Deep Dixie

by Annie Jones

  Dixie held up her hands. “Well, for heaven’s sake, don’t mention it to Grandpa, he might get ideas.”

  Immediately both girls’ faces lit up.

  Fulton winced.

  From the back of the house Peachie Too began barking.

  “They’re back.” Wendy leapt up. “C’mon, Sarah, you have got to meet Peachie Too’s mama! You’ll know which one is her on account of they have the same color hair. And Grandpa Smilin’ Bob—he can do magic tricks and he don’t act like any grown-up you ever seen!”

  “Saw,” Dixie called after the girls scampering toward the back door. “They really aren’t that bad, I promise. They’re just full of—”

  “Beans!” Miss Lettie interjected at the top of her hoarse voice.

  “I was going to say full of life.”

  “Beans and vinegar, that’s what they’re full of.” Lettie rocked steadily “And silliness. Lah, dressing dogs up like they ain’t got no better sense than to do such a thing. Moving things around in the drugstore out a sheer stubbornness and mischief, jabbing one another on the hind parts when a body is minding they own business under the dinner table...”

  Fulton cleared his throat.

  Dixie muffled the laughter she felt building. “That’s not what it sounds like—”

  “But you got to love them.” Lettie held her hand up as if giving her testimony “Yes, you do. They’s family, after all. We belong together. And you got to love your family”

  “What have those children done to my princess puppy- toes?” Aunt Sis’s shriek carried through the house with enough dramatic flare to do even her proud.

  Wendy and Sarah glanced at one another, eyes wide.

  Fulton scooted forward on the couch. “Girls, you didn’t do anything to hurt the little dog, did you?”

  “Oh no, Daddy, no. We just dressed her up in her cutest outfit.” Sarah’s smile was pure joy.

  Riley helped his mother into the parlor and onto the sofa. “Fulton, this is my mother, Verdi Walker. Momma, this is Fulton Summers, the man I’ve told you about.”

  They exchanged greetings while Peachie Too growled in the background.

  “Let me help you. Come to Mama, precious puppy.”

  The clicking of claws scrambling over the kitchen floor gave Dixie visions of Aunt Sis stooped over in her new chiffon- covered dress, chasing around in circles after that poor animal.

  Peachie Too snapped.

  Aunt Sis yelped.

  Lettie laughed.

  Riley joined her.

  Verdi sighed.

  The girls huddled together.

  Dixie smiled at Fulton like nothing unusual was going on.

  And then in walked the Judge, his chest out, head high, a carnation clearly appropriated from the club centerpiece in his lapel and a telltale smudge of rose-red lipstick on his cheek.

  “Grandpa, this is Fulton—”

  “Yes, Miss Lettie’s grandson.” The older man grabbed Fulton’s hand and gave it a hearty shake. “I’d give you one of my cards, but I’m fresh out.” He made a show of searching the pockets in his jacket just the same, then leaned in, gave Fulton a wink and an elbow jab to the ribs. “Gave them all away to some female admirers, if you know what I mean.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Oh, no, none of that. Don’t call me sir, call me Smilin’ Bob. Or better yet, Uncle Smilin’ Bob. Your dear mother, Helen Betty, was my late wife Samantha’s half-sister.”

  “Actually, I’m not sure that I’m comfortable with that—”

  “Ah, but this little gal is your daughter?” He pointed to

  Sarah, made some motions with his hand, and produced another carnation out of thin air.

  Sarah gasped.

  He offered her the flower. “You’ll call me Uncle Smilin’ Bob, won’t you?”

  Sarah gave him a shy smile. “Thank you, yes. When are you going to teach the hog to ice-skate, Uncle Smilin’ Bob?”

  “The...” Grandpa’s face scrunched up in confusion. “We don’t have hogs, darling.”

  Both girls frowned.

  “‘Course, that don’t mean we can’t get some.”

  They brightened up again, and Dixie groaned. “I think one unpredictable poodle is quite enough, Grandpa.”

  “Gotcha!” Aunt Sis’s triumphant cry made Fulton jump.

  “Girls! Girls! I want you to please explain to me this unthinkable act you have perpetuated on my sweet Peachie Too.” Sis stomped into the parlor holding Peachie Too around the midsection, an arm’s length away. The poodle squirmed and wriggled and snarled, arching its back in an unmistakable effort to take a chunk out of Aunt Sis at all costs.

  “Th-that dog! It was so docile before.” Fulton looked down at the children clinging to each other on the floor like survivors in a life raft. “What did you girls do?”

  “Nothing, Daddy. Honest.”

  “Nothing but dress her up.” Wendy nodded.

  “Nothing? Dress her up?” Sis’s face flushed with her outrage.

  “The dog is really very calm,” Verdi leaned in to whisper to Fulton, “with everyone but her owner.”

  “You dressed her up all right. In her white outfit, of all things. White!” She scanned the group as though she had just delivered the name of the real killer seconds before they condemned the wrong man.

  “We think it’s some kind of vibration she picks up from Sis that makes Peachie Too—”

  “Don’t you see it? White? Before Memorial Day!”

  “High-strung,” Verdi summed up.

  “Crazy as a loon,” Miss Lettie announced. “Like mother like dog, I always say.”

  The Judge hee-hawed at that.

  Sis scowled.

  Fulton looked like he needed some fresh air.

  “If you don’t like what the girls have Peachie Too wearing, just go change the outfit, Aunt Sis.” Dixie stood, her smile plastered on.

  “I can’t leave. It would be rude, I have not been properly introduced to—” She stepped toward Fulton, the agitated dog still clasped in her hands.

  Riley intervened, taking the dog and dropping it down to the girls. He made the introductions, then asked Wendy and Sarah to go put Peachie Too in a more suitable outfit as a favor to Aunt Sis’s rattled nerves.

  Dixie sighed. “If ya’ll will excuse me, I’m going to go get some tea for the new arrivals.”

  She started toward the kitchen, feeling a little shaken, but all in all quite content with the way things had gone. Though not every bump in the new and the long-standing relationships had been smoothed out, this initial meeting had gone a long way toward mending fences and making new friendships.

  Riley hadn’t been able to patch things up with Marcia, but he was going to adopt Wendy. Fulton and Miss Lettie hadn’t worked out all their feelings or all the issues about their past and what they would do with their future, but Miss Lettie had her grandson back in her life. And a new great-granddaughter, too.

  The businesses had a new boss in Riley, and Dixie knew he would keep things running well and move them ahead with confidence and character. Verdi was on the mend, and Grandpa had a veritable fan club. Everything had worked out so well for everyone.

  Well, everyone but Dixie and Sis. Sis, because running the household still took her away from her more creative pursuits, as she might describe them, and Dixie...

  Dixie glanced over her shoulder at the people gathered together. Her very being radiated with love for them all. And yet...

  Despite her gratitude over everything she couldn’t deny the sensation that washed over her then. Loneliness. Pure and simple.

  “Isn’t this lovely?” Aunt Sis cooed. “After all these years our family is complete.”

  Dixie lingered at the door a moment longer then her eyes met Riley’s.

  “Not quite complete, Aunt Sis,” Riley said, not taking his eyes from Dixie’s. “Would you excuse me while I see if Dixie needs me for anything in the kitchen?”

  He came toward her, his gaze inte
nse, and suddenly she felt her pulse race and her mouth go dry His mouth crooked with only the suggestion of that disarming grin that stole her breath away now just as it had the very first time she saw it.

  He stood beside her, leaning close until his mouth was next to her ear. “Let’s go in to the kitchen and see what we can stir up.”

  “Stir up?” she murmured, the words coming out almost slurred thanks to her suddenly confused brain. How did he do that? How did he make her head spin just by standing close to her? Well, she just wouldn’t let him see how he affected her.

  “You know.” He moved closer to her. “Like the tea.”

  “The—oh yes! The tea!” She giggled. Mortification swept over her. She had wanted to appear savvy and smart and clever and unaffected by his nearness—and here she’d gone and giggled! Immediately, she turned and led the way, unsure if her legs had the strength to carry her.

  Beans. Beans and vinegar. Full of beans and vinegar...and silliness. How could she harbor any notion that Riley had changed his mind about the two of them getting involved? Why, she need only think about the scene they’d just watched in the parlor to know that wasn’t so.

  Who was she to think that Riley Walker would take a chance on loving her? On having her become the mother of his child? The mother of his children? Her heart thumped wildly at the idea of having a family with this man who now stood so close she felt his shirt sleeve chafe against her arm as he reached for the sugar jar.

  “Dixie Belle Fulton-Leigh?” Riley set the sugar down and tugged her arm to get her turned to face him.

  “Prescott,” she whispered, losing herself in his wonderful eyes.

  “What?”

  “My middle name is Prescott. Belle is just a nickname that Miss Lettie gave me.” She wet her lips. “Dixie Prescott Fulton- Leigh. That’s who I am.”

  He inched closer still, and she backed up until her back was against the cabinets. His eyes were on her mouth now. “That’s a lot of names.”

  “I’ve heard of folks with more.”

  “Guess you’d be one of those folks.”

  She frowned. “I-I would?”

  He nodded, a slow smile lifting his lips. He put his knuckle under her chin and tipped it up to put her lips into perfect kissing position. “Uh-huh, if you had a married name.”

  “I don’t know, I kind wonder if that’s every going to happen for--”

  “Oh, it’s going to happen alright.” He brushed back her hair. “From the very first time I saw you, Dixie, I knew I was in over my head, I just needed some time to realize how deep.”

  “What are you saying, Riley?” she whispered above the pounding of her heart in her ears.

  “I’m not saying, Dixie, I’m asking.” He inched closer still, if that were possible. Their bodies pressed close, their gazes sank into one another. “I know it seems fast, but we’ve both seen how time gets away from people and before they know it they have missed out on so much. I don’t want that to happen to us so I’m asking, Dixie, will you marry me?”

  If he hadn’t kissed her then, she’d have done something truly graceful and becoming of her upbringing, like leap with joy, hit her head on the cabinet, break open her skull, and have to be rushed to the emergency room. Where she’d probably get amnesia and forget Riley’s proposal ever even happened.

  And that was one thing she simply would not do!

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and returned his kiss with all the joy and passion in her heart. Forget this? Never!

  When he finally lifted his head, she stared at him, trying to make sense of it all. “I don’t understand, though, Riley. I thought we said we’d just stay friends.”

  His smile was tender and amused. “We will stay friends, Dixie, for the rest of our lives. Because the thing is, I can’t imagine the rest of today, let alone the rest of my life, without the best friend I’ve ever had sharing it with me. I love you with all my heart, and once I realized that, you know I had to act on it.”

  Love? The moment she heard the word her pulse picked up. Her thoughts whirled. Her cheeks went hot even as the sudden heaviness in the pit of her stomach felt cold as ice. She had not been looking for love, only help and guidance. And yet, when she looked into Riley’s eyes, she could not deny what she saw there. She could not deny her own feelings. “I love you, too, Riley. I just can’t believe this is happening.”

  “I can. Like I said, the first time I saw you I knew I was in over my head.” Riley brushed her hair off her temple.

  She didn’t even try to stop the smile that eased over her features. “Did I ever tell you that the first time I saw you...”

  “Yes?”

  “I thought you were king of the great big Bubba-goobers?”

  “King, huh?” He struck a cocky pose. “Well then, when you marry me, it’ll be a step up, Princess—”

  This time she kissed him before he could get the teasing title out.

  “So can I take that as a yes?” He cradled her in his arms.

  “Yes.” She shut her eyes. Her heart had wings as she laughed, threw her arms around Riley again, and sang out her response. “Yes. Oh, yes, I will marry you!”

  * * *

  Riley watched Dixie pick up the beautiful pen she’d had the day they’d first met. He smiled as she slowly inscribed on the first line of the family register in the brand-new family Bible they’d received as a wedding present from Fulton: Riley Aaron Walker and Dixie Prescott Fulton-Leigh united in Holy Matrimony...

  “Looks good.” He took the heavy Bible from her, closed it, and laid it on the table with the rest of their gifts. “But the reception has been over for an hour. Don’t you think we really ought to be going? I try to be a patient man—”

  “Since when?” Dixie laughed, tossing back the shiny hair that Riley longed to run his hands through.

  “I know you hate to say good-bye to the family, hon, but it’s only for ten days. When we come back you’ll get to see them all the time—considering you’re now going to stay home and be a full-time Mom to Wendy so Sis can resume her...uh, normal lifestyle.”

  “Now there’s a phrase I bet you don’t hear too often—Sis’s normal lifestyle.” Fulton laughed as he came into the room. “Don’t you two have a honeymoon to go on? What are you doing hanging around here?”

  “There are just a few more things I need to make sure are taken care of.” Dixie held up the pen. “Here, take this. I’ve been using it to write down Miss Lettie’s life story. We’re up to just after your mother was born, so I was thinking you might really enjoy jotting down anything she wants to share while we’re away.”

  “Can do.” Fulton took the pen.

  “And then...”

  “And then it’s time for us to leave.” Riley put his hands on her waist and guided her forward, loving the way she blushed. “Fulton has everything under control. He’s familiar with the workings of the businesses, so if the people we’ve left in charge have a problem they know to call him.”

  “Be sure you run everything through Mavis Hornby, Fulton.” Riley’s sweet bride resisted his gentle urging just enough to slow them down, but not enough—he noted with a grin—to bring them to a halt. “She knows the whole story about the family and your position in it. I know we decided not to let the word out over town out of deference to Miss Lettie and until we had a better feeling for the response, but Mavis understands and she’ll take up for you if there’s any trouble.”

  “Got it. Mavis.”

  “And I know it’s summer and that’s why you’re able to come over and keep watch on the loony bin while we go off on our honeymoon, but don’t let Wendy stay up too late and—”

  “And don’t worry.” Fulton held up his hand. “Everything will be fine.”

  Dixie stopped.

  “Oh no.” Riley sighed, fearing she’d had a total change of mind about going off and leaving the family and would suddenly insist they take their honeymoon in the attic or some such convenient yet out of the way place. “Dixie
, please. Fulton can handle this.”

  “I know he can.” She exhaled and stepped away from him. “Did I ever tell you, Fulton, that you have my mother’s eyes?

  “Do I?” He smiled.

  “Thank you for everything you’ve done for us.” She reached out and gave him a hug, and for the first time Riley could remember, Fulton did not tense, but returned Dixie’s affection with warmth and ease.

  Yes, things were going to be just fine. On every front.

  “Okay, now go, you two. Have fun and God bless.”

  Riley showed his beautiful wife to the door, smiling. He glanced around his new home...he could see them raising Wendy—and, God willing, other children as well—here. He met the sparkling eyes of his beautiful bride, and his heart swelled with a peace and joy he’d never known before.