The Lockwood Legacy - Books 1-6: Plus Bonus Short Stories

by Juliette Harper

  Mandy pulled a chair up beside her sisters, sitting down and catching hold of their hands. “I didn’t want you all to know,” she said. “I needed to get it all figured out for myself.”

  “Are you okay?” Kate asked.

  “I wasn’t at first,” Mandy said. “But Elizabeth helped me understand so much. About what it was like for them when they were young and why it all happened. She and Mama were friends too, and Mama told her a lot about my father. They really loved each other. Aren’t you happy that Mama had someone who really loved her?” she asked earnestly.

  Kate smiled. “Of course we are, but right now we’re mainly worried about you.”

  “Please don’t be,” Mandy said. “And, please, don’t be mad at me for not telling you. It’s just that with everything that’s happened and you getting hurt, Katie, and that awful Marino man coming back, I just thought this was too much. And well . . .,” she hesitated, “none of this changes anything with the three of us . . . does it?”

  “Dear Lord,” Katie said. “Of course it doesn’t change anything.”

  “And this means Josh is my first cousin!” Many said brightly. “Isn’t that just cool?”

  Jenny shook her head. “You learn all of these incredible, earth-shattering revelations and all you have to say is that it’s cool that you and Josh are cousins?”

  “Well, it is cool,” Mandy enthused, “because when you all have kids, I’ll be their second cousin and their aunt!”

  A chorus of laughter circled the room. “Mandy, my dear child,” Elizabeth said, “you are an absolute ray of sunshine.”

  65

  That day, Elizabeth Jones, Clara Wyler, Mae Ella Gormley, Lenore Ferguson, and Wilma Schneider did more than reveal family secrets to the Lockwood daughters. They brought the younger women into their inner circle. For Kate, who had labored her entire life to live and work on an equal footing with men, the initiation proved particularly illuminating.

  As she listened to the older women talk about their lives, Kate began to recognize and admire their quiet power. For decades, these apparently conventional wives and mothers had seamlessly directed the outcome of events for which their men took complete credit.

  Suddenly the bumper sticker Kate had seen on so many pickups took on new meaning. "When Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy."

  The older women merrily dished up a treasure trove of their own, a vast body of historical gossip — enough dirt to bury the town’s elite several times over. They told tales of warning bullets that sailed over the heads of cheating husbands and described the gasping deaths of men for whom the ambulance wasn't summoned quite in time to make the heart attack survivable.

  Details of questionable parentages came to light, along with stories of covert affairs, dirty business deals, suicides, and even a few murders — crimes judiciously entered in the books as cases of "self-defense."

  "It's like joining the mafia," Jenny said one afternoon as she and Kate drove back to the Rocking L after a lively lunch with Clara, Mae Ella, and Wilma.

  "I think I'd rather take my chances with the gangsters," Kate snorted. "And to think these were the women we laughed about when we were growing up. If Clara told me she keeps a switchblade hidden in her bouffant I wouldn't be surprised."

  Jenny laughed. "Me either, but the old broads are a hell of a lot of fun, aren't they?"

  "God, yes," Kate agreed. "I want to be them when I grow up."

  For their part, the men of the Rocking L were more than a little leery of the throng of women who were now ranch regulars. On those evenings when "the girls" came to dinner, Josh, Jake, and Joe tended to disappear to the back porch at "the Institute." There they were safe from uncomfortable female questions that left a male balanced precariously on the indecisive ledge of the right and wrong answer.

  "You boys are complete cowards," Kate told Jake. "They're just little old women."

  "They're not just little old anything," Jake shuddered. "And you're right. I'm scared to death of every one of them."

  Of course the biggest bombshell the women dropped was Mandy’s true identity. When the sisters presented Josh with the truth, he accepted the news that Mandy was a Baxter with his typical aplomb. He stood up, swept her into a happy bear hug, and declared, "I knew you were mighty special, little sugar."

  He then listened patiently as Kate explained about the long series of Lockwood land grabs that slowly whittled down the original Baxter holdings, culminating in the acquisition of Baxter's Draw. "If you want to get the lawyers involved and figure out who should own what," she told him, "we won't oppose it."

  Josh looked at her like she had two heads. "What would I do that for, Katie?"

  "Well, Josh," she said, "a lot of this ranch probably belongs to you and Mandy outright."

  "Far as I can tell, it's Mandy's already. How about we just call the Rocking L family land and be done with it?" he suggested. "Isn't that how we've been running things anyway?"

  "Of course it is," Kate said. "I'm just offering to make it official."

  He grinned. "Sorry to break it to you, Katie, but you're not the one who can make it official. Reckon Jenny's gonna have to do that. " He turned to Jenny and said, "I had planned to do this a little more elegant like, but I love you, and if you'll have me, nothing would make me happier than for us to get hitched."

  Jenny looked at him and grinned, "Took you long enough to ask."

  "Is that a yes?" he asked, grinning back.

  "That's a yes," she said, her eyes shining with happy tears.

  Josh turned back to Kate. "Don't be wasting your money on lawyers, Katie," he said. "I've got everything a man could ever want."

  Mandy finally set the date for her wedding to Joe for the second weekend in August over everyone's objections that the weather would be hotter than the hinges of hell. "The church is air conditioned," she said brightly. "It'll be fine."

  With less than six weeks before the event, she asked her sisters if they would walk her down the aisle. "I'll do it," Kate said, feigning a critical frown, "but only if it gets me out of wearing one of those damned bridesmaids dresses."

  Mandy fixed her sister with a brilliant smile and said, “I have really special dresses picked out for you both."

  Kate grinned in spite of herself. "Of course you do," she said, "and of course we'll walk you down the aisle."

  Two nights before the wedding, all the women gathered at the main ranch house. Although Elizabeth Jones had been reluctant at first to venture out of her house, she sat with the others on the back porch drinking a glass of ice tea and staring at the landscape.

  “Are you okay, Elizabeth?” Mandy asked, sitting down beside her.

  “There’s just so much . . . space,” Elizabeth said, turning to her with a smile. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to just sit and look at the land. It’s so beautiful.”

  “I want you to come out here and spend time with us,” Mandy said, laying her hand on the older woman’s arm. “We’re not going to have you being cooped up in that house all the time. Don’t even think about saying no. It’s in the rule book; no one tells the bride no.”

  Elizabeth smiled. “I have no intention of telling you no,” she said. “You’re all being so very sweet. And my heavens, that young Baxter boy has such lovely manners.”

  Earlier, when Lenore pulled up in front of the house, Josh had instantly appeared at the side of the car, opening the door for Elizabeth and removing his hat simultaneously. “Hi, Mrs. Jones," he said, "I'm Josh Baxter. Jenny explained you have trouble walking. May I help you in the house?"

  Elizabeth looked up at his smiling face. "Thank you, Mr. Baxter," she said. "That's very gracious of you."

  “Please, call me Josh, ma'am," he said, offering her his hand.

  "Only if you call me Elizabeth," she answered, allowing him to help her stand.

  “Thank you, ma’am . . . er . . . Elizabeth," he said, holding out his arm.

  Inside the house, Jenny and Kate stoo
d at the window watching. "Look at him," Jenny said. "How did I manage to get a man that sweet?"

  "You earned him the hard way," Kate said, slipping her arm around her sister's waist. "The awful hard way."

  Jenny leaned into Kate and together they watched Josh slowly usher Elizabeth toward the front door, infinitely patient with her small, slow steps. As they reached the porch, Elizabeth threw back her head and laughed.

  “What do you suppose he said to her?” Jenny asked curiously.

  “Lord only knows,” Kate grinned, “but whatever it was, she liked it.”

  Now, with the sun setting in its usual crimson glory, all the men disappeared on cue, leaving the women to enjoy the light breeze playing across the porch. Clara arrived with a bottle of Jim Beam.

  “I have bourbon, Clara,” Kate said, grinning. “It’s not BYOB night.”

  “Wasn’t gonna take the chance,” Clara said stoutly. “You can’t sit on a porch and talk without ice tea or bourbon, and I am not in an ice tea mood.”

  “Fair enough,” Kate laughed. “You and ole Jim go out back with the ladies and I’ll bring you some ice. What do you want to mix it with?”

  “Now why in the hell would I ruin good bourbon with a mixer?” Clara asked as she trundled off dragging along her oxygen tank.

  “I can’t imagine what I was thinking,” Kate chuckled.

  “Me neither,” Clara tossed over her shoulder.

  When Kate delivered the old woman her ice, she stepped to the end of the porch where Jenny and Mandy were sitting on the wooden railing talking. Both moved over at the same time to make room for her, so Kate sat down between them.

  “Is everything ready for the rehearsal dinner tomorrow night?” Kate asked Mandy.

  “Joe’s Mama and Daddy are taking care of everything,” Mandy said. “Melba Jean has been about to drive Joe crazy making him run back and forth to the fellowship hall at the church with stuff she needs. His Daddy just puts his head down and says ‘yes, dear’ a lot.”

  “It’s going to be a beautiful wedding,” Jenny said. “You’ve outdone yourself, Mandy. The whole town is talking about your glamorous Houston friends.”

  “I think they’re gonna be kinda happy to get on back home,” Mandy said, giggling. “Last night I had one text message after another asking me where the clubs were in town.”

  “Did you tell them the Bloody Bucket is it?” Kate asked.

  “Yes, and then I had to answer the next bunch of texts to explain that the Bloody Bucket is a beer joint,” Mandy said.

  “Lord,” Kate laughed. “Can you just imagine the stories they’re going to tell when they get back to the big city? They must think they’ve landed on another planet.”

  “Can’t you hear what Daddy would have said about them?” Mandy asked.

  Kate lowered her voice and imitated their father’s growling disdain. “Bunch of goddamn city slickers. Ain’t got sense enough to pour piss out of a boot.”

  “Daddy wasn’t what you’d call couth,” Jenny laughed.

  “Damned if that’s not the truth,” Kate agreed.

  “I was thinking about Daddy just today,” Jenny said.

  “This can’t be good,” Kate said. “What were you thinking?”

  “No, actually it is good,” Jenny answered. “He underestimated us when he drew up that Will. He put us together on the ranch thinking we’d kill each other. Instead, we haven’t done anything since the moment we came home but save each other’s lives.”

  “In more ways than one,” Kate said, putting her good arm around her sister. She turned to Mandy, grinning, “I’d hug you, too, but you’re on the busted side.”

  Mandy scooted closer, leaning against Kate. “I’m not hurting you, am I?” she asked.

  “Not one bit,” Kate said, kissing the top of her head. “Lean away.”

  They were silent for a minute and then Mandy said, “I’ve been thinking about Daddy, too, and about me not being a Lockwood.”

  “How are you doing with all that, honey?” Jenny asked.

  “Well,” Mandy said, “the thing is, I don’t really feel like a Baxter either. But I think maybe the name you use isn’t so important as all the people you know in your life who influence you. I can’t help who I was raised to be, but now there are all these people I’m related to that I don’t know anything about. Not just the Baxters, but Mama’s people, too. Shouldn’t we try to be in touch with them?”

  “I have to admit I’ve never really given any thought to doing anything about that,” Kate said. “I’ve always assumed they didn’t want to have anything to do with us.”

  “I think I want to find out,” Mandy said. “Aren’t you curious at all if we’re like them?”

  “Baby Sister,” Kate said, “all our lives we’ve been taught to think about our blood. Now somebody comes along and tells you that you’re not a Lockwood, like that makes any real difference about who you are. Identity isn’t just lineage.”

  “Don’t let the Daughters of the Confederacy hear you say that,” Jenny warned.

  Kate laughed. “I’m serious. You have to take all the pieces of what happens to you, all the mistakes you make, the lessons you learn, the things you do right, the things you wish you’d done and make a life out of all that. You said it yourself the night Mandy shot Marino. We raised each other, in spite of our parents, in spite of their choices, in spite of being Lockwoods or Northrups or Baxters. I don’t need blood to tell me which hearts beat in time with mine. Those hearts are right here beside me. That’s what Daddy didn’t understand. The three of us are each other’s home. He did the very thing he didn’t want to do, he brought us back together.”

  “Thank God,” Jenny said. “And if he has any idea we’ve hooked up with them,” she added, nodding at the lively knot of women at the other end of the porch, “he’s doing . . . ”

  “Grave spins,” they all said in one voice before collapsing in peals of laughter.

  Epilogue

  Mandy stood in front of the full-length mirror installed in one of the Sunday school classrooms at the Methodist Church for the express use of brides about to walk down the aisle.

  Susan, her friend and former coworker from her days at Nieman’s, smiled her approval. “You are stunning! Did you take care of the ‘somethings?’”

  “Oh, yes,” Mandy said. “Joe’s grandmother tatted the lace on the front of my dress, so that’s the something old. My friend Elizabeth is letting me borrow this necklace. All the brides in her family have worn it for generations.”

  “And the something blue?” Susan asked.

  “These sapphire earrings were my mother’s,” Mandy said, her voice breaking just a little. “She left them to Jenny and Jenny gave them to me this morning. She said they go with my eyes.”

  “She was right,” Susan said. “Okay, so, the ushers have just gotten everyone seated and the bridesmaids are lined up outside. There was some crisis about Sissy and Missy’s nails, but Jolene handled it. Tiffany just texted me that they’re about to start down the aisle, so I’m going to walk you to the back of the church and then go make sure the photographer is doing what I told him to do. You ready?”

  “I am,” Mandy said. “I’m so happy I’m about to explode with joy. And you have done an incredible job keeping everyone in line. You should do this for a living.”

  “Not a chance,” Susan said. “And the bartender at this reception better know how to mix a dirty martini.”

  “If he doesn’t,” Mandy said, kissing her on the cheek, “I do.”

  Gathering up the long train of Mandy’s dress, the two women walked down the long hall of the Sunday school building and crossed the short distance to the church. The sun was just setting and all the windows blazed with candles. Kate and Jenny stood just outside the door to the main sanctuary.

  They each gave Mandy a hug, careful not to crumple her veil or mess up her hair. “You ready, Baby Sister?” Kate asked. “We’re just about out of daylight.”

  “I�
��m ready, Katie,” Mandy said, taking her sister’s right arm and Jenny’s left.

  Susan, and Jake Martin, serving as one of the ushers, opened the doors to the sanctuary on a silent count of three as the opening notes of Pachebel’s Canon in D soared around them.

  As Langston Lockwood’s three daughters walked arm-in-arm down the church aisle, each felt in her heart that their family’s turbulent legacy was being laid to rest as a future bright with potential opened for them all.

  None of them noticed the woman in the last pew at the rear of the church who watched the sisters with great interest. She saw a bit of Irene Northrup in each of their profiles. She hoped they had Irene’s backbone. They were going to need it.

  THE END

  Part IV

  Book 4 - Mandy’s Father

  66

  At the sound of boot heels on hardwood Jake Martin looked up from his laptop and grinned at Kate Lockwood as she paused at the door of his office. "Hi," he said. "I thought I recognized those footsteps. Come on in."

  Kate pulled back the chair in front of Jake's desk and sat down. She crossed her long legs and rested her free hand on the leather cuff that kept her left arm immobilized against her body. Over the last year and a half since their father's suicide, each of the Lockwood sisters had been called upon to make major changes in their lives.

  Mandy gave up her career in Houston as a professional shopper. Jenny returned to Texas from New York City where she'd worked as a graphics designer. But Kate just moved back down the country road from her own land to "the old home place."

  Her adjustment should have been the easiest, until a confrontation with an armed intruder left her with a disabled left shoulder and chronic pain. Strong and stoic in the tradition of the Lockwoods, she was coping, but on bad days, when the ache was relentless, she diverted her mind with long walks on the Rocking L, a habit everyone on the ranch now recognized for what it was.