Chapter 8
An adrenaline rush came with Tertia’s last days of school: telling her students goodbye, the long drive home from Vega to Spanish Fort, and getting there just in time for a wedding and then hearing about the new baby. On Monday morning she woke up totally drained and having second thoughts about her decision to give up her job and move. She dragged herself downstairs, poured a cup of coffee, and sat down at the table with Aunt Bernie.
“Where is Ophelia?”
“She’s already gone with Jake,” Bernie said. “I thought you were going to make breakfast every morning.”
“I told you last night that today was DIY breakfast. That stands for—”
“I know what it stands for. I keep up with all that kind of stuff. If I didn’t, I would never be able to read a text message,” Bernie snapped. “Dam…dang it! I meant to tell her not to do anything I wouldn’t do when she left.”
“That leaves a green light on about anything,” Tertia said.
“One down—that would be Ursula—and one to go—that would be Luna. Now that my work is done there—”
“Thank God, but not until July. Luna could still call the wedding off right up to the last minute.” Tertia interrupted her aunt as she poured herself a bowl of cereal and sat down at the table to eat.
“She will not!” Bernie declared in a defiant tone. “I need a perfect record to launch my new career on, and there’s you and Ophelia. I figure four will be a good start.”
Not rolling her eyes took every bit of Tertia’s willpower. She just couldn’t see a woman pushing eighty being a matchmaker or a wedding planner. “I’ve only been home a few days, Aunt Bernie. I’m barely over all the worry and excitement of quitting my job, and the weddings and everything else that’s happening.”
“How long has it been since you dated anyone? And I don’t mean a one-night stand,” Bernie asked.
“I don’t do one-night stands, and let’s just say it’s been a while.” Tertia wondered if she and Ophelia should just say they were dating. The idea was good but then she remembered that Aunt Bernie had owned and operated a bar. The woman could probably spot a fake boyfriend from a mile away.
“Do you hear that?” Bernie cocked her head to the side.
“What?” Tertia asked.
“It’s a ticking sound,” Bernie’s expression was dead serious, but her eyes twinkled.
“I don’t hear anything,” Tertia replied and strained her ears even more.
“It’s your biological clock, and since you can’t hear it, it’s my job to listen for you,” Bernie told her. “I hear the minister at our church is retiring real soon, and talk has it that the hiring committee has their eye on a young man in hopes that he will build up the church. Maybe you’d make a good preacher’s wife.”
“Good God, Aunt Bernie!” Tertia said with a giggle. “Not a one of us sisters would make a good preacher’s wife. We’re all too independent for that, and besides, what man of God would want to marry a woman who lives in an old brothel?”
Bernie cut her eyes around at Tertia. “What if he’s really, really good in bed?”
“Sweet Jesus!” Tertia gasped. “As soon as I finish my cereal, I’m going for a long walk to shake this conversation from my head.”
“Don’t bother inviting me to go with you,” Bernie declared. “I did enough walking behind a bar to do me for years. From my trailer to here and back again is enough for me. Besides Pepper’s little legs would be worn out on a walk that long, and he would pout if I left him at home. He’s taking his morning nap out on the trailer porch right now. He loves to soak up the sun.”
“Good mornin’ to y’all,” Endora said cheerfully as she entered the kitchen and headed straight for the refrigerator. “I’m ready for a glass of iced tea. It’s already getting warm out there.”
“Where have you been?” Bernie asked.
“I walked to the old store building and then came back. I love my morning walks, but pretty soon I’ll have to go out a little earlier to beat the heat,” Endora answered. “Either of y’all want a glass of tea?”
“Love one,” Bernie said.
“No, thank you,” Tertia said.
Endora poured two glasses and set one before Bernie before she took a seat. “My morning walks are my alone time to think about my children’s books. Pepper, Sassy, Poppy, and Misty are the main characters in it. I’ve outlined half a dozen stories and almost have the first one done about when Pepper and Sassy adopted Poppy and Misty because they needed a good home. Pepper and Sassy hate each other, but they agree to be civil when the babies are around.”
“Pepper is getting a new collar with fake diamonds on it when the book comes out. He will walk on the red carpet with me when the children’s movie hits the big screen,” Bernie declared. “Let’s take our tea out on the screened porch, and you can tell me more about your new ideas while your sister goes on her alone-time walk.”
“I don’t mean to be selfish with my time when it comes to my walks,” Endora said. “Remy has been Ursula’s writing muse. My walks are mine, and I want to have at least three books done by the time school starts back. No offense, Sister.”
“None taken,” Tertia said. “I understand.”
Endora and Bernie disappeared out to the screened-in back porch, and Tertia went the opposite way—out the front door and down the lane. When she reached the end, she had a decision to make. Go right and maybe drop in on Ursula? No, that wouldn’t work. She and Remy had taken Vera and Alan to the airport that morning. Left it was, then. Maybe to the old store like Endora had done, or perhaps she’d just walk all the way to Luna’s place and check on how the new store building was coming along. That would be a good bit of exercise. Now that she’d left her job as a coach where she was used to running with the girls every day, she would have to do something to keep toned up.
She hadn’t gone twenty yards when a truck pulled up beside her. Luna rolled down the passenger-side window. “Where are you off to this morning?”
“Escaping Aunt Bernie. Supposedly, she can hear my biological clock ticking,” Tertia answered. “Are you aware that she’s talking about putting in a matchmaking business? Maybe we should tell her the competition is pretty stiff. There are already dozens of sites out there, from getting farmers to senior citizens together.”
“I’m well aware, and Endora thinks it’s a great idea. Bernie will have something to keep her busy and out of our lives,” Luna answered.
“Oh, honey,” Tertia said with a sigh, “she’ll always have time for that.”
“You want to go to Nocona with us?” Luna offered. “We’ve got to get dog food and another gallon of paint for the construction crew, and I hear the snow-cone stand opened this week.”
“Sounds good, but I’ll take a rain check,” Tertia said with a wave. “Y’all have fun.”
She hadn’t gone but a few more steps when a car passed her, honked, and then backed up. Bernie’s poker friend Dolly yelled, “You need a ride, darlin’?”
“No, thanks,” Tertia said. “I’m just out for a walk this fine morning.”
“Treat them young legs good,” Dolly said. “Time will come when they’ll refuse to take long walks, and that stuff called cellulite will make them look like cottage cheese. Don’t get over there in that tall grass. Chiggers are everywhere this year.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Tertia nodded.
How did Endora manage to think about her books at all? Tertia wondered as she kept going until she reached the old store building. She started to sit down on the steps but remembered what Dolly had said about chiggers. The grass and weeds were at least knee high around the porch, but the weathered park bench pushed back against the wall looked like it might not break down if she sat on it. She studied the faded bricks that covered the old building, and the cracked porch. It would be really nice if someone would come along with some money and use the space for a museum—maybe for old oil-rig equipment or photos of the cattle drives that came through that area after the Civil War. Surprisingly enough, the windows were still intact, and no one had kicked in the door. If the foundation was still good, the building might be good for any number of things.
She left that idea behind and let her mind wander to her sisters. The ones that had moved back to Spanish Fort seemed happy. Luna was all involved with the new store she and Shane were building, and of course her upcoming wedding. Ursula had a new husband, a baby on the way, and deadlines to keep her busy. Ophelia was going to work for Jake the next morning. Endora had finally found writing and illustrating children’s books to take her mind off the horrible breakup she had gone through. Bo would be coming home soon, and Tertia wouldn’t be surprised if Rae didn’t follow right after her.
“I need to think about me, not my sisters,” she muttered.
A hummingbird flew past her to the wild rosebush at the end of the porch. With its little wings fluttering, it started to suck the nectar out of the yellow roses. Tertia sat so still, hardly breathing, so the little thing wouldn’t fly away. Sunrays made the green on its back look like emeralds. Then a truck pulled over right in front of the store and scared the bird. Tertia did not need a ride, and she didn’t want to talk about chiggers or dog food. She was instantly aggravated at whoever had scared away her hummingbird.
“Good Lord!” she whispered under her breath when she recognized the tall man walking toward her as Noah Wilson.
“Hello, the store,” he called out and then shaded his eyes with the back of his hand. “Tertia Simmons, is that you?”
“Hello, Noah,” she said but there was no warmth in her voice.
“I heard you were back in Spanish Fort,” he said as he crossed the lawn. “I stopped by the Paradise, and one of your sisters told me that you were out for a walk.”
Tertia was glad that he said one of her sisters and not her aunt, or else Bernie would be ready to make up a wedding registry.
A tight-fitting T-shirt hugged his muscular body, and his coaches’ shorts had the Saint Jo mascot on the leg. His blond hair was feathered back in a perfect cut. Ten years had been good to Noah, but there was still a bitter taste in her mouth when she thought of the way he had teased her. She hoped that the chiggers made a fine meal on his bare legs.
He sat down uninvited on the porch step. “I can’t believe I found you just sitting here at the old store building.”
“Were you looking for me?” she asked.
“Yes, I was,” he answered. “We need a head softball coach and an assistant girls’ basketball coach over in Saint Jo. Would you be interested?”
No foreplay about How have you been? What have you been doing since we graduated more than ten years ago? Are you still peeved at me for being a jerk when we were in school? Just right to the point.
“I’m surprised that you’d even ask me,” Tertia said. “I moved back to the Paradise, which you will remember is an old brothel. Wouldn’t that be a terrible thing for your students?”
“Good grief!” Noah frowned. “You’re still pouting over that schoolyard argument we had. You blacked my eye. Wasn’t that enough?”
“I don’t pout,” Tertia protested. “What do you do at Saint Jo?”
“I’m the high school principal,” he answered. “The superintendent and school board would have to approve…”
She held up a hand. “Stop right there. No need for you to waste your breath on any more explanations. I’m taking a year off from teaching. I don’t know what I want to do, but I know I’m burned out with coaching and teaching.”
“Have you got any plans?” Noah asked.
“I’m going to find myself. Find something I love to do,” she answered.
“That’s what I plan to do too. I have to work a few more weeks to fulfill my contract, but then I’m done,” he said, “and I hope I made the right decision.”
“If you aren’t going to work at the school, then why are you offering me the possibility of a job?” she asked.
“Before I leave in July, I promised I’d help find a new girls’ coach,” he said with a shrug. “You sure you won’t at least think about it?”
“Absolutely positive,” she answered. “What dream are you chasing?”
“My grandpa passed away last year and left me a lot of property here in Spanish Fort, plus a pretty good stock portfolio,” Noah replied. “You’ll think I’m crazy, but with a new little convenience store going in right close and a vineyard down out west of town…” He paused.
Tertia’s curiosity was piqued. “I won’t judge you, so spit it out unless you’re thinking about putting in a brothel, and then all bets are off.”
“I like the idea of building Spanish Fort up again, so…I am thinking…about…” Noah stammered.
How could this man be a principal and deal out discipline when he stuttered about something as simple as his dream? Tertia must have had an exasperated expression on her face because he finally took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“Okay,” he said, “I want to put a café in Spanish Fort. I like to cook. Please don’t laugh at me.”
Tertia did not laugh or even smile, but it was hard to wrap her mind around the star of the football team wearing an apron and flipping burgers or stirring a pot of beans. “That’s a wonderful idea. Where are you building it?”
“I wanted to convert this old building, but it wasn’t feasible, so…” he paused. “You don’t think I’m crazy to build a café this far out?”
“‘If you build it, they will come,’” she quoted.
“Good point, and I hope you are right,” Noah said. “And for the record, Tertia, I apologize for all the hateful things I said when we were kids.”
“Apology accepted, but I’m not ready to say sorry for blacking your eye,” she told him. “You didn’t tell me where you are building it.”
“Fair enough, but maybe you will be sorry someday,” Noah said with a smile. “I’m building it right across the street from where we are sitting. My folks moved to Wichita Falls to one of those senior citizens’ gated communities when Dad retired last year. They gave me their house and the two acres that it sits on. It’s…”
Tertia butted in. “I know where you lived as a child—right across the road from the Paradise.”
“You sure don’t forget easily, do you?”
“No, I do not,” she admitted. “Spanish Fort just might grow enough not to be approaching ghost-town status, but I have to admit, I’m a little jealous.”
Noah’s eyebrows shot up. “Of me doing something kind of foolhardy?”
“No, of you following your dream and hoping for the best,” Tertia admitted.
“What’s your secret dream?” Noah asked. “Evidently, you weren’t happy with teaching, or you would have stayed until you were old enough to retire.”
“I don’t have one,” Tertia admitted. “But I’m happiest when I’m in the kitchen.”
She could practically see the gears turning in Noah’s head. “You are teasing me to get back at me for my smart-ass remarks when we were kids, aren’t you?”
“No, and what does liking to cook have to do with something that happened all those years ago?” Tertia frowned and stood up.
“If I can’t hire you as a coach, how about as a cook for my new café?”
“I thought you were going to be the cook,” Tertia said.
“I am, but I can’t be on duty from six in the morning until eight at night,” Noah answered. “And I need help designing the café and figuring out all kinds of things. Since we both like to cook, maybe we could share thoughts about how to set up the kitchen, whether to use booths or tables, what to put on the menu—that kind of thing. I’d gladly put you on payroll starting anytime you want.”
Tertia studied Noah’s face. Either he was a really good poker player or else he was serious. “Why don’t you ask your wife to help you? How is Wanette going to feel about you working so closely with a woman?”
Noah gazed out across the road at the empty lot. “I’m not married anymore. Haven’t been for two years.”
“I’m sorry,” Tertia said.
Noah shrugged. “That’s water under the bridge, and I’ve moved on. So has Wanette. She’s remarried and living in California.”
The football star and the head cheerleader were supposed to be a match made in heaven. Evidently, it wasn’t, but unless Wanette had drastically changed since high school, Tertia couldn’t imagine her being happy with a cook in a tiny town café—not even if he owned the business.
Noah stood up. “I should be going. If I give you my phone number, will you call me?”
“Why would I do that?” Tertia asked.
“Just to talk about café stuff,” Noah replied. “Everyone else that I’ve talked to thinks I’m crazy—even my folks. They tell me that I’m putting my money into something that will stand as empty as this old store within six months. It’s nice to have someone to visit with that has a positive outlook.”
Tertia pulled her phone out of her shirt pocket and handed it to him. “Put your number in there and grab mine. You can call me when you want to talk.”
He handed it back in a few seconds. “Thank you.”
“Sure thing,” she said.
“Can I give you a ride back to the Paradise?” Noah asked.
“No, thanks, I need the exercise.” She smiled up at him.
Noah returned the smile. “Okay, then. See you around.”
He got into his truck, waved out the window, and made a U-turn to get back on the road headed south.
“Wipe that grin off your face, Aunt Bernie. Not even your precious Universe has enough power to fix me up with Noah Wilson,” Tertia whispered.