CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The cool shower water beating down on her body reminded Tawny of playing in the summer rain when she was a little girl. Her mother would have probably cut off all ties with Granny Annie if she’d known how often they were allowed to run around in the rain in their underwear.
She was padding across her bedroom with a towel around her body when the phone rang. Expecting it to be Dana fussing at her for being late, she picked it up and said, “Give me ten minutes and don’t eat all the meat lover’s.”
“What are you talking about?” her mother asked bluntly.
“Hello, Mama,” Tawny said.
“So how are things in the boondocks?”
“Great. Wonderful, actually. Why don’t you come up and spend the weekend? I can get you a discount on a cabin.” Tawny propped the phone on her shoulder and towel-dried her hair as she talked.
“No, thank you. I’m not interested in spending one minute there. I didn’t like staying overnight when your father was alive, so I’m sure not going there again. I called to tell you that I pulled some really big strings and got you back into college for next semester.”
Tawny dropped the towel. “How did you do that?”
Did this mean that her mother was finally coming around? Could they possibly have a decent adult relationship?
“Does it matter? You get to finish your degree. Of course you’ll be on probation, but you’ll have it all done in one semester, so that’s no big deal.”
Leaning back in her chair, she looked at her bookcase full of sentimental items—the latest was a beautiful monarch butterfly that had died in the laundry room that day, prompting her thought about Brook needing to spread her wings at least once a week.
“Are you there?” Retha’s tone was demanding.
“Thanks, but no thanks. I’m not going back to college. I don’t need a degree with this new job. But next time you are flying through Dallas on one of your trips, call me and I’ll drive up to the airport and we’ll have lunch or dinner.”
Retha’s snort said that wasn’t going to happen. “I’m as disappointed in you as I am in Harper.”
“Mother, you are going to end up a lonely old lady, but it’s not too late to turn things around. We probably won’t ever have the kind of relationship Dana has with her mother or that we all had with Granny, but we could start to build some kind of foundation.” Tawny tried to reach the thermostat to turn down the air-conditioning, but the cord wouldn’t go that far.
“Your granny Annie gave me a lecture one time about your father. She had the opinion that he was a king and needed to be treated like one. But anyway, she said that sometimes the door gets shut and no one can open it. You might remember that. This offer isn’t for anything other than the fall semester,” Retha said.
“I’ll hope that you change your mind, and if you do, you know where to get in touch with us.” Tawny eased the phone back onto the base. Her mother was the one shutting that door.
She jerked on a pair of denim shorts and covered a red tank top with a plaid shirt, slipped her feet into flip-flops and twisted her hair up into a wet ponytail. It didn’t really matter what she looked like that evening, because she would be the fifth wheel. She thought about begging off, but she was hungry and pizza sounded really good.
The night air was muggy, so she pulled off the shirt and tied it around her waist before she got to Dana’s house. Strange how for years the little two-bedroom home was Granny Annie’s house, and after only a month, she was already thinking of it as Dana’s. She didn’t knock but yelled when she entered through the kitchen door. Everyone but Brook and Johnny was gathered around the table, paper plates in hand as they loaded them up. The two kids were in the living room sitting on one of Granny’s old quilts on the floor.
Tawny glanced over at Brook and asked, “Why aren’t y’all goin’ outside?”
“It’s too hot out there,” Brook said. “And besides, we don’t want to listen to old people talk, so we’re having an air-conditioned pizza picnic. Get your food and come eat with us in here, Aunt Tawny. This is Johnny, and his uncle Nick is in the bathroom washing up. This is my aunt Tawny.”
“Thank you for not grouping me in with the old people.” Tawny smiled. “Nice to meet you, Johnny.” The kid was exactly as Brook had described him. A boy with skin the color of coffee with lots and lots of cream in it, and jet-black hair that tickled his shirt collar. He blushed slightly and nodded. Poor kid was every bit as shy as Brook said, but he seemed to be perfectly comfortable with her.
“Well, I’m takin’ mine outside,” Payton declared. “I’ve been on a delivery truck all day.”
“And I’ve been cooped up in a store with minnows and worms, so I’m going outside, too,” Dana declared.
To stay in with the kids and Johnny’s old uncle or to go outside and be a fifth wheel—those were Tawny’s options. She sure didn’t want to hinder Dana’s time with Payton, so with a sigh, she put another slice of pizza on her plate. She was on the way to the living room, hoping that Uncle Nick would be a sweet old guy like Uncle Zed, when a movement caught her eye in the hallway.
Holy almighty hell were the three words that ran through her mind when she looked up at the gorgeous hunk of man not four feet in front of her. His coal-black hair was pulled into a thick braid that hung down his back at least a foot, but the top and sides were trimmed neatly. An artist would have trouble capturing all the angles and planes in his face, and his lips—good Lord, she wanted to taste them. Speaking of, his yellow T-shirt stretched over a six-pack of abs that said he was a hardworking man.
He smiled and stuck out his hand. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Nick Eagle, Johnny’s uncle.”
Forgetting that she had a plate in her hand, Tawny stuck it out to shake with him and the pizza started to slide to the floor. He caught it upside down before it hit the floor and put it back on her plate. Heat rose from her neck and rushed to her cheeks.
“And that clumsy lady is my aunt Tawny,” Brook said from the quilt. “I’m glad you caught her pizza. I would have been tempted to eat it off the floor to keep from wasting it.”
“You wouldn’t!” Johnny exclaimed.
“We don’t waste good pizza in this house,” Brook said seriously.
“Hope you like scrambled pizza,” Nick said. “I’ll have to go wash my hands again before I shake yours.”
“I’m so sorry. Th-thank you.” She stumbled over the words like a sixth-grade girl.
“No problem. Be right back,” Nick said.
She sat down at the table, grabbed a beer, opened it, and downed a fourth of it fast to cool her cheeks. He’d returned by the time she set the bottle on the table. No matter how hard she tried to keep it inside and ladylike, the burp sounded like it came from a three-hundred-pound truck driver.
“Way to go, Aunt Tawny!” Brook laughed.
“I didn’t know girls could do that,” Johnny whispered, but his words carried across the living room into the tiny dining area.
“Sorry.” Tawny’s blush deepened.
“Not bad manners, just good beer,” Nick said.
“Want a beer?” Tawny asked.
“No, thanks—we all stopped after Johnny’s mama was killed by a drunk driver. Made Mama happy, because me and my brother liked to party,” he said. “But don’t let me stop you from enjoying yours. I’ll just have a root beer.”
“Was it hard to . . .” She stumbled again as her mind slipped into the gutter. “Was it difficult to not drink anymore?”
“Oh, honey, you’ll never know. It was worse than quittin’ smokin’, which I did at the same time.” Nick put three slices of pizza on a plate. “We goin’ to sit in here or join them kids?”
Tawny didn’t trust herself to walk across the floor. “I think maybe I’d better sit here, as clumsy as I am tonight.”
“Table it is.” Nick nodded. “So what do you do in this business, Miz Tawny?”
“I’m in charge of books and sheets.” And there was the blush again, this time thanks to a vision of his beautiful, permanently tanned body all tangled up in white sheets. “As in the laundry,” she said quickly. “Brook and I take care of maid duties, and I’m the bookkeeper, too. My sister Harper is in the café with Uncle Zed.”
“I met her today when I went in there for burgers to take with us on our fishin’ trip,” Nick said. “And Dana takes care of the store, right?”
“Yes, and she’s taken over the checkin’ in and out for me so I can do the cleaning. What do you do?”
Besides modeling? Their eyes locked somewhere in the middle of the table. Or maybe you own and run a gym?
“I’m a carpenter. My brother and I build houses,” he said. “Not big fancy ones, but small ones that people around here can afford. My mama is the one who takes care of our books. Keeps us busy, especially around the lake, where folks usually just want summer places built.”
“How long have you been doing that?” She loved the sound of his soft drawl. Maybe she could take him home. He could sit beside her bed and read the phone book to her until she fell asleep.
Get ahold of yourself, girl. Someone as pretty as he is has to have a whole line of girls already on his dance card. A clumsy blonde wouldn’t have a chance with this hunky guy.
“I started working with my brother before I ever graduated. Summertime and after school. Soon as I finished high school six years ago, I got brought in as a full partner.” Praise the Lord! That would make him about twenty-four. Dana couldn’t yell at her that he was old enough to be her father.
He leaned forward and lowered his voice. “I’m so glad that Johnny has Brook for a new friend, by the way. He’s been so lost since his mama died and his daddy’s tour has been long. This week he’s smiled more than he has in two years.”
“Brook had a bad experience with her friend last week. We’re glad that she found Johnny, too,” Tawny said softly.
Nick leaned back and picked up a slice of pepperoni. “How about you? What did you do before you came here?”
“I was in college until December. Got into trouble and was asked to leave, so I worked in a coffee shop until I came here.”
“Freshman?” Nick reached for another slice at the same time she did, and their hands brushed.
What in the devil was wrong with her? She hadn’t been this nervous about a guy since her first date. No, that was wrong. She hadn’t even been this jittery back then.
“Senior. Needed a semester to have my degree, but I’ve decided that it’s not that important. How about you? Did you go to college around here?”
“Hated school. Couldn’t wait to get out so I could work full-time.” He bit into the pizza. “Romano’s makes the best ever.”
Are you married? Do you have a girlfriend? Are all the women in this area crazy? Questions bombarded her mind, but she said, “You got that right. I even like frozen pizza. Lived on it and ramen noodles every week when my money ran out.”
“Never had to eat that kind of thing. Mama makes supper for us every night so we can spend some time with Johnny.”
“You live with her?” A picture flashed through her mind of Marcus Green and his cat. Lord help! Was she drawn to men who were mama’s boys?
“No, me and my brother, Drake, built our own house with our first year’s profit,” he said proudly. “Close to her and close to the lake so we can get in some fishin’ most evenings if we have the energy.”
“Hey, y’all.” Dana came in the back door. “I see you’ve met. It’s starting to rain, so we’re coming into the house. Anyone want to watch a movie?”
“No, let’s play poker,” Brook said. “Nothing smaller than a nickel or bigger than a dime.”
“You serious?” Nick asked.
“Sure, the foreman at the ranch where we used to live played with me and Mama lots. He was real into gambling.”
“I’m in.” Tawny finished her pizza and licked her fingers.
Zed leaned back under the roof as he smoked his second cigarette. There wasn’t a whisper of a breeze, so the rain was coming straight down. Some of it splattered on his boots, but he didn’t care. It smelled wonderful and it cleared the air, making it easier for him to breathe.
It was straight up ten o’clock when Tawny appeared out of the shadows. She carried her shoes in one hand but held both arms out as she sang and danced in the rain. Harper could sing like an angel, but Tawny, God love her little soul, couldn’t carry a tune. Annie used to say that the angels used earplugs when that girl opened her mouth. But she was so happy that evening that her voice put a smile on Zed’s face.
When she finished, she took a bow and ran over to where Zed was sitting. She plopped down beside him.
“Must’ve been some damn good pizza. You freezin’?” He chuckled.
Water made a puddle around her feet. “I’m so happy that I can’t feel the cold, Uncle Zed. Do you know Nick Eagle? Is he a decent man?”
“The best. He’s the baby of the family, or was until they took Johnny in to help raise. They’re a good, hardworkin’ family.”
“Where’s his daddy?”
“Died when Nick was in junior high school. He was a carpenter, like those boys are, and he fell off a house. Broke his neck,” Zed said.
“Is Nick married?”
Zed could hardly sit still. He had to get into the apartment and tell Annie the good news, but he couldn’t ruin Tawny’s evening by leaving before she did. “Nope. Drake was for a few years, but it didn’t work out. ’Bout the time that Nick got out of high school, he and his wife split the blanket. Now he and Nick got them a little house on the other side of the lake,” he answered. “So you liked that little sissy braid he wears?”
“I did, and now I’m going to my cabin. Maybe I’ll even dream about him,” she said. “Playing in the rain reminded me of when I was a little girl and Granny let me catch raindrops on my tongue.”
“There’s a picture in her album of you doin’ that. She’d laugh every year when we got the pictures out and looked at them,” Zed said.
“Good night, Uncle Zed. I’m so glad that I’m here.” She kissed him on the top of his gray head and danced all the way to her cabin as she sang the lyrics to Blake and Miranda’s song, “You’re the Reason God Made Oklahoma.”
Tears ran down Zed’s cheeks. “Annie, did you hear that? Did you see her kiss me? Oh, my darlin’ Annie, this is the best night I’ve had since you went on ahead of me. She’s happy like them other two.”