Griffin wore a pale blue western shirt, starched and creased Wranglers, a tooled belt with a big silver rodeo buckle, and his dress cowboy boots. His hair was a touch too long, but Julie loved it like that. The white streak flowed back and reminded her of Johnny Depp's in Sweeney Todd.
Julie had made a dash through Cavender's in Nocona and picked up a pair of boots, a western-cut blouse in lime green, and a new pair of Cruel Girl jeans. Her red curls framed her face and her mossy green eyes sparkled. Griffin thought she was elegant in the red dress at their sale party but that night he fairly well strutted into the barn with her on his arm.
Granny Nellie and Ellen were the first to greet them. Ellen wore her bright red dyed hair up in a twist with lots of height and hair spray and a swirling skirt in bright colors with a western ruffled blouse tucked into it. Nellie wore jeans and a bright red blouse and boots.
The atmosphere felt like a barn dance instead of a sultan's tent in the desert. Buffet tables were set up with fried chicken, steaks, baked potatoes, and so many side dishes and desserts Julie couldn't begin to count them.
"It's lookin' good. I changed my bet to con. You won't make it until summer," Ellen told Julie.
"Don't count your chickens before they're hatched and don't believe everything you see," Nellie said.
"What?" Griffin asked.
"It's a girl thing but I'm thinkin' us old girls might have met our match," Nellie said.
"Are you talkin' about Julie?"
"Well, darlin', she ain't talkin' about you," Ellen said.
Nellie changed the subject. "The sale made even more than what Slade was hoping for, so we're all happy tonight."
"You two go get in line and eat. And Julie, you better keep him real close tonight. There's lots of pretty women here who'd like to touch that white streak and see if it's as soft as it looks or else touch something else on his body. He's a fine lookin' cowboy," Ellen said.
"Yes, ma'am," Julie winked.
"Want to tell me what that was all about?" Griffin asked.
They lined up behind Jane and Slade.
"Nope. I'm hungry."
"Me too and I'm not even mad," Jane said.
"Thank God. We'd have to tell the caterers to put another steer on the spit if this girl was angry," Slade said.
Jane blew a kiss toward him. "He's telling the gospel according to Jane Luckadeau. When I get mad I get hungry. First time he took me out to eat, he found out about that."
"Oh?" Julie asked.
"She'd just decked the lady I'd been dating," Slade said.
"Must be the curse of the Luckadeaus, whether we have blond or black hair," Griffin said.
"You hit his girlfriend?" Jane asked Julie.
"No, but I wanted to wipe up the highway with that bitch. She spanked Lizzy for not wanting to eat carrots. I still get mad when I think about it. What were you thinking, Griffin, dating a witch like that?" Julie asked.
Griffin threw both hands up, palm first. "Hey, I sent her packing when I found out, didn't I?"
"You should have done more than that. Call the caterers and tell them to bring out more fried chicken, Slade. Just thinking about someone hitting Lizzy makes me angry," Jane said.
Slade rolled his eyes toward the rafters. "She's got a special place in her heart for Lizzy. They made fast friends the first time Slade brought her to the ranch. She actually wanted Ellie to be born with black hair with a white streak. I told her she'd done latched onto the wrong Luckadeau for that."
Griffin's angular cheeks filled with color. At one time he had thought maybe he'd talk to Slade about dating Jane since she'd been so good to Lizzy, but by the time he got up the nerve, it was too late. It was already evident by then that Slade would be the Luckadeau who wound up with Jane.
Slade and Jane piled their plates high and disap peared into the crowd looking for a place to sit at one of the eight-foot tables covered with red and white checkered oil cloth. When Griffin and Julie had filled their plates, Mamie motioned them over to the table she and Eli shared. When they sat down Julie wasn't a bit surprised to see Milli and Beau and Jane and Slade at the same table.
"You should have gotten the T-bone," Jane told Julie.
"I thought you were having chicken," Julie said.
She cut a bite-sized piece of medium rare steak. She forked it and held it across the table toward Julie. "Here, taste this. Isn't it the best Angus you've ever eaten?"
Julie opened her mouth.
"Don't you dare say yes," Griffin said.
"The best Angus you ever put in your mouth better be from the Lucky Clover," Mamie whispered.
"Second best," Julie said after she'd swallowed.
"Almost had her, Griff," Jane laughed.
Amongst the men, talk went to the sale and Eli listened, amongst the women, to the upcoming wedding and Julie listened.
"So is the wedding dress a big ball gown with layers of fluff?" Jane asked.
"Hell, no," Mamie said. "I'm not blind, girls. When I step in front of the mirror I don't see a size five. I'm a healthy sixteen and this little chubby girl would look a sight in that much fluff. I'm thinking a long brocade skirt with a matching jacket," she said.
"With red roses?" Jane asked.
"And hearts everywhere," she said.
"What is Julie wearing?" Milli asked.
Julie hadn't even thought about her dress in the ceremony. "Me?"
"She's wearing the red dress she wore to the winter sale and she's carrying a bouquet of roses with white ribbons and pearls dangling from it. And while we're at it, would you two please serve the cakes?"
"Be glad to," Milli said.
Jane nodded and reached across the table to steal a chicken wing from Julie's plate.
"Be careful. We might've grown that chicken on the Lucky Clover," Julie teased.
"Best chicken I've had tonight," Jane said. "Am I going to win?"
Mamie's eyes lit up. "Win what? Are we bettin?"
Jane leaned forward and whispered in Mamie's ear.
"Put me in for twenty-five. Pro," Mamie said.
"You're going to be a preacher's wife and you are gambling?" Julie exclaimed.
"Which reminds me, I think it's time for us to carry on the tradition, since there's enough of us now?" Jane asked.
"What tradition?" Milli asked.
Mamie raised her hand like a grade school girl. "I know. I know. Bridge night. And I'm all for it."
"Bridge night?" Milli asked.
"Once a month on a certain evening we leave the kids with the husbands and meet somewhere for a girl's night out. Play a little bridge. Eat some chips and cookies. Drink a few… Dr. Peppers," Jane said.
"I'm the one with a store that has a back room so I'm offering for the place. How about the third Thursday of each month? Julie and Jane bring the cookies the first time," Mamie said.
"Bridge?" Julie snarled.
"Ellen's bridge. I think you and I both made the comment we were going to grow up to be just like her," Jane said.
Mamie cupped her hand over Julie's ear and whis pered, "Poker night."
Julie's eyes sparkled. "For real?"
"Absolutely. Bring your purse, darlin'," Jane said.
Griffin caught the tail end of the women's conversa tion during a lull in the men's. "For what? Why would she bring her purse to something?"
"Don't ask. It's got something to do with a lady's night out they are planning once a month," Eli said.
"And I think I heard something about chips and cookies," Beau said.
"And beer?" Slade said.
"I said Dr Pepper," Mamie protested.
"Yes, but it was after a hesitation," Eli said.
"You were supposed to be talking about cattle and ranchin'," Julie said.
"We are smarter than you think," Griffin told her.
"You ladies going to need a designated driver?" Eli asked.
Ellen leaned back from the next table. "If they do, I'll be glad to come around and bring them all
home. Can I drive your truck, Slade?"
"Hey, we'll be able to drive ourselves. A preacher's wife wouldn't get sloshed playing bridge," Mamie grinned.
"And there ain't no way you are driving any of the Double L vehicles, Ellen," Slade said.
"Spoil sport." Ellen tilted her chin up and went back to the conversation between the four elderly ladies at her table.
The easy bantering went on until they'd finished their food and Slade wiped his mouth, stood up, and asked Jane to join him for a dance. As Julie watched them, the green monster attacked her again. They moved in graceful fluid motion, not missing a single beat of the music and looking at each other as though they were still madly in love even though they'd been married long enough to have a child. That's what she wanted next time around: for a man to look at her like that on the dance floor and in the bedroom.
"Shall we show them up?" Beau asked.
Milli held up her hand and the next two Luckadeaus took center stage. Milli melted into Beau's arms and he looked down at his brown-eyed angel.
Julie sighed.
Eli held out his hand to Mamie. "May I have this dance, my lady?"
"You two-step?" she asked.
"Yes ma'am, with the best of them," he said.
"I'm getting more than I bargained for," she grinned.
Julie was very proud of her brother in that moment. He might not wear boots and a western-cut shirt but he executed a fine two-step in his pleated black slacks, pale green button-down collar shirt, and loafers. Mamie fit well with Eli and they looked happy. For the first time since his wife died, Eli had life back in his eyes.
"Shall we?" Griffin asked.
"Is this part of the deal?"
"It's anything you want it to be. I just want to hold you in my arms and dance with you. I want to be the one with you like they're with each other," he said.
"I'd love to dance," she said.
He led her to the floor and in minutes everyone else stood on the sides keeping time to the music as Griffin's white streak and Julie's bright red hair were a blur in the beat of a fast song. Her heart thumped in her chest like a bass drum by the time the song ended and everyone clapped for them.
"You are really good," Julie said breathlessly. "And now I need something to drink."
"And a bit of fresh air?" Griffin said.
"Part of the deal?" she asked.
"Like I said, Julie, tonight can be anything you want it to be. It's your call."
"Then I want a Coors in a bottle and a few minutes outside the barn and to hell with the deal," she said.
She noticed Nellie and Ellen both smiling as they carried their bottles out of the lights and into the shadows. So they thought they were on the winning side of the bet, did they? Well, they were dead wrong. She'd have all their money and Mamie's, too. One hundred dollars free money to buy hot pink towels for her brand new trailer house.
Griffin hopped up on the tailgate of a black pickup truck and patted the place to his side. "Come on up and rest your feet."
She hitched a hip up and wiggled her way into a seated position. She leaned the beer bottle back and took a heavy slug. The burp that followed was not ladylike.
"Excuse me," she said.
"Not bad manners, just good beer," he chuckled.
"Thank you."
"Okay, this has been a lot of fun, yesterday and today, Julie. But where are we really?" he asked.
"Backwards," she said.
"Want to explain?"
"Not really but I will. We live together already, only it's for the children, and we've been to bed with each other, so there's that relationship, but we both fight it," she said.
"Two times doesn't constitute a relationship and I quit fighting it a long time ago. Future now, please," he said.
"I could love you so easy," she said.
His heart refused to beat for two seconds. She'd actu ally said the words out loud. He leaned over and kissed her passionately.
She went on. "But."
"Does there have to be a but?" he asked.
"Yes, definitely. Milli and I were talking at the sale yesterday. She and Beau got everything turned around backwards, too. Baby first. You know that. Just before their wedding her mother sent them on a three-day honeymoon."
"I never heard about this," Griffin said.
"She sent them to a remote cabin on the beach in Mexico for a few days. Know why?"
"Have no idea, but I like the idea."
"It was for them to see if they liked each other."
"But they were in love. From the minute he realized who she was and who Katy was, they were in love," Griffin said.
"Yes, they were. Like I said I could love you. I already like you," Julie said.
"But are we fighting each other or fighting against love?" he asked.
"Who knows?"
"We're both passionate. It's the way we are. We fight with passion. We make love with passion," he said.
"People don't live in the same house every day and always agree. I argue with Mamie and you know what happened when I first met Milli and Jane. It took a while for us to even be civil. We're just now forming a friend ship. Let's work on the friendship thing a while and see where it leads."
"Okay," he nodded.
"You're willing to do that?"
"I am. Friends don't sleep together, do they?" he asked.
"I'm afraid they don't."
"It ain't going to be easy. Frustration can make for some damn big fights. During this friends-only time, do we each get to date other people?" Griffin said.
Julie's eyes narrowed into slits and she set her mouth in a firm line. Thinking about Griffin in the arms of another woman turned her pea-green with jealousy. However, the thought of falling in love and promising to love him until death parted them scared the crap out of her. How could they ever separate after they'd said the vows in front of Lizzy, Annie, and hopefully Chuck? All three kids had faced enough in their five years without going through divorce.
"Do you want to date other people?" Julie asked.
"Do you?"
"I don't know. There are a lot of unattached blond cowboys in that barn."
It was Griffin's turn to have jealousy rear its head. "I don't want you to date, so I won't either."
"Okay, then that's rule one," Julie agreed.
"Any others I should know about?"
"Yes, you've got to start talking to me. Tell me when your mother and sister are visiting the ranch or when there's going to be a big sale or when we're going to a party and give me some warning. If nothing else, write it on the calendar," she said.
"I guess I can do that," he said.
"And," she looked at him and his smoldering blue eyes locked with hers, "you can't look at me like that. Friends don't undress each other with their eyes."
He ran a hand down her backbone. "How about with something more?"
Shivers sent goose bumps all the way to her scalp.
"I think it's time we went back inside," she said.
"Chicken?"
"You bet I am. Scared shitless," she said breathlessly.
"I won't hurt you, Julie. I promise."
"I'm not afraid of you, Griffin. I'm afraid of me."
"I've got a confession. I already like you. Have for a long time. You are a fantastic mother to the children. You are strong and you never back down when you are right. I've liked you for a long time," he said.
"Then I suppose we have to see if love and like will bond and hold well enough we can trust it to keep us through tough times as well as good ones," she said.
"Let me know when you figure it out. Ready to go back inside and show 'em how to dance?" he asked.
She was amazed. He didn't pressure for more. He admitted he liked her. Had she truly met her knight in shining armor? Was there such a thing as fate?
"I am," she said simply.
They danced until midnight, then woke the children up from a pallet on the floor in the den and listened to them prattle
all the way home about their cousins, from Ellie to Tim and Richie and a dozen others Julie had yet to sort out in her mind. The Luckadeaus had indeed gone forth and multiplied and most of them were ranchers. She'd met Slade's uncle and his two sons who weren't into the ranching business, but even they knew how to enjoy a barn dance.
Getting Lucky Page 33
