Chapter Fifteen
Which one?” Gracie pointed to three outfits lying on the bed beside her empty suitcase.
“Well, the green slacks and shirt would be good for an interview, but if you’re thinking of eloping to get out of all the wedding planning, then the pale pink sundress would be better,” Tina teased, then her expression turned serious. “I’m jealous. I’m sad. I’m happy. It’s confusing.”
“I understand because I’m scared, sad, and happy all at the same time, too,” Gracie said as she packed the green outfit into her suitcase. “A wedding means too much to Dakota for me to elope.”
“And to Mae and Cleo,” Tina said. “Getting all up in this planning is making them ten years younger. I’m glad they get to be a big part of the whole ceremony.”
“Me too,” Gracie said. “And it helps them not to be so sad that I’m moving away. Please pray for me while I’m having the interview. I want this job so that Dakota and I can work together.”
“You are the smart one, remember? Add that to you being a great teacher, and I’m sure you will do fine without any input from me.” Tina sat down on the edge of the bed.
“Yes, I do. I’m so nervous. I haven’t had to sit through an interview in years—and what if one of us gets hired but not the other?”
Tina patted her on the shoulder. “I’ll be cheering you on all day. Is this truly what you want to do, or are you just doing it for Dakota? You know that he loves you for yourself, not for who he can change you into, don’t you?”
“Of course I do, but a little extra luck never hurts,” Gracie told her. “It’s five minutes until Dakota gets here. Now I’m getting all antsy about introducing him to Mae and Cleo.”
Tina picked up a couple of tote bags and followed Gracie down the stairs. “Imagine how nervous he will be when he introduces you to all of his family.”
“If I’m dreaming all this, please don’t wake me up,” Gracie said.
Tina stopped halfway down the stairs. “You want me to pinch you?”
“No, I do not,” Gracie answered. “Why did you stop?”
“I don’t really know how to say this, but I want you to know that watching you and Dakota has made me believe that there is love out there for me, too,” Tina confessed and started down the stairs again.
When they reached the foyer, Gracie set her suitcase on the floor and hugged Tina. “I feel like I’ve accomplished something really big, then. Your turn is coming. I can feel it.”
“Turn for what?” Walker asked as he came from the kitchen.
“For love to find her,” Gracie answered. “And you, too.”
A warmth rushed over Tina when she wondered whether Gracie’s premonition meant that she might find love with Walker.
Walker chuckled and kept walking. “Do you think it might happen before the limb grows back on the Tomorrow Tree?”
“Absolutely,” Gracie answered. “When are you going to get over there and take care of the poor old Tomorrow Tree, anyway?”
“Lyle is bringing his chain saw and flatbed trailer to the park this morning. He and his grandpa want the wood for their fireplace. Do you think that branch is a sign?”
“Don’t go getting all philosophical on me. I’ll be back often, and that limb will grow again,” Gracie told him. “So the limb is not a sign that I’m being cut off forever from my . . .” She looked over at Tina.
“Chosen family,” Tina finished for her. “I thought it was an omen that I needed to let go of my past. Maybe it has nothing to do with me at all, but it’s a prophecy that you are leaving us and moving on with your life.”
“Which is what we all should be doing,” Gracie scolded.
“That sounds a little harsh,” Tina said. “I’m giving it my best shot, and I do appreciate the support, so don’t look at me like that.”
“I think you two are starting an argument so that neither of you will feel bad. Tina has always done that to cover up her emotions,” Walker said.
“I do not,” Tina argued.
Walker raised one shoulder in half a shrug. “Both of you did as kids and still do as adults.”
Gracie gave him a double dose of stink-eye. “That might be, but as a friend, you should play along and not try to make us get along. We need to be upset to make the separation less painful.”
“How long will you be gone this time?” Tina asked.
“Three or four days,” she answered.
“I heard a vehicle,” Mae said as she came out of her bedroom, dressed for church.
Cleo joined her and went straight to the window to peek out. “This feels like we’re meeting the boyfriend on the first date. We want more.”
“You got it,” Gracie promised. “We’re making a couple of stops on the way back, but I’ll let you know when we’ll be here.”
“Will you know the date by then?” Mae whispered.
“Maybe,” Gracie answered and hurried out to the porch to meet Dakota.
“He’s so handsome,” Cleo whispered, following her outside. “If I was thirty years younger . . .”
“Hush, old woman,” Mae hissed right behind Cleo. “You’d have to be fifty years younger and buy one of them how-to books to keep up with the likes of him.”
Dakota walked up onto the porch and draped his left arm around Gracie. She made introductions, and he shook hands with each of the older women.
Tina watched both of them eye him up and down like they would a prize bull at the county fair. Then they looked at each other, barely nodded, and their expressions said he had passed the first test.
“I’m so glad to meet you. Gracie has talked so much about both of you that I feel like I already know you, but I expected y’all to be a lot older than you are,” Dakota said.
Smooth! Tina thought. A little sugar never hurts when someone is facing two old lions.
“Well . . .” Cleo drew the word out, but her eyes twinkled. “It’s good to meet you, too, but we’ll expect a longer visit when you bring her home.”
“And,” Mae added, “we wish y’all the best of luck on your new jobs, even though a part of us wishes that the reservation was between us and Vega instead of so far away.”
“I understand, but we’ll come home as often as we can,” Dakota promised. “I see you ladies are ready for church. If this was any other day, I would ask if you had time to go with us for a cup of coffee or maybe a doughnut or two or three before we leave.”
“When you come back, we want you to have supper with us. We can learn a lot about each other over a good meal,” Cleo said.
“I would love that,” Dakota said and focused on Gracie. “Are you ready to go, darlin’?”
“Yes, she is,” Mae answered. “And you can come inside and help our girl get her things out to that big old trailer you have. Gracie, that bag of snacks on the foyer table is for you to take along for the road trip.”
“Thank you.” Gracie gave them both a hug. “And send up a prayer that things go well at the interview.”
“It’ll be a tough prayer, but I’ll do it,” Mae promised and opened the door for them.
Walker picked up two of the tote bags and carried them out after Dakota.
Tina put on her best smile as she walked Gracie out to the trailer. “You don’t need luck, but I’m sending this with you anyway,” she whispered, and slipped a laminated four-leaf clover into her hand. “I found this under the Tomorrow Tree and fixed it for you at the office.”
“You are going to make me cry,” Gracie said.
“If you do, I’ll cry, so you better suck it up.”
After the men had loaded the baggage inside, Walker slipped an arm around Tina’s shoulders and together they walked back to the porch, where they waved until the trailer disappeared down the street.
Cleo wiped a lonesome tear from her cheek and handed Mae her used tissue. Mae made one swipe and then fussed at Cleo, “We’ve got to do our best to be happy for her. We knew they would all leave the nest sometime.”
“Yes, and I always knew that I wouldn’t like it,” Cleo shot back. “Are you going to stand out here and worry about her, or come on inside and touch up your makeup so we can get to church? Your face looks like somebody done died.”
“Well, yours don’t look no better,” Mae snapped, leaving Tina and Walker on the porch.
They closed the door, and Lyle drove up at the same time. He parked his grandfather’s old truck and trailer across the street and waved at Walker.
“You ready to get after this?” he yelled.
“I’m on my way,” Walker answered.
Tina started to follow him off the porch, but he turned around and shook his head. “You don’t need to help. We can get this done.”
She frowned. “But . . .”
“Lyle also needs to talk to me about something,” Walker whispered.
“I see.” Tina nodded. Now she had an entire morning with nothing to do—a first since she had been back in Benson.
“That bitch!” Cleo screeched and handed her phone to Tina as she entered the house.
“Iris?” Tina asked.
“No, Sabrina,” Cleo growled. “Look at what she’s started now.”
Tina looked down at the screen to find a nasty message about all the women needing to run that O’Grady bitch out of town before she ruined someone else’s life. She looked over at Cleo to find her with a scowl on her face and tapping her foot on the hardwood floor.
“Sabrina did that in the group,” Cleo said through clenched teeth.
“What group?” Tina asked.
“We have a Facebook group called Benson News. When Iris and Sabrina got in it, I almost quit the group, but I’m nosy, and I want to see what they’re all talking about,” Cleo answered.
“You can scroll up and see that Iris is still on the warpath about the rooster and that Sabrina is blaming you—like always.”
Mae came from the kitchen with her phone in hand. “Did you see this? I’ve half a mind to corner Sabrina in church this morning and tell her exactly what I think of her.”
“Don’t you dare do that.” Cleo shook her head. “If you do, they’ll block both of us and we can’t spy on them. And don’t reply to the message, either. Right now, we better go, or we’ll be late, and you know how I hate to walk into church with everyone looking at me.”
Mae let out a breath in a huff. “It seems like we’re not standing up for our girl.”
Tina opened her mouth to tell them that she understood, but Cleo got ahead of her.
“I’ll pray for Sabrina and Iris this morning,” Cleo said with a wicked smile on her face.
“I wouldn’t want you talking to God when you are angry. Maybe I should go to church with y’all this morning,” Tina suggested.
“That would be wonderful, but if Sabrina or Iris start anything, you just stand back and leave us alone. Me and Cleo can take care of it,” Mae said. “We’re both old, and we don’t mind spending time in jail. Y’all can break us out, and we’ll make a run to Mexico.”
“I will not,” Tina declared. “If something goes down, I want to be in the middle of it. Sabrina has been asking for a good catfight for years. Bad-mouthing on social media is not my style. I like to settle things up front, where I can snatch her baldheaded. Give me three minutes to run upstairs and put on a dress.”