Sweet Southern Hearts
Page 10
Her mother pointed at Linny’s iPad screen as Tom Cruise flew a helicopter under a bridge and leaned out to fire a machine gun at a bad guy. “You don’t like those kinds of movies.”
Linny paused the movie, feeling sheepish. “I know, but Jack and Neal do, so I thought I’d try to like them. Give us more choices if we go out to a movie.”
“Those movies give me knots in my stomach. Maybe you shouldn’t watch something like that before bed. Might give you bad dreams. Can’t you find something happy and Christian?” Having dispensed her advice, Dottie swung her head back up into better real estate.
Linny stared at the screen. Tom was hanging on the landing skids of the helicopter now, and another bad guy was piloting the copter and trying to shake him off. Linny paused the movie, her stomach grabbing. Why was she trying to make herself like an action movie? She liked romantic comedies, classic movies, and happy endings. Giving her head a little shake, she ended the Tom Cruise thriller and glanced through the ones she’d brought along—Chef, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, The Proposal, Roman Holiday, and other similar films. Trying to talk herself into movies just to be a good sport for her two men wasn’t going to happen. With a sigh of contentment, she slid in Moonrise Kingdom and settled in for the night.
Early the next morning, after folding the convertible bed back, Dessie, Dottie, and Linny sat around the U-shaped dinette, sipping coffee, eating cereal, and examining the tickets and brochures spread out on the table.
Dessie stuck a finger in the venetian blinds and peeked out. “Ruby should be back any minute. She calls this her morning power walk, but she’s been gone twenty minutes and I can see she’s only made it fifty yards from our RV. I’ll bet she’s stopped and chatted with people at every campsite between here and the bend in the road.”
Linny was considering a second cup of coffee when Ruby popped in the door wearing shiny jogging shorts, a tank top, and yellow terry-cloth sweatbands on her head and wrists. With her hair frizzing in the humidity, she looked like a pretty, well-endowed Richard Simmons. “Whew.” She dabbed at her face with a wrist sweatband.
“Tough workout?” Dottie asked drily.
“Mainly working my mouth, but it’s hot already.” She poured a glass of ice water and gulped it down. “The little lake is just right there and it has paths all around it. I met such nice people. Linda and Beau are the ones next door cooking bacon outside on their little grill. They’re from Myrtle Beach and like to shag dance.” She pointed to the other side of their site. “Hal and Letty are two sites down and they’re from Panama City, Florida. They’re going out west. He’s a sweetie pie, but she’s a little . . . energetic.” Ruby thought about it. “She kept sweeping the cement patio outside their camper when it was perfectly clean already. Anyhow, I met a bunch more. Four neighbors invited me to have cups of coffee with them, so I’m a little jumped up,” she admitted and slid into the booth beside Dottie. “Other camping facts I learned: People tow golf carts or cars behind their RVs so they can get around. One of the fellows has an electric tricycle. He just whizzes along so quietly.”
Linny cocked a brow. Chitty-chatty Ruby was more than a little caffeinated.
But she wasn’t done yet. “People string LED lights on their awnings and it looks so festive at night. Like Cinco de Mayo! And I met a man named Fitch who owns three Biscuitville Restaurants and his wife just passed.” She tapped a finger on her mouth. “I wonder if I have time to make him brownies?” Before anyone could answer, she went on. “You would not believe how many are headed to Graceland and Branson, too. So we’ll have RV friends on the road with us.”
Linny was comforted by the idea. If they had a flat tire or tore off the top of the RV going under a too-short bridge, they could just pull over, keep the air conditioning cranked, and wait for one of Ruby’s friends to pull over and help.
“We’re getting our day organized.” Linny pushed a bowl and a box of cereal toward Ruby. Maybe it’d sop up some of the caffeine. “We’re staying here tonight, too?” she asked Dessie.
“Yup. We need two days to see Dollywood, and then we’re off to Nashville and then Memphis.” Dessie put her empty cereal bowl on the counter and studied her iPad and the brochures. “Now, it’ll take us half an hour to get to the park. Some campgrounds are closer, but they were booked up by the time we made our plans. So the resort runs a courtesy shuttle twice a day. We’ll take that and then ride trams to get around. We’ll still walk a lot, so wear good shoes. What are our final decisions on what we want to do once we get to Dollywood?” she asked, pushing the brochures toward the others for a final look.
Ruby put down her spoon and gazed at them earnestly. “Let’s spread our wings and fly. Let’s say yes to things we’d usually say no to, and do new things. This is an adventure trip.”
“What did you have in mind?” Dottie eyeballed her warily.
“I’m scared of roller coasters so I’m trying one,” Ruby said, lifting her chin. “Closed spaces make me a bundle of nerves so I’ll go on the ride through the abandoned coal mine.”
“I’m not spreading wings and flying.” Dottie patted her curls. “I just fixed my hair.”
“I’ll tag along with you, Mama,” Linny said, trying to size up her mother’s demeanor to see how much of her fearfulness about the trip lingered.
“Well, I’d be happy for the company,” Dottie said and dabbed her mouth with a napkin. “This morning I’d like to spend a few hours at the Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame.”
Linny tried not to cringe. The twanging and refrains about going on to their home in the sky would be torture. “Great,” she said gaily. “That would be fun.”
Dottie eyed her. “You sure you aren’t doing this just for me, are you?”
“I’m sure,” Linny lied. The park was big. Mama would need her company.
Mama nodded, looking satisfied. “I also want to go see the blacksmith and the crafts. I hear they do amazing things with gourds.”
“Gourds. Huh.” Linny tried hard to muster some enthusiasm but failed. She glanced down at a train on the cover of a brochure and examined it. Now here was something that appealed to her. “Afterward, maybe we could ride the steam locomotive around the park“
“I didn’t bring any Dramamine and trains can make my stomach flip,” Dottie announced and made a delicate hand movement to convey upchucking.
“We all ought to do whatever suits our fancy,” Dessie said firmly. “You girls start out at the museum, then Linny can go off on her own and Dottie can catch up with us. We’ll call each other.” She held up her phone. “Who wants to come with me to the candy store and the Sweet Shoppe later on? Their cinnamon buns are famous.”
Dottie’s eyes lit up. “I would.”
“Me too,” Ruby chimed in, smiling as she rose and stretched. “I’d like to ride the train with you, Linny.” The blonde bounced on her toes a little, looking raring to go.
“So, that’s our plan.” Dessie rested her hands flat on the table for emphasis and turned to Linny. “After the museum you’re off duty for the rest of the day. You do what you want and don’t need to worry so much about your mama.”
Linny sighed inwardly. The girls did not know Mama had almost chickened out of the trip.
“People pleasing is a bad habit.” Dottie pursed her lips, looking virtuous. “I hope I raised a daughter who pays attention to what she wants.”
Linny looked away. Neglecting her own needs was exactly what Mama had done for as long as Linny could remember. Dottie had tried to understand Daddy, turned the other cheek, and not raised Cain with him when she should have. He’d treated her shabbily and she’d just kept trying to be a better wife. Finally, she’d given up and gotten bitter, pouring all her energy into her daughters—and church.
Tidying up the breakfast dishes, Linny thought about it. Maybe she was being a people pleaser: trying to like action movies because the boys did, striving to be the perfect stepmother—except for the chicken potpie incident. She flushed,
realizing she’d studied the Bodacious Bonus Moms blog on a daily basis like it was the Bible. Linny needed to just be herself and pay more attention to what she wanted. She’d practice on this trip.
After visiting the gospel music museum with Mama, Linny would try to be a carefree woman—a feather floating in the breeze. The whole idea made her jumpy, but she’d figure it out.
CHAPTER 7
The Delights of Dollywood
At the museum, Linny shifted her weight from one foot to another and tried to resist the impulse to check her phone while Dottie hummed along and sometimes broke into song while they listened to recordings of the gospel greats. Her mother leaned toward her and whispered reverently, “I can’t believe we saw the Blackwood Brothers’ bus.”
After two and a half hours of hearing songs from the pioneers of gospel music, seeing the suits and dresses of the greats, watching interactive DVDs and animatronics of various performing artists, Dottie was finally ready to go. “That was the best museum I’ve ever visited.” She gave Linny a knowing look. “You tried to hide it, but you were bored.”
“A little,” Linny admitted. “I like country music, but gospel’s not my thing.”
Her mother pressed her lips together. “Well, you go on. Skedaddle.” She waved her away. “I’ll catch up with the girls.” Pulling her cell from her purse, she dismissed Linny.
Feeling a swell of freedom, Linny tried not to skip away. She had the whole day to herself. No family to feed, no snappy stepson, no laundry to do, no worries about work. Linny was footloose and fancy free. She’d not make a mental to-do list. She’d drift around, feather like.
After a busy day, their home sweet home on wheels had never looked so good. Linny fed twigs to tiny flames and started a crackling fire while the others pulled together supper. Munching hastily made sandwiches, they sat around the flickering fire and talked about their day.
Ruby crunched a potato chip and said, “The glassworks and the crafts were my favorites, except for the train ride with you, Linny.”
Dessie took a long swallow of iced tea. “I liked the gristmill and the blacksmith.”
“The Sweet Shoppe was very nice,” Dottie said primly.
“We each ate two slices of apple pie with extra ice cream on top to fortify ourselves. We worked up appetites walking,” Dessie explained, finishing the last bite of sandwich and patting her mouth with a napkin.
Dottie gazed at Linny suspiciously. “Did you get your hair wet today? It looks ... disorganized.”
“I got hot and walked through the spray grounds,” Linny admitted, grinning sheepishly. “I was one of the only adults there. And earlier, I went on the tame kiddie rides like the Ferris wheel and the Lemon Twist. Again, one of the only adults there without a kid.”
Dessie gazed at her admiringly. “Good for you, shug. What else did you do?”
“I visited the Wings of America Birds of Prey exhibit. They had amazing owls and two dozen bald eagles living in the eagle sanctuary,” Linny said, still feeling thrilled at seeing them.
“What else did you do?” Ruby asked, grinning like she was proud of Linny.
Linny felt a wave of embarrassment for having done even more kid stuff but shook it off. Being a drifting feather was fun. “I saw the bubble show and rode the train for a second time.” Linny grinned at them. “I had a really good time.”
* * *
The next day the women stayed busy catching exhibits and sites they’d missed and attending the musicals. As the women wound their way back to the courtesy shuttle pickup spot, Dessie hummed one of the fifties songs from the show they’d just seen, Dreamland Drive-In.
“The roller coaster yesterday made me want to kiss the ground so I went on another one today,” Ruby said, looking pleased with herself. “I also got to look inside Dolly’s retired touring bus and saw a bunch of her actual makeup, a fabulous wig she wore, and her very own pink potpourri in the bathroom. That was so exciting!” Ruby said with feeling. “I could just imagine her walking in, tired after a show, and pulling off her sparkly boots.”
The four of them found spots on benches and waited for the van that would ferry them back to the campground for their last night there.
Her phone sounded and Linny read the text, grinning. Jack had liked her messages and the photos she’d sent. He’d written: U r having fun. Good! Will share pics with Neal. Miss u. XO
“I looked at every big-haired blond lady in the place but never saw Dolly. I know she visits often.” Ruby gave a wistful sigh and glanced around, taking one more visual sweep for her idol. Gasping, she stood and pointed a shaking finger at a small group just a stone’s throw away.
Linny and the others rose excitedly and, shielding their eyes from the sun, gazed where Ruby was pointing and now waving madly.
A petite woman with blond hair piled high on her head walked by in sky-high heels, flanked by three men in suits who were bending toward her to hear every word she said. The blonde must have spotted Ruby’s frantic waving and turned toward them. Spotting the women, she gave a dazzling smile and a friendly wave with bejeweled fingers.
“Oh my stars,” Ruby gasped out, hand to her throat. “She was looking directly at me! I think she was wishing me good luck and telling me to shoot for the moon about this husband-finding project.”
Linny wasn’t sure about the telepathic eye message, but she’d just bet Dolly Parton would be encouraging. “She would wish you well.”
“She’d tell you to go for it,” Dessie said with a little fist pump.
Mama harrumphed and sat back down. “That probably wasn’t Dolly Parton. Lots of women wear outfits like that and have that hairdo.”
Ruby’s mouth drooped.
Linny cut her eyes at her mother, trying to telegraph a stop-being-such-a-killjoy look.
Dottie caught the look and said in a conciliatory tone, “But then again, lots of women don’t have that figure. I believe that was Dolly.”
Linny smiled at Dottie gratefully, but her mother pretended not to see it.
* * *
Back at the Breathtaking Vista they all freshened up and put on more casual clothes for the evening. Sweatpants were de rigueur for campfire sitting, and Linny loved it. No confining waistbands, no pulling in her stomach to slide up a zipper. She threw on a sweatshirt and trotted down the stairs of the RV that was feeling more like home every day.
Ruby had laid the fire and lit the kindling and the crumpled newspaper underneath the wood. Linny pulled her canvas chair up next to Ruby’s and they both watched the fire catch. Breathing in the smell of the woodsmoke, Linny felt a pang of sweet nostalgia, remembering fall days when she was a girl. She and Kate would rake leaves with their dad and he’d let them jump in the piles several times before he called them off, grinning as he raked the leaves back together and held a match to them. Despite his gradual disappearing act, Linny did have happy memories of her father.
Ruby sat and picked up her iPad, just as Dessie descended from the RV in her comfy clothes, rubbing her hands together gleefully. “I checked Ruby’s accounts a minute ago and we have seventeen fish on the line.”
“This is so much fun!” Ruby bounced up and down in her chair in excitement as she pulled up the websites. “Oooh. This fellow says I am ‘the prettiest woman he’s ever seen.’ That is so sweet!”
Dessie skooched in and peered at the screen. “He claims he’s fifty-five, but he looks like he shaved fifteen years off. And he smokes. You don’t want that, do you?”
“Oh snap.” Ruby’s face fell and she hit Delete.
Carrying a canvas tote, Dottie slipped into her camp chair, bright-eyed at the prospect of sorting through more men. “Slow down, now. I don’t want to miss out on anything.” She reached in the tote and handed each of them a turkey wrap, bagel chips, paper plates, and bottles of water.
Linny took a too-large bite and chewed happily. Their meals so far had been simple but so good. Food always tasted better if someone else prepared it, she decided.
Dessie hooked a thumb over her shoulder like an umpire. “He’s out.”
Ruby shook her head and hit Delete. “Oh my. This next fellow is from the single RVer site. He’s cute and he’s from North Carolina. He’s a retired hospital administrator, sixty-two years old, and he’s going to be camping at Branson right around the same time we are. Maybe I could meet him for a cup of coffee.” She thrust the iPad at Dessie. “Here, read this to make sure I didn’t miss any red flags.”
Dessie daintily nabbed a second turkey wrap and skimmed the note. “Nope. The man looks pretty normal.”
Ruby read the next profile and cocked a head at the girls. “A naturist is someone who likes flora and fauna, right?”
Linny tried to hide her smile. “A naturalist is into nature; a naturist is a nudist.”
Ruby hit the Delete button so hard she had to examine her fingernail afterward. Luckily, nothing was broken.
After they winnowed the list down to six men and ate the brownies Dottie had pulled from her canvas bag, the three of them helped Ruby compose replies to her notes.
The moon rose and they all stared dreamily into the crackling fire.
Linny glanced at Dessie. “What was your husband like, Dess?”
“Husbands,” she corrected with a smile. She smoothed back her wavy salt-and-pepper bob. “Well, my first husband and I only stayed married ten months. We just wanted different things.” She shrugged.
“As in he wanted a man instead of a woman,” Dottie clarified helpfully.
“That’s true,” Dessie said, not looking at all insulted. Her eyes danced. “Now my second husband, Del, was a different story. He was funny as could be, but he had an artistic side. He was a big ole softie. On one of our dates he saw a box turtle in the middle of a highway and stopped the car to move him so he wouldn’t get run over. I decided to marry him right then.”