Chapter Three #2
“It’s a fact,” Mae said. “Go on, now. We’ll see you later—and Millie and Diane have volunteered to be designated drivers tonight, so y’all don’t have a curfew.”
“Will they be eating your special brownies?” Walker asked.
“They won’t be doing that, either,” Cleo said. “They got to get medical tests done on Monday, so they have to be good this weekend. But I’m hopin’ that when Mae has a brownie or two, she’ll get out of her pissy mood.”
Tina met Gracie coming down the stairs.
“Are we ready to go?” she asked.
“I am if you two are,” Walker answered and headed toward the front door. “You want to follow me or lead the way?”
“You go on ahead. We’ll be right behind you.” Gracie turned to Tina. “You are going with us, right?”
“Oh, yeah,” Tina replied. “When did you get home?”
“An hour ago, and I’ve already had a sandwich and a cupcake. I’m so ready to get out of town for a few days, and . . .” She cocked her head to one side and listened for a few seconds. “They’re still in the garage, right?”
“I understand you have a secret to tell me?” Tina asked. Did this mean she was back in Gracie’s good graces? She smiled at the double word.
“Yep, and I’ve been dying to tell you all week, but we never got a minute alone.
Mae and Cleo were around all the time, or else sitting on the porch when we were at the Tomorrow Tree.
I’m still not convinced that they can’t read lips.
Anyway, let’s get out of here and visit on the way to Bard,” Gracie said.
“Why do we have to go to Bard?” Tina asked as she crossed the yard and got into Gracie’s SUV.
“Where we are going used to have a café in part of it, so it’s not a lie,” Gracie giggled. “I want you to meet Dakota Chatto, my boyfriend.” Gracie backed out of the driveway and drove west behind Walker’s truck.
“You have a boyfriend?” Tina gasped.
“Don’t act so surprised. He’s not my first. I am past thirty years old.”
“Tell me everything. Where did you meet him? What does he look like?”
“One thing at a time,” Gracie said.
“Okay, start with how y’all met,” Tina told her.
“We met at a teachers’ conference last year about this time. He teaches at the community college in Tucumcari. Our eyes met across the room, and I think I fell in love with him right then.”
Tina almost swooned. “That’s so romantic. And he’s a teacher like you, so you have a lot in common. What does he look like? Tall, dark, and handsome?”
“I’ll let you decide that for yourself. To me, he’s the sexiest guy in all of Texas and New Mexico combined,” Gracie answered.
“So, now that school is out, you can see him more often, right?”
Gracie smiled. “Let’s just say that I’ll be spending time either in Bard or on road trips this summer.”
“Why Bard?” Tina asked. “There is nothing there anymore but a few scattered houses. Why not just drive on over to Tucumcari? The trip only takes a little more than an hour.”
“Bard is a good place for us to meet halfway between where we each live. His grandpa used to own property there, and when he passed away, he willed the house and all the sand and cactus around it to Dakota. There’s a couple of miles between him and the nearest neighbor.
He parks his trailer out behind the old building. I write and he paints.”
Tina’s mind went to the necessities. “Bathroom?”
“He has one of those portable potties brought in from Tucumcari. They pick it up every two weeks and bring a new one, and there’s still a well with good water. We have a makeshift outdoor shower that works very well.”
Tina fetched her sunglasses from her purse and put them on. “All the comforts of home—but to tell the truth, I always figured you and Walker would wind up together.”
Gracie flipped down her sun visor and put on a pair of shades that covered half her round face. “Why would you ever think that? Walker is like a brother. And besides, you know how my folks feel about him.”
“That’s so old-world. Just because he’s Native American is no reason . . .” She paused and thought about how her parents had felt about him all those years ago. According to them, her two friends—that Mexican and that Navajo—were the reason why she was so belligerent and stubborn.
Gracie braked hard, and the tires squealed as she came to a stop not two feet from the back of Walker’s truck. Tina tested the strength of the seat belt when she flew forward. The first thought that went through her mind was that she had offended her friend and would have to walk back to Benson.
“What the hell?” she squealed.
Gracie pointed, but she was panting so hard that she couldn’t speak.
Tina focused on the road ahead and saw a whole herd of mule deer wandering across the highway like they owned the whole state.
They meandered as if they had no place to go and a year to get there—half a dozen does with fawns traipsing along behind them and a big buck bringing up the rear, with antlers that could possibly wind up on a hunter’s wall someday.
“That’s strange.” Gracie finally found her voice, leaned forward, and looked up at the sky. “They are usually in a big hurry and almost like blurs when they run across the road. I wonder if the weather is about to change again.”
“Maybe it’s a sign of some kind,” Tina said. “Remember how we used to sit under the Tomorrow Tree and try to get Walker to tell us about Navajo omens?”
“It’s probably got something to do with a pressure change, not a higher power trying to tell us something about the past or future,” Gracie said as she shifted her foot from the brake to the gas pedal and drove on down the highway.
“If you are wrong, you may have to stay inside the trailer all weekend if a storm brews up,” Tina said.
Gracie’s smile lit up her eyes. “That wouldn’t be a problem.”
“What do you mean by that?” Tina faked a shocked expression.
Gracie smirked. “Exactly what you think I mean by that.”
“All teasing aside, have you even hinted to your folks about Dakota?” Tina asked. “If things are getting serious, don’t you think you should drop the bombshell on them? He is a good Catholic feller, isn’t he? I remember you always saying that you would never marry outside your faith.”
“Nope, I have not told my family, and he hasn’t said anything to his, either. And he is not Catholic,” Gracie answered with a sigh.
“Why? You are two consenting adults. Is he old enough to be your father or something?”
Gracie inhaled deeply and let it out. “He’s not half Navajo like Walker.
He’s full-blooded, and his folks do not want him to taint the heritage.
On my side, it has to do with religion, as you well know.
My parents want me to marry a good man who believes like we do, preferably with a lot of Mexican blood.
We aren’t ashamed of being in love, but . . .” She sighed again and shrugged.
“When are you going to spring this on your folks? Before or after the wedding?”
Gracie grimaced. “What would you do?”
“I’d wait until five months before the first baby is born,” Tina said. “Then they’ll be so wound up over a new grandchild, they won’t be so upset.”
“I like that answer, and it would give me a couple of years.” Gracie giggled out loud. “Now, tell me about your folks. Where are they these days? We really need a couple of long sessions under the Tomorrow Tree to catch up.”
“They went on a cross-country road trip while I was in Louisiana,” Tina answered. “They liked Northern California and settled there. That’s what happens when a couple has made the decision not to have kids. And then I snuck up on them when they were forty years old.”
It messes up a child if they don’t get help, she thought, and then went on, “We have begun to at least talk a little on the phone, so there’s a chance we can mend some fences.
But they didn’t consider me when they moved, and I disappointed them so much that it’s partly my fault they picked someplace so far away. ”
“I understand. My folks had a houseful of sons, and then a little girl comes along after the boys are all grown and gone. Thank God for Cleo and Mae,” Gracie said as she eased off the road and drove around to the back side of what remained of an old wooden building with half the roof gone.
“Amen to that,” Tina said with a nod. “This town hasn’t aged much since we were teenagers and driving over to Tucumcari to go to the movies.
Who would have ever thought . . .” Tina hadn’t finished the sentence when Gracie got out of the vehicle and jogged across the grassless yard. She ran right into a guy’s arms.
Gracie only reached five feet, two inches on tiptoe.
He was only a few inches taller than Gracie, and they looked so cute together.
He had jet black hair, which he had pulled back into a ponytail and then braided it.
His dark eyes danced with joy when he saw Gracie.
His sculpted face testified that he and Walker came from the same background.
Seeing the expression on her friend’s face sent pangs of jealousy all through Tina, and then she felt guilty for begrudging Gracie this hard-won happiness.
The whoosh of warm air flowing through the SUV startled her when the door flew open.
She whipped her head around to see Walker standing just outside with his hand held out to her.
She unfastened her seat belt and let him help her out.
“Did she tell you, or is this a big surprise?” he asked.
“Both,” Tina answered and dropped his hand. “How has she kept it a secret this long?”
“It hasn’t been easy, but she’s been to a lot of ‘teachers’ meetings.’” He air-quoted the last two words.
Gracie and Dakota walked toward her and guilt shot through Tina again. So, this is what being in real love looks like, she thought. I want what they have.
You have to get your own life straightened out before you can even think about that, a voice in her head said bluntly.
Gracie made introductions. “Tina, this is Dakota Chatto. Dakota, this is my best friend, Tina.”
“Hey, now!” Walker protested.