Nellie and Ellen exchanged a look.
Jane bit back a grin.
"What are you doing this afternoon?" Jane asked.
"Plowing and I don't need any help," he said.
His heart hadn't stopped thumping since he looked up and saw her in the doorway wearing that dolphin T-shirt and faded jeans. Her hair was in a ponytail and she wore only a faint hint of eye makeup. Scuffed up brown work boots had replaced the Nikes. She'd never looked so damned beautiful and his mouth was so dry he didn't dare try to eat the sandwich. He wouldn't be able to swallow a damn bite of it.
"I hadn't planned on helping you but if you are plowing that acreage back in the southwest corner, don't bother. Nellie sold me five acres back there. I don't want it plowed or planted."
Slade's mouth dropped. "You did what?"
"She offered me a deal I can't refuse," Nellie said.
"I cannot believe you broke up our land to sell a stranger five acres," he said.
"Believe it. I did and she don't want the five-acre corner plowed, so leave it alone," Nellie said. "Besides, Jane's not a stranger."
Slade pushed back from the table, grabbed his hat from the back of his chair, slapped his leg with it five times and stomped out to his truck. Of all the scenarios he'd envisioned those nights he'd spent sitting on the hood of that blasted Mustang, he'd never even thought of anything like the one that had just played out.
He'd been right in the beginning. They couldn't abide each other in normal surroundings. It was only during the adrenaline rush of danger that they got along. Hell, even a spider and a rattlesnake could be friends in a situ ation like that. And now Nellie had sold the woman five acres. She'd be a thorn in his side forever. Hells bells, she was already telling him not to plow her five acres. He should have let John shoot her back down there in Baton Rouge.
After the meal was finished and the men gone back to work, Jane helped carry in the leftovers and dishes that needed washing. She ran a sink full of water and set about cleaning cutlery and glasses while Nellie and Ellen put away leftovers.
"Well, that went well," Jane said.
"Wasn't what I wanted," Ellen said.
"Nor me," Nellie shook her head. "He's so damn bullheaded. Just like his mother. His father wasn't like that."
"Give it time. It was a shock and I meant for it to be. I'm not in a hurry. I've got a job and five acres. It'll take a while to get the septic tank people out here and the electric company to put up a pole for me. By the time my new double-wide is delivered, I bet he's singing a different tune."
"Girl, you got more faith in that grandson of mine than I do," Nellie said. "His mother's genes are surfacing. She never could see the best thing right in front of her nose."
"He'd come unglued if he heard you say that," Jane said.
"Unhinged is more like it," Ellen said. "Lord, I'm glad you're back. Things were getting so dull around here, I was thinking about going back to Wichita Falls forever. Now I'm thinkin' maybe I'll talk Nellie out of the five acres on the other side of this place and put me in a double-wide. Things are poppin' again. I don't care if he don't never come to his senses, this is so damn much fun—I love it."
"Maybe I shouldn't have surprised him like that," Jane said.
"No, siree, that was just the ticket. Let's go shopping for something to wear to church tomorrow morning," Ellen said. "We haven't had a driver to take us anywhere since you left."
"Oh, come on, don't give me that line. You two have been to the Silver Saddle every week."
"Yes, but Slade hasn't got time to take us to the outlet mall and I'm naked for clothes," Ellen said.
Nellie rolled her eyes. "Your closet here is packed and you've got three closets in Wichita that wouldn't hold another hanger."
"I'll give them all away if you'll take us shopping. We could stop in that defunct food court and have one of them giant cinnamon buns. I'll even pay for it," Ellen begged.
"I'm working for Nellie," Jane said.
"Then I guess we'll go shopping," Nellie said. "I'll never hear the end of her whining if we don't. Want to shop for things for your new home?"
"Not now. One step at a time," she said. She felt like singing just to be back home. She was in no hurry to make big decisions such as what color towels to put in the bathroom.
At Burke's Outlet, Ellen bought two new outfits and Nellie goaded her into giving away two old ones when she got back home. "Nothing else comes in the house unless something goes out."
"That mean we have to throw Slade out to keep Jane? I vote we toss him out in the heat on his ear, the way he acted today. He could have at least been cordial instead of so damn stubborn," Ellen said.
"No, we're keeping both of them," Nellie said. "I'm already making plans for a swing set for the backyard."
Jane blushed.
"Isn't that why you came back? Why is your face red?" Ellen asked.
"I simply came home. I admit I love that rough-edged man, but if he doesn't love me then I'm still home."
"What are you going to do if he decides to stay a cantankerous old bachelor?" Ellen asked.
"Then I'm still home."
"What if he marries someone else?"
"Still home. Brokenhearted, but at home. I found my place and I'm not leaving. If it makes him uncomfort able, he can stay out of my way," she said.
"A woman with a mind of her own. I like it," Nellie said. "What do you think of this little dress for church tomorrow?"
"Good Lord, Nellie, we're old women. We can't wear sleeveless. We have bat wings." Ellen held up her arm and pointed at the flapping flesh.
"Well, I'll be hung from the nearest pecan tree with a rusty length of bailing wire. You just admitted that your body doesn't look like a teenager's," Nellie laughed.
"I most certainly did not. I just said we had flabby old bat wings and sleeveless dresses weren't our style," Ellen backtracked.
"How about this one for me?" Jane held up a sleeve less sheath the same color as her golden brown eyes. It had wooden buttons down the front and slits up to the thigh on both sides.
"Very nice and it's got a dot on the tag. Let's see it," Ellen said. "Yep, forty percent off the price."
Jane draped it over the cart. "Good buy. I think I should have it for church tomorrow."
"What all did you leave out there in Mississippi? Bet you left some dresses you could be wearing to church," Ellen eyed her carefully.
"No, my closets were cleaned out. What had been in them is now in the church closet for the needy. Wasn't anything there I wanted except my five horses, which will be arriving in a week. James tried to talk me out of them, too, but I couldn't part with them. Besides, Slade liked those five when he looked through the stables."
"What about keepsakes? Things your grandmother or mother had that were precious?" Nellie pried.
"They'll be coming along with the horses. Few boxes of things I didn't want to part with. Other than that, James bought it—lock, stock, and barrel."
"You had it all, girl."
"No, I had material things. Now I've got it all," Jane said.
Almost all. If I can talk that stubborn-headed mule of a man into believing I love him, then I'll have it all and never look back.
Chapter 17
THEY SAT SIDE BY SIDE IN THE CHURCH PEW, BOOKENDED with Nellie beside Slade and Ellen beside Jane. They sang a hymn, the choir sang something special, the preacher talked about the duties of a Christian soul in the community. The whole while all Jane could think about was how she'd like to drag Slade down to the Sunday school rooms and do things that would make the angels blush.
Stubborn mule of a man that he was, he hadn't spoken to her all morning beyond a cursory good morning. He hadn't even had a sharp barb to sling her way when she deliberately put sugar and pepper on her buttered biscuit.
Slade's mouth went dry when he sat down to the breakfast table that morning. Just to have her sitting there, even eating that ridiculous combination on her biscuit, was wonderful
. But it stuck in his craw that she'd snuck into his life without one word of discussion.
He listened to the preaching with one ear and endured a severe lecture from his conscience with the other. The preacher talked about setting a Christian example. His conscience talked about the sorry bastard he'd been to Jane ever since she walked back into his life.
Nothing had been put to rest by the time the last amen was said. He told Nellie he'd meet them at the truck when they got through with their gossiping. She shot him a dirty look. Ellen grinned and Jane ignored him.
"Where you going to feed us?" Jane asked when they got into the truck with him.
He just shot her a mean look.
"Feed me and then take me home. I'm reading a book all afternoon or until I fall asleep, whichever one comes first, and then the ladies are coming for a card game at five o'clock," Nellie said.
Slade raised an eyebrow. "Poker on Sunday?"
"We didn't have it on Friday, so God will have to avert His eyes," Ellen said.
"Where do you want to eat? Dairy Queen or Sonic?" he asked.
"Neither. Take us over to the Cracker Barrel in Gainesville. I didn't buy a new outfit to eat at the Dairy Queen in Nocona. I want something a little nicer. Besides, I've got a hankering for turkey and dressing," Ellen said.
He nodded and turned east at the red light.
"You still mad at me?" Jane asked right out of the blue.
How was he supposed to answer a question like that with his grandmother and aunt in the backseat?
"Never was mad at you," he said.
"Well, you got a strange way of showing you're not mad."
"You got to care to be mad. I don't give a damn what you and Granny cook up. You won't be here that long anyway. You don't put any value on things your ancestors worked their asses off to leave you. You'll get tired of us country people and move on. Lord knows you've got enough money to do whatever you want," he said.
"How do you know what I did with the money? Maybe I gave it all to charity," she said.
"She gave me seventy thousand," Nellie said. "I put it in the safe against the day when the govern ment runs us into another damned Depression. I'm not losing my land just because a bunch of politicians get in a pissing contest."
"You did what?" Slade said.
Jane looked across the seat at him. "I paid my debt. I believe you said you had fifty thousand dollars in the shaving kit when we left. I added interest plus your time to that and came up with seventy. I don't owe you jack shit, Slade Luckadeau."
Nellie tapped him on the shoulder from the backseat. "And she gave me a hundred thousand for that five acres. I told you she made me an offer I couldn't refuse. Land sellin' for two thousand an acre at the top and she offers me ten times that. I'm buyin' a new John Deere next year."
"What'd you do with the rest of it?" Slade glanced at Jane.
"That, darlin', is my business. If I burned it in the fireplace before I left Mississippi or gave every last nickel to the college for scholarships or if I had it rolled into toilet paper and intend to wipe my ass on it for the next twenty years, it's my doings. And you just said you don't care enough to be mad, so there." She folded her arms across her chest and stared out the side window.
"I guess the show is over. I thought it would last at least until we got to the Cracker Barrel," Ellen said.
"Guess so. Y'all got any more fight left in you? If not, me and Ellen got things to talk about. If you do, we'll put ours on hold so we can watch the fun," Nellie said.
"We're not two-year-olds," Slade snapped.
"You're acting like it," she said.
Slade set his jaw.
Jane didn't even blink.
Ellen and Nellie went to work on every bit of gossip they'd gleaned in the after-church fellowship with their acquaintances. They'd covered everything twice or three times by the time Slade parked at the Cracker Barrel north of Gainesville, in the same parking lot as the outlet mall. Neither of them acknowledged the tense silence in the front seat.
The hostess had a table for four and seated them imme diately. Everyone ordered sweet tea when the waitress arrived. Jane studied the menu while Ellen and Nellie decided which vegetables they'd order so they could share.
The waitress brought the tea and a platter of biscuits and cornbread along with a dish of assorted jams and butter. "You need a few more minutes?" she asked.
"No ma'am, we are ready and we are hungry," Nellie said.
Ellen decided on turkey and dressing, fried okra, and hash brown casserole.
Nellie opted for turkey and dressing, carrots, and greens.
"And you?" The waitress turned to Jane.
"I'll have the ham steak, pinto beans, and fried okra. Then I'll have the chicken and dumplings with steak fries and corn. And get an apple dumpling in the oven for when I get finished."
"You want the first or the second one in a to-go box?" the waitress asked.
"I want all of it right in front of me. I plan to eat every bit of it. And I'll be picking up the ticket, so don't let that sorry-assed old cowboy over there have it. He'll bitch for hours if he has to pay for my anger—which he caused, by the way," Jane said.
Ellen slapped her leg and grinned. "Act Two coming up."
The teenage waitress was visibly uncomfortable and for that Slade could have gladly turned Jane over his knee and given her the spanking she was asking for. That visual caused a reaction behind the zipper of his jeans that made him stifle a moan.
"I'll have the fried chicken platter. Green beans, corn, and a dinner salad for the sides. I'll have to eat part of what she's ordering, I'm sure. And honey, I'll take that ticket."
"Tell you what. I'll just put it on the table. Y'all can fight over it," the waitress said.
"You won't touch a bite of my food, Slade Luckadeau. I'll stab you with a fork if you try and I know exactly where the right vein is to do the most damage. You'll be dead before you fall out of the chair, and there'll be blood everywhere," she said.
He grinned at her.
She blinked to be sure she was seeing clearly. God Almighty in Heaven, the man smiled.
"What are you laughing about?" she snapped.
"You. You're pretty damn cute when you are mad. Did you girls know that when she's angry she can eat a whole steer? Just wipe its nose and ass, slap it on the grill until it's hot, and bring it to her. She's got a hollow leg when she's upset."
"Then don't upset her if you plan on feeding her," Ellen said.
"I didn't. All I did was state the facts. She upset herself," he said.
"You are a pig from hell," she reminded him.
He passed the platter across the table to her. "Biscuit? Jelly or sugar?"
"Cornbread. Honey."
"No endearments necessary," he continued to grin.
"Believe me, there was none intended."
She buttered a cornbread muffin, slathered it with honey, and ate it while she waited for her food. If she and Slade ever did get together, she sincerely hoped her metabolism didn't fail her. If it did, she'd weigh six hundred pounds before their first anniversary.
When the ticket arrived, he had to scramble to get it before she did. There was no way he would let her or any other woman pay for dinner when he sat up to the table with them. His ego couldn't survive that kind of blow, and he didn't give a damn if she got mad and cleaned out the refrigerator when they got home.
When he parked in the front yard, the older women crawled out with declarations about taking naps before their poker buddies arrived. Neither of them asked Jane and Slade what they planned to do with the remainder of their day of rest. Hopefully, they'd get their fighting over with and learn to make love instead of war.
Jane headed to her room to change out of her Sunday finery and he did the same, both of them hell-bent not to care what the other one did. She hung her new dress in the closet, pulled on a pair of cut-off jean shorts and a tank top, picked up a romance book, and stomped out into the hallway. She met him
coming out of his room. He wore flip-flops and the bathing suit they'd bought in Florida, carried a towel and a book, and gave her a dirty look.
"You going swimming?"
"I am."
"Where at?"
"Nocona Lake."
"I'm going with you," she said.
"I didn't invite you."
"So what. I'm going."
"You got a bathing suit?"
"Nope, but I can swim in what I'm wearing. Let's go."
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