Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Tully was in Honky Tonk Heaven.
Or more like Honky Tonk Hell.
For the last three days, until the wee hours of the morning, she’d been working her fanny off with the Hennessys trying to meet the deadline.
The Hennessys had cleaned up the smoke damage, repainted the ceiling in the bar, and replaced the fire-damaged flooring by the kitchen in the days before Tully started helping.
But that still left so much to do.
Once the electrical issues were resolved, they had planned on hiring help to redo the kitchen while they worked on getting the bar ready. Unfortunately, they couldn’t find any framers and drywallers to come out on such short notice. So Tully had learned to frame, drywall, tape, and plaster.
With only four days to go before the deadline, they still weren’t even close to finishing their long to-do list. They needed to paint the kitchen and redo the flooring.
Not to mention all the boxes of chairs and tables and glasses that needed to be unboxed and the liquor that needed to be stocked on the shelves behind the bar.
A bar that wasn’t there.
The mahogany bar Tully had ordered was scheduled to arrive today, but she had just received an email. Now she had to give the Hennessys the bad news. She tried to keep a smile on her face as she looked around at all their faces, but it was impossible when her heart was breaking.
“I just got some bad news.”
Jaxon immediately walked over to pull her into his arms. “It’s okay, Tully. Whatever it is, baby, we’ll handle it together.” He kissed her and she melted into his arms for a second . . . before Poppy interrupted.
“I think I just threw up in my mouth. Would you stop mauling her, Jax, and let her get to the bad news?”
Tully drew back and turned to Jaxon’s siblings who looked as tired and beat as she and Jaxon did. “The mahogany bar was lost in shipment.”
Dawson stared at her. “What the hell? How do you lose an entire bar?”
Tully swallowed hard. “I don’t know . . . but we need to come up with a different plan. What about the walnut one you found, Poppy? Could we get it here on time?”
“Maybe. But I thought it wouldn’t be Honky Tonk Heaven without a mahogany bar.”
Tully shrugged and tried not to show her disappointment. “Walnut will be just as—”
“I can make it.” Huck cut in.
Tully stared at him. “Oh, Huck, that’s so nice, but that’s a pretty big job. We’d still have to order the wood.”
Huck grinned. “No, we wouldn’t. I was out in Daddy’s old woodworking shed the other day and discovered a big piece of mahogany wood. I think Mama bought it for this exact reason. She planned on having someone make another bar top for Honky Tonk Heaven just like the last one.”
“Why didn’t you say something?” Dawson asked.
Huck shrugged. “Because we already had a bar ordered.”
Poppy flopped down on a box that held chairs. “But if you’re busying making the bar, then that leaves us with a manpower shortage. I think we need to face facts. There’s no way we’re going to meet the deadline after this set back.”
Dawson joined Poppy on the box. “It’s about time y’all figured that out.”
Tully waited for Huck to jump in with his usual optimistic outlook. But he didn’t. He just jerked his work gloves off and tossed them down before walking out the front door.
She glanced at Jaxon, but all she saw was sad resignation.
Which made it official.
The vote had been taken and majority ruled. It was time to give up. It wasn’t as heartbreaking as she thought it would be. Probably because Jaxon placed an arm around her and pulled her close.
She smiled up at him. “Like Birdie always says, there’s an entire ocean of dreams out there just waiting to be caught. If one doesn’t work out, there are plenty of others to catch.”
Jaxon tucked one of her wayward curls behind her ear. “I already caught the dream I wanted most.”
She planned on echoing his words when Huck came striding back in the door with a huge grin on his face.
“Y’all aren’t going to believe this.” He stepped out of the way and people started filing in.
People carrying toolboxes, cleaning supplies, casserole dishes, and Tupperware containers. The A-Sisters carrying greasy bags of donuts and a carafe of coffee. Birdie holding the handles of two big jugs of sun tea. And Daddy carrying the Yeti cooler that Tully had gotten him for Christmas.
His gaze landed on her and Jaxon.
Jaxon released her like she was a hot potato.
“Hey, Sheriff Gentry. Umm . . . what’s going on?”
Her daddy set the cooler down on a table and gave him a stern look. “I heard you’ve been keeping my daughter working day and night.”
Jaxon visibly paled. “I tried to get her to slow down, but she wasn’t having it.”
Daddy nodded. “Stubborn . . . just like her daddy.”
Birdie huffed as she set down the jugs of tea next to the cooler. “You can say that again.” She gave her son a loving look. “But you always did know when to accept you were wrong and make amends, Del.”
As if on cue, her daddy took off his hat and looked at Jaxon.
“It’s been brought to my attention that I didn’t do my job on the night Mickey’s got robbed.
I made an assumption without properly investigating the crime and clung to that assumption even when I didn’t have enough evidence.
That was wrong, son.” He glanced around at the townsfolk.
“Especially when my beliefs influenced an entire town.”
Everyone fidgeted uncomfortably as Daddy looked back at Jaxon. “I know that sorry doesn’t quite cover what I put you through, but I’m hoping some day you can forgive me. In the meantime, I figured you could use some help. But if you don’t want it from me, I won’t blame you.”
Jaxon stood there for a moment before he crossed the room to her daddy. All the townsfolk watched with wide eyes as if Jaxon was going to punch her daddy right in the nose. But she knew better and her heart swelled when he held out a hand.
“Thank you, sir.” He shook her daddy’s hand. “My siblings and I . . . and your daughter would sure appreciate some help.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” Birdie yelled. “Let’s get this place ready to open!”
In one day, with the townsfolk’s help, the dancehall came together. The kitchen got a fresh coat of paint and a new vinyl floor. The oak dance floor got polished to a high shine and chairs and barstools were unboxed and placed and beer signs were put up and liquor lined up on the mirrored shelves.
Even the kitchen appliances Tully had secretly ordered arrived and were installed. Jaxon loved his surprise and gave her a kiss that had her wishing they were alone.
During all the mayhem, someone started the jukebox and people stopped what they were doing and tried out the dance floor. There was laughter and plenty of stories told . . . mostly about Honky Tonk Heaven, but some about the Hennessy Hooligans’ childhood exploits.
But none were mean spirited.
Tully wasn’t surprised. She’d always known the townsfolk had good hearts.
But the Hennessys hadn’t known. They looked more than a little stunned as people retold stories.
Gossip could seem vicious when whispered behind backs, but when spoken with genuine smiles and good will, it turned into harmless memories.
Once the sun began to set, people started leaving. With their toolboxes and empty Tupperware containers in hand, they passed out handshakes and hugs to every Hennessy before they disappeared out the doors.
When they were gone, the Hennessys all looked at Tully as if she had the answer to the townsfolk’s reversal.
She smiled. “What can I say, it’s just part of living in a small town.”
* * *
The following night, Jaxon decided to try out the new cooktop in the kitchen and make a celebration dinner for Tully and his siblings.
He looked like a kid in a candy store—or the sexiest Iron Chef—as he flipped smashburgers and checked on the sweet potato fries sizzling away in the deep fryer.
Once it was ready, they moved all the food out to one of the tables and sat down.
“I knew we could do it all along,” Huck said around a big bite of burger.
“You did not!” Poppy stole two of his fries and munched them. “Yesterday, you were ready to quit just like the rest of us.”
“I wasn’t quitting. I was just taking a break to regain my energy, then I was planning on coming back in and raising some hell with a bunch of quitters.”
“I’ll show you a quitter.” Poppy went to sock him, but Jaxon’s words stopped her.
“It doesn’t matter who was quitting and who wasn’t. What matters is . . .” The happiness on his face was the most beautiful thing Tully had ever seen. “The Hennessys did it.”
“And a Gentry,” Huck said. “We can’t forget Tully.” He socked her in the arm and she couldn’t keep the tears from welling in her eyes at getting her first Hennessy punch.
“Sweet Lord.” Poppy groaned. “No crying at the dinner table or you have to do dishes.”
Tully didn’t mind doing dishes . . . especially when Jaxon volunteered to help. Watching his sexy, tatted forearms sink into sudsy water made her want to go back to her house and take a bubble bath together.
But once they finished and locked up, Jaxon didn’t take her hand and walk her to his truck. Instead, he led her out to the river and stopped beneath the old gnarled oak that grew next to it and pulled her into his arms.
“Have you heard the legend of The Kissing Tree?”
She looped her arms around his neck and smiled. “Of course. It’s one of my favorite Honky Tonk Heaven legends.”
“So you know that if you kiss beneath it, chances are you’ll get married and live happily ever after.”
She smiled. “And just how many girls have you kissed beneath this tree, Jaxon Hennessy?”
He kissed her, soft and sweet, before he drew back. “One. There’s only one girl I want to spend my entire life with. One girl who has made me believe a happily ever after is possible for me.”
Tully’s eyes filled with tears as her heart swelled with love. “There’s only one man I want to spend the rest of my life with.”
He cradled her face in his hand. “Then I guess if we’re going to spend the rest of our lives together, we should make it official. Marry me, Tallulah Gentry. Sooner rather than later. Marry me and let’s make some Honky Tonk Heaven legends of our own.”
Nothing sounded better to Tully.