Chapter Thirteen #2
“That you are engaged?” Walker asked.
“Not yet,” she answered. “I’m not sure we’ll have a proper engagement. We might just skip that step and go right into the marriage.”
Tina opened the cooler, popped the cork on the bottle of peach wine, and poured some into each of the two cups. She handed one to Gracie, picked up the second one, and held it high. “Here’s to Gracie’s announcement, whatever it may be.”
“Hear, hear!” Walker touched the two red cups with his beer bottle. “Now, don’t keep us in suspense any longer. Are you pregnant with triplets, too?”
“Lord, I hope not,” Gracie said and inhaled deeply. “Dakota has a cousin who is on the school board at the Navajo reservation over by Santa Rosa, and he’s on the committee looking for teachers and a principal.”
“No!” Tina gasped. “You are about to move away from here, aren’t you?”
“Maybe, but please be happy for us,” Gracie begged. “We are going to interview next week, and if they offer us the jobs, we are going to take them. It will be a fresh start for us both. That’s why I said we’ll likely skip the big engagement and go right into the marriage.”
“What will you teach?” Walker asked.
“The school is small, so I would have kindergarten and first grade in the same room. Dakota would teach some culture classes on the high school level, plus take care of principal duties.”
“Are you going to live in the trailer?” Tina asked around the lump in her throat.
“They’re offering us a little two-bedroom stucco house—rent-free, and we would only be about four hours from right here, so we could come home for weekend visits—” She stopped and stared into Tina’s eyes. “And we’d have time off for holidays. Don’t be sad. We can FaceTime every single day.”
“I know I’m being selfish, but I’m allowed a moment,” Tina said.
“Yes, you are, and when you are finished with that, tell me what you think.”
“What does your heart tell you?” Walker asked.
“To jump right in with both feet,” she answered.
“What does your mind tell you?” Tina asked.
“To not rush but to think about it,” Gracie answered with a long sigh.
“We’ve got a few days to think this over and talk about it, but we are both so excited to have the possibility of working in the same place.
And on a reservation where teachers are needed so badly.
If they call us for an in-person visit, what’s your advice? ”
“That you should cross that bridge when it’s time,” Walker said.
Gracie turned to Tina and raised an eyebrow. “Does that idea make you happy?”
“It does, but I’m still sad that you are leaving. When you get to the bridge that Walker mentioned, take a pair of hiking shoes and a box of matches. By then, you’ll know if you want to burn it down or jog across it holding Dakota’s hand,” Tina told her.
“That is some good advice, but I don’t think I’ll need the matches,” Gracie said.
A blood-curdling scream startled Tina and made her spill the last of her wine on the front of her shirt. “Dammit!” she swore, and was already up and headed down the stairs to find out what had happened to Cleo or Mae before she realized she was in her bare feet.
“What the hell is going on out there?” Cleo met them in the foyer.
Mae came out of her room. “Are you kids all right?”
Another scream split the air.
“I believe that is Iris, and I’ll bet dollars to cow patties that she’s discovered her new pet,” Walker said with a grin.
Cleo headed across the room. “It sounds like she’s trying to scare that rooster out of her yard.”
They paraded out to the porch to find Iris standing on her side of the fence and shaking her fist at them. “I’m going to sue the lot of you for this!”
Cleo raised both her fists and shook them right back. “We know you stole that from Walker. I heard that he bought it last week to put out in front of his store to advertise his chicken feed, and you sent someone down there to steal it.”
“I wouldn’t ever put that ugly thing in my yard.” She sounded like a screech owl who had gotten into Cleo’s greenhouse—and it wasn’t basil or oregano that she’d sucked into her lungs.
“Don’t give me that line of shit,” Cleo yelled. “You bought a stinky old goat and let it eat my roses. At least the rooster won’t destroy anything. He can’t even crow, but you can do that for him, can’t you?”
Iris popped her hands on her skinny hips. “The tornado dropped it. Walker did not buy it. Sabrina told me she saw it in his parking lot. But I bet Tina had something to do with it being in my yard.”
“That’s enough,” Cleo said. “We expect that bird to be back at the feedstore by noon tomorrow, or we’ll file charges for theft.”
Iris glared across the fence. “I’m not paying someone to return this ugly thing anywhere.”
“Then go to jail. I hear the beds are hard, and sometimes you have to share the cell with drunks,” said Cleo. “But that’s your choice. Good night, Iris.”
Iris shook her fist one more time. “I hope your house burns down with you in it.”
Cleo took a step forward.
Mae grabbed her arm. “She ain’t worth having to take another shower. You know what they say: She who stirs the shit pile has to lick the spoon. We are better than that, my friend. Let Iris stir all she wants.”
Gracie threw a hand up over her mouth, but it didn’t stop the giggles. “I’m so glad to be home. There’s more excitement here than at a rodeo.”
“Me too,” Tina agreed, and looped her arm into Gracie’s.