Chapter 18 #2
Audrey was almost to the door leading out of the church and felt like she had dodged a bullet.
Hettie and Bernie had not crossed paths even once, but then someone touched her on the shoulder.
Expecting it to be Brodie, she turned around and flashed her brightest smile—only to find Endora standing behind her.
“I’m so glad I caught you before you left,” Endora said. “Parker and I would love to have you and Brodie come to our house for lunch today.”
“Don’t you go to the Paradise for Sunday dinner?” Audrey asked.
“Not today.” Endora smiled and whispered, “Brodie said he would be glad to join us.”
Hettie had moved on a few feet, but she whipped around and gave Audrey a dirty look. “Our pot roast is going to burn if you don’t hurry up,” Hettie said.
“I’d love to, but Aunt Hettie already made lunch,” Audrey said, and then lowered her voice. “And she only stopped giving me the silent treatment this morning. Why don’t you and Parker come home with us?”
“I’m not that brave,” Endora said. “I’ve already invited Brodie, so I wouldn’t feel right telling him that we’ve changed our minds. Why don’t you come to the parsonage for dessert with us after you have dinner with Miz Hettie?”
“Now that I can do,” Audrey agreed. “About one o’clock?”
“That would be great,” Endora said. “See you then.”
Audrey caught up to her aunt and looped her arm into Hettie’s. “I’m starving, and I love pot roast.”
“Why were you talking to Endora?” Hettie hissed after they had shaken hands with Parker and were outside.
“She invited me for Sunday dinner at the parsonage, but I told her that you had dinner in the oven,” Audrey answered, and changed the subject. “Isn’t it a lovely day? That sun should feel good on your old bones.”
“Don’t call me old, and stop trying to change the subject,” Hettie snapped. “I was the one who got up early this morning and put dinner in the oven.”
“But you had instant coffee again, didn’t you?” Audrey reminded her.
“I wasn’t ready to talk to you, but this is Sunday, and if I don’t forgive you for going out with that Callahan boy, then God won’t forgive me for having more than one whiskey sour on some days,” she said.
Audrey opened her truck door and helped Hettie inside, then hurried around to get into the driver’s seat.
“According to Parker, it’s not what we eat or drink or wear on our bodies that will either open the Pearly Gates or keep them closed.
It’s what’s in our hearts. I’m glad you’ve accepted that I’m dating Brodie. ”
“I haven’t accepted a thing,” Hettie told her.
“I will pray that another tornado comes and sweeps him away to Canada, and when he wakes up he has amnesia and doesn’t remember where he came from.
I figure we only get so much forgiveness on the books in heaven, and I don’t want to use up all of mine forgiving you for bad choices. ”
“Look at it like this,” Audrey said as she started the engine. “If that’s the way things work, then as many whiskey sours as you’ve been drinking will need lots of a merciful heart.”
“What does that mean?” Hettie asked.
“From what you said, God pardons your drinking if you forgive me, so the more I go out with Brodie, the more you can drink, right?”
“I’m not going to talk about this anymore. I’m hungry, and I’m sleepy. So, drive us home so we can eat and I can get my Sunday nap,” Hettie told her.
“After we finish dinner, I’m going to Endora’s to have dessert,” Audrey said as she turned down the dirt road leading back to the farm. “You won’t have to ask God to pardon your whiskey because I’m going to the parsonage. That should be a freebie for you. You are welcome.”
“I said that we aren’t talking about this anymore,” Hettie huffed. “Next thing you’ll be doing is going to the Paradise for Sunday dinner.”
“I thought we weren’t talking about this anymore.” Audrey parked the truck, got out, and slammed the door.
Hettie was out of her seat, feet on the ground, and stomping toward the house before Audrey could help her. “I can smell the roast from here,” she said.
“Hmmph,” Hettie growled.
***
Brodie’s heart skipped a beat—as usual—when he heard a vehicle driving past the church. When Audrey parked in the driveway, he walked out to the truck and opened the door for her. She unfastened her seat belt, put her hand in his, and stepped out onto the ground.
“I’m so glad that you came.” With her hand tucked into his, he headed toward the porch with her.
“Welcome,” Parker said, and set a tray with four glasses of sweet tea on a small table in front of the swing. “Endora is on her way… There she is now.”
Endora opened the door and brought out a platter stacked high with an assortment of cookies that all looked homemade. “Hello, Audrey. I’m so glad you could make it, and you are right on time. Since it’s such a beautiful day, I thought we would have dessert out here on the porch.”
“Sounds wonderful,” Audrey said. “I spent all of yesterday in the equipment barn working on tractors, so I’m glad to get some air that doesn’t smell like motor oil.”
Endora set the cookies on a small table with the tea and sat down.
Two rocking chairs made up a nice little conversation group, and since Endora sat down beside Parker, Brodie figured the rocking chairs were for him and Audrey.
They sat down at the same time, but he would have far rather been sitting beside her on the swing, so he could feel her shoulder against his.
“In a couple of months, it will be too hot to sit outside except in the late evening,” Endora said, and reached for a glass of tea.
“Texas gives us four seasons: drought, flood, blizzard, and twister, and then it starts all over again. We’ve made it through the blizzard that hit in December and the twister that took Brodie’s house, and now it’ll start all over again. It’s going to get hotter than—”
“A blister bug in a pepper patch?” Audrey finished the sentence for Endora.
“You got it, sister!” Endora laughed.
“Amen to that,” Brodie said. “I’ve heard that the four seasons are almost hot, hot, hotter, and hottest. We’re hoping to get Tripp moved into his apartment before the hotter part hits us.”
“We’ll get it done,” Parker said. “Tripp’s and my goals are to have it finished before Bo and Maverick’s wedding in June. They said they only want a small ceremony and a reception at the Paradise, but you know how that goes.”
“Bo’s the last of the sisters to get married, so Mama will do it up right, no matter where it is,” Endora said with half a giggle. “And you can bet it will be hot, or maybe raining, so they’ll have a backup plan for that.”
“They have said that they are having the wedding in the late evening, but it wouldn’t hurt to start praying for a nice cool breeze for that day,” Parker said.
“Peanut butter cookies are my favorite.” Brodie reached for one with one hand and picked up a glass of tea with the other.
“Mine, too,” Parker said, taking two, “and Endora’s are the best. She’s got a secret special ingredient.”
She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “No secret, sweetheart. It’s just a double dose of love baked into every one of them.”
Brodie envied his youngest sister for what she had with Parker.
They made a cute couple. She had blond hair and big blue eyes and looked like a model for a magazine cover.
On first glance, Parker looked so plain with his light-brown hair and hazel eyes that he could disappear into a crowd.
But when he smiled or looked at Endora, everything changed.
If eating peanut butter cookies baked with love would make Audrey look at Brodie like that, he would feed her a dozen at every meal.
“I want to apologize for never inviting you to one of our family gatherings, or even here to the parsonage,” Endora said.
“No apology necessary,” Audrey said. “I had to jump a big hurdle called Aunt Hettie before I could get to know any of y’all, and until now…” she shrugged and glanced over at Brodie.
“Our aunts need a lesson in love,” Endora said.
“Find out where they are giving those, and I’ll enroll Aunt Hettie!” Audrey declared.
Brodie took a long sip of his tea and said, “I’ll be next in line to fill out the form for Aunt Bernie.”
“Maybe a miracle will happen, and they’ll work it out themselves, but that does give me an idea for my sermon next Sunday,” Parker said.
“For those two old gals to get along, we’d have to call down some pure magic,” Endora laughed, and then focused on Audrey. “Brodie tells us that you were a Vo-Ag teacher. Do you ever think about going back to that?”
“Nope, not one time,” Audrey answered. “Do you ever wish you were teaching again?”
Endora shook her head. “No, I love being Parker’s wife, and the work we’re doing together at the church is so fulfilling. Plus, I’m selling my children’s books as fast as I can write and illustrate them.” She laid her hand on her stomach. “And I can’t wait for this baby to be born. Life is good.”
Brodie slid a sideways look over toward Audrey. They hadn’t talked about anything beyond a relationship, but could she possibly be yearning for what Parker and Endora had like he was?
“I’m jealous,” Audrey said.
“Of what?” Endora asked.
“The happiness that you and Parker have, the gleam in your eyes when you look at him, and all this.” She waved her hand to take in the parsonage and the whole scene.
Does that answer your question? His mother’s voice popped into his head.
Brodie almost expected his mother to laugh like she did when he was a little boy and learned how to ask why , when , and what for .
Parker took Endora’s hand in his. “Thank you for that, Audrey. I like the way she looks at me, too. Makes me feel ten feet tall and bulletproof, as the old country song says.”
“Just tellin’ it like I see it,” Audrey said.
“I like honesty,” Endora said. “Whatever made you go into Vo-Ag?”