Chapter 12
The cool evening breeze made it a perfect night for Tertia to sit out on the balcony and watch the sunset. The scent from the rosebushes mixed with the lingering aroma of the fresh bread that Endora had baked for supper wafted up to her as she thought about the last few days. She had met with Noah on Tuesday afternoon and had expected Bernie to fuss at her the next morning. Or Thursday, and now it was Friday evening—and not a word from her aunt about Noah Wilson.
Ophelia came out of her room a couple of doors down and sat down in the chair next to Tertia. “Hey, girl.”
“Hey, right back at you,” Tertia said. “I thought you had a date tonight.”
“Nope, tomorrow night,” Ophelia said. “Aunt Bernie has already been giving me all kinds of advice about it, and you are welcome.”
“For what?” Tertia asked.
“She’s been so busy gloating about fixing me up with Jake that she hasn’t had time to think about you and Noah,” Ophelia answered.
Endora stuck her head out of another door. “Are y’all spilling tea without me?”
“Not really,” Tertia answered. “I wouldn’t let Ophelia tell me about her week at work until you got here.”
Endora dragged a chair over to where her sisters were, dropped it on the other side of Ophelia, and sat down. “Okay, I’m here. Did something juicy happen? But wait, before you tell us about Jake, how do you figure that Aunt Bernie hasn’t been up on her soapbox about Noah yet?”
Tertia stretched up one arm and bowed her head. “Thank you, Jesus, for that miracle.”
Endora hopped up and moved a few feet away.
“Where are you going?” Ophelia asked. “I thought you were interested in spilled tea.”
“I am,” Endora answered, “but I see a dark cloud over there in the southwest. Lightning could come out of it and zap Tertia for what she just said. I don’t want to be so close to her if it does.”
“And they say Tertia is the funny sister,” Ophelia said. “Besides, the miracle will be over by morning.”
Endora returned to sit in her chair. “What makes you say that?”
“Look at the vehicles parked in front of Aunt Bernie’s little trailer. See that silver Caddy? That’s Frannie’s car. I bet she waited to tell her about Noah and Tertia until tonight at their senior women’s Sunday school class meeting.”
Tertia groaned and laid the back of her hand on her forehead in a dramatic gesture. “You are probably right. Frannie would want to see Aunt Bernie’s expression when she got the news!”
“Yep,” Ophelia said with a serious nod. “Those old gals meet on Fridays to do more than talk about the lesson for their Sunday morning class.”
“They play poker, drink Jameson, and spill enough tea to flood that trailer,” Endora added. “And tonight, they have some really juicy gossip about you helping Noah. Maybe you should go stay with Luna or Ursula for a few days until Bernie cools down.”
“Maybe tonight they will really talk about their lesson for Sunday.” Tertia groaned.
“If you believe that, then I’ve got some of that oceanfront property up in Wyoming to sell you,” Ophelia said. “But that’s tomorrow’s battle. Tell us how many times Noah has called or texted since you saw him. And when are y’all getting together again?”
“To discuss the café of course, since this is just a business venture and has nothing to do with friendship,” Endora added.
“I didn’t count the times he called or texted, and this really is a business venture with a possibility of a job when the café is built,” Tertia replied. “Right now, I’m just consulting on a new café. Ophelia is the one with the date tomorrow night. She should be telling us about her week. Did she and Jake sneak a few kisses beside the coffee machine?”
“We did not!” Ophelia protested.
“Okay, then, where are you going tomorrow night, and what are y’all going to do?” Tertia asked.
“Jake is cooking for us at his trailer and then we’re going to watch a movie. I’ll be home by midnight,” Ophelia answered. “Or maybe I’ll spend the night, skip church, and sit on his porch all day Sunday, just so I don’t have to be here when Aunt Bernie lights into Tertia. You don’t have to worry about lightning from the sky, little sister. Aunt Bernie will bring something even worse when she finds out that Tertia has been seeing Noah.”
“I’m not seeing Noah,” Tertia protested. “I’m working with him, mostly by phone. I only saw him one time.”
Endora wiggled her forefinger at her sister. “You had a drink with him, so that counts as a date. And now I’m going back to my room. I’m working on the last rough draft illustration for book number one.”
“You should do one where Pepper and Sassy go to church and create havoc chasing each other.” Tertia was glad to turn the conversation away from her and Noah.
Endora stood up. “I’ll put that in my idea book for a later date.”
“I’m going inside to watch some reruns of Justified. I can’t decide if I like Raylan the hero or Boyd the villain the best. Want to join me?” Ophelia asked.
“Nope,” Tertia answered. “I’m just going to sit out here and be ready to dash out to Aunt Bernie’s trailer with a water hose when the gossip sets it on fire.”
“Call me if you need any help,” Ophelia said as she headed back to her room.
Tertia’s phone vibrated, and she slipped it out of her hip pocket to find a picture of Noah’s face. She hit the green icon and smiled back at him. Before the FaceTime started, she reminded herself that she was a grown woman and had been making her own decisions for more than a decade.
Tertia made a breakfast casserole and French toast for breakfast on Saturday morning, but it didn’t do a thing to soften Bernie’s expression when she came through the back door. Poor little Pepper had to trot to keep up with her, and he flopped down flat on his fat little belly in the middle of the floor.
“See what you have caused,” Bernie growled. “Pepper might have a heart attack.”
“Me?” Tertia asked.
Bernie shook her finger at Tertia. “Don’t give me that innocent look. You know exactly what I’m talking about, but”—she sighed loudly—“you are a grown woman, and if you can’t take my advice about men, then you’ll have to sleep in the bed you make—and believe me, I will say, ‘I told you so,’ when you are whining about making a mistake.”
“What’s going on in here?” Mary Jane asked.
Joe Clay squatted down to pet the dog. “Looks like you just ran a marathon, old boy. Or were you just chasing a squirrel up a tree?”
“He was trying to keep up with me,” Bernie declared. “I walk fast when I’m upset, and your third daughter has just plumb jacked my blood pressure up the stroke level.”
“How did she do that?” Joe Clay asked.
Bernie didn’t have a real soapbox, but a lot of stomping and creative cussing went on when she crawled up on her virtual one and answered the question.
“We raised all our girls to be independent and make their own decisions,” Joe Clay said. “I trust that Tertia knows exactly what she is doing, so don’t get your underbritches in a wad, Aunt Bernie.”
“What will be, will be, and what…” Mary Jane started.
“And what won’t be, might be anyway,” Bernie finished the sentence. “Your grandmother started that saying. But I’m tellin’ all y’all right now, Noah is not the man for Tertia, and I will ask my Universe to help her open her eyes and realize that.”
“Thank you for praying for her,” Mary Jane said with half a smile.
“I’m not praying,” Bernie declared. “That’s a God business. The Universe is something different. But since I can’t change her mind, and she won’t listen to me, then she will have to face the consequences.”
Tertia took a couple of steps to the side and hugged her aunt. “I promise this is a business deal, not a love affair. Are you ready for breakfast? I made your favorite French toast.”
Bernie stuck her nose in the air. “Yes, I am.”
“What’s going on in here?” Ophelia asked.
Endora dropped down on her knees and laid her hand on Pepper. “He’s alive, thank goodness. He can’t die before I finish my series of books about him and the cats.”
Sassy came around the corner with Misty and Poppy trailing along behind her. She stopped, fluffed up her tail, and glared at Pepper. The dog hopped up on his short little legs, bristled, and growled down deep in his throat.
Poppy ran over to him and bumped her nose against his. The two of them left the kitchen and headed toward the foyer, but they cut a wide swath around Sassy and Misty.
“Pepper isn’t in a good mood, and neither am I,” Bernie answered. “But you’re going to tell me all about your date tonight, and that will make me feel better. At least you are smart enough to listen to me.” She sent a dirty look toward Tertia.
“Who told her?” Mary Jane whispered as she poured two cups of coffee and handed one to Joe Clay.
“The Universe?” Joe Clay asked out of the corner of his mouth.
“Only if it’s named Frannie,” Tertia answered. “But I can breathe easier now that she knows. I won’t have to feel like I’m sneaking around.”
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Joe Clay chuckled.
Mary Jane tiptoed and kissed him on the cheek. “Both, darlin’. There’s a little bit of intrigue and excitement with the sneaky business, but it could take all the fun out of the relationship, and that would be bad.”
“Why?” Joe Clay asked and then nodded. “You don’t have to answer that. I understand. Bernie would gloat.”
“Yep,” Tertia agreed.
“What are y’all whispering about?” Bernie asked.
“They’re discussing the possibility of my date tonight being a mistake, since I work for Jake,” Ophelia answered and slid a sly wink over toward her sister.
“No, it’s not a mistake,” Bernie declared. “It’s going to turn out to be a happy-ever-after just like I fixed for Ursula and Luna, and I’m layin’ the groundwork for Melody and Quinton. Both of them are Sunday school teachers so that should be a match literally made in heaven.”
“Thank you,” Tertia mouthed, and then removed the breakfast casserole from the oven and set it on the table beside the platter of French toast.
Joe Clay pulled out a chair for Mary Jane, and when she was seated, he sat down at the head of the table. “This looks amazing. I’m so glad your mama taught all you girls to cook. Now, Ophelia, tell me about the wine business. Has your first week been good or have you gotten bored?”
Tertia could have kissed her dad when he changed the subject away from Ursula’s date and the café business that she and Noah were into.
“Good,” Ophelia answered as she poured herself a glass of milk and sent the jug around the table. “I wasn’t bored for even one minute. In between customers, I stock the shelves, be sure there’s a couple of kinds of wine for tasting, and each morning I dust the shelves.”
“Don’t want there to be a little dust on the bottle,” Mary Jane laughed.
“Hey, that song was on the jukebox in my bar,” Bernie said. “One old truck driver used to play it over and over again. He said it reminded him of his younger days, when he would steal a bottle of wine from his uncle’s cellar to impress his girlfriend.”
“Whew!” Tertia fanned herself with the back of her hand. “That David Lee Murphy is one good-lookin’ cowboy. I could dive right into his blue eyes and live there forever.”
“When I get over my mad spell, I will ask the Universe to send you a happy-ever-after guy that has dark hair and clear blue eyes,” Bernie said.
“Awww”—Tertia flashed her brightest smile at her aunt—“you still love me.”
“If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be mad,” Bernie snapped. “Did I tell y’all that I won a hundred dollars at the poker game last night? Of course, I’ve already put a ten in my purse to put in the missionary envelope on Sunday. I promised God if he’d let me win, I would do the right thing. Seems like ten percent is right.”
Mary Jane nodded. “That’s sweet of you, but why didn’t you talk to the Universe?”
“Because there’s no way to pay the Universe back when it does something good,” Bernie answered.
Universe. Fate. God.
Tertia wondered which one was working on her behalf, or if maybe they had all joined forces and were going to make her eat her words about not ever dating a man with blond hair.
Time would tell, and no matter what happened, Aunt Bernie would either take the credit or say, “I told you so.” Neither of which really mattered to Tertia that morning because that afternoon she was going over to Noah’s house to talk about a rough draft of the menu for the café.