Elizabeth stuck her head out of the kitchen when Lainie came in and smiled. “Just in time. I’m about ready to put dinner on the table.
As Lainie headed to her room, she called over her shoulder. “Does Les Watson live far from here?”
“About three blocks. Why?”
Lainie called down the hall as she unbuttoned her uniform. “I just saw Les on his way home and he was in no shape to be driving.” She dropped her voice as Elizabeth appeared in her bedroom door. “I’d like to think he got home okay.”
“Tsk. I think I’ll go call Evelyn, just to make sure.”
Lainie snapped her jeans and pulled a T-shirt over her head, still mulling her future in Last Chance. Did she even have one? And what did it look like if she did?
Elizabeth was hanging up when Lainie joined her in the kitchen. “Well, Les got home okay, thank the Lord. He’s already in bed asleep.” She put a bowl of creamed corn on the table. “Grab the tea from the icebox, will you, Lainie?”
After Elizabeth offered thanks, Lainie picked up a platter. “If it’s all right with you, I think I’ll walk on over and see Ray after dinner.”
Elizabeth placed her napkin in her lap in silence.
“Don’t worry. I just need to talk to him a little. I’ll be back before you go to bed.”
Elizabeth looked up and sighed. “I just wish you didn’t have to find him at that place. You can take my truck if you want to. Of course, I’ll have to ask you to park across the street at the Dip ’n’ Dine. I can’t have my ‘Follow me to Sunday school’ bumper sticker sitting outside a honky-tonk.”
“Thanks anyway, but I’ll walk. It will feel good to stretch, and it’s a nice night.”
“Well, you be careful. You know better than I do what kind of drivers are out there. Wear a light-colored wrap and walk against traffic.”
“Yes, mother.” Lainie leaned over and kissed Elizabeth’s cheek before she knew she had done it.
Elizabeth smiled. “Well, that was nice.”
Lainie felt her cheeks warm as she busied herself filling her plate. Where did that come from? I must be getting soft.
The sound of Waylon Jennings poured out the front door as Lainie walked into the High Lonesome. There were only a couple pickups in the parking lot, and she was pleased to find no one at the bar and only a few quiet groups huddled in booths. Ray looked up when she walked in, and his smile lit up the dim room.
“Well, hey there. Haven’t seen you in a while.”
Lainie grinned as she climbed on a stool at the bar. “Like maybe two days?”
Ray leaned across the bar on his elbow, bringing his face inches from hers, his smile never fading. “Only two days? Seems a lot longer.”
Lainie held his gaze for a moment before the frank interest of the other patrons caused her to lean back. Ray followed her lead.
“So what can I get you? Or did you just come in to distract me?”
“A diet soda, I guess. I made the mistake of telling your grandma I saw Les on the way home tonight totally plastered. She’s none too happy about me coming over here and all but made me promise not to drink anything.”
“A wise decision, however it came about.” He set the glass in front of her. “And I even found a straw for you.”
Lainie took a long sip from her soda. “So, everyone’s asking. Have you heard anything from Steven?”
Ray shrugged. “Not much. Just that he ought to be home by Thanksgiving.”
“And you? Are you still going to be here Thanksgiving?” There. It was out in the open.
Ray took a large can from under the bar and scooped peanuts into a bowl sitting on top before he said anything. “Oh, sure. I’ll still be here then. I wouldn’t miss Steven’s homecoming for anything. And it’ll take me some time to get him up to speed here before I can take off. If I do go back north, it wouldn’t be before the first of the year, anyway.”
“If you go back north?”
“I don’t know, Lainie. It’s a good six, seven weeks before we’ll see Steven, and another six weeks after that before I can even think about leaving town. That’s a long time. It’s way too early for me to start making plans. Anything can happen between now and then.”
Lainie’s smile was a small one. “Haven’t you been counting the days until you could go back to painting full-time? I’d have bet money that you’d have your bags in the car when he got here.”
“Oh, I’m going to paint again, that’s for sure. I contacted some galleries as soon as I heard that Steven’s coming back, and they want to see some digital shots as soon as I can put a slide show together. It’s the moving I’m thinking twice about. Since I’ve been working at my cabin, I think I’ve done some of my best work. Most of my stuff is from photos I’ve taken right around the ranch, and working from life is even better. I’m thinking about how that might work. What about you? You made any more plans to leave town?”
Lainie shrugged. “And go where? It’s not like I have any kind of life I need to get back to.”
“Oh, come on. No family? No friends anywhere? Someone somewhere must be wondering why you dropped off the face of the earth. You’re not on the lam, are you?”
Ray’s bantering grin slowly faded as he studied Lainie’s face. She dropped her eyes and took a long sip of her soda.
“That was supposed to be a joke.” Ray waited while Lainie drained her glass to the slurping bottom.
“Well, it wasn’t very funny. Half the people in the town look at me like they expect to hear sirens in the distance. I just didn’t expect that from you.”
Ray put his hand over hers. “Okay, it was a poor joke. Sorry. But there’s more to this than just me hurting your feelings. Want to tell me what’s going on?”
Ray’s hand on hers was warm, and his brown eyes made her feel safer than she had felt since she could remember. Lainie hesitated. She was filled with the longing to place her burden on his broad shoulders. It got so heavy sometimes. She shook the feeling off and squared her shoulders. Not a good time to start counting on anyone.
“Nope, nothing’s wrong. I’m just touchy tonight, I guess. Sorry I overreacted.”
Lainie looked down at the hand covering hers. She could feel his long gaze on the top of her head. Finally, he squeezed her hand and straightened up. “Okay. Have it your way. But I’m here if you need me.”
He moved from around the bar and Lainie watched him cross the room to clear a table, stopping to trade a quiet joke with another group. Their easy laughter made Lainie feel even more the outsider. She picked up her purse and slid off her stool as Ray walked back to the bar.
“You’re not going? You barely got here.” Ray seemed genuinely disappointed.
“I told Elizabeth I wouldn’t stay long. She’ll be looking for me.”
“I’ll walk you out.” Ray placed his hand in the small of her back and moved through the doorway with her. When they were outside, he pulled her into a shadow and slipped his arms around her waist. He smiled into her upturned face. “Sunday’s all I’ve got. Let me pick you up after church. Maybe we could go over to Hatch. The chile festival is this weekend, I think.”
“Wow. Chile, huh? That’s original.”
“Hey, don’t knock it. The whole world knows about Hatch chile. People come from everywhere for this festival.” He dropped a soft kiss on her nose and another on her lips.
“Then I don’t see how we can pass it up.” Lainie smiled up at him.
Ray didn’t answer. His arms tightened around her waist and his mouth covered hers. Lainie stood lost in his arms and the scent and the taste of him. Vaguely, as from a long distance, she became aware of an approaching vehicle, but only when the jeers and coyote howls began did she pull away.
“Get a room!” The long, low Chevy screeched to a stop in the parking lot. Two boys fought for window space from the backseat, and Lainie could see the shadows of several more in the darkness of the car. When Ray turned around, they spun out, still hooting and laughing.
> “Was that Matthew?” Ray sounded incredulous.
Lainie took a deep breath and held it before slowly exhaling. “I don’t know. It’s awful dark. The one making all the noise wasn’t Matthew. I don’t know about any of the others.”
Ray watched the taillights disappear in the distance. He was still scowling when he turned back to Lainie, but a slow smile spread over his face as he pulled her to him again. “Now, where were we?”
Lainie put her hands against his chest. “As Elizabeth would say, we’re standing out here in front of God and I don’t know who all, that’s where we are. And I need to get home.”
He leaned in for another light kiss. “Okay then, see you Sunday.”
“After church, or during?”
“I’ll pick you up at Elizabeth’s about one.”
“Still hiding from the church ladies, huh? Ray Braden, you’re a chicken.”
He grinned. “You got that right. But one of these days I might just surprise you.”
Lainie headed across the parking lot, but when she reached the road, she looked back. Ray was standing in the doorway with his hands in his pockets, watching her.
She was almost to the street that turned off toward Elizabeth’s when she saw the headlights of the approaching car. It slowed to a stop next to her.
“Hey, honey, want a ride?” One of the riders in the same Chevy she had seen earlier leaned out the window and made kissing noises while the driver shoved the gear shift into Reverse and slowly backed down the road, keeping pace with her quick step.
“Come on, baby. If you think that old man was good, you ought to try me.”
He opened the front door and started to get out. With one swift kick Lainie slammed the door shut.
“Hey, watch out! You coulda chopped my hand off.”
“Then count yourself lucky. It could have been worse. Now get lost.”
“C’mon, guys. Let’s get outta here,” one of the boys, hat pulled over his eyes, muttered from the backseat.
Lainie leaned down and peered into the car. “Matthew, is that you?”
The others hooted in laughter. One called in falsetto, “‘Matthew, is that you?’ Oooh, Matthew, you’re busted.”
The road out of town was long and straight, and she watched the taillights even after she could no longer hear the laughter, the catcalls, or even the souped-up engine.
15
As the days till Thanksgiving grew fewer and fewer with still no word from Steven, Elizabeth’s jubilant mood was replaced by a nonstop bustle, as if by working hard she could put the silence and the longing from her mind. It was still dark on Thanksgiving morning when faint sounds from the kitchen woke Lainie. Elizabeth was in the kitchen, of course, where she had been baking and peeling and stirring for the last three days. A tiny twinge of guilt nudged Lainie as she turned over and snuggled back beneath her covers. She really should get up and go see if Elizabeth needed help, but the diner was closed today, and a day to sleep in was so rare. Surely, if Elizabeth really needed her she would have come to wake her. She didn’t need to come up with another excuse because by the time she had recited these to herself, she had drifted back to sleep.
When Lainie woke again, the sun was up, and this time she slipped into the robe Elizabeth had given her and wandered to the kitchen looking for a cup of coffee. She stopped in the doorway. Every surface in the kitchen was covered with serving dishes containing who-knows-what nestling under plastic wrap; baking pans full of rolls, some hot and golden brown, some pale and awaiting their turn in the oven; and pies—lots and lots of pies.
“Wow. Got enough food?”
Elizabeth jumped and turned around to face her. She brushed a white curl from her forehead. “My lands, Lainie, you scared me out of five years’ growth. Grab a couple of rolls off that tray there and get yourself some butter and jam out of the icebox. I’m afraid that’ll have to be breakfast this morning. The coffee’s on the stove.”
Lainie pulled a mug from the cupboard and reached for the coffeepot. “How many people did you say were going to be there?”
Elizabeth counted on her fingers. “Well, I guess anything up to about twenty-seven or twenty-eight or so is a good possibility.” She looked at the table and her forehead furrowed. “I hope I made enough pies.”
“Are you taking the whole meal?”
“Heavens, no. This is just the baking. And I made a few other things just to fill in—ambrosia, scalloped corn, cranberry relish—just in case.” She dropped into a kitchen chair and surveyed the bounty spread around her. “Pour me a cup of coffee and hand me a plate, would you, sweetie? I believe I’ll join you in a bite of breakfast. I’m at a good stopping place.”
Lainie cleared a spot at the table and pushed the butter and jam to where Elizabeth could reach them.
“This is a lot of stuff to get up to the ranch.”
“Fayette’s going to come by. Between her big old trunk and her big old backseat, we ought to be able to get it all in. And if we have any that won’t fit, I’ll just send it along with you and Ray. When’s he coming?”
Lainie shrugged and reached for another roll. “He said he’d call this morning and see what’s going on. I think he had some paperwork he was hoping to get done this morning before we left.”
“Well, I hope he doesn’t work too long. This is a day for giving thanks for all God’s many blessings, not for working.” Elizabeth got up to pull another pan of rolls out of the oven.
“And you’ve been working since what time? Long before dawn, anyway. And that’s just this morning. I’m not even talking about the rest of this week.”
“This? This is just feeding folks, and I love doing it. It’s one of the things I miss most about living on the ranch.”
“Well, feeding folks seems an awful lot like work to me.”
“I can see how it would, since that’s what you do every day at the Dip ’n’ Dine, but this is a labor of love, and I look forward to it.”
Lainie stretched her legs out in front of her and cradled her coffee cup in her hands. The early morning sun poured through the windows, and Sam stretched out in a patch of sunlight on the kitchen floor and half closed his eyes. The smell of freshly ground coffee mingled with the yeasty aroma of hot bread and the fragrance of the spicy pies. Lainie leaned down and rubbed a finger under Sam’s chin, and his purr filled the kitchen. She got to her feet and gave Elizabeth a hug before she headed back to the bathroom.
Elizabeth looked up and smiled. “What’s that for?”
“Nothing. Just feeling thankful, that’s all. I’m going to go get a shower if you don’t need me for anything.”
“No, you go on. Oh, there’s the phone. Get that for me, will you? Now that I’m sitting down, I don’t want to get up.”
Lainie answered the phone and smiled when she heard Ray’s voice.
“I’m not calling too early, am I?”
“Are you kidding? Your grandma’s been up since way before dawn cooking.”
“Sounds like her. Listen, things here are a little more complicated than I thought they’d be. Do you think you could catch a ride to the ranch with Gran and I could meet you there? I should be there by dinner, but I don’t want to hold you up.”
Disappointment settled like a lump in Lainie’s stomach. “I don’t mind waiting for you. Is there something I could help you with so you could finish up sooner?”
“No, I wish you could. I’m the only one who can deal with it and it needs taking care of right away. If you waited I’d just feel bad about keeping you, so I’ll just meet you there this afternoon.”
Lainie turned to Elizabeth, who sat listening to her side of the conversation with an ever-darkening scowl on her face.
“Can I ride with you? Ray’s tied up till later.”
Elizabeth pursed her lips and held out her hand. “Let me have that phone.” Lainie handed it over without a word.
“Raymond Joseph? What’s so important that you can’t spend Thanksgiving with your famil
y? . . . I don’t care about your paperwork. I care about having my family together, and this is as near to my whole family as I’ve had in nearly a year. And now you say you’re not even coming . . . When? We’re sitting down about 2:30, you know . . . Okay, but I’m about as put out as I’ve been in I don’t know how long. Bye-bye. I love you too.”
She handed the phone back to Lainie and sat puffing like a steam engine and batting back tears. “That blasted bar. Not one good thing has come from having that place in Last Chance. Not one.”
Lainie returned the receiver to its cradle, a little shocked at the force of Elizabeth’s language. “Well, I guess I need a ride. Think there’ll be room for me and all this?” She swept a hand around the kitchen.
Elizabeth put her hands on the table and pushed herself to her feet. She blew out a sigh and gave Lainie a resigned smile. “Of course there’ll be room for you. It’s all this food we need to figure out how to carry. I just pray I’ve cooled off by the time I see Ray this afternoon or I’m liable to snatch him bald-headed. Missing most of Thanksgiving Day because he decided to work instead. I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
Truth be told, Lainie’s Thanksgiving had been colored by Ray’s phone call too. Ray wasn’t moody and unpredictable, was he? She didn’t want moody and unpredictable, not now, not ever again.
By the time Fayette’s old car pulled up in front of Elizabeth’s house later that morning, Elizabeth’s mood had turned sunny again, and she was humming to herself in the kitchen.
“Don’t worry about Ray. I’m sure he’ll turn up when he said he would and you can ride home with him. If his worst failing is that he’s too responsible, I guess we can forgive him.”
Welcome to Last Chance Page 12
