Chapter 9
“Did you have a good walk? Did Noah Wilson find you?” Bernie asked from the porch.
Tertia knew better than to beg any higher power—God, the Universe, or Fate—for a whole day without her aunt’s meddling, but a couple of hours would be nice. She stopped at the end of the porch steps, and Sassy came out to meet her with both of Endora’s half-grown kittens, Poppy and Misty, trailing along behind her. Ever since Endora claimed the poor little orphaned yellow babies as her own, Sassy had taken them under her wing. The trouble was, so did Pepper. When the kitties were around, Sassy and Pepper were peaceful. But if they weren’t, then they still growled and hissed at each other.
She stooped down to pet each of the cats. “They’re spoiled almost as rotten as Pepper.”
“No animal is as spoiled as my Pepper,” Bernie declared.
Tertia thought she was home free from having to discuss Noah Wilson, but then Endora came out onto the porch and sat down in a rocking chair beside Bernie. Before Tertia could argue with Bernie about which animal was most spoiled, Endora asked the same two questions that Bernie had.
“She’ll try to change the subject and talk about Pepper and the cats,” Bernie said.
“I had a wonderful walk, and you are right about needing to go earlier in the day. Noah Wilson wanted to offer me a coaching job at Saint Jo. I turned him down,” Tertia answered.
The rest of what she and Noah discussed was classified, as Ophelia would say, or maybe it was need-to-know, and no one, especially Aunt Bernie, was on the need-to-know list right now.
“I can’t believe he would even…” Bernie huffed. “He’s not the man for you, Tertia darlin’. I did not tell the Universe to put him in your pathway.”
“Why?” Tertia sat down on the top step and all three cats crawled up in her lap. “What’s the matter with Noah?”
“Once a bully, always a bully,” Bernie declared. “I won’t have one of my girls in a relationship with a man who said such ugly things about the Paradise and your mama.”
“Aunt Bernie, Noah was just a little boy at the time. He and Tertia were still in grade school. And besides she gave him a shiner, so they’re pretty well even. You need to be focusing on finding someone else so you can go into your new business with four perfect couples. There’s no way that Noah and Tertia would ever be good together,” Endora said and then turned to Tertia. “Since you turned down a position so close to home, I guess you really must be tired of teaching. I wish I had the courage to quit like you and Luna.”
“Then just do it, Endora. Stay home for a year and work on your children’s books. They seem to bring you a lot of pleasure,” Bernie said, and then whipped around to face Tertia. “I’ve been around enough men to know that that bullying nature will rise, so Noah Wilson is off-limits for you, Tertia. I’ll get out my potion book and brew up something to put in his coffee if you bring him around here. I’ll ask the Universe to find a decent boyfriend for you, but”—she shook her bony forefinger at her niece—“I won’t have Noah Wilson set foot on this porch.”
Tertia figured that the Universe that Bernie was always talking about had been good to her that day. Her aunt wouldn’t be trying to fix her up with Noah, so she was home free. “That’s settled,” she said, “so let’s move on. I’ve got five minutes before I need to go fix lunch. Endora, it doesn’t take courage to quit teaching for a year. You just have to write a resignation letter and clean out your room.”
Endora pulled a ponytail holder from the pocket of her jeans and flipped her blond hair up off her neck. “And how would it affect me? If my books don’t sell, would I feel like a failure like I did when my fiancé and best friend betrayed me? I don’t need any more stress, or ever want to go through that kind of pain or anger again.”
“At first you would have a feeling of euphoria,” Tertia answered.
“Kind of like getting lucky?” Bernie covered Pepper’s ears. “Ever since I took him to the vet and had his little jewels removed, he gets depressed when he thinks about all the sexy little Chihuahuas out there that are missing his pickup growls.”
“Aunt Bernie!” Endora scolded.
Bernie removed her hands from the dog’s ears. “Well, he does and, honey, these days getting lucky means I make it to the bathroom on time. But, I still have my memories of those wonderful nights when it meant so much more.”
Tertia giggled and then laughed out loud. “Darlin’ sister, it’s better than”—she lowered her voice and glanced over at Pepper—“than getting lucky. I was absolutely overjoyed about the idea of not having to go back to school in the fall. Then this morning, I started sweating bullets worrying about whether it was a mistake to come back here. But that long walk convinced me that there are a lot of options out there. Look at all of us who were teachers and then realized we didn’t want that job anymore—Ursula, Luna, and now me. If we can do it, you can too.”
“But you won’t have the problem of moving,” Bernie said. “You’re already living here. Are you tired of what you are doing?”
“Not really tired of it, but maybe bored. I’m just not as excited about teaching as I was in the beginning,” Endora admitted.
“What excites you?” Tertia asked.
Endora bit her lower lip, like she had always done when she was nervous. “My children’s books, but what if…”
Bernie set Pepper down on the porch. “Follow your heart. It won’t ever throw a what–if into your mind. That’s the enemy of your happiness. Shake them cats off your lap, Tertia, and let’s go inside and make some dinner. Joe Clay’s still out in the shop working on that wedding project. Remy came over to help him while Ursula works on her writing, and Joe Clay is bringing Remy with him for lunch. Mary Jane always comes out of her office for an hour-long break at noon.”
Tertia carefully set Misty and Poppy off her lap, and they immediately ran over to bump noses with Pepper. Sassy growled down deep in her throat, and then holding her head and tail both high, she marched across the room with both kittens right behind her.
Endora got up from the rocking chair and opened the door. “Yes, Your Majesty. You and the babies can come inside with us, but you and Pepper need to learn to get along even when the babies aren’t around.”
“Ain’t goin’ to happen,” Bernie said as she followed the cats into the house. “Pepper is afraid if he lets Sassy into his life that I might like her better than I do him.”
Tertia brought up the rear of the parade. She had been listening to Endora worry over what she should do about teaching and listening to her aunt forbidding her to be interested in Noah. But all she could think about was getting to be a part of building a restaurant right there in Spanish Fort.
Ophelia got back to the Paradise in the middle of the afternoon, and since no one was waiting on the porch—as in Aunt Bernie—to question her, she figured she was home free. She held her breath as she eased the door open in hopes that it didn’t squeak. She heard her mother pacing the floor and the sound of a few Sunday school swear words—dang, fizzling lousy thing, and a few others that Ophelia had heard many times. That meant the characters in her mother’s newest work in progress weren’t behaving, or else her muse was sleeping on the job.
Ophelia tiptoed up the stairs and even remembered to avoid that one step near the middle that always creaked and had almost made it to her bedroom when Tertia’s door opened. Her sister put a finger over her lips and then motioned for her to come into her room.
“What’s going on?” Ophelia asked.
A soft southerly breeze billowed out the curtains covering the open balcony doors. Tertia fought them back and closed the doors, then sat down on the edge of the bed and nodded toward the rocking chair.
“You are beginning to scare me,” Ophelia said. “What has happened since I left a few hours ago?”
“I went for a walk right after you left,” Tertia answered. “Dolly Devlin is having iced tea on the screened porch with Aunt Bernie. If I leave the doors open, they can hear every word we say. I know because I’ve been eavesdropping on their conversation about starting off their business with Melody Gold. They were going to pair her up with Noah Wilson, but then they figured out that the two of them were distant cousins. As you know, other than us sisters, everyone seems to be connected someway to each other here in Spanish Fort, so now they are thinking about Quinton Denton.”
“Good Lord!” Ophelia gasped.
“At least if they’re working on Melody, then they might leave me alone,” Tertia said and then went on to tell Ophelia every detail of what had happened, including Aunt Bernie’s reaction to Noah Wilson. “And”—she paused for a breath—“Noah Wilson is Dolly’s husband’s cousin’s son. Dolly says that he was a spoiled brat as a child, but when Wanette left him, he had a tough time moving on, and that he’s really grown up the past couple of years. Her words, not mine.”
“Well, Sister, it’s not like he dropped down on one knee and proposed,” Ophelia said. “He just offered you a job, not a diamond ring. From what you said, he needs a friend and a colleague to help him plan and get his café going. It would give you something to do this summer, and remember what you told me about quitting if I don’t like the job?”
“Yep, and I guess if his bullying side comes out like Aunt Bernie thinks it will, or if I flat out don’t like working with him, I can always walk away,” Tertia said with a long sigh. “But how am I going to even do that much without Aunt Bernie pitching a fit?”
“Secretly, until you figure out if you really want to work with Noah,” Ophelia answered. “Don’t I remember you saying something about loving to cook? Sounds like Aunt Bernie’s Universe might be smiling down on you.”
“One more thing.” Tertia sighed again. “I promised Mama I’d take over the cooking this summer.”
“You said that Endora was sympathetic, right?” Ophelia asked.
“Yes.”
“Then how about we bring her in on the secret?” Ophelia suggested. “She could help with meals when you need to be away, and you can always say that you are helping me out at the winery that day. Us sisters have always stuck together, but remember, you’ll have to come clean about the whole thing if and when you decide to really go to work with Noah full time.”
Tertia popped up on her feet, crossed the room, and hugged Ophelia. “Let’s go talk to Endora right now.”
Ophelia was glad for the distraction, but most of all because Tertia was so involved with her own problem that she didn’t even ask about the trip with Jake. Like two kids sneaking around behind their parents’ backs, the sisters peeked out of Tertia’s bedroom door and then tiptoed across the hall.
“Dammit!” Tertia swore under her breath as she whipped around so fast that she almost knocked Ophelia down.
“What the…?” Ophelia groaned.
“Old habits and all that crap,” Tertia whispered. “Endora took over Ursula’s old bedroom for her office last week. That’s where she will be.”
Ophelia reached the door across the hallway first and didn’t even knock before entering. Endora stopped humming and looked up from her sketch pad. “Y’all look like a couple of canaries that got out of the cage. Oh, wait a minute!” she exclaimed and wrote a few lines in a nearby notebook. “There’s another idea for a book. The canary gets out of the cage, and Misty and Poppy almost eat him when Pepper steps in and tells them that wouldn’t be nice.”
“Great idea,” Ophelia closed the door behind her. “But we need your help.”
“You can say no, but please keep my secret if you do,” Tertia said.
Endora laid her pencil to the side. “I can keep a secret. Sit down and tell me what’s going on.”
“It all started with the walk this morning,” Tertia said, and then gave her sister a short version of what had happened. “I don’t plan on falling in love with Noah, or even dating him. He’s not my type, but…” She paused and shrugged.
“You don’t want to suffer the flak that Aunt Bernie will dish out, right?” Endora asked. “I can help steer her away since she and her cronies are all interested in finding Melody a husband right now. Poor girl has wedding-dress fever. I recognize the symptoms because I was afflicted with the same when I was first dating Kevin.”
Endora motioned toward the rocker beside the closed balcony doors. Ophelia sat down in it, and Tertia perched on the edge of the bed.
“Aunt Bernie is the tip of the iceberg. Ursula and Luna will tease me unmercifully after I made that comment about not ever dating another blond-haired man,” Tertia said just above a whisper. “Like I said, we won’t be dating, and I’d like to test the waters before I tell the rest of the family.”
Endora nodded and said, “I understand, and of course I’ll help. It’s kind of like frenemies, right?”
“That’s right,” Tertia agreed.
“Tell you what,” Endora said. “I’ll make this easy by suggesting that I take over supper duties each night until summer starts. That leaves you with the afternoons free. This makes me feel like old times when we conspired together against that sorry preacher man who had his eye on our mama.”
“Kind of does, doesn’t it?” Ophelia said with a smile and then nudged Tertia. “When are you going to call Noah and tell him that you’ll talk to him?”
“Maybe tomorrow,” Tertia answered. “I need to sleep on it first, but”—she paused—“thank you both.”
Endora’s eyes twinkled. “Now it’s your turn, Ophelia. Tell us about your trip with Jake today. Were you nervous?”
“Not one bit,” Ophelia said. “I wasn’t antsy like I usually am on a first date, and he was easy to talk to, but even with Aunt Bernie telling me over and over again that this was a date”—she raised one shoulder in a half shrug—“it didn’t feel so much like a date, other than…”
“Other than what?” Tertia asked.
“There was a little moment when I slipped on the truck’s running board and almost fell. He caught me, and maybe there were some little sparks, but then it could have just been that I was saved from the embarrassment of falling at his feet,” she answered. “Besides we all know that it’s not smart to start up a relationship with your boss. That can create all kinds of problems.”
“It could get awkward,” Tertia agreed, but she was thinking of her own situation more than Ophelia’s.
Endora stood up and rolled her neck a couple of times. “There, that got the kinks out. Sometimes I get so involved with my books and illustrations that I sit too long. I’m glad y’all are being smart about Jake and Noah.”
“It’s kind of the chance of a lifetime,” Tertia said as she rolled up on her feet. “To get to be in on the building of a café from start to finish and then cook for a living. That would be my dream come true.”
“Then go for it,” Endora said.
A noise at the door made all of them jump. Ophelia visualized Aunt Bernie with her ear plastered to the door and listening in on their conversation. Then she pictured Pepper scratching on the wood, and Bernie giving him a look that would melt Lucifer’s horns. She held her breath when Endora eased it open and let it out in a whoosh when Sassy and the kittens hurried inside, jumped up on her bed, and curled up in Ophelia’s lap.
“They’re spoiled rotten and fickle,” Tertia said. “They were in my lap before dinner and purring like I was their favorite human.”
Endora picked up Poppy by the scruff of the neck and sat back down in her office chair. “They bring me lots of happiness. I may just grow up to be the crazy old cat lady who lives in an old brothel and writes children’s books that won’t sell.”
“Oh, honey,” Tertia said. “Your books are not going only sell; they’re going to be bestsellers.”
Endora rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. “From your mouth to a publisher’s checkbook. Mama asked her agent, and Norma said to send in the first one completed, and she would see what she could do.”
Tertia headed for the door. “That’s a start.”
“Kind of like what y’all are doing with your new jobs?” Endora said.
Ophelia gently laid Sassy and Misty off to the side. “How’s that?”
“Five of the seven of us sisters have gotten a new start this past six months. Let’s make the most of it,” Endora said. “I think that’s why Aunt Bernie has a bee in her bloomers about this new business. She’s worked all her life, and she’s finding retirement isn’t so much fun.”
“Amen,” Ophelia and Tertia said at the same time.