“Trust me, I wasn’t examining his writing style,” I said. “I was just reading for content. And from what I read, he and his uncle are doing their best to shut us down.”
“I don’t think they really want to shut you down, Bella,” she said. “I just think they have a different approach.”
“Hmm.” Whose side are you on, anyway? I wanted to ask the question but didn’t.
As Clayton drove by, Lily offered him a little wave, which he returned. Seconds later he picked up speed and buzzed on down the road, leaving a trail of dust behind him.
“Good riddance.” Jasmine kicked some rocks in the parking lot. “That’s what I say.” She crossed her arms and muttered, “Hope he keeps his distance.”
I half wanted to get in the truck and follow the guy down the road so I could give him a piece of my mind. The other half of me wanted to offer him some of Jasmine’s chocolates as a peace offering.
I turned to check on the kids, who still played on the swing set. Tres commanded the playtime like the captain of a mighty sailing ship, and Rosie—sweet, darling Rosie—went along with whatever he said. Typical.
I glanced back at Blossom, Jasmine, and Lily, who’d taken to arguing in the parking lot. As the babies inside of me fluttered, I put my hand on my stomach and pondered the complexities of sibling relationships. No doubt my kiddos would one day squabble like the Rigas girls. Would Rosie, like Blossom, cluck her tongue like a mother hen? Only time would tell. In the meantime, I’d better save her from the pirate on the swing set, the one determined to run her through with his plastic sword.
11
Kiss an Angel Good Morning
I like to dance around the house when I’m getting ready. It gets my day going.
Carrie Underwood
I’d no sooner gone to the swing set to check on my children than a familiar car pulled into the parking lot of the wedding facility. The Rigas sisters squealed with delight as Twila, Bonnie Sue, and Jolene emerged from the car, all glittered and glitzed. Looked like they’d just come from a singing gig. Or a trip to the costume shop. One could never tell with these ladies. I headed over to greet them with a joyous, “Hello!”
Before I could get there, Blossom rushed to her aunt’s side and gave her a hug and a little squeal. “Aunt Twila!”
Twila nodded and returned Blossom’s hug, but not with the usual enthusiasm. I noticed at once that she didn’t look like herself today at all, but it wasn’t just her disposition. Her right cheek was puffed and a little bruised looking.
“Are you okay, Aunt Twila?” Lily asked.
The older woman shook her head and then pointed to her jaw, but said nothing.
“Twila just had a root canal,” Bonnie Sue explained. “If you want my opinion, she’s still a little high from the laughing gas. We wouldn’t let her drive, of course, even though she wanted to.”
Twila groaned but still said nothing.
“Probably safer that way,” Jasmine said.
“I’m fine, ladies.” Twila spoke around a piece of gauze in her mouth. “So stop your teasing. You’re giving me a headache.”
“More likely the laughing gas is giving her a headache, but who am I to say?” Jolene looked at Jasmine. “I hate to come right out and ask this, but did you by any chance bring any of those luscious chocolates, sweet girl?”
“Yes’m, Sister Jolene.” Jasmine nodded. “I always have a few stashed in the car.”
“Gracious, if they’re in the car they’re probably melted in this heat.” Bonnie Sue fanned herself. “That would be a tragedy of utmost proportions.”
“Oh no, ma’am, they won’t be melted.” Jasmine shook her head. “I keep them in a little cooler in the back.” She walked to their SUV and pulled out the cooler. Moments later she revealed a small plate filled with chocolate goodies, which she brought to us. “Here you go.”
Jolene’s fingers dangled over a bonbon. “May I?”
“Well, of course. Be my guest.”
“Say no more.” Jolene grabbed two and shoved one in her mouth. The other she tried to hand to Twila.
“Are. You. Trying. To. Kill. Me?” Twila could barely get the words out around the gauze.
Jolene looked flabbergasted by this accusation. “W-what do you mean?”
Twila’s response, “Did you forget I just had a root canal?” sounded more like “Deed-chu-f’get-I-gist-had-a-root-nal?”
Don’t laugh, Bella. Don’t laugh.
Bonnie Sue slapped at the air near Jolene’s hand. “You’re just cruel, Jolene! Stop trying to feed her. She can’t have food right now, especially not sweets.”
“Oh, that’s true! That’s what got her into this mess in the first place,” Jolene explained. “But never you worry, Twila.” She raised her voice as if Twila’s root canal had somehow affected her hearing. “I’ll eat an extra piece for you.”
At this point Twila’s gaze narrowed and I thought she might punch Jolene’s lights out. Instead, she looked on with a pained expression as Jolene popped two bonbons into her mouth at the same time.
“Mmm.” Jolene giggled. “Yummy.”
“We heard it straight from the horse’s—er, dentist’s—mouth.” Bonnie Sue took a chocolate from the plate. “Said Twila had been overdoing the sweets and it was damaging her teeth.” She swallowed down her chocolate and then reached for another.
“Pooh on that.” Twila reached into her purse and came out with an empty plastic baggie. She grabbed the remaining bonbon from Bonnie Sue’s hand and shoved it into the bag, muttering, “For my husband, you understand.”
“Sure, sure.” Bonnie Sue chuckled. “Not that I’m one to talk.” She reached for the tray and grabbed a couple of truffles. “I could eat my weight in chocolate. And have.”
Jolene took a couple of steps toward the door. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m melting out here. Can we go inside?”
“The fellas are working in there,” I said.
Bonnie Sue quirked a brow. “All the more reason then.”
Jolene groaned and slapped herself on the forehead. “Bonnie Sue’s on the prowl for a husband. This might not end well. Just saying.”
“I don’t think she’ll find one in there.” I tagged along behind Bonnie Sue, more curious than anything. “They’re all pretty young.” By comparison, anyway.
We all followed her inside and gathered in the room where Cecil and the other guys were working. The presence of so many women in the room seemed to shake the fellas up, but none more than Cecil, who couldn’t seem to work once he caught another glimpse of Lily. She didn’t seem to notice, but the older ladies sure did.
Jolene nudged me and said, “Well, ain’t he just the tomcat’s kitten?”
From up above, Cecil coughed and started using his electric drill, likely to drown out whatever the ladies might say next. Good move on his part.
“He needs to comb his hair, though.” Bonnie Sue’s nose wrinkled as she gazed up at him. “It’s messy.”
“Well, of course it’s messy.” Jolene jabbed Bonnie Sue with her elbow. “That’s the style with the young people these days.”
Bonnie Sue gave him another pensive look. “Back in my day, a fella combed his hair.”
“Most of the fellas who were young back in your day don’t even have hair to comb anymore, Bonnie Sue.” Jolene rolled her eyes. “So this is a pointless conversation.”
Pointless. Yep. That would be the right word.
“I’m just saying that neatness is a true sign of godly living.”
“And this is why she can’t find a fella,” Jolene mumbled. “She’ll be single forever.”
Bonnie Sue crossed her arms over her ample chest. Well, sort of. “For your information, my sweet Sal—may he rest in peace—agreed with my morals.”
“We’re putting hair and morals in the same sentence?” Blossom asked.
“Well, of course.” Bonnie Sue nodded. “My Sal might’ve been in the mob before he came to the Lord, but he certain
ly knew how to use a comb and hair gel.”
Alrighty then.
“Well, I still can’t figure out what one thing has to do with the other.” Jolene glanced back up at Cecil and then shrugged.
“Can we move to the far side of the room where it’s not so loud?” Blossom asked as the hammering and drilling picked up. “I can’t handle it.”
“Yes, it’s annoyingly loud in here.” Lily put her fingers in her ears and led us away from the workers, near the window.
“Glad to be away from that racket.” Twila still spoke through mostly clenched teeth, but I noticed she was a little easier to understand now. “We actually stopped by to tell you our ideas for marketing the wedding facility, Bella.” She reached into her oversize, overly sequined purse—the one with the state of Texas done up in rhinestones on the side—and came out with a long list. Longer than one of Uncle Laz’s stories about the old days in the mob . . . and that was pretty long.
“O-oh?” I looked back and forth between the older women and the younger ones, wondering just how long this would take. Through the window I caught another glimpse of my children playing on the swing set. Maybe they would behave themselves long enough for me to get through this.
“Okay . . .” Twila opened the page to reveal its true size. It turned out to be much bigger than I’d thought, one of those old-fashioned printer pages that went on and on. “So we’re thinking a bull-flown blitz.” Her words sounded slurred at best.
“I think she means a full-blown blitz,” Bonnie Sue whispered in my ear.
“What she said.” Twila groaned. “To spread the news about the wedding facility.”
“I’m in charge of social media,” Bonnie Sue proclaimed. “I’m very social like that.”
“Doesn’t make a lick of sense to me.” Jolene pouted. “I’ve got more friends on Facebook than she does, and I tweet daily.”
“All old people tweet daily.” Bonnie Sue jabbed Jolene with her elbow. “After they have their morning fiber, anyway. Nothing to worry about. Keeps you healthy.”
Blossom laughed and then cleared her throat. Not that anyone seemed to notice or care. Bonnie Sue and Jolene were too busy cracking up, and the younger women couldn’t seem to stop their giggles.
Bonnie Sue finally calmed down. “Anyway, I’m the one in charge of social media, and I’m excited about it.”
“Which puts me in charge of the newspaper,” Jolene explained. “I’m not saying I trust those folks at the Splendora Gazette. You should’ve seen the piece they did on Bobby Joe Tucker’s liver condition. Shameful. Blamed it on alcohol, and we all know Bobby Joe hasn’t had a drink since the sixties.”
Bonnie Sue cleared her throat and added, “I’m not one to judge. The sixties were hard on many of us.”
Jolene nodded. “Amen. But my point is, it took years for Bobby Joe to get over the sting of that false accusation. Scarred him and tarnished his reputation too. He was never the same after that article came out.”
“I can’t trust that Clayton Deets as far as I can throw him,” Jolene said, “but I’m in charge of the newspaper regardless.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say it’s all Clayton’s fault.” Lily shrugged. “He has to write the stories that are given to him, you know.”
“I guess Twila will have to trust him,” Jolene said. “She’s going to be needing his help marketing the wedding facility.”
Oh dear. Had the ladies already forgotten about our recent visit from the mayor, who just happened to be Clayton’s uncle? Maybe the laughing gas had caused memory lapse. Or maybe they just had more faith in folks than I did.
Twila glanced at the pages in her hand. “I’m going to handle the word-of-mouth promotion.”
“Ironic, all things considered.” Bonnie Sue pointed at Twila’s swollen jaw. “Just saying.”
Twila seemed to be gaining momentum as she spoke, though the gauze in her mouth still made it tough to understand her. “I’ll spread the word with flyers and such at church, the Piggly Wiggly, and so on. Not that Katie Marie up at the Piggly Wiggly is keen on letting me put flyers up. During our church’s last revival I almost had to throttle her to get permission. But the Lord is faithful. She finally saw things my way.”
“After you took her spot in her favorite pew.” Bonnie Sue shook her head. “A low blow, I daresay.”
“The point is, I’m in charge—” Twila stopped to rub her cheek with the back of her hand. “I’m in charge of word of mouth.”
“So you see, Bella, we’ve taken your request very seriously.” Bonnie Sue reached for another chocolate and rolled it around in her hand. “We’re covering all our bases.”
“Well, yes.” I paused, thinking through my next words. “But do me a favor and run your ideas by Lily, if you will.”
“Hmm.” Bonnie Sue’s expression soured. Clearly she didn’t like this plan.
“Lily has a business degree,” I explained. “And I know she’s taken some courses in marketing. She’ll probably have some great ideas too.”
Lily nodded. “Yes, I—”
“Marketing, schmarketing.” Jolene waved her hand. “I say the only way to get folks to come to your place of business is to make ’em happy. You need a grand opening.”
“Ooh, lovely idea,” Twila said. She clasped her hands together and looked around the room, as if trying to anticipate it filled with guests.
“Before you go any further with that idea, remember that D.J. and I are renewing our wedding vows. Folks can come and see the facility then.”
Bonnie Sue’s nose wrinkled, and I could tell she didn’t care much for this idea. “Bella, are you saying that you’re opening up your ceremony and reception to the entire town of Splendora? That’s . . . that’s . . . very brave of you.”
In that moment I had a visual of the fine folks of Splendora showing up for our big day. Maybe she had a point.
“Okay, so we’ll do a grand opening shortly after our big day—a citywide event.” Or maybe not. Might depend on where things stood with the new babies.
“I’ll get the ladies at our church—Full Gospel Chapel in the Pines—to bring potluck,” Twila said. “Folks round these here parts love potluck.”
“Especially my chicken and dumplings,” Jolene said. “I can’t keep folks away once they hear I’m bringing my chicken and dumplings.”
“Ooh, I wish Earline was still here. She makes the best banana pudding.” Bonnie Sue reached for another chocolate. “I swear, every time she makes banana pudding, people come from as far away as Cleveland.”
“Ohio?” I asked.
“No. Cleveland, Texas. It’s just a few miles north of us.”
“Ah.”
As the ladies rambled on and on about all they planned to do to market the new wedding facility, I found myself torn—half excited and half terrified. What would we do if the entire town of Splendora misunderstood and came to our vow renewal service? Would D.J. ever forgive me? On the other hand, the whole “let’s get married again” thing had been his idea. On the other hand, I would be seven and a half months pregnant, waddling down the aisle on my big day. Quite a how-do-you-do to the locals. On the other hand . . .
I was running out of hands.
“You still with us, Bella?” Bonnie Sue gave me a concerned look. “Did we lose you?”
“Hmm? Oh. No. Just deep in thought.”
“Feeling a little deep myself.” Twila looked a bit faint, and I wondered if she might hit the floor. I looked around, trying to find a chair of some sort. The only thing I could manage was a sawhorse. Still, from the “I’m going down” look on Twila’s face, it would have to do—and quick!
12
I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry
It’s part of the calling to at least do a few songs in the show that give people some hope. There’s so much hurt in this world and . . . music is such a great healing balm and a great way to forget your troubles.
Ricky Skaggs
From up above, Cecil looked down at us,
his eyes widening as he noticed Twila easing her more-than-ample form down onto the sawhorse. He came sprinting down the ladder, quick as a wink, and ran for a wooden step stool from the back of his truck.
“Here you go, ma’am.” He placed it next to the sawhorse, and Twila scooted over onto the stool. It didn’t appear to solve the obvious problem, but she seemed comfortable enough, and this appeared to put Cecil’s mind at ease.
“Well now, aren’t you the sweetest fella.” Twila gave him a motherly nod. “Thank you kindly, young man. There aren’t enough gentlemen left in this world, to my way of thinking, so it’s always a pleasure to find one.” She seemed to direct her words as much to the younger girls as to Cecil.
We get it, Twila. You’re in matchmaking mode.
Not that two of the three girls needed a fella, but that didn’t stop the older women from trying.
“Your mama raised you right.” Bonnie Sue gave Cecil an admiring smile. “You must be from the South.”
“From Galveston. And actually, I was raised by my grandmother,” Cecil explained. “My parents went through a divorce when I was seven, and neither one was in good enough shape to raise a child. We’ll just leave it at that.”
“God bless your sweet heart,” Jolene exclaimed. “What the devil meant for evil in your life, the Lord has used for good!” She whacked him on the back.
“Oh, yes, ma’am,” Cecil said.
“Here, have a chocolate. They’re very good.” Bonnie Sue reached for the tray.
“The bonbons are divine. You know, Jasmine here makes them and she’s—” Jolene’s nose wrinkled. “I was about to tell you just how pretty she is, but she’s standing in front of you, so I guess you can see it for yourself. Isn’t she a pretty little thing?”
“Sister Jolene!” Jasmine’s cheeks flamed the brightest shade of pink.
“A’course, she’s already spoken for.” Jolene shrugged. “Leastways, that’s the rumor. And I don’t suppose Fred would take too kindly to me pawning off his girl on another fella.”
That's Amore (Weddings by Bella Book #4): A Novel Page 12
