Chapter 4 #2
“You let Bernie get the best of you, and now you are drinking before sunrise,” Audrey said through clenched teeth. “You deserve any looks I want to give you.”
“She riled me up,” Hettie said and then took a sip of her coffee.
“I’ll be fine by tomorrow and will only need a single whiskey sour at night to help my arthritis pain.
So quit fussing at me. At my age, I intend to eat what I want, drink when I want, and die when I’m supposed to.
I just hope that we have the farms back together soon, so I can tell Bitsy I’m coming to join her in the retirement center. ”
Audrey set a platter with fried eggs, bacon, biscuits, and hash browns on the table. “I’ve got a crew to keep busy today. I don’t have time to watch over you.”
Hettie took her regular place across the table from Audrey and loaded her plate.
“Don’t need no babysitter. I could run a tractor and fertilize apple and peach trees better than you or any one of your so-called crew.
What I need is to be able to kick Bernie across the Red River.
When she landed, she could pick herself up and go on back to whatever bar she ran up in Oklahoma. ”
“That isn’t going to happen,” Audrey said as she slathered a steaming-hot biscuit with butter. “Not any more than Brodie is going to show up on my doorstep and ask to sign a bill of sale. We might as well get used to the idea.”
“You can,” Hettie barked. “It ain’t over ’til it’s over, and I’ve still got faith.
I heard that Tripp is looking at the old Johnson place.
He’s thinking of putting a saddle and boot shop in the barn.
I liked Spanish Fort better when it was almost a ghost town.
Now we’ve got a convenience store, a winery, a music store going into the old store, and a restaurant.
And the sheriff of the county lives here, too.
Mary Jane’s family is going to take the town right off the ghost town list for sure.
I won’t live to see it, but this place could run Dallas some competition before too many years. ”
Audrey laughed out loud. “Ain’t danged likely.”
Hettie buttered a second biscuit and shook her head. “Stranger things have happened.”
Audrey had never liked change, and everything around her wasn’t the same as it had been when she was a child. “Maybe so, and we’ll have to accept that, but we still don’t have to like it.”
“Amen!” Hettie raised her coffee cup.
***
Brodie woke up Tuesday morning feeling like he was in a state of limbo.
He had spent Monday at the farm, mostly just walking through acres and acres of fruit trees and then checking on his strawberries.
The grocery chain that had bought his crop this year would be sending pickers out to gather the spring harvest on Friday.
From the books Ira had left for him, he was looking forward to a profitable year.
But that morning, he felt like he was just in a waiting mode.
“Hey,” Tripp poked his head in the door. “The real estate agent out of Nocona that’s handling the house and barn will be here at ten. Will you and Knox go with me to look at the house and barn?”
“I thought he wasn’t coming until tomorrow,” Brodie said.
“Looks like they had a cancelation for today, and it’s a woman that we will be talking to,” Tripp told him.
“I’m going to run out to the farm and check on the strawberries, but I’ll be there for sure,” Brodie answered.
“Great! I’ll go with you to the farm. I’m too excited to sit still for three hours and wait,” Tripp told him.
Knox peeked in the other side of the open door. “What’s got you so happy this early?”
“He’s going to see the house and barn today,” Brodie answered.
Knox covered a yawn with his hand. “How did that happen? I thought it was tomorrow.”
“Nope, we’re looking at it today, and I’m buying it, no matter what the asking price is,” Tripp said. “A barn store will be amazing for a leather goods and boot repair shop. I lay awake half the night planning how we’d set it all up.”
“What’s this we business,” Brodie asked as he got out of bed. “You got a mouse in your pocket?”
“No, and don’t tease me,” Tripp answered, and stepped out into the hallway. “Me and Knox have helped you on the farm for weeks. Now it’s my turn.”
Brodie walked out of the room and headed toward the bathroom.
“I’ll give you every waking hour that I can spare, little brother.
I’m excited for you, and I agree that the barn will make a great store.
You’ll have people coming from all over the state to get at a pair of your custom-made boots or a saddle. ”
Knox raised a foot. “And I will show them this pair that you made for me when I graduated from high school. That way everyone will know that you make quality that lasts.”
“Thanks,” Tripp said. “I’m sure the smell of coffee is coming from the kitchen, so I’m going to follow my nose.”
“See you there.” Brodie closed the bathroom door behind him.
At nine thirty, the brothers left the farm and drove north until the road ended and Brodie made a right turn.
Shane waved as he drove past them, evidently heading to the Paradise or maybe into Nocona.
Brodie stuck his hand out the window, waved back, and checked the gas gauge on his truck.
He made a mental note to buy fuel when they finished looking at the property.
“Brother, that house might have been livable at one time, but unless you want a shower every time it rains or a broken leg or arm when you step up on the porch, I’d say that we better build you a place before we put a new house on the farm,” Brodie said.
“I guess Noah hasn’t been down here to look at it in the last little while, but truth is, I don’t care about the house. I want to see the barn,” Tripp groaned.
Knox reached over the back seat and patted his brother on the shoulder. “If I can hire some help, we can have you in your own home by the end of summer.”
Brodie opened the truck door and stepped out. “I hear a vehicle coming this way. That could very easily be the woman from the real estate company.”
A bright-red truck pulled up, and Linda Massey got out with a big smile on her face.
“I wasn’t expecting you to be here, too, Brodie.
This is a wonderful surprise. We might even count this as our first date, and Sunday can be the second one.
” She crossed the unkempt yard and looped her arm in his.
“Let’s look at the house first. It’s a fixer-upper for sure.
The roof needs repair, but the foundation is solid.
You might have to strip it down to bare bones, but at the price they’re asking, you’ll have no trouble getting a loan from the bank for the property. ”
Brodie was surprised that the porch held up under their weight, and even more so when Linda didn’t even use a key to open the door. “I understand Knox is a carpenter. I bet he has all kinds of ideas about this place.”
“Just one,” Knox said as he scanned the living room. “Raze it.”
Linda hugged up closer to Brodie. “Oh, come on now. You can work this little place over to be a cute little cottage for you and Tripp to live in.”
After the second date, she was looking at wedding dresses. Audrey’s words played over and over through Brodie’s mind. Was she angling for Knox and Tripp to leave the farm, so she could take over? Would she want doilies and lace curtains in a house that she would insist on designing?
A rat the size of a possum ran out of a hole in the wall and ambled across the toes of Linda’s high-heeled shoes. She squealed, jumped straight up, and wrapped her long legs around Brodie’s waist.
Brodie wasn’t sure what to do so he took two steps back, and a roach every bit as big as a hummingbird fell onto Linda’s shoulder.
She swiped at it and squealed. When she nearly knocked Brodie backward, he finally had the good sense to take her outside, disentangle her from his body, and set her down on the grass.
She leaned into him, put her palms on his chest, and looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “Oh, Brodie, you saved me. You are my knight in shining armor. We were meant to be together.”
He removed her hands and took a step back. “Let’s don’t get ahead of ourselves.”
She took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and whispered seductively. “The heart knows what it wants, and my poor little heart wants you.”
“Can we look at the barn, and would you show me the property lines?” Knox asked.
“Thank you,” Brodie mouthed.
“Of course, but it’s just a dusty old barn,” Linda said.
“I’m interested in seeing it anyway,” Knox said.
She glanced at her watch. “I really don’t have time, but feel free to look around all you want.
The property line starts at the road and goes all the way back to the river.
” She swung her forefinger around to point at the barbed-wire fences on either side.
“That’s where it all ends. The Johnson family is eager to sell and have said they will negotiate.
I’m not supposed to tell you that, but since you are Brodie’s brother, I’m making an exception.
Here’s my card with the asking price on the back.
Call me when you’ve had time to scope everything out.
And Brodie, I will see you Sunday. I’ll save you a place beside me in church.
” She got into her truck and drove away.
“Hettie won’t have to kill Bernie,” Brodie muttered. “I may do it for her.”