Christmas Cake

by Lynne Hinton

  Rachel smiled and said hello to each of them.

  “And this is Rachel,” Charlotte said.

  “It’s very nice to meet you.” Margaret spoke first. “And I hear that you’re from around here too?” she asked.

  “Yes ma’am,” she replied. “Up the road about ten miles. You come from here?” she asked Margaret.

  “No, my mother did,” she responded.

  Rachel nodded. She remembered how Charlotte had explained the reason for the women traveling to Texas from North Carolina.

  “What was her name?” Rachel asked.

  “Elizabeth,” Margaret replied. “Elizabeth Hearnes.”

  Rachel shook her head. “I didn’t hear of her,” she said.

  Margaret smiled. “What about your people, what are their names?”

  “Lewiston,” she replied. “I come from the Lewiston family.”

  Margaret nodded.

  “You find out where your boyfriend is?” Charlotte asked.

  “He ain’t a boyfriend,” Rachel replied. She grinned. “It’s his daddy still running the place though.” She looked over to the office. “Ricky is in Iraq,” she added. “Joined the army a couple of years back.”

  Charlotte nodded. She wondered if the young woman was upset that her friend wasn’t in Goodlett. She studied Rachel but didn’t seem to notice any disappointment.

  “They got a few of them little camping cabins behind the office. Mr. Workman said that we could stay in them if we didn’t want to drive to Childress.” She looked around at the women. “I told him about ya’ll coming from North Carolina to see your people,” she explained.

  “That was very nice of you,” Jessie said. She tried to peer around the office but the cabins couldn’t be seen from where they stood in the parking lot.

  “That was lovely, Rachel,” Beatrice noted.

  “He said that the storm was rolling in this evening and that he didn’t think we should be driving back and forth even if it is only a few miles.” Rachel was studying the women. She wasn’t sure if they wanted to skip a hotel room for a camping cabin.

  “Well, let’s go take a look at the accommodations,” Margaret suggested. “I don’t mind staying here in a cabin. In fact, I think that might be nice.”

  Louise glanced around. She used to stay in quite a few campgrounds when she had been younger. She thought this one looked nice enough, even though she wasn’t ready to commit until she had a better look at the facilities.

  The women headed over to the office. The small building was decorated with red and green streamers. A Christmas tree was placed in the corner, next to a fireplace. A fire was burning, and the room smelled of wood. There were a couple of stockings hanging on the mantel and there was Christmas music playing.

  “Merry Christmas,” the man behind the counter said as the women walked in.

  “Merry Christmas to you.” Jessie spoke for the group.

  The man was in his fifties, broad-chested, and was wearing a sweatshirt that read, “Santa’s Back,” and had a picture of the back of Santa Claus underneath the words. He winked at Rachel. “Welcome to Goodlett,” he added.

  “Thank you,” Charlotte responded. “We hear you have some cabins that we could rent for a night.”

  “We got ’em,” the man answered. “Brand-new ones, just built. They got heat and two single beds in each of them. There’s a small sink and a chest of drawers for your things.”

  He glanced around at all the women. “I guess you’d need to rent all three of them, which is fine because they’re available.” He reached behind the counter and pulled out keys. “I’ll give you the code to the restrooms but you don’t need to worry. The only two units here for the week have their own toilets. So you’d have the facilities to yourselves.”

  Charlotte smiled.

  “Hot tub works. Just cleaned it out. Bathing suits are optional.” He grinned.

  “I’ve been staying with these women for a couple of nights. You don’t want to go there, trust me,” Louise responded.

  The man winked again. “And I’ll have doughnuts and coffee in the morning,” he added. “Will you be staying through Christmas?” he asked.

  The women shrugged.

  “Not sure,” Jessie answered.

  “There any good place to eat in Goodlett?” Beatrice asked. It was getting time for supper and her stomach was starting to growl.

  “You can get dinner over at Mac’s Diner just up the road before you get to the Methodist church. He makes a good fish dinner or you can try his chicken fried steak. And since it’s Christmas this week, he’s got chocolate cake.” The man waited. “Ya’ll like cake?” he asked.

  The women all moaned at the same time. Clearly they had all had enough cake to last them an entire season.

  “Well, dinner, cake, and a cabin sound perfect.” Jessie was the one to speak for the group again.

  “Best place to stay in Goodlett,” the man responded. He grinned another wide grin at the women. “Which one of you got people here?” he asked.

  The women all looked over at Margaret.

  “That would be me,” she replied, stepping forward.

  The man studied her. He could see that she wasn’t well. “You a Richardson?” he asked.

  Margaret shook her head.

  “’Cause you look a little like the Richardsons.”

  Margaret shook her head again.

  Rachel answered for her. “She’s a Hearnes,” she noted. “Her mamma was Elizabeth Hearnes.”

  “She kin to Donald?” the man asked.

  “That was my grandfather’s name,” Margaret replied, sounding surprised.

  The man nodded. “I’m Maurice Workman.” He leaned across the counter and held out his hand. “I think we might be family,” he added.

  Margaret smiled and took his hand. “Well, how about that?” she asked.

  “My daddy’s mother’s brother married Donald’s sister’s girl.” He paused. “Her name was Eugenia.”

  Margaret looked a bit confused. She had researched some of her family history but she didn’t remember the names of her grandparents’ siblings. She had learned her mother’s immediate family but that was all.

  She considered what Maurice was saying. “So, I guess that makes us…” She thought about it.

  “Related,” Maurice interrupted her. He grinned. “I’ll just call you cousin,” he noted. “Cousin…” He waited for her to introduce herself.

  “Margaret,” she said.

  “Cousin Margaret,” he repeated.

  “Do you know if any of my people are still around?” she asked.

  He thought about her question. “I can ask Florrie,” he replied. “Florrie is my wife and she keeps the records for the Methodist church. She knows about every family in Goodlett.”

  Margaret smiled. “Is that the little church with the cemetery behind it?” she asked. She wondered if that was the village church she remembered from her one visit to Texas. She wondered if the church was still there.

  Maurice nodded. “That’s the only church in town,” he replied. “And the only cemetery. I suspect your grandparents are buried there. Did your mother have siblings?” he asked.

  “She had two sisters,” Margaret responded. She did remember that part of her family history.

  “I’ll ask Florrie if she knows your aunts. Maybe some of their kin is still around. Goodlett isn’t that big, you know,” he added with a wink.

  “I know,” Margaret responded.

  She took in a breath, and Maurice noticed how tired she looked. “Let me show you a cabin and you and your friends can decide if you want to stay here or drive over to Childress.” He took the set of keys he had pulled out and walked around to where the women were standing. “’Course, now that we know we’re related, I think you’ll need to stay right here.”

  Margaret smiled.

  “Just follow me and I’ll give you a peek at the finest accommodations in Goodlett, Texas.” He headed to the door and opened it.


  The women walked past him and out the door toward the cabins behind the office.

  “Mr. Workman, isn’t this the only place to stay in Goodlett?” Rachel asked.

  The man smiled. “Well, we don’t need to be specific about that kind of thing,” he responded. “Besides, there’s no better place in the world to be at Christmas,” he added, as the door shut behind him.

  Aunt Maymie’s Chocolate Syrup Cake

  ½ cup butter or margarine

  1 cup sugar

  4 eggs

  1¼ cups flour

  1½ teaspoons baking powder

  ¾ can chocolate syrup (1 pound can)

  1 teaspoon vanilla

  Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift flour and baking powder together. Add flour mixture alternately with chocolate syrup and vanilla to creamed mixture. Beat well. Pour batter into 2 greased and floured 9-inch cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees about 30 minutes or until done.

  ICING

  15 large marshmallows

  5 ounces evaporated milk

  2 cups sugar

  1 stick margarine

  1 6-ounce package of chocolate chips

  1 teaspoon vanilla

  Combine marshmallows, evaporated milk, sugar, and margarine and bring to a boil, cooking 3 minutes. Remove from heat and add chocolate chips and vanilla. Beat until creamy.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The women decided to stay at the RV park and rent the three cabins. Beatrice and Louise were in the one closest to the office. Jessie and Margaret took the middle one. Charlotte and Rachel had the one the farthest away from the facilities. They all agreed that the youngest women would have the least amount of trouble walking to and from the bathroom. Although once that had been agreed upon, they all worried about the young woman who seemed to walk so carefully.

  Once they got settled, putting the linens on the beds and unpacking, they rested for a bit and then decided to eat dinner at the place Maurice had mentioned. They all loaded into the funeral van. Charlotte had already heard the story of Beatrice’s choice of vehicle. Once they started their short trip to the diner, Charlotte agreed with her friends that it was a comfortable ride.

  The temperature had dropped at least ten degrees since they arrived in Goodlett and it was now below the freezing mark. Clouds filled the evening sky, and the women huddled together in the van as they drove to the diner.

  There were only a few people inside the small restaurant. There were two deputies enjoying their dinner and a woman with two small children just coming out as the women were going in. They waited for the family and then hurried inside and took a table in the center of the room.

  “It is really cold out there,” Charlotte noted as she unwrapped the scarf from around her neck.

  “Cold enough to make snow stick,” Louise added. She was starting to get concerned about the storm and whether they would be able to leave Texas now that they had made it there.

  “Are you getting worried?” Beatrice asked as she took her seat and began peeling off her gloves. She still had on her Santa hat and was looking quite festive.

  “I just don’t know if we want to spend a week in a cabin in Goodlett, Texas,” she replied.

  “Oh, we’ll be fine,” Jessie said. She had taken the menus and passed them out to all the women. “Just order something hearty and you’ll feel better.”

  A waitress walked over to take the orders. She was young, not much older than Rachel. She chewed gum and wore a red bow in her hair. She also had on earrings that lit up, a pair of reindeer with bright, shining noses.

  “Ya’ll know what you want or you need a minute?” she asked.

  “You got cake?” Beatrice asked. She winked at Louise.

  “Yes ma’am,” the girl answered, not knowing that her customer was just trying to be humorous.

  “Oh please,” Louise said, under her breath.

  The waitress didn’t hear her. “We got a chocolate cookie cake, and we got the house special.” She waited.

  “Which is?” Beatrice was interested.

  “A chocolate syrup cake,” the waitress replied. “It’s real rich,” she added. “But it’s good if you like that kind of thing.”

  “Oh, I’d say we all like that kind of thing,” Jessie responded.

  Louise just rolled her eyes and held the menu over her face. Clearly she had eaten enough cake.

  All the women ordered and handed their menus to Jessie, who placed them between the salt and pepper shakers situated on the corner of the table. Beatrice glanced around and noticed that the deputy facing her seemed to be eyeing the group. She smiled at the young man but he didn’t respond. She watched as he participated in a call on his walkie-talkie, which was attached to a shoulder harness. It wasn’t long before the two men got up and left their table.

  Louise watched them leave and noticed Beatrice as she followed them with her eyes. “What’s the matter?” she asked.

  Beatrice turned to her friend. “Nothing,” she replied. “I was just thinking about Dick and wondering if he got supper tonight,” she added.

  “Have you talked to him since we left?” Jessie asked. She had managed to get through to James all three evenings they had been away.

  Beatrice shook her head. Every time she tried to call, the line was busy or there was no answer. She thought about calling the funeral home but she didn’t really want to talk to Betty. It wasn’t a huge deal that she hadn’t contacted Dick. She had left a couple of messages on the home phone saying that they were fine, telling him where they were staying.

  In all the time away from home, she hadn’t really worried about the fact that she hadn’t told him about borrowing the van. She hadn’t even really thought about it since leaving North Carolina. She had actually forgotten that he didn’t know.

  She watched the deputies as they pulled out of the parking lot. The car stopped behind the women’s parking place, but none of the other women noticed it.

  “So, Rachel.” Beatrice turned to the young woman seated across the table from her. “You’re from around here?” she asked.

  Rachel’s face reddened as all the women looked at her. She didn’t like having that much attention on her. “Yes ma’am, from Childress,” she replied, and dropped her eyes away from the group.

  “Beatrice, you look like you’ve lost some weight.” Charlotte was trying to divert the attention away from her young friend. She knew it was uncomfortable for her. “Have you been exercising?” she asked. She knew that Beatrice would love to talk about herself. And she was right.

  “Depression,” she replied, in a very matter-of-fact style. She lifted the top of her Santa hat away from her face. “It’s great for dieting.”

  Charlotte was surprised by the answer. Since Beatrice brought up the subject, she thought it was fine to follow up. “You’ve been depressed?” she asked.

  “She gave up the cookbook project,” Louise said.

  The waitress brought out the drinks and passed them out to the women around the table. They were her only customers now that the deputies had left.

  “Beatrice!” Charlotte said in a very surprised tone of voice. “You gave up a project? Were you hospitalized?” she asked, and then smiled. “Did they give you electric shock therapy?”

  “Very funny,” Beatrice replied. “No, I was not hospitalized.”

  “Turns out all she needed was a kick in the butt from her friends,” Jessie said.

  “And a patch on her butt from her doctor,” Louise added.

  “It’s the hormones, dear,” Beatrice said in Rachel’s direction.

  Again, the young woman’s face reddened.

  “You’ll learn one day too. Getting old isn’t for sissies.” Beatrice took a sip from her glass of iced tea.

  “And you’re better now?” Charlotte asked.

  “Much better. I was a little low on my estrogen,” Beatrice noted.

  “A little low?�
� Louise asked. “You were on your way to the psychiatric ward if you didn’t get some help.”

  Charlotte laughed and shook her head in Rachel’s direction. “They’re best friends,” she said.

  The young woman nodded, looking a bit suspicious.

  “So, how are Wallace and Lana and little Hope?” Charlotte asked. She was hoping to catch up on all the community news.

  “Great,” Jessie replied, pulling from her purse the picture that Lana had given her to share with Charlotte. “Growing like a weed,” she added, speaking of the little girl.

  “And school for Lana, how’s that?” Charlotte asked as she looked at the photograph. She was smiling at how much Hope had grown and how cute she looked sitting on Santa’s knee.

  “Making real good grades,” Jessie responded.

  “She’ll be an excellent nurse,” Margaret added. It was the first thing she had said since they arrived at the diner.

  All the women glanced over at her. They were glad to hear her participate in the conversation. They had all noticed that she seemed happy to be in Goodlett, but that she was also growing more and more fatigued.

  “Oh, she is still a cutie,” Charlotte commented.

  “Can I see?” Rachel asked.

  Charlotte showed her the photograph. She smiled.

  “This your granddaughter?” she asked Jessie, giving the picture back to Charlotte.

  “Great-granddaughter,” Jessie replied. “Her mother married my grandson,” she added.

  Rachel nodded.

  “Charlotte married them,” Jessie noted.

  Rachel turned to look at Charlotte. She had not known that Charlotte was a minister. She knew that she used to work in a church but she never considered that Charlotte could have been an ordained minister, not that she really understood what that meant.

  “You married them?” she asked, looking confused.

  “I officiated at the marriage,” Charlotte explained. “I was the pastor of the church where they attend.”

  Rachel nodded. She was starting to understand.

  “And you all went to her church?” Rachel asked.