46
Even in the wake of dramatic events, life has a way of simply re-establishing itself. The next morning Josh and Kate met in the kitchen before first light and were discussing hay prices when Jenny came in for her coffee. Joe was headed to town by 7:30 after kissing Mandy in the hallway.
“What are you doing up?” Kate asked Mandy as she reached for her hat to go out with Josh to check the fence lines. “After what you did yesterday, I think you deserve to sleep late.”
“Oh, no!” Mandy said, her eyes wide. “I can’t do that! Jolene is gonna kill me if I don’t get to town and tell her everything. You know everybody is already talking about us.”
“What the hell is new about that?” Kate said, easing her coat over her lame arm. “And don’t tell Jolene everything. Downplay the treasure part, at least until we’ve got that stuff from the cave locked up somewhere.”
“Can you believe it all happened?” Mandy asked in a small voice. “I keep thinking I’m going to wake up and it was just a dream. Like that guy in the shower on that show about Dallas.”
“Honey,” Kate said smiling, “you weren’t even born when that TV show was popular.”
“Katie,” Mandy said with a sniff, “you’re not the only one with an interest in history.”
“I’m going to pretend I did not just overhear that conversation,” Jenny said, coming out of the kitchen.
“Where are you going?” Kate asked.
“First to my place to get a shower and change clothes, then to town to buy that turkey we talked about.”
On Thanksgiving day, Josh leaned back from the table and patted his belly in satisfaction. “That,” he said, “was the best Thanksgiving dinner I have ever had. We outdid ourselves!”
Kate surveyed the remains of the meal from her place at the head of the table. “It looks like a pack of ravening wolves went through this food,” she laughed.
“How about we all waddle into the living room and have our pie and coffee in there?” Jenny suggested. “I know the boys are itching to get the game on.”
The week had been full of last minute holiday preparations, including the purchase of a 65” television set for the main ranch house. “That thing looks like an aircraft carrier,” Kate said as she watched Josh and Joe carefully positioning the screen. “I won’t ever turn it on unless you all are here, and I cannot believe there’s a damned satellite dish sitting on the roof. Daddy is gonna come right up out of the grave and haunt us all.”
“Good,” Jenny said, gathering up an armload of plates and heading toward the kitchen. “I’ve got a few bones to pick with him.”
“When was the last time you saw a movie, Katie?” Mandy asked curiously.
Kate thought it over. “The year I graduated,” she said finally. “That thing where Richard Dreyfus is the band director. It was when the FFA went to the Houston stock show.”
“What year did you graduate?” Jake asked.
“1995,” Kate answered.
“You haven’t seen a movie in almost 20 years?” Jake said, thunderstruck. He turned to Mandy. “Get on Amazon and order a popcorn machine. We have to drag this woman into the 21st century.”
“I’m on it,” Mandy said, reaching into her bag and taking out her iPad. “Really, Katie,” she scolded as her fingers worked on the screen, “I do not know what we’re going to do with you.”
Kate let out a mock growl of irritation, one of many she’d made over the last few days. After the group came to her with the plan to buy the TV and install it at the main house, the men announced their intent to deep fry the Thanksgiving turkey. To their considerable male consternation, they met with a solid wall of female disapproval.
“No,” Kate declared sternly. “You can put a big ole TV set in the living room, but I draw the line at you boys burning this house down. There’s not one Thanksgiving or Christmas that goes by without the news being full of stories about idiots like the three of you touching off some deep-fried disaster. Not only no, but hell no.”
“Now Kate,” Jake said. “We’ll do the whole thing out in the clearing by the windmill. We won’t get near anything flammable.”
“Listen to yourself, Jake Martin,” Kate countered. “This is the Texas Hill County. You ever seen a burning cedar bush explode? The whole damn county is flammable.”
“I’ve been wanting to deep fry a turkey for years,” he said pleadingly. “I have a folder of research on the subject on my laptop. I promise we will take every precaution.”
“That does not change the fact you will be heating up gallons of oil with propane,” she said sternly. “No part of that sounds like a good idea to me. I said no and I meant it.”
It took three days of wheedling, complete with sketches of their proposed frying rig and the purchase of fire extinguishers, for the men to wear the sisters down. Finally the boys got their way, but not without a dire warning from Jenny. “If I see one beer anywhere near this operation,” she glared at them, hands on her hips, “I will shoot the man holding it.”
True to their word, the three men treated the turkey frying project like a military maneuver. On Thanksgiving morning, Kate, Jenny, and Mandy stood apprehensively at the front window watching as the bird was slowly lowered toward the oil vat.
“Shouldn’t we be behind a blast shield or something?” Jenny asked.
“No, they should,” Kate countered.
“I told Joe if he gets himself killed, I will never forgive him,” Mandy chimed in nervously.
The sisters breathed a collective sigh of relief when nothing exploded, and laughed as they watched the men giving each other high-fives. Now, hours later, the women had to admit the bird was delicious, tender and flavorful, an admission that left all three men beaming with pride.
Plans were already afoot for a “better rig” for next year. As Mandy handed out slices of pecan pie, and Jenny carried in the coffee, Jake gesticulated with his hands, drawing an imaginary frame in the air in front of him.
“See,” he was saying excitedly, “if we build it that way, we can use a winch to control the rate of descent into the oil. It’ll cook more evenly then.”
“That’s a great idea!” Joe said, staring at two remote controls in his hands. “You think we should use a come-along or get a winch with a motor? And how the hell do you turn this thing on again?”
“Oh, a motor,” Josh chimed in. “What would we do if the ratchet on the come-along got stuck? Give me that remote . . . no, that one . . .”
Mandy handed Kate a slice of pie and whispered, “What’s a come-along?”
“A hand-operated winch,” Kate said. “Remember that thing Daddy used to use to put the water gaps back up?”
“Oh, that,” Mandy said. “What does that have to do with cooking a turkey?”
“Nothing,” Jenny said, sitting down with her sisters. “Those boys have seen far too many episodes of Mythbusters. Next thing you know, they’ll be blowing stuff up for the hell of it.”
Kate gave her a puzzled look. “It’s a TV program,” Jenny explained. “Two guys test urban legends and blow a lot of things up.”
“And you all wonder why I have never had a television,” Kate said, balancing her plate on her knee.
From across the room a cheer erupted as the TV sprang to life.
“It’s nice to see them being friends, though,” Mandy said fondly. “And I really like Josh and Jake. It’s kind of like having brothers for the first time.”
“They’re good guys,” Kate said, taking a bite of pie and exchanging a covert glance with Jenny. They both knew Joe was intending to propose to Mandy at the Christmas dance the second weekend in December, which meant in short order, he would be their brother.
Joe hauled Kate and Jenny with him to look for an engagement ring before everything erupted around Baxter’s Draw, but came up empty handed. Then he showed up at the ranch one day when Mandy was at the library with Jolene. He held a ring box out to Kate and Jenny and said, “Do you think she’ll like t
his?”
Jenny opened the box, smiled, and handed it to Kate. A vintage Victorian engagement ring sat nestled in the black velvet. The old-fashioned round cut center diamond was flanked by three smaller diamonds down each side, set in ornate 18k white gold scrolls.
“It’s perfect, Joe,” Kate said. “Is this a family piece?”
“Yes, it belonged to my great-grandmother,” he said, taking the box back from Kate. “You don’t think Mandy would rather have something more modern?”
“No, I don’t,” Kate said. “She will love this and love that it’s a family heirloom.”
“So, uh, just so we’re on the same page, it’s . . . I mean can I . . . would it still be okay if . . ,” he stammered, blushing beet red.
“Joe Bob Mason,” Kate said with mock gravity, “are you yet again asking for permission to propose to my baby sister?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, staring at his boots.
“The answer is still yes.”
He looked up, his eyes shining, “Really?”
“Really,” Kate grinned.
“Okay. Okay!” he said enthusiastically. “I’m gonna ask her at the Christmas dance. So don’t let the cat out of the bag.”
“We won’t,” Jenny promised. “Our solemn word.”
They watched him bounce down the walk and jump into his truck. “Damn,” Kate said. “That boy’s got it bad.”
“He damn well better if he knows what’s good for him,” Jenny said.
“We sound really old right now,” Kate laughed.
“Don’t go there.”
Now, as they watched Mandy watch Joe, love for the man shining in her eyes, Kate and Jenny nodded approvingly at each other behind her back. Joe wasn’t the only one who had it bad for someone.
As everyone became more engrossed in the football game, Kate swallowed the anti-social urge to retreat to the study with a book. She couldn’t remember the last time they’d used the dining room at the Rocking L, and there had been no holiday celebrations after their mother died. Even if the game was too loud and too boring, Kate knew she belonged right where she was, with her family.
Jake glanced over at her, then got up and walked across the room to join her. “Not a football fan, huh?” he asked, sitting down on the hearth.
“I am a traitor to the State of Texas,” she confessed. “Zero interest in our national pastime.”
“Let me guess,” he said. “You’re itching to get to a book.”
“Guilty,” she said, “but I’d rather be in here with all of you.”
“Where’s the book?” he asked.
She looked at him quizzically. “Why?”
“Because you can do both, you know,” he pointed out. “We want you with us, too, but you don’t have to be chained to the game. Where’s the book?”
“On my bedside table. The last door at the end of the hall on the right.”
Jake disappeared and then returned with a thick volume in his hand, “The Discoverers by Boorstin,” he said approvingly. “I love this book. Did you read The Creators and The Seekers, too?”
“Twice,” she said. “I’m starting the trilogy over.”
He handed her the book with a grin, “Great! Can’t wait to discuss it with you. You want anything before I go back to the game?”
“I’m good,” she said. “Uh, go . . . team.”
“You don’t even know who’s playing, do you?”
“Not a clue.”
Later that evening, as Mandy and Joe were starting to leave, Mandy said, “Now you be ready in the morning, Katie. We have to leave for San Antonio early.”
Kate scowled, “Is this really necessary?”
“It’s essential,” Mandy said firmly. “This is a formal Christmas dance, and you’re going. We have to get you something to wear.”
“You do know that I think shopping is the level of hell Dante left out?” Kate asked crossly.
“I have no idea who Dante is,” Mandy said, “but shopping is pure heaven. Don’t be so silly. See you in the morning!”
With that, she bounced out, leaving Kate and Jenny alone in the kitchen. “Don’t worry,” Jenny said, putting a comforting hand on her sister’s arm. “I’ll be there.”
“The problem,” Kate said darkly as she began to put the plates back in the cabinets, “is that I’ll be there.”
The night of the Christmas dance, Kate stood in front of the mirror surveying her appearance. Mandy had promised her something “very Katharine Hepburn,” and damned if the little fashion maven hadn’t delivered.
Kate was wearing an elegant black evening suit, the wide, flared legs giving the appearance of a skirt. A long coat with exaggerated satin lapels fell to her knees. Her arm was tucked in a black sling that would have blended seamlessly into the fabric of the suit had it not been for the large ruby ring on her left forefinger.
When Mandy and Jenny dragged her in the jewelry store, Kate protested. “I don’t exactly want to call attention to this arm, you know.”
“Well, you can’t exactly hide it, now can you?” Jenny said. “You told me that arm would be what you make of it. So make a statement, Katie. You’re not a cripple.”
As she surveyed the effect now, the blood red of the stone standing out against the jet-black material did indeed make a statement, and a bold one at that. A knock sounded at the front door and when she opened it, she found Jake Martin standing on the porch wearing a tuxedo.
“Jake?” she said, a little shocked at how handsome he looked. “Is that you in that penguin suit?”
“Do I look like a total moron?” he asked. “Mandy picked it out. Without me. And nailed the size. How does she do that?”
“It’s a strange and mysterious gift.”
“Amen,” he said, adding approvingly. “You look gorgeous. Ready to go?”
Kate colored at the compliment. “Thank you. And I’m as ready as I’m ever gonna be. Let’s do this thing.”
“Jenny and Josh are already in the car,” he said. “Mandy dragged Joe with her two hours ago. Something about hanging more mistletoe.”
At the community center, the four of them joined a line of decked out townsfolk threading their way in the front door. The interior of the tin building, which also hosted the annual youth livestock show, the gun show, and the “welcome the hunters to the county” dinner, had been transformed for the night.
Glittering oversized snowflakes hung suspended from the ceiling over long tables draped in white cloths boasting red center runners. The hors-d'oeuvre table overflowed with food next to the open bar, an innovation in the normally “BYOB” community. At the front of the building, on a stage erected especially for the dance, a 12-piece orchestra was playing a mix of music ranging from ‘40s big band classics to western swing.
As the foursome stepped in the door, a little murmur swept through the crowd. The whole town was, indeed, talking about the Lockwoods as they had been doing since Langston shot himself. No one was accustomed to seeing Kate dressed to the nines, and then there was the matter of her arm. She hadn’t been off the Rocking L since the shooting, which was sensational enough, but now gossip swirled about the treasure and Marino.
Jake felt Kate tense up beside him and said, “Okay, we’re going to nip this in the bud right now. Carpe diem.”
He offered her his arm, and when she faltered, he said, “What is it you’re always saying about looking’em in the eye?” She smiled at that, and allowed herself to be led to the dance floor, a smile plastered on her face. Under her breath, she asked nervously, “How is this going to work with my arm?”
“You just won’t put your arm on my shoulder,” he said, turning to face her. “Everything else is the same. Don’t let me squish you.”
Jake drew her close, placing his right hand firmly on her back. Without missing a beat, they stepped into the music and began to circle the floor. After a few steps, Kate felt the tension leave her body. Jake was a strong lead, and if there was one thing she did know how to do
, it was two-step. The people who had been whispering and pointing began to return to their drinks and conversations.
What could have been an awkward evening evolved into a good time for all concerned. A black-tie event in a small town was itself too engrossing for the wagging tongues to focus entirely on Lockwood business — not when there were so many dresses to be assessed and critiqued in relation to the age, weight, and marital status of the women wearing them.
At the first intermission, Joe Mason climbed onto the stage and tapped the microphone, “Excuse me. Excuse me, everyone. May I have your attention?”
The crowd quieted down and Joe went on. “I am happy to report that this event has raised $10,000 toward downtown revitalization, an amount that has been matched by an anonymous donor.”
Speculative murmurs rippled through the crowd along with a round of applause. Joe held up his hand again, “I’d like to personally thank our event organizer, Mandy Lockwood. Mandy, would you come up here, please?”
Mandy threaded her way to the front of the room, took Joe’s hand, and stepped up on the stage beside him, giving the crowd a wave and a dazzling smile.
“I imagine the whole town knows that this pretty lady is nice enough to let me be a part of her life,” Joe said, turning toward Mandy. “And, well, if she’ll have me, I’d like to be a part of her life forever.”
With that, he went down on one knee, held out the ring box he’d slipped out of his coat pocket, and looked up at Mandy adoringly. “Amanda Lockwood, would you do me the incredible honor of becoming my wife?”
Mandy covered her mouth with her hands, stifling the happy gasp that escaped her lips. Tears of joy filled her eyes. She nodded.
“That’s a yes, right?” Joe asked.
A voice in the crowd called out, “For God’s sake, Joe Bob, of course that’s a yes. Give her the damn ring.”
As laughter filled the room, Joe slipped the ring on Mandy’s finger and stood to kiss her amid a storm of flashing camera phones. They both turned to the crowd, and Mandy held her hand up, the antique diamond sparkling under the lights.
The Lockwood Legacy - Books 1-6: Plus Bonus Short Stories Page 25
