rae followed his lead and put her boots beside his. How many times had she seen Mary Jane’s shoes and Joe Clay’s placed side by side in the foyer? Sometimes with all seven girls’ footwear sitting beside them. She was always reminded of those decals on the back windows of vehicles that had figures of a daddy, a mama, and however many kids were in the family all lined up in a row.
Just a mama and daddy today, the voice in her head whispered.
Don’t go there. I’m just a part-time nanny, she thought as she followed Gunner down the hallway.
She stood by the door when Gunner went inside the first bedroom on the right. “Bunk beds will fit very well in both bedrooms, and with the built-ins, we won’t have to move the dresser that’s in their room now.”
“They might each have room for their bookcases at the end of the beds,” Rae suggested.
“Do you believe in omens, Rae?”
“I do,” she answered. “Why do you ask?”
“When I drove up here, I felt a sense of peace I haven’t known in years. I got the same feeling when I walked into this house,” he said and left that room to open the next door down the hallway.
“Well, look at that,” he pointed at the washer and dryer. “I won’t have to move any appliances.”
“Looks like your move gets easier by the minute.” Rae remembered all the things she had given away when she left Boise City. “If you’ve got things you don’t want, you might donate them to a women’s shelter. That’s what I did when I left Boise City.”
“That’s a great idea,” Gunner said and peeked into the next room. “Identical to the one next door, but I betcha that the girls argue over which one gets which room.” He moved on again to open another door. “This just gets better and better. Look, Rae! They each get their own sink.”
“Another sign that you are doing the right thing,” Rae told him.
The last door opened into the master bedroom. “And would you look at the size of this room, and it’s got its own full bathroom. I feel like I just found the pot of gold at the end of that rainbow out there.”
Seeing a grown man, a police chief at that, so excited over a house put a smile on Rae’s face. “You have found the pot of gold. Now you just have to make the move.”
“What is the biggest omen is that you will be watching over the girls for me.” He turned around, took a couple of steps forward, and wrapped Rae up in a hug. “This wouldn’t be possible if you weren’t willing to help me.”
Rae’s heart threw in an extra beat when her cheek was against Gunner’s chest. Her pulse jacked up a few notches, and her knees went weak. Her mind told her to take a step back, but her heart gave her a different message. She listened to the latter and leaned into the hug even more. Her mind said that she could not get involved with a man who was just now moving on after his wife’s death. She did not want to be the rebound woman, and he would most likely never have a whole heart to give to anyone again. Plus, he needed to spend all his spare time with his girls. They would be grown someday, and he couldn’t reclaim the time he lost.
She leaned back and looked up at him in time to see his eyes flutter shut. She barely had time to moisten her lips before he kissed her. Suddenly, the rest of the world disappeared, and they were the only two people in the whole state of Texas. For the short moment that his lips were on hers, she was transported into the middle of an unfamiliar place—like a tornado had picked her up from her little world and tossed her into a whirlwind. She had been kissed before—many times. She had been in a couple of relationships, but nothing had ever made her forget everything and everyone in her life the way Gunner Watson’s kiss did.
When the kiss ended, he ran the back of his hand down over her cheekbone. “I’ve wanted to do that ever since I met you for the first time in Saint Jo.”
“Really?” Rae tried to keep her voice steady, but catching her breath was tough.
“Yes, really,” Gunner said. “Are you going to slap me for…?”
“No, I am not.” Rae rolled up on her toes, cupped his cheeks in her hands, and brushed a soft kiss across his lips. Even that much sent a rush through her body. “But before we do that again, we need to talk about where it could lead.”