Chapter Five
Happiness does not shed ugly tears.
That was what Tina kept telling herself when she awoke on Sunday morning. She was determined that she would drive Gracie to the feedstore with a smile on her face and send her off with a hug and a wave. Then, if she fell apart, Walker could suffer the brunt of her emotional roller coaster.
Still, it didn’t seem fair that Gracie was leaving so soon after Tina had called her parents and told them that she wasn’t coming to California but would be staying in Benson indefinitely.
They had taken the news with a lilt in their voices that didn’t surprise her.
She was thinking about that when she reached the bottom of the stairs and saw Gracie’s baggage sitting beside the front door.
Cleo and Mae came in from the kitchen and each gave Gracie a hug.
The original plan had been not to leave until Mae and Cleo went to church.
Tina raised an eyebrow toward Gracie, who just shrugged and then whispered, “I just couldn’t leave without telling them goodbye.”
“We’ll miss you,” Cleo said.
“But we want you to have a good time,” Mae told her. “Cleo, we’ve got to get to the church with the food. You know there’ll be too many desserts and not enough real food like we are bringing. You take the Crock-Pot of sausage gravy and I’ll get the biscuits.”
“Whoa!” Walker said. “I’ll take those things out to whatever vehicle you are driving this morning. You just take your Bibles and purses.”
“Thank you, son.” Mae beamed.
Gracie hugged each of them. “I’ll see you when I get back and will call every few days.”
“Have fun,” Cleo said with a smile that deepened the wrinkles around her eyes.
“Stay safe. Don’t talk to strangers or let anyone entice you into their vehicles,” Mae reminded her, probably for the third or fourth time.
“I’m not eight years old,” Gracie fussed, even as she chuckled.
“It’s our duty to protect you as if you were,” Cleo scolded. “If I don’t get any word from you by Tuesday night, I’ll send the Texas Rangers out looking for you.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Gracie said.
Mae grabbed Cleo’s arm and pulled her forward. “We can’t stand around here jawin’ with these kids all day. If we ain’t at the church early, all of Minnie Colbert’s cinnamon rolls will be gone, and I’ve been cravin’ one for a week.”
“Well, why didn’t you say something?” Cleo asked. “Mine are better than hers—I would have made them for you.”
Mae rolled her eyes. “You are still talking and not moving.”
“Don’t get your panties in a twist,” Cleo said. “I’m driving, and I can get us there in five minutes.”
Mae led the way outside. “You always drive too fast.”
“Maybe so, but we ain’t never late for anything,” Cleo argued.
They were still arguing when their voices faded and the car engine started, and Walker had made it back into the house.
Gracie wiped imaginary sweat from her face. “Whew! The hard part is over now.”
“The universe smiled on you this morning,” Tina said.
“Or the spirits,” Walker chuckled. “Still want us to take you to the feedstore, or will Dakota pick you up here?”
“The feedstore, please,” Gracie answered.
“Why?” Tina asked.
“It’s not busy on a Sunday. He’ll jump out of his truck and help get my things into the trailer. Iris Holt still lives next door. I swear that woman has binoculars and every gossip in town on speed dial, but she should be in church at this time.”
“I thought Cleo and Mae were friends with her,” Tina said.
“They were never really what I would call friends,” Gracie said.
“Cleo and Mae kind of tolerated her because she was their neighbor, but she was always spreading crap about them, and when she got onto social media, it got worse. It all came to a head a few years ago when Iris got a goat. She said the animal would keep her from having to mow her lawn. The problem arose when the critter ate Cleo’s beloved roses. ”
“I’d wondered what happened to the fence roses,” Tina said.
“Now you know,” Walker said. “You should have been here for all the city council meetings over the roses and the goat. They each said that the fence was on their land, and Iris insisted the goat had every right to be there. Everyone got a lawyer, and the land had to be surveyed. Turned out that the fence was on Mae’s side of the property, and Iris owed her for damage to the rosebushes. ”
“I found out then that they had all been in the same grade at school. When the schools integrated, Iris had a problem with prejudice and was hateful to Cleo. But our ladies tolerated her fairly well until that goat came into play. I was just glad the goat didn’t break through the fence and get into the special flowers in Cleo’s greenhouse,” Gracie giggled.
“Can’t you just see a goat all high on ‘poinsettias’? ”
“My imagination is working overtime.” Tina laughed. “If it gets out that Christmas flowers can do that, the youth group will be drying the leaves after Christmas Eve services and giving it a try. You think if we sent over some special brownies, Iris’s attitude might lighten up?”
“We could try,” Gracie said. “But I’m going to blame it on you if she starts dancing naked in the rain.”
Tina raised one shoulder in half a shrug. “Might as well. Everything else has always been my fault.”
“Hey, hush up, talking like that! You are not a kid anymore,” Gracie scolded.
“One little brownie wouldn’t do enough to change that woman’s attitude, anyway. She’d have to eat a whole pan full to soften up her soul,” Walker growled.
Gracie’s phone pinged and she quickly read the text. “Dakota is waiting at the feedstore, so it’s time to go.”
“We could all load up in my truck, and that way Tina wouldn’t have to drive your vehicle back,” Walker suggested.
“Sounds good,” Gracie agreed and shot a dose of stink-eye over at Tina. “And there will be no sadness when I leave. It’s not like I’m dying. It’s only two weeks, not more than a decade.”
A shiver chased down Tina’s spine. “Don’t give me a mean look and then say things like that right before you leave.”
“If she makes you mad, then neither of you will cry,” Walker said.
Tears welled up in Tina’s eyes, and she wrapped Gracie in a fierce hug. “It won’t work. I already feel guilty over not keeping in touch with y’all. And I can’t tell you how much it meant to me that both of you, as well as Cleo and Mae, took me in like I’d only been gone a few days.”
“Look what you’ve done,” Gracie whimpered as she took a step back. “All these years I worked on being tough like you, and now I’m crying.” She air-slapped Tina on the arm. “My makeup is ruined, isn’t it?”
Walker pointed to a box of tissues on a small table with a round mirror above it. “It’s not bad. You can fix it with a couple of those dabs that you do when you are upset.”
Tina yanked a tissue out and handed it to Gracie, then pulled one out for herself even though she hadn’t taken time to put on makeup that morning.
“When we were teenagers, I had to stand on a chair to share this mirror with you,” Gracie said.
“I wasn’t willing to bend a little back then,” Tina told her. “Friendships like ours must run deep for us to be able to pick up right where we left off.”
“We are all friends of the soul, which is like a three-cord rope. It holds up and never breaks,” Walker said. “Now, if you two are through primping, it’s time to go. Dakota is a patient man, but y’all have miles to go before arriving at today’s destination.”
“Not really. We’re only going to the Palo Duro Canyon area for the first few days. He has made arrangements with a rancher for us to park the trailer right down at the bottom of the canyon where there is a well for water and an electrical outlet,” Gracie said.
“Why would anyone have that all the way down there?” Tina asked.
“It’s used for cattle, in some way,” Gracie replied as she went outside. “We’re hoping for good weather so he can produce a painting and I can write more on my newest children’s book.”
“I’m sure that’s not all you’ll be doing,” Tina teased.
Gracie answered her with a grin.
When they reached the feedstore, Tina took several deep breaths and scolded herself, for what seemed like the hundredth time that morning, for being so selfish.
“This is it,” Gracie said. “I don’t know how much phone reception I’ll have down deep in the canyon, but I’ll check in as often as I can. Y’all keep a check on my folks, and take care of Mae and Cleo.”
“You know we will,” Walker told her.
Dakota got out of his truck and helped Gracie move her things over into his vehicle. Then he helped her into the passenger seat. Before he closed the door, Tina gave her one more hug.
“Be safe, and—”
“I know,” Gracie butted in. “Me too. Now, go make Walker take you to breakfast somewhere before we both get even sappier.”
Tina managed to smile even though it didn’t come from her heart. “Have fun—and, Dakota, you are carrying precious cargo, so take care of her.”
“You’ve got my word,” Dakota said.
Tina closed the door and waved until the truck and trailer were completely out of sight. Walker loosely draped an arm around her shoulders. “Are you going to be all right?”
“Yes, I am, but I already miss her and she’s barely gone.”
“That sounds like a country song Grandpa used to listen to.”
His touch comforted her, and Tina was glad to let him guide her to his vehicle. “Bull always had that kind of music playing in the store. Why did folks call him Bull?”
He chuckled and opened the door for her.
“Story has it that from the time he could walk, his mama said he was as bullheaded as a cross-eyed mule. Folks tagged him with that nickname, and he kind of grew into it as an adult. He wasn’t just big and strong, he also had that stubborn streak right up until the day that he died.
You remember how he and I used to argue. ”
“Well, I’m glad that your mama used her maiden name as your first name and didn’t put Bull on your birth certificate.”
“Amen to that,” Walker agreed. “If you can wait a little while to eat, I know this sweet little place over the border that makes a great breakfast.”
“Hash browns?” she asked.
“Crispy and served up with a side of sausage gravy. And the pancakes are better than Cleo’s, but don’t you tell her I said that.”
“Yes, and thank you.”
“For what?” he asked.
“For taking me away from town so that I’m not sad about Gracie.”
“Hey, who says I’m doing this for you? I’ve been looking forward to eating breakfast at this place for days. Maybe I should be thanking you for tagging along.” He winked.
That simple wink lightened her heavy heart. “Just how good is this food, anyway?”
“Wait and see for yourself.”