“Talk, my foot.” Alex chuckled. “Heather did all the talking. She told Minnie if she ever so much as said a cross word to Jacob again she’d scratch her eyes out. She meant it, too.”
Heather laughed. “I wasn’t quite that blunt, but I did tell her if she ever said a harsh word to him again she’d regret it. So far, she hasn’t, and I haven’t had to make good on my threat.”
“I did notice she didn’t speak to you while she was here, Heather,” Kay said.
“She never speaks to Heather unless she has to.” Bertie explained. “Not only did Heather demand she leave the grandchildren alone, but she took the love of Minnie’s life away.”
“Now, wait a minute,” Alex said from the table. “I was only the love of her life for a while. You know that changes every time there’s an eligible man. Right now, it’s Jude.”
“Thank God for that,” Seth said. “When she feels desperate she hits on me, but as long as Jude and Brock are in the picture, I’m safe.”
“I’m not in the picture. It’s Jude she wants now,” Brock said. “She’s only tried to get me to come to her single functions a time or two.”
“Don’t look so smug, big boy.” Mavis patted his back as she put a basket of fresh biscuits on the table. “Now that she thinks Kay has taken Jude off the market, I wouldn’t be surprised if she turns on the two of you with a vengeance.”
“Oh, Lord.” Brock wrinkled his nose. “I didn’t think of that.”
As everyone began to laugh, Kay came back with the coffee pot. She held it up. “Anyone?”
They all accepted her offer. When she poured Jude’s, he said with a smile, “What a pleasant way to get rid of Minnie. Now, I get to have a candlelight dinner with this beautiful woman, and I’m really looking forward to that.”
Kay knew everyone’s eyes were on her. She smiled and said, “I think all you men deserve a candlelight dinner from your wives or girlfriends, but there’s one thing each of you must to do first.”
“What’s that, Kay?” Neil asked.
“Take a good hot bath and get that barn smell off.”
“Amen,” Bertie, Mavis and Heather said in unison.
CHAPTER 6
It was seven o’clock that evening and Kay was having a candlelight dinner, but it wasn’t with Jude Winslow. It was at the McCaskin home. She was seated at the dining room table with Red, Darlene and little Billy. Three-month-old Sammy had been given his bottle and put to bed. The meal was the special one they’d planned for Kay’s arrival the day before. There were some fancy dishes, and thanks to Darlene’s skill in the kitchen, even reheated they were all tasty.
Kay knew the parents had threatened Billy within an inch of his life if he misbehaved at the table, because the almost-five-year-old picked up a stalk of asparagus and looked at it with disdain. He started to throw it, but his mother shot him a look and he dropped it on his plate. He then stabbed a honeyed carrot. He didn’t seem to like it much either, but he did wallow it around in his mouth until he swallowed it. He was doing much better with the buttery whipped potatoes.
“It’s all delicious, Darlene. You’re a wonderful cook.”
“Thank you, Kay. Mom insisted I learn when I was a kid.”
“That was smart of her, and you couldn’t learn from a better cook than Mavis. I’m not a great cook, but I do enjoy piddling in the kitchen now and then.”
“I’m sorry we had to wait until tonight to eat it, Aunt Kay. But with the fire and the kids getting sick last night, we had to postpone everything. I wanted to have a more special time on your arrival than taking care of sick kids, fighting fires and cleaning barns.”
“Oh, honey, don’t worry about that. I think this had been an extra special time and I was glad I could help. Mavis and Neil are wonderful people and I’m delighted I was allowed to be a part of it.” She turned to Darlene. “I’m glad Red has folks like yours for in-laws. As you probably know, most of our relatives are gone. In fact, all that we were close to are, so I’m very pleased he’s in your family, now.”
“My mother and father love Red. Sometimes, I think they like him better than me.” She laughed. “Not really, but Pops is happy that his son-in-law wants to follow in his footsteps. My older brother has no interest in the farm.”
“Does your brother live around here?”
“No. He’s in L.A.”
“I see.” She looked at Red. “Honey, I know you grew up in Greensboro. How in the world were you lucky enough to meet this wonderful woman and end up in these beautiful North Carolina mountains?”
He grinned. “I guess we kind of met in college.”
“Kind of?” Kay gave him a puzzled look.
“Actually, we met at the state fair in Raleigh. I was a sophomore and Red was a senior.”
“Yes, but the strange part was we weren’t at the same school.” Red reached over and touched Darlene’s arm. “She went to that bad school.”
“You nut,” Darlene said and playfully pushed his hand away. “I went to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and I decided to go with a group of girlfriends down to the state fair in Raleigh. We thought it would be fun to get away. Three cars of us went. Somehow, we got separated that night and I missed my ride back to school. They all thought I’d ended up in another car so they didn’t miss me.”
“Of course, I went to the good school, NC State, and I was at the fair that night, too. I had a big test the next day, so about eleven I decided I’d better leave the fair and get back to the dorm to study. I was in the parking lot when I heard a girl crying.”
“I was so upset, I couldn’t help it. I was scared and didn’t know how I was going to get back to school. Red took pity on me and offered me a ride.”
“Of course, at the time, I thought she went to State. I never dreamed I was going to have to take her to Chapel Hill.” Red winked at Darlene. “When I learned where she went to school I almost put her out of the car and let her walk back. As you know, State and Carolina are vicious rivals.”
“He may have wanted to put me out, but he didn’t. He was so sweet and kind. The perfect southern gentleman.”
“I didn’t want to get involved with a Carolina girl and I fought all the attraction I had for her that night. But for some reason, this one had something that turned me on. I couldn’t get her out of my mind.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “When we got to Chapel Hill that night I don’t know why, but we exchanged numbers and addresses. Though I liked him and as I said, thought he was sweet, I didn’t think I’d ever see or hear from him again. Of course, I had no intention of ever calling him. Low and behold, he sent me almost into shock when he called the next weekend and asked me to meet him in Durham.” She laughed. “I think he was scared. He didn’t want to come on campus with those ugly State stickers all over his car.”
“After that, we started seeing each other pretty regularly.” He smiled at his wife. “I guess you could say I fell in love with her on that first ride to Carolina. At least, as I said, I couldn’t get her completely out of my mind. I wanted to prove to myself that she was not the girl for me. That’s why I called her the first weekend. Of course, that didn’t work. Every time I saw her, I got in a little deeper. It wasn’t long until I fell in love.”
“I think he fell in lust, Kay. Love had nothing to do with it for a while, though I had to admit I was captured by his beautiful red hair the first time I saw him. I couldn’t wait to run my fingers through it.” She reached up and touched his hair.
They all laughed and Kay said, “I know how big college sports is in this area, so I bet the different school affiliations make for some lively discussions, or maybe even a shouting match.”
“When there’s a ball game on we most always watch television in separate rooms. Darlene insists we don’t want to warp the kids by fighting in front of them.”
Kay laughed. “I’m glad you’ve been able to work it out because I think you’ve got yourself a super wife.”
“I agree
with that.” Red patted Darlene’s arm.
“I know your mother and father would be proud of you and your family, Red. Your mother was very happy you picked a wonderful girl like Darlene to marry.”
He looked surprised. “How do you know mother was happy about our marriage?”
“Your mother told me.”
“Did you and Mom keep in touch?”
“Of course. We were always very close. We wrote letters constantly. I tried to get her to buy a computer so we could e-mail more frequently, but she refused.”
“Mom never liked computers. I think she was afraid of them.”
“She told me she didn’t like them, but she wrote beautiful letters. I still have most of them and I’ll show them to you sometime.”
“That’d be wonderful. I’d love to see them. She used to talk about you a lot and tell me what you were doing at the ranch and in Washington. Since Dad had been killed in that accident at work, and none of the rest of her family seemed to like her. You and I were all the family she had until I married Darlene.”
“I know. I’m so glad she was able to move here with you and spend the last year of her life as a happy woman.”
He looked directly at his aunt. There was a question in his eyes.
“You want to ask me something, don’t you, Red?”
He nodded.
“Then please, ask it.”
He said slowly, “I’m sorry if it hurts your feelings, but I feel I have to know. If you and Mom were so close, why didn’t you come to her funeral, Aunt Kay?”
“It doesn’t hurt my feelings at all, Red. You deserve to know.” She took a deep breath. “I was at home at the ranch when it happened, but I was coming to your mother’s funeral. My clothes were packed. I had the plane ticket and I planned to leave the day before the funeral so I could spend some time with you.” A tear came into her eye. “I got a call as I was going out the door. James had suffered a stroke on his way to the senate floor. I had no choice. I flew to DC, but by the time I arrived he was in an irreversible coma. He hung on for four days before he died.”
“I didn’t know,” Red whispered.
“I left a message with Aunt Maxine that I couldn’t come, because she said you were not taking calls. I told her to have you call me when you were able to talk.”
He looked puzzled. “She never told me you called.”
“I never thought to question whether she told you or not and I’m sorry I didn’t. I thought you were too shattered to talk to me or didn’t want to hear from me. I should’ve called again, but since your mother was gone, I wasn’t sure what to do. I didn’t bother to let any of the aunts and uncles who were left know about James’s death, though I’m sure they saw it on the news or read about it in the paper. Though I’d tried to keep up with some of the family through the years, they let me know they had no interest in my life and wanted nothing to do with me. Especially Aunt Maxine. For some reason, she always hated me. I never knew why.”
“I wish I’d known about your husband, Aunt Kay.”
“You were going through your own hell at the time, Red, and I didn’t want to bother you with my problems.” She took a drink of the sweet tea. “Things moved quickly after that. The governor appointed me to the job in Washington and soon I was busy trying to learn my way around. Time just slipped away. I’m sorry I never got in touch with you.”
“It doesn’t matter, Aunt Kay. You’re here now, and I hope you’ll come back often.”
Kay smiled. “Yes, I’m here and I love it. Everyone I’ve met has been wonderful. I want to come back as often as I can.”
“We want you to, Aunt Kay.” Darlene looked at her and smiled.
“Thank you, Darlene, and I’m honored you want to call me Aunt Kay, too. It makes me feel like part of your family.” She turned to Billy to keep them for seeing the mist in her eyes. “This little fellow reminds me so much of Red, I feel almost as if I’ve come home again.”
“You can come home here anytime you want to, Aunt Kay.” Red’s eyes were misty, too.
“That’s wonderful, Red. I was hesitant about calling and asking if I could come for a visit, but I see I had nothing to worry about.”
“Of course you didn’t. I was nervous about your visit, though. Someday I’ll tell you about the hell I put Darlene through trying to make everything perfect so you’d still like me.”
“Oh, Red. I’ve always more than liked you. I love you.”
“I love you, too, Aunt Kay.” He had to look away to keep her from knowing he was about to cry.
“I through,” Billy threw down his spoon and loudly announced, breaking the mood.
“Don’t you want some dessert, honey?” His mother asked.
“No. I play.”
“What do you like to play, Billy?” Kay looked at the little boy.
“SpongeBob.”
“Oh, that’s a good thing to play. I love SpongeBob Square Pants and all his undersea friends.” Kay smiled.
“You know SpongeBob?” His big green eyes looked at her in wonder.
“Oh, yes. And Mr. Krabs and Patrick, too.”
“I get mine and we play.” He started getting down from his chair.
“Let Aunt Kay have her dessert first, Billy.” Darlene stood and began gathering the plates. She shook her head when Kay started to get up. “You’ve created a monster named Billy who thinks everyone on the planet is as crazy about SpongeBob as he is. Now you’re going to have to contend with him.”
“I can do that.” She looked at Billy. “Let’s get some dessert then Aunt Kay will play with you. How’s that?”
“We have cheese cake and chocolate pie,” Darlene announced.
“I think I’ll have chocolate pie now,” Kay said, “and maybe some cheese cake later. How does that sound, Billy?”
“I have pie too.”
After eating their desserts, Darlene refused to let Kay help her clean the kitchen. “You go on and play with Billy. Red will help me.”
“I’ll be glad to help you, honey. I’m not into SpongeBob tonight. I’m too full.” Red stood and began stacking the empty dessert plates.
“Okay, Billy. Let’s go set up Bikini Bottoms.”
“Okay. I be SpongeBob. Who you be?”
“Let’s see. Maybe Squidward or Plankton. Do you have them?”
“Uh-huh. Got Gary and Sandy and Krusty Krab and Pineapple house…” His voice trailed off as he and Kay disappeared down the hall.
•♥ •
Thirty minutes later, Red and Darlene paused at the door to the den. Kay was sitting cross-legged on the floor with Billy at her side. The characters and props from the SpongeBob game were set up around them. She was saying, “Come on SpongeBob please give me the recipe for the Krabby Patty.”
“No, Plankton. You can’t have it.” He shook Sponge Bob at Kay.
“But I need it so I can cook them at the Chum Bucket.” She rubbed her stuffed toy on his arm.
He laughed. “No. Cook at Krusty Krab.”
“Please, SpongeBob.” She leaned down and wrinkled her nose at him.
“No.” He giggled.
Darlene looked up at her husband and whispered, “She’s wonderful. She has our son mesmerized.”
“It reminds me of the way she used to sit in the floor with me. Only I think we played with cars and trucks. There was no SpongeBob at the time.” He smiled. “I wonder if she remembers playing with me.”
“I’m sure she does, honey.” Darlene hugged him. “She’s wonderful, and I’m glad she came to visit us. I hope she’ll come often.”
He put his arm around her. “Me, too. I’m just sorry I gave you such a fit. I never dreamed she’d be so wonderful. I really like her and so do your folks. She’s so down to earth.”
•♥ •
Later when Kay was in bed that night, she thought of the way Red hugged her good night and told her the way she played with Billy reminded him of the times they’d played together. It warmed her heart to know Red remembe
red the times she’d sat playing cars and trucks with him in the floor. It’d been special to her, too. It eased the pain of having to leave her beloved North Carolina. Her mind then drifted to Jimmy. She knew she’d spent more hours than she could count with him as they also sat on the floor and played everything from cars to board games.
Tears ran down her cheeks as she whispered into the night, “Oh, Jimmy, I miss you so much. Sometimes I don’t think I can stand it another day without you.”
CHAPTER 7
Red and his family were planning to have their Thanksgiving meal with Neil and Mavis. Kay insisted she wanted to help cook and Red had driven her over when he came to feed the horses and turn them out in the morning.
Delicious smells were enveloping the kitchen, and Kay and Mavis were alone. Kay was putting the pumpkin pie filling in the shell when Mavis said, “We’ve had so much rich food we should have hot dogs today.”
“With chili and onions and slaw. The whole southern way.” Kay laughed.
“You’re a girl after my own heart, Kay Littleton. It takes a real woman to eat onions.”
“I love onions. So many people try to be proper and not eat them, but I don’t let it stop me. Of course, I admit I used to be just like them. I was afraid I’d be offensive, besides my husband couldn’t abide the smell.” She chuckled. “I guess it makes a difference when you have a man around. Since I don’t, I can eat all the onions I want.”
“Thank goodness Neil likes onions, too. We eat them and just share the bad breath.”
“That’s great. Nothing like sharing everything with the one you love.”
Neil stuck his head in the door. “I got the fire going in the living room. When is everyone getting here?”
“When Red dropped Kay off, he said they’d be here about three so Darlene could help in the kitchen. We’re going to eat about four-thirty or five. Are you hungry now?”
“No. Just thought I’d go over and check on Jude. He wasn’t sure if Cole and his family were going to make it. There was a baby due, and you know how devoted Cole is to his patients.”
“I agree you should check on him. If they didn’t come, we don’t want him to be alone on Thanksgiving.”
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