Chapter 6 #2
Before Magnolia had to answer, Ada cut in. “That is none of our business, Adele.” She sent Magnolia a worried look. “But you do need to be careful, honey. Kissing under that tree has gotten me with more losers than I care to mention.”
Until last night, Magnolia had thought the legend was as silly as Dawson.
Now she wasn’t so sure. There had definitely been magic in the kiss.
But she wasn’t about to fall for Dawson.
She felt a lot of things when she was around the man.
Annoyance. Confusion. The occasional moments when she actually thought he was a decent human being. But love? Never.
“Amen to that!” Arlene’s reply to her sister’s comment pulled Magnolia from her thoughts. “If you’re smart, you’ll stay away from that tree . . . and Dawson Hennessy.”
Magnolia picked up her last donut. “Oh, I have every intention of staying away from Dawson.”
If it wasn’t tree magic that had made the kiss so unforgettable, it was Dawson’s kissing skill. Either way, she needed to steer clear of him. If she had enough willpower to limit herself to only two of Ada’s amazing mini donuts, she had enough to stay away from Dawson Hennessy.
“A wise choice,” Arlene said. “Although you can’t really blame those kids for being as wild as they are.
It wasn’t like Rosie was what you’d call a good mama.
She could run a bar like nobody’s business, but she didn’t have the time of day for her own kids.
Which probably explains why none of them came back to help her after she had that first stroke. ”
Magnolia instantly perked up. After he’d lied to her, she wasn’t about to help Dawson figure out who was contesting Rosie’s will. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to help Tully figure it out. Tully loved the dancehall. If Magnolia could help her save it, she would.
“So did anyone else help Rosie out after her stroke?” she asked.
Arlene looked offended. “Of course, we did. The entire town checked in on her every day. We took her donuts and coffee, and other folks took her casseroles and desserts. Cadee Stockton organized it all so Rosie didn’t go a day without someone checking on her.”
“Cadee Stockton? Is she one of the Stocktons who owns Stockton Ranch?” Magnolia didn’t remember the Stocktons, but she’d heard a lot of gossip about the ranch. It was one of the biggest spreads around.
“She sure is,” Adele said. “Poor thing has had a real tough time of it. First, her no good college boyfriend got her pregnant and left her high and dry and then her daddy died of skin cancer. Cadee’s been working her fanny off ever since, along with her two brothers and mama, to keep the ranch going. ”
“And she still finds time to take care of folks,” Ada said. “She stopped by with pretty bouquet of flowers she grew herself when I had my bunion removed.”
Arlene nodded. “Brought me homemade chicken noodle soup when I had a touch of the flu.”
“She is an angel. Always stopping by to say hi when she comes to town.” Adele paused and squinted. “Come to think of it, I haven’t seen her and her precious son in town much lately.”
“I’m sure she’s just busy at the ranch,” Arlene said. “Still, we should drive out this afternoon and take her and that sweet boy some donuts just to make sure she’s doing okay.”
“Good idea. I’ll make a fresh batch.” Ada headed back to the kitchen while Magnolia’s brain worked overtime.
Since Cadee had organized people stopping by to see Rosie, she would be the one to ask about who had spent the most time with Rosie. Now all Magnolia needed to do was figure out how to get to talk to her.
“How old is her son?” she asked Arlene.
“Seven or eight, I think. Why?”
“I just got in some new dinosaur books I think he might like. When you drop off the donuts be sure and tell his mama that I’ll hold one back for him and she can stop by the bookstore and pick it up any time.”
Arlene beamed. “Aren’t you sweet? I’ll sure do that. Did you want me to bag up a dozen mini donuts for you today?”
Magnolia occasionally took a dozen donuts to Tully so they could have a morning chat. But that had been before Honky Tonk Heaven had opened. Now her friend slept late. Still, Magnolia could leave the donuts in the mailbox.
“Make it two dozen,” she said.
Since Tully and Jaxon’s house was quite a walk, Magnolia decided to take Uncle Otis’s old Volkswagen microbus. It was a cool old bus with classic books painted on the sides like they were lined up on a shelf.
Magnolia loved it . . . just not driving it.
It was a stick shift, and she was still trying to master the balance between the gas and the clutch.
A lot of jerky starts and stops took place, so she wasn’t surprised when she stalled at a stop sign.
She was surprised when she couldn’t get the van started again .
. . until she noticed the gas gauge on empty.
Even though she hated waking Tully up, she pulled her cellphone out of her purse to call her friend for help.
Unfortunately, cell service had never been good in the town—due to the fact that the town council thought cell towers were instruments of the devil—so she couldn’t get through.
Nor was she about to walk a good two miles to Mickey’s gas station.
She glanced around, looking for someone who might be able to help, but this part of town was deserted with very few residential houses.
In fact, there was just one.
The Hennessys’ house.
Since it was set back from the main road, she couldn’t see the house, but she knew it was just over the rickety bridge up ahead.
While she didn’t want to run into Dawson so soon after their kiss, it was better than walking two miles to the gas station and getting blisters from the cute new sandals she’d ordered online.
Not to mention the ear lashing she would get from Uncle Otis if she opened the store late.
And maybe Dawson wouldn’t even answer the door. Maybe it would be Huck or Poppy . . . hopefully, Huck.
Without giving it another thought, she grabbed her purse and the bag of donuts and got out. She hoped Ada’s donuts would be an appropriate payment for driving her to the gas station.
As soon as she crossed the bridge, she saw the house.
The townsfolk were right. It was a quirky monstrosity. The ranch-style main house was made of Austin stone with a big front porch while additions jutted out like mismatched wagon wheel spokes. Each addition had a different style roof and exterior.
The far-left wing was a charcoal gray stucco with a black metal roof.
The far-right was a pretty cream plaster with a red Spanish-tiled roof.
She had to walk into a field of wildflowers to see the two additions in the back.
One was golden brick with a whimsical wood-shingled roof and the other was white siding with a plain, gray-shingled roof.
A slamming screen door startled her from her perusal, and she glanced at the porch to see Dawson standing there . . . wearing nothing but a pair of faded jeans.
Even from a distance, she could see that his body was as perfect as his face. Not perfect like an underwear model with rows of abdominal muscles that looked airbrushed. But perfect like a real man’s body. A body that had acquired its muscle by doing real man things.
Lean, ropey . . . lickable.
She pushed the last thought away and awkwardly waved.
“Good mornin’.”
Of course, Dawson didn’t answer. He just stared at her.
Which got her dander up.
“Would it hurt you to greet me civilly? Especially since you acted like you liked me just fine last night.”
His scowl deepened. “What are you doing here?”
“It’s not for more kisses, that’s for sure.” She waved a hand at the bridge. “My car ran out of gas, and I have no cell service.”
Before he could reply, Huck came out the screen door and joined his brother . . . wearing only a pair of jeans. And two hot half-naked Hennessys was more than any woman’s heart could take.
“Hey, Mags! Please tell me there’s donuts in that greasy bag.”
She lifted the bag. “You guessed it.”
Huck let out a whoop and came flying off the porch. When he reached her, he lifted her completely off her feet and swung her around. “I think I’m in love!”