by Becki Willis
There was a ten-minute wait before a table was ready for their group of five, but soon they were seated at a large round table and munching on warm tortilla chips and homemade salsa.
“So you are officially done with chicken farming?” Genesis confirmed from her friend.
“So done.”
“I’m proud of you for finishing, though. I know it wasn’t easy, even under normal circumstances.”
“It’s the hardest work I’ve ever done,” Madison admitted. “But at least now I know what I don’t want to be when I grow up!”
“Look, Mom, there’s my friend Jamil and his parents. Can I go say hello?” Blake asked.
“Sure, honey, but can you wait until we order? I see our waitress coming back.”
As soon as they gave their order to the waitress, Blake sprang from his chair and went to greet his friend. He waved to another friend across the way, making Madison aware of how many locals were crowded into the place.
“I think that’s the Thompsons at the back booth.”
“Poor Glitter,” Granny Bert remarked. “She told me there’s been so much commotion around her neighbor’s, she can’t sleep at night.”
Madison slid her best friend a sly look and quickly changed the subject. “Oh, look, there’s Cutter Montgomery. And who is that girl he’s with? She’s gorgeous!”
“That is the infamous Miss Callie Beth Irwin. The one he supposedly is not interested in.” Genesis looked over her shoulder at the couple weaving their way through the restaurant. When she caught sight of another diner, she groaned aloud. “Brace yourself for fireworks. This might not be pretty.”
“What it is?”
“I just spotted Shilo Dawne, and she just spotted Cutter and Callie Beth.”
“You’re right, she doesn’t look too happy. Wonder what she’s saying to them?”
“I don’t know, but I’m doubting it’s a friendly hello.” Genesis cringed as she thought about the possibilities.
Granny Bert piped in. “That poor girl has a hopeless crush on Cutter, but who can blame her? If I was thirty years younger, I might give that cougar-thing a try with young Montgomery there.”
Genesis burst out laughing, which drew several eyes her way, including the fireman’s. Seeing his opportunity to slip away from a very animated Shilo Dawne, Cutter tipped his hat in farewell, grabbed the other girl’s elbow, and steered her toward the table where Genesis and party sat.
“Miss Genesis, Miss Bert, Miss Maddy.” Again, he tipped his cowboy hat in greeting, a friendly smile lighting his handsome face. He settled his gaze on Genesis. “What are you lovely ladies doing out this evening?”
“We are here celebrating the completion of Maddy’s career in the chicken business,” Genesis announced with a bright smile.
“All done? That’s great.” The young man looked genuinely pleased for her.
“All done,” Madison confirmed.
“You know, you should be proud of yourself. The last two weeks of a flock can be a critical time. That’s why we were all surprised that Ronny would leave at a time like that, especially leaving a novice in charge.” He belatedly offered an apologetic look. “No offense.”
“None taken,” Madison assured him.
Cutter’s eyes strayed back to Genesis and a smile lit his handsome face. “And I guess this is a special treat for you, having someone else do the cooking for a change.”
“Always a plus,” she agreed.
There was an awkward moment of silence, until Genesis motioned to the girl beside him. She was tall and slim, dressed in a fashionable but very short denim dress with lace leggings, cowboy boots and plenty of blinged out leather. Her pale brown hair was arranged in an artful but messy bun atop her head. “I don’t believe your date knows everyone. You might want to introduce her.”
The young woman moved to tuck her hand into the crook of his arm, but Cutter pulled away and was quick to say, “Oh, she’s not my date!” The girl pouted prettily, but her eyes glittered with poorly concealed pain. “We’re here with a group,” he explained. “Callie Beth, you know Miss Bert. This is her granddaughter Madison Reynolds, who happens to be Miss Genny’s best friend. She’s come back to live in Juliet and has opened a temp agency. And this is her daughter-”
“Bethani,” Madison supplied.
“- Bethani,” Cutter finished the introduction without missing a beat. “And of course you know Miss Genesis, the best cook and pastry chef this town has ever seen, and quite possibly the best in all of Texas. This, everyone, is Callie Beth Irwin.” The lead-in to her introduction was noticeably shorter.
After a round of polite greetings, Callie Beth finally snagged his arm. “Cutter, our friends are waiting,” she reminded him softly.
“Oh, right.” He seemed reluctant to leave, but he finally threw Genesis an apologetic look and allowed the young woman to pull him away, toward a long table near the karaoke stage. Several young adults were already seated and waiting on them.
“What was that look about?” Madison wondered aloud as the couple left.
Genny shrugged. “He probably feels guilty about being here on a date with Callie Beth, since he knows I’m rooting for Shilo Dawne.”
“Forget Shilo Dawne. What about me?” Bethani grinned, turning around in her seat to watch the volunteer fireman walk away. “Granny Bert, when was the last time you had your fireplace checked out? Doesn’t the fire department make inspections or something?”
“Young lady, you can just pop your eyeballs back inside your head, right this minute,” Madison chided. “He is much too old for you.”
Granny Bert allowed her eyes to trail along behind him, as well. With a heartfelt sigh, she agreed. “Yes, and unfortunately, he is much too young for me.” With a sudden bright smile, she beamed at Madison and Genesis. “But that still leaves you two.”
“Us?” Genesis laughed.
“Sure. Like I said, cougars.”
“Oh, Granny Bert, with you around, life is never dull!”
“You can say that again.” Madison rolled her eyes, but a smile tugged on her lips.
“Wow, everyone is here tonight,” Bethani said, spotting the restaurant’s newest arrivals. “There’s Megan and her whole family, including her dad!”
Madison was not thrilled with the prospect of seeing Brash. After this morning’s events, she had forgotten all about last night. She had not given the cockfight another thought, much less the botched kiss episode. But suddenly those awkward moments on the porch swing came rushing back to her. Maybe it was the fact that Brash looked particularly handsome in a striped western shirt and starched jeans. Or maybe it was the fear that Shannon would still be carrying on about her new haircut; when she dropped Bethani off earlier, the other woman seemed intrigued by the change in Madison’s appearance. It was probably her imagination, but Madison was certain Brash’s ex-wife knew exactly what inspired her new look.
She had no time to worry about it as Matthew Aikman claimed her attention. “Maddy? Maddy Cessna, I can’t believe you’re back in town!”
His voice boomed in pleasure across the crowded restaurant. When he rushed forward and opened his arms in greeting, there was nothing to do but stand and step into his embrace as the rest of their party watched in varied stages of hilarity. Granny Bert looked amused, Genesis entertained, Megan looked enchanted, Bethani confused. Shannon looked happily unconcerned that her husband embraced another woman, while Brash watched with mild curiosity.
Tugging on her clothes self-consciously, Madison stepped back from the hearty hug to survey her old boyfriend. Matthew was not quite as tall as Brash was, but every bit as toned. Streaks of gray edged his temples and dominated the neatly trimmed mustache that hovered above his lip.
“Matthew, you look great. And it’s so good to see you again.”
“Talk about great! Just look at you!” He lifted her hand above her head, motioning for her to do a twirl, right there in the restaurant. Feeling like an idiot, Madison offered a half
-hearted pirouette. She was thankful she wore something feminine tonight; a long flowing skirt that swished playfully around her legs and favorite boots, topped by a dark blue sweater blouse. “She looks great, doesn’t she, Brash?”
From where he stood at the back of the group, Brash’s eyes glittered with amusement. He obviously enjoyed Madison’s discomfort. “Absolutely,” he agreed with the other man.
Blake came back to the table, just in time to see her slow pivot. “Mo-om, not in public!” he jested. To the group, he shrugged and pretended to complain, “We can’t take her anywhere.” When Megan giggled as his antics, it explained his sudden return. It also explained the bright new gleam in his blue eyes.
“In case you haven’t met him yet, this is my son, Blake. Blake, do you know the Aikmans?”
“Apparently not as well as you do!”
“Oh, Mama Matt used to date your Mom,” Megan quickly supplied.
Madison raised her eyebrows high. “Mama Matt?”
“She refused to call another man daddy, but she fell in love with Matthew after the first month we were married,” Shannon explained, wrapping both hands around her husband’s arm and smiling up at him. “‘Mr. Matt’ was too formal, plain ‘Matt’ was too disrespectful, so her solution was to call him Mama Matt. And this is our son, by the way. Trouper, say hello to Bethani’s family.”
After the young boy dutifully obeyed, Matthew patted his wife’s hand. “Shannon, I want you to organize one of your famous dinner parties,” he said unexpectedly. “All of you are invited. We’ll catch up on old times. You ladies set the time and date, and we fellas will show up, right Brash? Blake?” Not waiting for their replies, he tousled his son’s hair. “Your momma’s famous for her parties, right, buddy? We’ll have a great time.”
“I’m in,” Genesis said with a bright smile.
“Me, too. I’ll bring my new juicer and we can make smoothies,” Granny Bert offered.
“Uhm, yeah, sounds great.” No one seemed to notice Madison’s less-than-enthusiastic reply.
Shannon promised to call with details as the Aikman and deCordova family finally shuffled off to their table. Brash, however, turned back and touched Madison on the shoulder, piercing her with his concerned gaze. “You’re doing all right after this morning?”
“Yes.” She gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head, willing him not to say anything more in front of her family. They did not know about this latest incident and she intended to keep it that way. She plastered on a bright smile. “As of this morning, the chicken business is behind me now.”
He understood her message but continued to probe her with keen eyes. Finally satisfied, he nodded and removed his hand from her shoulder. “There are a few loose ends I’d like to go over with you about Ronny Gleason. Could you stop by the office Monday morning?”
“I have to work all day Monday. Can we make it Tuesday afternoon?” It would be the perfect time to tell him about the people she had seen at the cockfight, people with a potential ‘beef’ against the dead man.
“I’ll see you Tuesday.” Brash glanced around the table, encompassing the group in his polite smile. “You folks have a nice meal.” With a nod, he turned to catch up with his companions.
“Does anyone else think that was a little odd?” Madison murmured.
“What, that he made an excuse to see you again?” Granny Bert asked. She ignored Madison’s frown and studied the salsa on her chip. “Or that the hot sauce has a touch too much cilantro? But don’t worry, it grows on you after a few bites.”
“Not the hot sauce! Doesn’t it strike you as odd that Shannon and Matthew go out for a family dinner, and her ex-husband tags along?”
“I think it’s nice.”
“You have to admit,” Genesis said, “it’s great for Megan that her parents get along so well. And Brash and Matthew were always such good friends in high school.”
“Still, they were always so competitive, and now they’ve both been married to the same woman… And why does Megan act so infatuated with the fact that I once dated her step-father?”
“She’s fifteen,” Granny Bert said by way of explanation. “At that age, everything is romantic.”
Madison eyed the family as they were seated several tables away. “I don’t know. Matthew and I haven’t even spoken to one another since we broke up twenty years ago. Yet he hugs me like he’s thrilled to see me, and Shannon just stands there and grins, happy as a lark to see her husband hugging another woman. And now all of sudden they’re inviting us over for supper?”
“I think you’re over-reacting,” Genesis said gently.
When Madison glanced their way again, Matthew caught her eye and gave her a thumbs up, darting his gaze to Brash.
“I have a sneaky suspicion it’s something more,” Madison muttered under her breath. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say they were trying to play match-maker.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Madison’s plans of a quiet, lazy Sunday afternoon did not materialize.
After attending church with her family, Granny Bert insisted on preparing smoothies and sandwiches for lunch. Sipping cautiously on the smoothie —who knew what was in it?— Madison retired to the couch and propped her swollen knee up on a pillow. When asked what happened, she made a vague reference to the uneven dirt floors of the chicken houses; she made no mention of the uneven terrain in the Thompson pasture and the many holes she stepped in while running from goats, dogs, and an illegal cockfight.
Madison started reading on her Kindle, but soon her eyelids grew heavy. After two weeks of extensive physical labor, Friday night’s late-night dash across the field, and then yesterday’s brush with danger, Madison was exhausted. Snuggling into the cushions, she drifted to sleep for a twenty-plus minute nap.
Her pleasant slumber was disturbed by a dark dream. She dreamed she was trapped inside the chicken houses once again. The pressure was building around her, tugging at her mind and at her clothes, and sucking the air from her lungs. Chickens were flailing at her, pecking on her knee until it throbbed. She managed to push through their white maze and stumbled upon Ronny Gleason’s body, all bloodied and torn and sporting only one eye. In her dream, his body smoldered and took on a slightly blackened hue, no doubt from his electrocution. Too true to reality, Madison struggled to get the doors opened. Panic and pressure welled inside her as she fought her way out the exit. Somewhere behind her, a man’s voice talked about bets, bosses, and turning the dogs loose. His voice was familiar, but she could not quite place it… When she finally burst from the house, she careened into an excited crowd gathered around two flogging, screeching roosters. Blood and feathers flew as the crowd chanted and raged, begging for more.
“Mom! Mom, wake up!” Bethani shook her shoulder, jarring her from the nightmare.
Madison blinked, staring up at her daughter as she tried to get her bearings. Something tickled her nose and she blew it away, watching as a small feather floated through the air.
“What did you do?” Bethani cried, lifting the destroyed throw pillow from her mother’s hands. The seams were ripped and the center button missing, with white down spilling out of the frayed edges.
“I- uh - got it confused with a door?” Madison offered sheepishly.
“A door? Really mom? You truly have been working too hard lately.” The teen tossed the pillow across her mother’s legs and plopped down into the nearby chair. Her voice was more sympathetic as she asked, “Another nightmare?’
“An-Another?”
“We sleep in the same bed, Mom. I know when you have nightmares.”
“Sorry. And I’m sorry to disturb you.” Madison looked down at the couch, wondering if she could tolerate it for a full night. “Maybe I should start sleeping in here,” she suggested.
“Maybe you should stop having nightmares.”
Madison gave the teen a rueful smile. “Easier said than done. They don’t just go away because I tell them to.”
“What was
that corny old wife saying Granny Bert used to tell you?”
“You mean an old wives’ tale?” Madison smiled. “The one about putting a pan of water beneath your bed to drown the night mare?”
“Yeah, that was it.” The girl giggled.
“Oh well, there’s no room beneath our bed for a pan of any sort.” Madison sighed, picturing the boxes and plastic bins stuffed beneath the mattresses.
“There’s no room for anything!” Bethani complained. “Are we ever going to get our own house? Penny Jo Cessna —apparently she’s my cousin somehow?— says her Grandpa has a real estate agency and could probably find us a house to rent.”
Madison was stunned. Bethani was thinking in terms of relocating here in Juliet?
They were entering unchartered waters. Madison treaded softly, not wanting to disturb the sudden change of current. “Actually, I’ve been wanting to talk to you about something, honey…”
Before Madison could continue, the teen let out a long, heavy sigh. As her shoulders sank, her face took on a stoic, older-than-her-years expression. “We’re not going back to Dallas, are we, Mom?” The words were spoken quietly, more of a statement than a question.
“I-I wouldn’t say that,” Madison hedged. “Not necessarily. But… it may take a little longer than I thought. How-How would you feel about that, honey, if we stayed here in Juliet for a while?”
“‘A while’ like through the end of the school year, or ‘a while’ like through my junior or senior year?”
“I’m not sure,” her mother answered honestly.
Again the teen sighed. “Well, I’m still no fan, but I guess it’s not quite as bad as I first thought. Most of the kids are friendly and the teachers are nice. And some of the girls are trying to talk me into trying out for cheerleader. What would you think about that?” The teen peeked at her mother from beneath her lashes, trying to gauge her reaction.
