Chapter Thirteen
“Well, Tillie, is this your latest hired employee? I heard you found someone who got stuck here after almost running over our poor little Jillie Parker. Her father must be SOOO furious. The poor man. I’m surprised she isn’t in one of his jail cells.”
Ally’s back was to the counter when the words were spoken but before she could turn around, Tillie was putting the speaker straight.
“No. Ally is a baking marvel and absolutely a godsend. And your information source is erroneous as usual. If anything, she took action that saved Jillie from any harm and ended up being the one in the hospital. We’re all surprised Matt Parker was able to keep from giving her a medal on the courthouse steps for her bravery.
Ally Jones, meet Frannie Willis, just recently back from a few months in Dallas. ”
Ally was a quick study of people most of the time.
She was able to realize as she turned to the counter that by Tillie’s tone and body language, this was not one of her most endearing customers…
to say the least. The woman sat on the barstool at the counter as though she might be perched on either an ivory throne or a stack of rotten garbage—her attitude and bearing could go either way.
Her hair was piled on top of her head in some type of hairstyle that was either done by a novice in a beauty school or someone fleeing from a windstorm.
She wasn’t certain if the woman was attempting to allow her dark roots to grow out or thought the blonde color from the bottle was enough to cover them all.
But the makeup was a bit much for the morning hour, or any hour of day at that.
Was her drawl that natural or was she trying to fake it? Ally had a feeling that there wasn’t much on the person in front of her that would be the genuine article.
“It’s Francesca—how many times must I correct you?”
Before Tillie could shoot back with whatever was on the tip of her tongue at the woman’s response, Ally stepped into the breach. She smiled at the woman who instantly responded with a frown.
“Francesca is a lovely name. And it’s a pleasure to meet another citizen of Destiny’s River. You’re lucky to live in such a beautiful place with so many lovely people.”
“I don’t live here in this small town all the time. I prefer our house in Dallas. I can see you’re a small-town girl.”
“I only wish I were. I come from New York City. It truly is the city that never sleeps…Broadway, The Met, Manhattan…so much to do and on the go constantly. It gets boring after a few years.”
The woman wasn’t quite sure which way to respond but the bell above the door of the café signaled another patron had entered.
This one elicited a squeal of pleasure from the woman who left her throne and immediately threw her arms around the man’s neck and planted a kiss on him in a movement that clearly caught him off guard.
His arms went up and extricated hers from his neck and put some space between them.
“You’re back in town,” he said, darting a quick glance in the direction of Ally and Tillie. “What a surprise, Frannie.”
“Francesca,” the woman corrected, and Ally stifled a smile when she could visualize a stomp of her foot going along with her correction of the sheriff.
“You’ll always be just Frannie to those of us who have known you a while,” he said and moved toward the counter.
“I’ve just met the latest visitor to our town,” she continued, following behind him and slipping onto the stool next to his. “She was telling me how exciting the life is in New York City.”
Ally wanted to correct her, but Tillie was ahead.
“You still have that problem with your hearing, Frannie? Ally said she loved this small town, and New York was just too busy all the time. Maybe you should get your ears checked?”
Ally had to focus on an object at the end of the bar in order to keep from breaking out in a laugh at how Tillie was handling the woman and her twisting of truths. She could watch that go on all day. But she had other places to be.
“I’m sorry but I’ve got to run. I have a meeting at the school for the Fall Fest committee.”
“I have the same one. I saw your car over here and came in to see if you wanted to ride over together. Then I can bring you back and we can discuss the fest lists I’m sure we’re going to have on the way there.
” He was already on his feet and the woman beside him was not liking how things were turning out.
“That’s a plan,” Ally agreed. “And Jillie has that sleepover this evening so you and I can have dinner at my house.”
“That’s my girl,” Matt said with a wide smile. “I do like your planning.”
“Your girl?” That had Frannie’s attention.
“Well, you certainly heard that without a problem,” Tillie threw in, but didn’t stop there. “You’ve been gone a while. Things have changed for our sheriff. Goodbye bachelorhood. The whole town is happy for him. You two are going to be late.”
She gave them the cue and they didn’t hesitate.
Although Ally would have enjoyed staying a bit longer to bask in the look of shock and anger that brought out the wrinkles despite Frannie’s obvious facelifts.
Both she and Matt were out the door and in his vehicle in minutes.
Then as they turned the corner, both couldn’t help it any longer. They burst out laughing.
“What got into Tillie?”
“I have no idea, but I’m glad it did,” he responded to her question. “It was long overdue in Tillie’s mind, I guess. She’s like the rest of us…trying to ignore Frannie’s rudeness and tune her out.”
“She didn’t tune her out today,” Ally said. “I hope it wasn’t on my account. I’ve come across some rude people where I come from. You get to where they just become background noise, and you put on your headphones and tune them out.”
“Well, it has become increasingly difficult to do that. Seems she is dead set on my being husband number two…or is it three?”
“Oh, my heavens,” Ally said, shaking her head. “You have been lucky to escape this long.”
“It was thanks to you and Tillie. We do seem to be making a good team. Thanks, by the way.”
“Thanks?”
“For going along with Tori’s scheme to give me some breathing space from the single women in this town. Although most of them seemed to take a hint early on. But then Frannie has always been that lone wolf not heeding any warnings. She writes her own rules.”
“I’ve seen her type before. And with her broken marriages, I guess it does add up to her being a lonely and bitter person.”
“Are you a psychologist?”
“No…I’ve just seen enough and heard enough among the rich friends of my former employer. I sat with her kids as one of my jobs. You pick up a lot of things when those bored ladies get to talking. Sad really.”
“You have a soft and empathetic heart. That’s rare these days.”
“I won’t deny it. I prefer that to having a hard heart and being unhappy. Guess Annie rubbed off on me more than I know.”
“From what you’ve told me about her, I’ve come to think she was more of a surrogate mother to you than good friend.”
“I suppose that may be true. I know I miss her wisdom. I do hope she knows I’m trying to carry out her wishes to come back to Destiny’s River.” Then she corrected herself. “To come back for her. She wanted me to experience it.”
“Well, I hope you are. And you are about to go into this school and experience a whole bunch of it.” He laughed, parking the vehicle.
As he came around to open her door, she drew in her breath.
She had almost slipped up with him. Annie had wanted her last wish to be kept a secret and that was what Ally was doing her best to accomplish.
*
“How was the meeting?” Tori asked a couple of hours later when she called to check in with Matt. “How did people respond to Ally?”
“You don’t need to worry about Ally. She handled herself like she was used to disorganization and too many ideas and curious stares and you name it.
She ended up moving the discussion where it needed to focus, a lot like you would have, and the agenda was on track, and we had responsibilities divided out before people knew what was going on.
And they left smiling and inviting Ally to various other activities. She was a hit…by being herself.”
“Do I sense a bit of pride in your tone? And I heard about the Frannie incident, too. Good job both of you!”
“Frannie? How did you…”
“Tillie and the diners in the café. Bless their hearts.” She laughed and Matt had to join in.
“Too true. If I didn’t know better, I’d say Ally was a lifelong resident of Destiny’s River. Maybe it’ll grow on her.”
Tori was smiling big time but he couldn’t see that. Cade could as he lay beside her in their big bed, reading while she caught up with her brother. He shook his head and went back to his book. “Sounds like she’s growing on you, too.”
“Okay, knock that off. Stick to reality. She’s here until her car is repaired and she’s paid me back for fixing the damage on it. She is one stubborn woman…a lot like you. But her plan is to move on and you need to remember that.”
“Plans change. And, whether you want to admit it or not, Ally Jones is different. And both you and Jillie are different than before she came. There’s a spark in your lives and she put it there.
Just don’t go putting it out with your hardheadedness.
Take a chance. She leaves and you didn’t try, then you’ll always regret it. ”
“I hear you. Now get some sleep and concentrate on bringing that nephew or niece of mine into this world and stop wasting time.”
Matt still had a smile on his face after the conversation ended.
He took his glass of iced tea out on the patio.
The stars were huge, and the night air had chilled a bit.
Autumn had arrived. Soon it would be Thanksgiving.
Then Christmas and all the festivities in the town would only grow more.
Ally would enjoy the Fall Fest. And the tree lighting and parade…
and then there was the Christmas Ball. And New Year’s Eve and…
He stopped. All those things he had associated Ally as part being of.
That surprised him. He hadn’t done that…
well since Casey had been with them. What would Casey think of Ally?
He had a strange feeling that she would really have liked having her as a friend.
They were a lot alike. But Ally might have more spark in her.
Not as quiet as Casey. But then Ally came from a different life in one of the biggest cities in the world.
Casey had been a farm girl when he met her and then a small-town girl when they married.
She had died a few hours after Jillie had been born.
She would forever be frozen in time as she was then.
And she had wanted him to promise to marry and find a good mother for their daughter and wife for himself.
She was as unselfish as Ally for certain.
He had promised, but it hadn’t been all that easy.
He couldn’t marry if there wasn’t love involved and no woman had caused that particular spark to ignite.
Until…and that word’s appearance in his mind caused him to regroup his thoughts.
Love at first sight? No way. Love at second or third?
Now that was getting ridiculous. But Ally was not the usual type of woman he had come across.
There was something. Maybe his sister was right…
again. Give it a chance. There was time. She wasn’t gone yet.
A few minutes later, he stood in that same spot watching the stars, but this time he dialed a number in his cell phone. It was answered on the third ring.
“Hi, I hope it’s not too late to call,” he said.
“No,” she replied with a soft laugh. “Teddy and I were just having a discussion about his hurrying up outside and getting back into the warm house.”
“Welcome to a foretaste of a Texas fall. It is chilly tonight. Tomorrow you could be turning your AC back on high. Then we could have snowflakes the next day. As they say, if you don’t like Texas weather, just give it a few minutes. It’ll show you.”
“I shall remember that sage advice and keep my summer clothing handy, too.”
There was a slight pause, and he took a deep breath and plunged forward.
“The reason I called was to invite you to dinner tomorrow. I should have done it before now. It’s to thank you for being so great about Jillie and taking care of her and going so far as to be involved in the Fall Fest and all.
You have gone far above what you need to do.
The least I can do is grill you one of my amazing steaks. ”
“Amazing?”
“That’s the word used most often when I grill for family and friends. You will be amazed.”
“I warn you, it takes a lot to amaze me.”
“How do you like your steak? Medium well? That is great because…”
“Well done.”
There was a beat or two. “Well done? As in no pink at all?”
“No pink at all. I’ve only had one amazing steak cooked well done the right way…cooked through, no pink, and juicy. That’s a tall order for most chefs.”
“Well…I can do that. One well-done perfectly juicy steak tomorrow at six.”
“I’ll be there. I can hardly wait to taste the amazing steak.”
Matt looked at his phone after the call ended.
Maybe he could cancel in the morning. Pressing business out of town.
With luck she would forget his boast about his steak prowess.
The only time he had attempted a well-done steak it had been too tough to chew let alone too dry, and the steak knife had to be sharpened again.
That’s what he got for trying to impress and being cute and basically asking a girl on a date.
Not an actual date…but close. And he looked at his watch.
He would need time to get a crash course from his brother-in-law and maybe even Tillie.
He was not about to fail. But then again…he could always leave town on an emergency.