Toughest Cowboy in Texas

by Carolyn Brown

  Somewhere down deep inside her soul she heard a very loud, Hell, yeah, I am.

  Chapter Five

  On Sunday morning, Lila awoke to the sound of rattling pots and pans in the kitchen. She covered her head with a pillow. “This is summer. I’m not supposed to be working. June, July, and August are the number one reason people go into the teaching field. This place makes me crazy. I’m talking to myself. I need a pet.” She threw the pillow at the wall.

  Molly was rolling out dough for morning biscuits by the time Lila showered and made it to the kitchen. She frowned and shook the wooden rolling pin at her. “You won’t ever live down that wild kid reputation by going to the bars. You will be in Sunday night church services this evening. You can sit with me. We can’t go to morning services what with having to run this business but God will be there tonight as well as this morning.”

  “You aren’t my boss,” Lila said.

  “Oh, yes, I am, especially on the Sundays after I hear that you were seen talkin’ to Brody Dawson at the Silver Spur of all places. You don’t need to be hangin’ around with him. Your mama told me that he plumb broke your heart the night before y’all left town,” Molly said.

  “Maybe he’s different now that he’s grown up.”

  “Why are you takin’ up for him?” Molly stopped what she was doing and cocked her head to one side.

  “I don’t know but—”

  “No buts.” Molly shook her head. “If things are right, then there are no buts.”

  “Don’t stomp a hole in that soapbox.” Lila filled both coffeemakers.

  “Don’t sass me. I can still walk out that door, and if I do, you’ll have to close down this place. Then it won’t ever sell. Nobody will buy a café that’s been shut down for months,” Molly declared.

  Lila threw up her hands defensively. “Yes, ma’am. I won’t sass you again, Miss Molly.”

  “That’s better. Now let’s get to work.”

  Brody only caught a sentence here and there of the Sunday morning sermon. With Emma on one side of him and Rustin on the other, he spent the time switching between handing Rustin crayons so that he could work in his cowboy coloring book and peeling off stickers for Emma to plaster in her book.

  His heart went out to Kasey, who was sitting on the other side of Emma. Adam should be the one helping with the two older children and making Kasey smile every evening when he came home from work. Only when she looked at her kids did her eyes light up—the rest of the time she was still struggling with her loss.

  He wondered what it would be like if things had worked out between him and Lila right out of high school, and then he’d lost her to an accident that no one could even talk about. His chest tightened and the pain was so sudden that it brought tears to his eyes. If nothing more than a thought could bring on that much hurt, his poor little sister was doing good to crawl out of bed every morning.

  He glanced over his shoulder to see if Lila might be back there somewhere, then reminded himself that she was at the café. If she attended Sunday services at all, it would be that evening. If the family wasn’t gathering at his mother’s for dinner, he would have gone to the café just to be sure that Lila was okay. But he’d promised Emma that he would sit beside her, and a man was only as good as his word, whether it was to a three-year-old girl or a ninety-year-old cowboy.

  Guess you learned that lesson the hard way, didn’t you? that irritating voice in his head said. If you’d kept your word, maybe you and Lila would have stayed in touch all these years.

  Yes, I did. He nodded. And after the misery I’ve lived with for years over that, I’ve tried to never go back on my word again.

  There were few parking spots left at the café when he drove past it after church. He tapped the brakes and slowed down, but all he could see in the windows were people sitting at tables and in booths. He could picture Lila practically jogging between customers as she took orders, served them, and kept everyone’s drinks filled. Her black ponytail would be flipping from side to side. She’d be smiling at Fred and Paul’s banter. And those tight jeans would stretch over her butt, and her T-shirt would hug her breasts.

  When he got to his mother’s house, he untucked his shirt, more to cover the bulge behind his zipper than for comfort. He removed his hat at the front door and hung it on a hook beside Jace’s on a hall tree in the foyer. He could hear three distinct women’s voices in the kitchen—his mother, Valerie; Granny Hope; and his sister, Kasey. Jace was in the living room surrounded by three kids all begging him to go outside with them. Brody slipped down the hallway to his old bedroom and slumped down in a rocking chair.

  “Hey.” Kasey poked her head in the door a few minutes later. “Dinner is on the table. Rustin said he thought he saw you coming this way. Everything okay?”

  Brody shook his head. “No, but there’s no one to blame but me.”

  “Want to talk about it?”

  He pushed out of the rocking chair and draped an arm around her shoulders. “Short version. I really hurt Lila the night before she left town. We had a date, a real one where I was going to take her to dinner and to the movies.”

  Kasey whistled through her teeth. “Did Granny and Mama know about it?”

  He shook his head. “Nobody did but me and Lila. I stood her up and when I tried to apologize the next day, right as she was leaving, she wouldn’t talk to me.”

  Kasey stepped back and popped him on the bicep. “I wouldn’t have talked to you either. I might have shot you. You liked her a lot. Why would you do that?”

  He grabbed his arm and winced. “Damn, Kasey, that smarted. To answer your question, I couldn’t bear to see her cry.”

  “That’s not a good reason or even a good excuse,” Kasey said. “She was probably floating on cloud nine and then you didn’t show up. God, Brody, that’s terrible.”

  “I blew it with her and now all these years later…” He hung his head and let the sentence hang.

  “Maybe she’ll forgive you if you show her that you really care,” Kasey said as she started walking again. “But just between me and you, I wouldn’t.”

  Emma patted the chair beside her when they reached the dining room. “Right here, Uncle Brody.”

  Jace said grace and then it got loud. Plates, platters, and bowls were passed. Brody cut Emma’s meat into small pieces while he listened to her talk about butterflies and kittens.

  “So what’s on your agenda for the rest of the afternoon, Brody?” his mother asked.

  “I’m going out to check on Sundance, to make sure that he hasn’t broken through the fence again. I was gone two nights and that wild critter is like a kid. He has to have constant supervision. Then I’m going to Sunday night services,” he said.

  The room went uncomfortably quiet for several seconds; then Rustin slapped a hand on either side of his face. “Why would you do that? Church is boring.”

  “Rustin!” Kasey gasped.

  “It is.” Emma nodded.

  “Is it because Lila might be at church tonight?” Valerie passed the green beans to him, and he sent them on to Jace without taking any.

  “You got to eat your beans or you don’t get any cake, and Nana made a pecan pie too.” Rustin tucked his chin down on his chest and looked across the table at Brody.

  Brody motioned to Jace and the bowl came back to him. “I sure wouldn’t want to miss out on Mama’s pie.”

  “You didn’t answer me,” Valerie said.

  “Could be,” he said. “But if she’s not, I know how to knock on her door.”

  Hope rolled her eyes and Valerie shot a dirty look his way.

  Brody fixed his eyes on the green beans. He wasn’t arguing or fighting with either one of them but his mind was made up. He was going to church and hopefully Lila would be there.

  “Guess I’m going to church tonight,” Hope said.

  “Me too.” Kasey nodded.

  “I wouldn’t miss this for all the dirt in Texas.” Jace grinned.

  “What�
��s going on here?” Brody asked.

  “We want to see if the clouds part. You haven’t been to Sunday night services since your grandpa died. You usually only go on Sunday morning,” Hope answered.

  “He didn’t go to Sunday morning,” Brody said defensively. “So I waited and went with him to night services. Besides, I always liked to hear him sing.”

  “Well, if y’all are going, then I am too,” Valerie said.

  Brody shoveled green beans into his mouth. They might get more than they bargained for, but hey, it was their decision.

  The buzz in the packed café at lunch that day was that the old grocery store out on the edge of town had burned to the ground that morning while church was going on. A tornado had ripped off the back part of the roof ten years ago and the building had gone to ruin since then.

  “Where were you this morning about ten o’clock?” Fred whispered when Lila set his plate of chicken and dumplings on the table.

  “Right here helping Molly make those dumplings,” Lila answered with a smile.

  “Does seem strange,” Fred’s wife said. “We ain’t had trouble since you left and you come back and it starts all over again. Maybe you don’t have to do anything at all. Could be that trouble follows you around like a puppy dog.”

  “Well, I’ll be gone at the end of summer and nothing bad will ever happen in Happy from that day forth. Maybe if you find a buyer for this café, I’ll be gone even sooner. Y’all enjoy your dinner and holler if you need anything,” Lila said.

  “Order up!” Molly yelled from the kitchen.

  When Lila reached for the plate on the shelf, Molly turned around from the stove and smiled. “Blamin’ you for this mornin’s fire, are they?”

  “How’d you know?”

  “I figured it would happen when I heard the fire engine going and heard that the old grocery store burned to the ground. The volunteer firemen have been tryin’ to get the owner to let them burn it for years.”

  “Why didn’t he?” she asked.

  “Have no idea, but it’s good riddance to bad rubbish. That thing was an eyesore. I wouldn’t be surprised if the owner set the fire himself. When the store went belly-up, he moved off to San Antonio. The property has been for sale so long that the Realtor’s sign has faded until you can’t see who to call for information.” Molly went back to filling orders. “Don’t let them rile you. Tell ’em all to go straight to hell ridin’ on a rusty poker.”

  “That’s bad for business.”

  “Where else they goin’ to eat without driving fifteen to thirty minutes?” Molly laughed.

  The café cleared out a little by one-thirty, but there were still a few sipping glass after glass of sweet tea or coffee and discussing the fire. At two-thirty, Molly started cleaning the kitchen and putting the last of the dirty dishes in the two commercial-sized dishwashers. There was no one in the place at three when Lila locked the doors and started sweeping the floors.

  Molly waved from the door into the kitchen. “I’m going home for my Sunday afternoon nap. I’ll pick you up right here at six-thirty for evening services. I like to get there a little early and visit with my friends before the singin’ starts at seven.”

  Lila leaned on the broom. “I’m not going to church.”

  “Yes, you are. Churchgoin’ women do not set fires,” Molly declared. “See you at six-thirty. And wear a dress.”

  “Okay,” Lila sighed. “But I’ll drive myself and be there at a quarter to seven.”

  “Promise? It won’t hurt you and you’ll see a lot of your old friends.”

  And all those old friends probably think I burned down a building just for kicks. The only thing I ever set fire to was a tire Jace Dawson got out of the ranch trash pile. And it was in the middle of Main Street where it couldn’t hurt a thing. It stirred up smoke and a big stink, but it didn’t destroy property.

  “I’ll be there. Have a good nap,” Lila said.

  She got everything ready to open again the next morning and carried a tall glass of water with a slice of lemon in it to a table. She kicked off her boots, sat down, and propped her feet on a chair. Tomorrow she intended to drag out her sneakers with a nice thick, cushy sole. Running the café was a seven, six, six job—seven days a week from six in the morning until six in the evening, except Sunday when they closed at three.

  Her eyes grew heavy, so she picked up her water in one hand and the boots in the other and padded through the kitchen. She made sure all the doors were locked before she went to the apartment and stretched out on the sofa.

  A ping on her cell phone awoke her two hours later. She checked the text, saw that it was from Molly reminding her about church, and shut her eyes for another few minutes. Then she realized that she had twenty minutes to get dressed and get to the church or she might be running the café single-handed tomorrow. She sat up so fast that the room did a couple of fast spins.

  She jerked her shirt over her head and was yanking her jeans down as she rushed to her bedroom. No time for a shower. She applied fresh deodorant and shook her hair out of the ponytail, slipped into a cute little knee-length orange sundress, and cussed loud enough to blister the paint when she had to search for both sandals in the bin of shoes she hadn’t unpacked yet. In the garage, she eyed the motorcycle but the rumor mill would have a feast with the story of her riding to church with her skirt blown up, showing off a pair of red bikini underbritches.

  She did take a moment when she reached the church to flip down the visor mirror of her truck and apply bright red lipstick and a touch of mascara and run a brush through her hair. Then she rushed into the church and located Molly, who frowned, tapped her watch, and gave her a you-were-testing-my-patience look before she pointed at the third pew from the front. Now wasn’t that just the big old red cherry on top of a hot caramel sundae? Lila would have been much happier claiming a corner on the backseat where she could escape quickly after the last prayer.

  “I overslept and had to rush,” she whispered.

  “Next time set an alarm. Them fancy phones y’all carry can do everything, including telling you bedtime stories, so there’s never an excuse to be late for anything,” Molly said out of the corner of her mouth.

  The preacher took his place behind the pulpit and cleared his throat, and silence filled the little church. “I’m glad to see Lila Harris with us tonight and to hear that she’s helping out at the Happy Café. Now, if you’ll all open your hymn books to page three hundred, we’ll sing together before the sermon.”

  The hymn ended and the preacher made a few comments about hell being seven times hotter than the Texas heat wave. That brought out a few chuckles, and Lila was sure if she turned around, she’d see more than one person using those cardboard fans to ward off such fire and brimstone.

  “And now I will ask Brody Dawson to give the benediction,” the preacher said.

  Lila’s heart stopped, then raced ahead, beating twice as hard as it ever had. From his voice, it was plain that he was only a couple of pews behind her, but she couldn’t hear a word he said for the pounding in her ears. Her cheeks turned fire-engine red as she remembered the kiss from the night before.

  Any second the skies were going to go dark and lightning was going to split through the roof and zap her dead for thinking about the heat she’d felt when Brody kissed her. She glanced out the window to see nothing but big, fluffy white clouds and the sun slowly sinking toward the horizon. Evidently God had given her a pass since she hadn’t been in a church since she left Happy and he was just glad to see her sitting in a pew.

  She heard Molly loudly say, “Amen!” so she knew when to raise her head and open her eyes.

  Molly smiled as she stood to her feet. “Didn’t hurt too bad, did it?”

  “What?” Lila asked.

  Molly bumped shoulders with her. “Coming to church.”

  “Hey, Lila,” a feminine voice said at her elbow. “You haven’t changed a bit.”

  “Kasey? It’s great to see you, and, dar
lin’, you look the same as you did in junior high school. Are these your kids?” She smiled.

  “Yep, these three belong to me. This is Rustin.” Kasey pointed toward a little dark-haired boy with blue eyes. “This is Emma, and this critter here on my hip is Silas.”

  “You’ve got a beautiful family. Emma is the image of you at that age. Bring the kids to the café sometime and I’ll treat them to an ice cream sundae and we’ll catch up.”

  “Yes!” Rustin pumped his fist in the air. “Can we go tomorrow, Mama?”

  “Maybe later in the week. Tomorrow all three of you’re spending the day with your nana.” She winked at Lila. “That’s Adam’s mother. You remember Gracie McKay, right? And we will take you up on that offer, Lila. Maybe later in the week?”

  “Any day that’s good for you. I look forward to it,” she answered.

  “Does the invitation extend to me too?” Brody’s warm breath tickled her neck as he stepped out into the center aisle.

  “Only kids under twelve get free ice cream. You might not be older than that mentally but your size gives away your age.” Lila hoped that her voice didn’t sound as high and squeaky to everyone else as it did in her own ears.

  Kasey giggled and nudged Brody on the shoulder. “You’ve met your match, brother. You’ve got to pay for your ice cream.”

  “Is that right, Lila?” His eyes bored into hers.

  Neither of them blinked for several seconds and then she smiled. “Yes, it is right. Free ice cream comes at a great price. You’d have to rob a bank to get that much money.”

  Suddenly, a tiny little hand slipped into hers and she looked down to see Emma smiling at her. “I like ice cream,” the little girl said. “And you’re pretty. Can I be your friend?”

  “I would like that very much and you’re very pretty too.” Lila ignored all the people around her and stooped to Emma’s level. “What is your favorite kind of ice cream?”

  “Strawberry,” Emma said seriously.

  “Then I’ll be sure that we have lots of that kind when you come to visit me sometime this week.”