The Texan's Christmas

by Linda Warren

  “Yes. I still miss her.” The milk and orange juice were cold against her breast, but she would stand there forever staring these two ladies in the eyes, just to prove she would never shy away from their remarks again. After a moment, common sense prevailed. “Have a nice day.”

  Easy breezy. Nothing to it. People could only hurt her when she let them. She placed her items on the checkout counter with a confident smile.

  “Lucky, the whole community is grateful to you,” Nell, Walker’s aunt, said, dropping some licorice sticks into the bag because she knew her father liked them.

  Before she could respond, Maddie came in and immediately hugged her. “You’re my heroine. I could never do something so dangerous unless my kids were in harm’s way.”

  “Thank you,” she replied, feeling out of breath.

  Caitlyn came up behind her. “I’m going to personally do something nice for you,” she told Lucky. “I’ve had to listen to Judd complain for over a week and believe me it wasn’t appealing. Thanks to you he’s got his cows back and he’s happy. I’m happy. I’ll take you out to lunch or something. I’ll let you know.”

  Cait waved and made her way to the door. Lucky slowly followed.

  As she walked to her pickup in a daze, a truck and trailer drove up.

  “Lucky,” the man shouted, getting out.

  She turned to see Mr. Hopper and he held out his hand. She juggled the bag and her purse to shake it.

  “Thank you,” he said. “I’m so grateful. I got my cows. See.” He pointed to the trailer. “My saddle, too. And the ATV. My great-grandson is so happy. I’m giving the saddle to him over the weekend before it’s stolen again. I just can’t believe a young girl would put her life in so much danger for her neighbors.”

  She leaned over and whispered, “Don’t tell anyone, but I’m not that young.”

  He laughed and Mrs. Farley and Mrs. Axelwood came out.

  “Hello, Ben,” Mrs. Farley said. “We haven’t seen you at church lately.”

  “I’ve moved my membership to the church on First Street.”

  “Why?”

  “I’m a Christian and I don’t like associating with hypocrites.”

  Mrs. Farley bristled. “What do you mean?”

  “You tote the Bible in one hand while your son has a beer in both of his.”

  “My son does not drink.”

  “Frances, who are you trying to fool? Luther has run into my fence three times drunk as a skunk. The next time I’m calling Walker.” He turned his back on them and spoke to her. “We’d love to have you join us in services one Sunday, Lucky.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Hopper.” A smile seemed to be plastered across her face. “I just might do that.”

  “You can consider our church, too,” Mrs. Farley said in her huffy natural way.

  This is where she got even and told the old windbag what she thought of her. But to her surprise she couldn’t be that cruel to anyone. “Thank you, Mrs. Farley. I appreciate the offer.” She didn’t think she needed to say any more than that.

  Mr. Hopper patted her shoulder. “That’s class, Lucky. You took the high road.” He strolled toward his vehicle and turned back. “I don’t drink, but I might stop in and have a soft drink with you one day.”

  “That would be nice.” She got into her truck and froze. Kid was standing at the door listening to the whole thing. Their eyes met for a brief moment and then he went inside. He looked hurt and her heart ached. Was it always going to be like this when they met?

  Driving home, she thought about the incidents and how she’d handled them. Instinctively most people were nice and if she hadn’t shied away from them, her life would have been much different. She didn’t need to hop a train and risk her life to get their approval. If she had made an effort, Mr. Hopper would have treated her as cordially last week as he had today. And if she had spoken to Mrs. Farley and Mrs. Axelwood, they would have responded like they had today. They had a picture of the type of woman she was and she’d never made the effort to show them otherwise. That was a revelation in itself.

  Since she hated going into The Joint, she decided she would close it. After Bubba Joe’s life settled down, he might want to take over the business. At least Kid would be happy she wasn’t serving beer to men.

  And sometime in the near future she might have to ask herself why that mattered.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  KID WATCHED THE SCENE with pride. Lucky handled the naysayers of High Cotton with grace and dignity, not sinking to their level. She didn’t need him to protect her. Would she ever need him again?

  How he wished she could understand there was a difference between need and needy. They’d needed each other. Needy was Bubba Joe being dependant on his momma, and that was a whole different ball game. He couldn’t understand how Wilma could emotionally cripple her son. She never let him have a life or make a decision without her supervision. The only thing Bubba had done on his own was get a job at The Beer Joint. He was proud of that, but if Lucky closed the place Bubba would be left without an anchor.

  Kid was in the process of going over Bubba’s finances with Bubba’s cousin, Nancy. The sheriff wanted a full record of Wilma’s banking. Fortunately, Bubba had his own account where Wilma deposited his check every week. Kid turned the information in to the sheriff and he was in the process of seizing Wilma’s accounts. Bubba’s was left alone and Nancy was helping him to manage his own money.

  Kid talked to Nancy about Bubba renting The Beer Joint and she thought it was a good idea. It would keep him busy. Nancy offered to continue managing the financial records, but Bubba took offense to the idea. He said Lucky taught him how to handle money and how to pay the beer delivery people. He was now taking care of his own money and he would talk to Lucky about renting the place.

  It was nice to see Bubba growing into manhood so quickly. He was on a high experiencing life for the first time. Everyone in this town thought Bubba was slow, but Bubba was proving them wrong. He’d just been kept back for so many years and was now having his first taste of freedom. Bubba was still seeing Thelma Lou, but he refused to let her take control, either.

  The judge had signed an order for Wilma to be moved to a state mental facility in Austin. Bubba hadn’t asked to go see his momma again, but Kid knew he’d get a call one day soon and he’d take Bubba to Austin to visit. With the way Bubba was staking his independence, though, he might go on his own.

  Everything had settled down in High Cotton and everyone was feeling secure again, except Kid. He was never more restless in his life.

  He hadn’t stopped for anything at the general store. He saw Lucky’s truck and Mrs. Farley’s Buick and thought Lucky might need him. But she hadn’t. Maybe he needed to be needed…by her. Now, there was a thought.

  Since he hadn’t seen Cody in a couple of days, he drove to Chance’s. Knocking on the back door, he heard Nettie shout, “Come in.”

  He stopped short in the kitchen. Bud sat at the kitchen table with Nettie, drinking coffee.

  Bud frowned. “What are you doing here?”

  Nettie placed a hand on Bud’s arm. “Franklin, Kid is Chance’s brother and he’s always welcome here.”

  “Ah, he hurt my girl.”

  Nettie rubbed Bud’s arm. “I’ve done things in my past I’m not proud of—haven’t you?”

  “If I told you, you’d never see me again.”

  They shared a secret laugh and Kid stared at them. What was going on? “Is Cody awake?” he asked, rather puzzled.

  “He just woke up,” Nettie said, and pointed to a baby monitor on the counter. Kid heard the soft coos. “He wakes up happy and I’m letting him watch the horse mobile his father bought for him. I’ll get him up in a few minutes.”

  “Do you mind if I do?”

  “No. Go ahead.”

  “You don’t know nothin’ about babies,” Bud told him.

  “Franklin,” Nettie scolded.

  “Sorry.”

  Kid left the room, bu
t glanced back. They had their heads close together, whispering. Could they be? Nah, they were too old. But did one ever get that old? Lord, he hoped not.

  Cody lay in his crib kicking his legs and flailing his arms as he watched the horse mobile go round and round. “Hey, big boy,” he said, and Cody kicked that much faster, turning his head to find the voice.

  “Want to get out of the crib?” Kid gently lifted him into his arms. “Uh-oh, someone’s wet. But that’s okay. Uncle Kid will change you.” He laid the baby on the changing table and unsnapped the blue all-in-one outfit. Removing the wet diaper he wadded it up and put it in a plastic bag like he’d seen Chance do and dropped it into the trash can. Quickly wiping Cody’s butt with a baby wipe, he reached for a fresh diaper and put it on him, snapping the onesie, all before the baby could pee on him as Kid had seen him do to Chance.

  “Hey, that wasn’t so bad.” He scooped Cody into his arms and cradled him against his chest. Looking down into that sweet face reminded him of his own son. “You know, I had a son once. He’d be about twenty now and we’d probably be arguing about cars, the speed limit, school and girls, but he would know that I loved him.”

  He looked up and saw Bud standing in the doorway with a look of disbelief on his face. Suddenly, Bud turned and limped away.

  Kid drew a deep breath. No matter what Bud thought of him he knew in his heart he would have loved his and Lucky’s child.

  LUCKY LOOKED INTO NURSING programs, but couldn’t get into a fall class because everything was full. She’d start in the spring. Even though she would be with students half her age, she was still excited. Starting over at thirty-eight wasn’t so bad after all.

  Bubba Joe came by and talked about renting The Beer Joint. She knew he could do it because he took care of the place when she wasn’t there. Thelma Lou was going to help him but Bubba was the one paying the rent. She was just glad the people of High Cotton hadn’t blamed him for his mother’s mental illness.

  She sat down and read the lease papers Kid had left and signed them. The deal was a good one and she was being stubborn in not signing them in the first place. Her father had just come in from Nettie’s and he was flipping through the TV channels.

  “I’m taking the lease papers over to Cadde’s,” she said. “I’ll be right back.”

  “Why aren’t you taking them to Kid? He’s still around, you know.”

  “Cadde’s the CEO of Shilah Oil so I’ll just take them to him.”

  “Are you afraid to face Kid?”

  She placed her hands on her hips. “I thought you didn’t like Kid and didn’t want me anywhere near him.”

  “People change, girl.”

  “Where is this coming from?”

  Her father turned off the TV. “I saw Kid the other day. He dropped by to see Cody. Nettie said he comes all the time to play with the baby and with Jacob, too. I could hear him talking to the baby on the baby monitor so I went down the hall to see what he was up to. He was cradling Cody and telling him about his son and how old he would have been and how much he would have loved him.”

  Her throat closed up and she couldn’t speak.

  “He’s grown up, girl.”

  “Dad, please. I don’t want to talk about him.” She headed for the door and realized how immature she was acting. Maybe some traits were inherited. She turned back. “Okay, here’s the truth. I’m always going to love Kid, but I can’t trust him and I don’t know if I can live like that.”

  “Did you trust him on that train ride?”

  She swallowed. “Yes.”

  “Sometimes you have to go on faith. You’re not going to get a guarantee for happiness in this life by avoiding what you want most. You have to fight for it.”

  “Got it.” She winked.

  “Don’t be smart. I want you to be happy.”

  She looked down at the papers in her hand. “I want that, too.”

  “Then take those papers to Kid.”

  She shut the door before he could say anything else. She fully intended to go to Cadde’s, but she turned at the High Five entrance. Her dad was right. She had to return the signed lease to Kid.

  His truck was at the little house so that’s where she drove. She knocked on the door.

  “Come in,” Kid shouted, but she wasn’t just walking in.

  She knocked again.

  “It’s not locked. Why can’t you just come in?” Suddenly the door was yanked opened.

  “Lucky.” He stood there in jeans and a T-shirt, no shoes. His hair was tousled and he looked as though he’d been resting. The sleepy eyes and five o’clock shadow made her heart race in excitement. She’d seen that look many times. They kept staring at each other and finally he moved aside. “Come in.”

  “No, thank you. I just came by to give you these papers.” She held them out. “I signed them.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. I’ve rented The Beer Joint to Bubba and I’m starting nursing school in the spring. The money will help tide us over.”

  “Sounds as if you have your life sorted out.”

  “Yes.”

  “Without me in it.”

  She drew a long breath. “Kid.”

  “Okay. I get it.” He took the papers. “I owe you some money but I don’t have the draft book here.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I tr…”

  His eyes held hers. “You trust me?”

  “Kid.”

  He covered the space between them and cupped her face with his hands. Looking deep into her eyes, he kissed her softly, gently. She moaned and wanted to melt into him and to forget that he’d ever hurt her. She rested her head on his chest and breathed in his masculine heady scent.

  “All I’m asking is for you to take a chance on us.”

  Her emotions wobbled and she stepped back to gain a measure of control. She trusted him. Could it be that easy? “I’ll think about it, but I’m not promising anything. Just give me some time.” She walked to her truck and her knees felt weak. But for once she’d admitted the truth. She needed time.

  THE DAYS PASSED QUICKLY and it was the middle of October before she knew it. And true to her word Cait arranged a day out. Judd was footing the bill. Lucky didn’t hesitate or shy away from the offer, but she didn’t expect all the Belle sisters to go along and Jessie and Shay, too. Well, why not? They were having a spa day in Austin with manicures, pedicures and massages. The six of them went in Cait’s Escalade. Lucky never had any real close friends except for a girl in Austin who lived next door. When she’d moved away, Lucky missed her.

  These ladies were different. They knew each other and joked a lot. The sisters playfully argued. Cait missed a turn so Sky insisted on driving and she did not know the meaning of the word slow. She whipped in and out of traffic. Jessie closed her eyes, saying she was afraid she’d have the baby early if she didn’t. But they made it safely to the pricey spa. It was a luxury that Lucky could have never afforded and she enjoyed every minute.

  Afterward they had lunch and decided to shop. The kids department was their favorite place as the women bought things for their children. Lucky felt a moment of sadness but quickly brushed it away.

  Jessie wanted to look for a dress to wear to the baby’s christening. After the baby was born, due in late November, she wouldn’t have the time or feel like doing it. The scene that followed was hilarious and Lucky found herself giggling at times. Since Jessie was very pregnant she asked that someone her size try on the clothes.

  Sky said Maddie’s breasts were too small and Maddie pretended to be indignant. Jessie informed them that her breasts were not always that big. They all laughed. Then Sky decided Cait was out because her butt was too big. Cait came right back at her calling Sky a hippo. Maddie had to part them before the women said too much they didn’t mean. They all agreed that Shay was too slim and they hated her because she’d lost her baby weight without even trying. That left Lucky as the designated model. She was self-conscious at first but g
ot into it.

  The clothes were to die for and when Lucky noticed a price tag she almost fell out of the high heels the store had provided. Dress after dress and Jessie still couldn’t make up her mind. Finally Lucky put on an off-white ivory V-neck dress with a beaded jacket. The long skirt came to midcalf and the back was longer. It was lovely and Jessie bought it along with another simpler outfit.

  On the way home Cait said they needed margaritas so they stopped, and then she declared they needed another. Since Jessie was pregnant she drank ginger ale and drove them safely home. By the time they reached High Cotton they were happy, singing, and Lucky felt a part of the group.

  After Jessie dropped her off, she fell into a dead sleep wondering if she’d ever get the chance to wear beautiful clothes like Jessie.

  ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON KID DROVE over to Cadde’s to give him the lease papers. Jessie was resting and Jacob played at Cadde’s feet.

  Jacob stood up, holding on to the coffee table and then suddenly shot across the room to Kid. “He’s walking.” Kid lifted the baby into his lap.

  “He’s been doing that for a couple of days and he’s so proud of himself,” Cadde said.

  Jacob pushed out of his lap and took off again.

  “Is Jessie okay?” he asked. “She’s not usually asleep this time of the day.”

  “She was out late last night.”

  Kid frowned. “What do you mean she was out? Weren’t you with her?”

  “No. The Belle sisters, Shay and Jessie took Lucky to Austin for a day out.”

  “What? And Lucky went?”

  “Yes, and they had a great time.”

  “How come no one told me about this?”

  Cadde shrugged. “I haven’t seen much of you lately. Where have you been?”

  “Aunt Etta’s and helping Bubba Joe.”

  Cadde shook his head. “Only you would do that. I hope he appreciates it.”

  “He does.”

  “And might I remind you that you have a job. When are you coming back to work?”

  Kid laid the lease on the coffee table. “Here’s something that will make you happy.”