Smoke, darker than the clouds rolling in from the southwest, billowed upward until the wind caught it and spread it out over the whole county. The blaze had engulfed the whole house, and even though the firemen sprayed every drop of water they had on it, the house and all its contents were devoured.
Truman and Dora June stood beside their pickup truck, shock written on their faces as they watched fifty years of their married life go up in flames. Katy wasted no time in marching right up to Dora June and wrapping her arms around her.
“It’s all gone.” Dora June broke down in sobs against Katy’s shoulder.
“Don’t cry, Dora June,” Truman said. “I hate it when you cry, but if you hadn’t left them Christmas tree lights on…”
Dora June pushed away from Katy, put both hands on Truman’s chest, and shoved him backward against the cold truck fender. “Don’t you go blamin’ me. It was probably that extension cord you wrapped duct tape around because you were too cheap to buy a new one.”
“You don’t need to talk to me like that…”
Dora June’s forefinger shot up. “Truman O’Dell, you are a scrooge.”
Katy stepped between them. “Why or how this happened is not as important as where you go from here, as in right now, so both of you settle down. Do y’all have a place to go tonight?”
Dora June shook her head. “Martha’s granddaughter is getting a divorce and staying with her until she gets on her feet. Henrietta’s got a grandson and his family over at her place until after Christmas. He’s got a month’s leave in between duty stations in the service. And Ruby has company coming next week. I guess we’ll have to go to Throckmorton or Wichita Falls to a hotel.”
Fiona moved to stand beside Katy. “Mama, you aren’t going to…,” she whispered.
“Love thy neighbor,” Katy whispered back, and then turned to Dora June. “Don’t be silly. Audrey’s Place has lots of room. You can stay there until you make a decision about this place.”
Fiona sucked air right along with her sisters. Had her mother really just offered to take Truman and Dora June home after the way they’d behaved the past year? Lord have mercy! It might be the Christmas season when love abounded and the preacher might have preached on loving your neighbor, but Truman and Dora June? Fiona’s nose twitched and her eyes dried out before she remembered to blink.
“I’ll live in my old store building on Main Street before I live in a whorehouse,” Truman snapped.
“You might but I’m not,” Dora June smarted back at him. “Katy, I appreciate the offer but I can’t climb steps with these old knees.”
“You and Truman can have my bedroom. It’s downstairs. It even has its own private bath,” Katy said.
Dammit! Why didn’t her mother simply smile and nod? Everyone could appreciate the lovely Christian gesture without having to endure the pain of the reality if they took her up on the offer.
“I will not sleep in a room where a whorehouse madam did and you are not going to either, Dora June.” Truman crossed his arms over his chest.
“Then you go sleep in that drafty old rat-infested building that doesn’t even have a shower. Last time we checked, the potty wouldn’t flush and the sink wouldn’t drain. You can take your meals at Nadine’s. I’m going home with Katy since she’s been so sweet.” Dora June turned around and marched over to Katy’s car.
“You are welcome to change your mind,” Katy said.
Fiona clamped her jaws shut tightly to keep from saying anything. If Truman and Dora June moved into Audrey’s Place, then Fiona would spend her evenings over at the Lucky Penny with her sisters. Hell, she might even move in with them or else take up residence in the travel trailer if Jud didn’t.
Truman stomped over to Katy’s car and opened the passenger door. “I’ll go, but I don’t like it one bit.”
Dora June crawled out of the car. “Well, you ain’t goin’ to like this a bit better. We’re going to the church to get some clothing to last for a few days until we can shop.”
Truman groaned and rolled his eyes. “I hate charity.”
“Pride is a dangerous thing,” Fiona told him, repeating the words her mother had said to her.
“Listen to her.” Dora June crawled into the truck. “Be glad we weren’t at home takin’ our usual Sunday afternoon nap or we be dead. And be thankful that we still have a truck to drive and that your livestock wasn’t burned up. God’s been good to you, Truman.”
“If he’d been good to me, I’d be sleeping in my house right now and not watching it finish burning to the ground. Come on, woman. I’ll take us to the church and then to that horrible house,” Truman snorted.
“We will see you in an hour, and thank you, Katy,” Dora June said.
“Mama, what in the hell have you done?” Lizzy whispered.
“I’ve loved my neighbor. And you will, too. It will teach us all some patience.”
“It might get me thrown in jail.”
In a few long strides, Jud joined them.
“For what?” he asked.
“Mama just invited Truman and Dora June to live with us,” Fiona said.
“That’s sweet of you, but I’m surprised Truman agreed,” Jud said.
“It’s amazing what an old coot will agree to do when it’s freezing outside, his house is gone, and the toilet won’t work in his shack of a building on Main Street.” Fiona sighed. “And we were going to have a family evening one day this week and put up the Christmas decorations.”
“We still can,” Jud said. “Christmas is my favorite holiday and not even Truman is going to ruin it.”
Blake joined them but he was not smiling. “Katy, are you sure about this? Allie and Lizzy are not happy.”
“We can’t do any good here,” Katy said. “So we’re going back to the house and y’all are going to help me clear out my bedroom and move my things to one of the rooms upstairs.”
“Yes, ma’am, but—” Fiona said.
Katy held up a palm. “No more buts, remember?”
It was really happening. Katy gave orders and everyone, including Jud and Deke, obeyed. Clothing was carried up to another room. Drawers were emptied and the dresser cleaned off—everything gotten ready for guests. Lizzy and Allie had put clean sheets on the bed and fresh towels out in the bathroom.
“Now we’ve got about five minutes before Dora June and Truman get here.” Katy led the way into the living room. “Lizzy, tell me what it says about heaping coals in the good book.”
“It says something about being kind to your enemies and it will be like heaping coals of fire upon his head. Poor old Truman’s brain is most likely burning like hell about now,” Lizzy said seriously.
“He probably won’t even come out of his room when we come over here for a visit,” Blake said.
Katy nodded and smiled. “Dora June loves Christmas, so she’ll love helping with the tree when we put it up. Besides, it will help her feel some normalcy after losing everything she had. I bet some of the ornaments on her tree were handed down from her mother and grandmother, just like ours were.”
Allie nodded. “That which does not kill us makes us stronger, right?”
“Who are you trying to convince? Yourself or the rest of us? And if that saying is true, I’ll be able to bench press a damn steer by the time Christmas rolls around.” Fiona rolled her eyes.
A soft rap on the kitchen door brought Katy to her feet. “Fiona, you’d best come with me to welcome them.”
“That’s only fair since she’s had to put up with the least crap from them,” Lizzy muttered.
“I expect I’m about to make up for that at least twelve-fold,” Fiona said through clenched teeth.
“You sure you don’t want to move back into the travel trailer?” Blake asked Jud.
Fiona transferred her mean look toward her brother-in-law. “No, he does not. I need all the backup I can get, so don’t you even answer that question, Jud Dawson.”
“Smart sister you got there, Lizzy,” Toby said.
“I told you she got all the brains.” Lizzy rolled up on her tiptoes and kissed Toby on the cheek.
Fiona stood to the side and let Katy open the door. Looking at those two old folks standing there with plastic grocery bags full of used clothing, she felt a stab of pity and guilt. Not so much that she didn’t still wish they’d have been able to find housing at one of Dora June’s friends, but she knew what it was like to hit rock bottom.
“Come right in and from now on, this is your home, so you don’t have to knock,” Katy said.
“Can I help you with those bags?” Fiona asked.
“We’ve got it. I’ve been here often enough with committee meetings to know where to go. Thank you again, Katy.” Dora June headed across the kitchen, through the dining room, into the foyer, and to the bedroom at the end. “I’ll be right back.”
“How much rent do you want?” Truman stopped inside the door, his thin face set like stone and his nose tilted up a couple of inches.
“We won’t take a penny from you,” Fiona said.
“I don’t take charity. I’ll pay you same as if it were a hotel.”
“Truman, pride carries a lot of pain with it, so let go of it and hush about charity,” Fiona told him. “I’ll show you the way to your room.”
Dora June met Truman in the doorway. “You go on and take your afternoon nap or take a shower to get all the smoke off you if you want to. I’ve got things to say to this family and then I’m going to help clean up those dinner dishes from the dining room table.”
“You don’t have to do that. You are guests,” Fiona said.
“If I don’t have to knock, then I’m not a guest.” Dora June tilted her head up, stretching all of her chins. “Is everyone waiting in the living room?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Fiona said.
Dora June removed her coat and tossed it on top of the bags, smoothed back her gray hair, and marched back through the foyer. She didn’t stop until she was in the middle of the floor with the family all around her.
“Here’s what I’m going to do,” she said with authority. “Truman will be gone over to our place taking care of things like normal. He’ll be here for breakfast, lunch, and supper because that’s the way he is. Tomorrow we are going to the grocery store and I will buy food and do the cooking for whoever wants to come around for those meals.”
“That’s not—” Katy started.
One of Dora June’s palms shot up. “Let me finish. If I had to live in a hotel, I’d be crazy in a week with nothing to do. You’ve given me a nice place to stay and I will take care of the cooking and the cleaning of the downstairs. I can’t climb them steps with my knees or I’d do the whole house, but the rest is what I need to do to keep myself from thinkin’ about what has happened today.”
She sat down in a rocking chair. “Truman ain’t none too happy anyway and he’ll feel less like he’s takin’ charity if I help out around here. It won’t be but a few weeks at the most while we decide whether to build or just buy a trailer and park it somewhere on our property, but while we are here, let me help, please.”
“Thank you.” Jud smiled. “That will give me more time to work on the Lucky Penny. I bet you cook like my granny back home in Muenster.”
Dora June smiled for the first time. “I’ll fatten you right up, Mr. Dawson.”
Fiona followed Jud’s lead. “It will take a load off me and Mama when we have to work all day at the store, so thank you, Dora June. But you don’t have to buy all the groceries to feed us.”
“Yes, I do and yes, I will. Now I’m going on back there to take a nap with Truman. He’s an old bear and he hates Christmas, so if Jesus Christ himself told him the lights didn’t cause that fire, Truman wouldn’t believe him. But I know how to handle him, so don’t worry.” Dora June stood up and a few minutes later they heard the bedroom door shut softly.
“So you get a maid and a cook,” Allie said.
“Silver lining, but it don’t mean the cloud isn’t jet black,” Fiona answered back. “You want a maid? I can send them over to you.”
“No thank you,” Allie and Lizzy said together.
Jud removed a gallon of milk from the refrigerator and filled a glass to the brim. He set that on the table and went back to the cabinet to cut a slab of chocolate cake from the pan. He had just put the first forkful into his mouth when Fiona peeked around the door frame.
“Whew!” She wiped her brow dramatically. “I thought it might be Truman in here for a late night snack and I sure don’t want to deal with him tonight.”
“Just me, but if you think he might prowl around, we could take it to the hall upstairs and sit on the floor,” Jud said.
“Sounds like an excellent idea. I’ll meet you up there in five minutes. I came after the same thing you’ve got going,” she said.
Nine doors flanked the two sides and end of the wide hall. Six led into bedrooms and one into a linen closet. One opened up to a set of stairs leading to the attic. The ninth door had a cute little plaque on the outside that let everyone know it was the necessary room.
Tucked into one nook was a pair of dark crimson wing-back chairs that flanked a small table with a lamp. An old oak credenza stood straight across the hall from it. The bathroom at the end of the hall sported an ancient claw-foot tub, quite possibly put into the house when it was built.
Jud had cracked the bathroom door enough to let a sliver of light out and was hidden at the end of the credenza when Fiona showed up. She tiptoed even though she was barefoot and walking on carpet. One hand held a glass of milk, the other a chunk of cake twice as big as what Jud had. She sat down to his left and balanced the cake on her lap. A picture of Rudolph all tangled up in Christmas lights was printed on her knit sleep shirt. The faded red bottoms were baggy enough that Jud had no doubt they could have fit Dora June, but she looked so damn cute he could hardly keep his hands off her.
“So you couldn’t sleep, either? Worried about the new houseguests?” His voice was barely above a whisper.
“I’m not sure I’m comfortable turning so much of the housework over to Dora June. I know she can do it and she wants to, but dammit! I like to cook and this is the first time in ages that I can make anything I want. I’ve been looking forward to making Christmas cookies and decorating them,” Fiona admitted.
“Just tell her that you are making cookies or candy or cakes. Do you make those Martha Washington candy things? I’ll shoot them both and drag their bodies off to the back of the property if they get in your way of making those. Next to Aunt Bill’s fudge, they are my all-time favorite and I don’t get either very often.”
Fiona nodded. “Yes, I make both but I didn’t have anyone to eat them with this past year. And I was too busy to make candy or cookies when I was married.”
The thin ray of light from the bathroom lit up a smear of chocolate icing on the corner of her mouth. He shifted his position until he was in front of her, sitting with his legs crossed and his knees touching hers.
“What?” she said as he leaned forward.
“Chocolate. Be still.” He wiped it away with his thumb and then licked it off.
Little lightning bolts shooting around in the landing were so real that he expected to hear thunder rolling, but nothing happened. Women had never affected Jud Dawson like that, but there was something about those luscious full lips that begged to be kissed and it was far different than any bar bunny he’d ever picked up.
She scraped the icing stuck to her plate with her finger and licked it off.
He followed her lead and cleaned his plate with his finger. “Want me to take the plates down to the kitchen? No need in both of us going.”
She shook her head. “We’ll leave them on the credenza and take them in the morning. Good night, Jud.”
He stood up, took the dirty dishes from her, set them on the credenza, and then offered her his hand. When she took it, he pulled her to her feet and kept right on until she was plastered against his chest. He hadn’t planned on kissing her until he saw her moisten her lips with the tip of her tongue. He shut his eyes and simply followed sparks right to those sweet lips he’d wanted to kiss all evening.
The bristle of Jud’s beard tickled Fiona’s face as his lips moved over hers. She’d never been an impulsive person, so why in the devil was she kissing Jud so passionately? Using both hands, Jud brushed her hair back, kissed her on the forehead, then the tip of her nose and moved back to her lips.
His tongue eased its way into her mouth, igniting fires that she thought she might never feel again. Her insides went all oozy, begging for more than a touch, more than a series of hot perfect kisses.
She covered his hands with hers and gently pulled them away from her face. “Enough,” she whispered hoarsely.
“Depends on who’s calling the shots.” His sexy drawl had deepened to a rasp.
“Let’s not start something we can’t finish,” she whispered, and then gasped when she heard the turn of a doorknob across the landing.
She backed up against the wall just as the door opened and Katy stepped out in a long flannel nightgown that went from neck to toes.
“There’s more cake in the kitchen if y’all can’t sleep.” Katy yawned.
“We just had some and were about to turn in,” Jud said, as if nothing had happened.
“Well, then hand me those dirty dishes. I woke up hungry and I’m going down to the kitchen for a glass of milk. Good night to you both,” Katy said.
“I feel like a sophomore,” Jud chuckled when Katy disappeared down the steps.
“Me too, but we can’t do this again.” Fiona’s breath came out in a long gasp.
He ran a finger down her jawbone. “Why? I kind of enjoyed it.”
She turned around and opened her bedroom door. “I’m leaving town, maybe not next week or even before summer. But still, I’m not going to be here long-term. Can’t get any simpler or easier to understand than that.”
“But you’ll be around for a little while. I’m not asking for a lifetime commitment here, Fiona. We are two adults and we could have some fun. Besides, it might help you forget that rotten ex of yours,” he said.
She had a smart remark on the tip of her tongue that got lost in his soft brown eyes. She wanted to kiss him again. Hell, she wanted to do more than act like sophomores in high school. She wanted to be half of a consenting adult couple and pull him through the open door into her bedroom.
No, no! the voice in her head screamed. Get a hold of your emotions or you’ll make the second biggest mistake of your life. This is not a part of your new plan.
“What are you thinking about so seriously, Fiona? A few kisses don’t mean a stroll down the aisle. I enjoyed kissing you,” Jud said.
“I was thinking of my new plan, and it doesn’t involve getting into a relationship of any kind,” she said honestly.
“You are beautiful when you are serious. But then you’re pretty damn cute when you are kicking the shit out of a blown truck tire.” He grinned.
It had been a very long time since anyone had told her that she was pretty or had teased her about her temper. “I guess it goes with the red hair and green eyes. I’m told that the original owner of this place, Miz Audrey, had red hair and a wicked temper.”
“Hey…” He braced his back against the wall. “Since you don’t like it here and you could live anywhere in the whole world, where would it be?”
“Any big city where no one knows me or my past,” she answered quickly. “I’ve been thinking about Austin or maybe San Antonio. What about you?”
“Right here. I’ve waited for the Lucky Penny my whole life.”
“Why?” She frowned. “It’s a run-down old ranch except for the part that Lizzy bought from Deke. Even that isn’t anything to brag about.”
“Because all three of us have always wanted to build something from nothing. To be able to tell our kids when we are old that no one gave us this land or this ranch, that we had to dig it out of the earth and work our asses off to have it. There’s something satisfying about that,” Jud said.
“Didn’t Toby already do that with some place he had up around Muenster?” She looped her hands around her legs and braced her chin on her knees.
“He did but it wasn’t nearly the challenge this is. We were all born a hundred years too late, I guess. We should have been ranchers back in free-range days or when the state was being settled.”
“You wouldn’t have had bulldozers and tractors in those days,” she said.
“We would have had Audrey’s in all its glory. I wonder what those ladies who lived in our bedrooms looked like.” He grinned.
She slapped at his shoulder. “I hated the stigma of this place when I was a teenager. Boys thought Lizzy and I would be easy because of the reputation it has.”
“Not Allie?”
“No, she started dating Riley when they were kids and she never went out with anyone else. It broke her heart when she found out he’d been unfaithful their whole married life.”
“And you? How bad was your heart broken?”
“At the time, I was more angry than hurt. Especially about my job. We’d been fighting so much that divorce had crossed my mind several times.”
“Y’all still up?” Katy asked as she topped the staircase and headed to her room.
“Just going to bed now. Good night, Miz Katy,” Jud said.
“’Nite, Mama.” Fiona took a couple of long strides and gave her mother a hug.
She’d started back across the hall when Jud put a finger over his lips and pointed. Sure enough, there was the squeak of the refrigerator door as it opened and then the definite sound of the light switch. After that they heard Dora June asking Truman if he’d eaten half the chocolate cake and him fussing about not having a single bite.
“Sleepy?” he whispered.
She shook her head.
“It isn’t even ten o’clock yet. Let’s take this conversation into my room. I promise to leave my bad boy ways out here and you can have the rocking chair,” he said.
She followed him into his room and noticed he hadn’t been lying about neatness. Everything in the room was in place. Not even a magazine thrown on the dresser or a pair of boots kicked off beside the bed.
She sat down on the edge of the bed, feet on the floor, hands folded in her lap. He took the rocking chair and nonchalantly propped his bare feet up on the footboard of the bed. Her imagination jumped the tracks and went completely wild. What would it be like to have those feet tangled up with hers in this very bed? Would they be cold in the night or would his whole body be as hot as it looked in those Dallas Cowboy pajama pants and that navy blue thermal knit shirt?
“My sister, Josie, and I argue about everything, but I miss talking to her since I came here,” he said.
“I thought you’d been living out in the panhandle and working for an oil company. Did you major in geology in college?” Fiona pulled her feet up on the bed, glad that she was wearing socks. There was something personal and even sexy about bare feet.
“Josie and I both did. Geology with a business agriculture minor for both of us. The oil company gave us a trailer to live in as part of our benefit package. She’s still got a couple of months left on her contract and then she’ll decide whether she wants to sign on for another year or not.”
Fiona propped two pillows behind her and got comfortable. “I’ve missed adult conversation, too. Talking to my sisters on the phone was nice, but it’s better to see who you are visiting with.”
Especially when he was a damn fine-looking cowboy.
“So tell me more about Fiona the businesswoman,” Jud said.
“She was a hardworking woman who went in early, stayed late, and got the job done. She had a few promotions and raises and then it all went in the crapper and she found out how the other half lives.”
“Starbucks?” He laced his hands behind his head and leaned back in the overstuffed rocker and recliner combination. “Would you please toss me one of those throws on the end of the bed?”
She picked it up and threw it over the footboard as he pulled the lever on the side of the chair. Suddenly his feet disappeared. He covered them with the burgundy throw and looked at her from a reclining position.
“Not Starbucks. Just a little coffee shop that went belly-up when Starbucks put in a shop at the end of our block,” she answered, disappointed that he was covered completely.
“I worked flipping burgers one summer at a Sonic,” he said. “And one summer in college, I spent the whole three months doing gigs as a rodeo clown. Josie wants to invest in rodeo stock—bulls mostly. She would like to ride but she’s about as coordinated as a hippo on ice skates.”
“She sounds like she could be my friend,” Fiona said.
“Probably. You are both strong-willed, determined, and outspoken,” he chuckled.
They talked until midnight when Fiona made a joke about turning into a pumpkin and stood up, stretching from one side to the other with her hands over her head.
“And now it’s time for Cinderella to rush away across the hall in her golden coach, right?”
She giggled. “This Cinderella doesn’t even have a rusty old pickup anymore.”
He popped the recliner down and walked her to the door. “I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”
“Ahhh,” she sighed theatrically. “My Prince Charming will race to my rescue in a big black club-cab truck.”
“You bet your sweet little Southern ass he will.” Jud tipped up her chin with his fist. “He will even let you ride in the front seat.”
She fought the desire to roll up on her toes for a good night kiss. “Thank you for that and for the conversation.”
He kissed her on the forehead. His soft lips right above her eyes at that time of night when everything was so intimate anyway was almost more than her nerves could stand.
She had to get out of his room or else drag him back to the bed, tear that shirt up over that muscled abdomen, and slip her hand beneath the elastic band of those Dallas Cowboy pajama pants.
With that vision in her head, she backed out of his room and hurried to her own bedroom. She threw herself on the bed and stared at the dark ceiling. It was going to be a long, long winter.