Getting Lucky

by Carolyn Brown

"I don't like the way the squash leaves scratch me when we get them out of the garden but I like cooking with you. When can I have a pony?" Annie said.

  "For now you'll have to be satisfied with your kittens," she said, glad that she didn't have room for a pony. Annie had an adventurous streak even wider than Lizzy's. If she had a pony she'd be racing off to the Lucky Clover every chance she got and Julie adamantly did not want her daughter at that ranch.

  Julie was doing well with her new canning business. Most of what was in the cellar had sold and Julie couldn't replenish it because Mamie kept buying everything she had time to put in jars. The new items up for grabs were bread and butter pickles made from Edna's recipe and squash relish and dilled green beans made from Julie's grandmother's recipes. While she waited for Mamie, she made a list of what she'd need the next few days from the grocery store. For one recipe it took six yellow squash, two onions, and two peppers. The garden produced much more than that, so she'd probably do several batches. There was enough salt, celery seed, and mustard seed left in the pantry to last five years. But she was low on sugar and vinegar so she added that to the list.

  "I might as well get forty or fifty pounds of sugar because I'll use it before the garden plays completely out," she mused aloud.

  "Sugar? You want sugar?" Annie swirled over and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

  "Thank you," Julie beamed and then found the recipe for the dilled green beans. She checked the recipe. Green beans cut to fit fairly tightly in the jars. Add one fourth of a teaspoon of hot crushed red pepper, one half teaspoon each of mustard seed and dill seed, and a very small clove of garlic in the jar with the beans. Heat five cups of vinegar, five cups of water, and half a cup of salt to the boiling point and pour over the beans. Adjust jar lids. Process in boiling water five minutes. Remove and cool.

  "Vinegar and lots of it. Might as well buy several gallons if I'm going to get through a whole week," she said.

  "What are you talking about?" Mamie yelled from the car when she parked.

  "Cooking. She wanted sugar so I gave her some but I don't have any vinegar," Annie said. "Are we ready? Tell me more about the boats and their pretty sails. I'm hungry. Can we buy hot dogs and cotton candy when we get there?"

  "Terrible twos. Question fives," Mamie giggled.

  "You got that right. Try a classroom of fifteen of those never ending questions," Julie said. "I was going over the squash and bean recipes so I could make a run over to Gainesville after church tomorrow for supplies."

  "Make up everything you can lay your hands on by Friday. California is coming through and he said he'd take everything I have in the store. So I can sell every thing you've got this week."

  "Who is California?" Julie asked.

  "This damn good lookin' man in his forties who visits his mother in Muenster once a year. When he does, he buys my whole stock. I asked him once what he does with it and he says he uses it for gifts if he doesn't eat it. He owns this big company in San Francisco. Want to meet him? I've flirted with him for five years but it doesn't do a bit of good."

  "Ever think maybe his train runs a different track?" Julie asked.

  "That's it. Praise the lord, I'm not just fat and ugly," Mamie said.

  "If you say that about my friend we're going to have a big old cat fight. Nobody talks about you like that, not even you. Give me a minute to put all this inside and lock the door," Julie said.

  "I'm glad you moved here. You are good for me. How do you think the city meeting will go next Tuesday?" Mamie asked.

  "We'll win them over on a one-year basis. But we'd better work our hind ends off or that's all we'll ever get and then they'll gloat in their victory. You want to usher the old out and the new in, you'd better get ready to work for the responsibility. Let's get this hyperactive child of mine to the regatta before she blows a gasket," Julie said.

  "Tell me about it again," Annie said from the back seat of the car.

  "More than twenty years ago, two sailors moved to the lake area, one on the west side and one on the east. They both had sailboats and liked to sail on the lake and, as luck would have it, they started racing. Then, about fifteen years ago, they invited some of their sailboat friends to the lake and they all had a race. That began the Nocona Sailboat Regatta. It gets bigger every year and this year ought to be really good because there's a good wind picked up. I heard that the race was going to have thirty boats this year from as far away as Waxahaxie."

  "Is that still in Texas or is it on the moon?" Annie asked.

  Mamie laughed. "It's still in Texas. The boats are gathering right now at the Storey Boathouse in the middle of the lake. At ten minutes to eleven the horn will sound four blows. At five minutes 'til eleven it will sound three blows; one minute 'til, two blows, and then at eleven o'clock it will blow one time and the race will begin."

  "Hurry, I want to hear the horn blowing. I've never been to a rematta," Annie said.

  "Regatta," Julie and Mamie said at the same time.

  "That's what I said," Annie told them.

  "What time is the whole thing over?" Julie asked.

  "At three thirty the small boat race starts. At four the revenge race and multi-hulls start. After that, we'll dash back home, take showers, and get cleaned up for the dinner served up by the Nocona Rural Volunteer Fire Department. Awards and music after that, then the auction."

  "All day! Yippeee," Annie said.

  "Auction?"

  Mamie nosed her car into a parking place. "The Regatta has an auction. Donated articles, but pretty nice most of the time. The money goes to the Nocona Rural Fire Department."

  "Why Nocona? Why not Saint Jo?"

  "It's like this: Capps Corner is thirteen miles to Nocona and about nine to Saint Jo. We support both volunteer fire companies. If a wild fire starts, you'll see why. Pastures start burning, we need all the help we can get out here in the middle of nowhere."

  "I see," Julie said.

  "I donated a dozen jars of your squash relish to the auction. I'm dying to see how much it sells for and who buys it."

  "But California could have bought that," Julie said.

  "California can't put out a fire if it's licking at my door."

  "In more ways than one," Julie said.

  Mamie busted out laughing. "You are a naughty girl, my friend."

  "Sometimes."

  Annie was bouncing like a rubber ball on concrete. "Let's go. I see the pretty colors. They look like my bathtub boats. I'm going to yell and scream for the one with the red, white, and blue sails."

  They were barely stopped when Lizzy came running from Marita's quilt. She was yelling, "Annie! Annie!" before Annie had her seat belt unfastened.

  "They are here?" Julie asked.

  "Of course. Everyone in the whole area is here. Griffin is a member of the fire department and besides, the Luckadeaus always come to the regatta. Come on. Let's get the quilt spread out before the race begins," Mamie said.

  Marita waved her over. "Hey, Julie, come put your quilt next to ours. Those girls are going to want to spend their time together anyway."

  Mamie and Julie carried their cooler and quilt to the edge of the water and spread it out right next to Marita's. Annie and Lizzy pointed at the sailboats and tried to decide on which one they were going to root for. Annie had fallen in love with the red, white and blue one, but Lizzy liked the turquoise and yellow, and they wanted to cheer for the same one.

  Finally they decided that whoever could throw a rock the longest distance in the lake would pick their favorite boat. Each chose a rock with great care. Lizzy threw hers first. Annie tossed hers second. It wasn't even a contest. Annie's rock went the longest distance so they'd be yelling for the red, white, and blue sails.

  Julie sat down and listened to Marita and Mamie talk about the people they would see and those who weren't there yet. Few names meant anything to her, so she let her mind drift. So the Luckadeaus had their fingers in every pie in the whole county? She could have sworn that a bull
rider wouldn't be a candidate for sailboat racing. Her pulse quickened at the idea of Griffin in sailor's garb with his hands around the ropes, but she set it to rights before it got plumb out of hand.

  Then Marita said something about Milli and Beau.

  "Will they be here?" Julie asked hoping her voice didn't give away her aggravation at having her day spoiled by those interfering Luckadeau wives.

  "No, Milli has gone to her parents in Hereford, out in the panhandle of Texas. She has her own little airplane and takes the kids with her once a month to spend a night with her folks. Beau is knee deep in hay and wheat," Marita said. "You'd love Milli, you ever got to know her. She's a hoot. Let me tell you, anything Beau can do, she can do just as well."

  Julie didn't answer. She'd never get to know the woman. "How about Jane and Slade?"

  Marita shook her head.

  "Griffin is the auctioneer tonight, isn't he?" Mamie asked.

  "Yes he is and he's going to say words so fast I can't hear them all—wait 'til you hear them, Annie. He talks so fast it sounds funny," Lizzy answered.

  Julie almost groaned out loud.

  Mamie explained. "Griffin is a member of the volun teer fire department in Saint Jo and in Nocona. He went to auctioneer school when he was still in high school so he helps out with things like this. Graham was the sailor. Had a boat with a four leaf clover on the sail. He won the race when he was sixteen. Damn, that boy could sail like he could… well, let's just say he could do a little better than California."

  "Mamie!" Julie whispered.

  "We were kids. He was pretty. I was…" she stopped. "I'm going to hush now. Some things don't bear remem bering, at least not out loud. Suffice it to say that nothing really happened. Not that I wasn't willing, but he had a girlfriend and what goes on in a boathouse stays in a boathouse, kind of like Las Vegas."

  Or Dallas, Julie thought.

  Five blasts let everyone know the race was getting serious. Lizzy counted the honks on her fingers and told Annie what was happening. Annie held up her fingers on the next series and told her there would be four this time. When the boats really set off, both girls began to hop up and down and yell for the red, white, and blue sailboat.

  "Hi. Y'all got an extra beer? I'm spittin' dust." Alvera Clancy settled onto their quilt without an invitation.

  Mamie popped open a longneck and handed it to her. She downed a fourth of the beer without coming up for air and burped loudly. Both girls giggled and sucked hard on their juice packs and waited, but no burp was forthcoming.

  "How are you today?" Alvera looked right at Julie.

  "I'm fine. It's a lovely weekend for a regatta, isn't it?"

  Alvera smiled. "Yep, it is that. You got your ducks in a row for the big fight on Tuesday? That Clarice has been callin' ever'body in the area to come to the meetin'. God Almighty, but that woman likes to meddle. I told my brother when he married her he was going to be sorry. Ever heard that old sayin' that says, 'Marry in haste, repent at leisure'? Well, that's what he did. He repented long as he could stand it and then he had a heart attack and died. I wanted to put something like that on his tombstone but Clarice had this sticky sweet thing about how he's 'Missed by those who loved him.' She thinks a gold fingernail makes her opinion worth more than anyone else's. You two get your ideas together and present them. I'll be there in case she gets too out of hand."

  "She's your sister-in-law?" Julie was amazed.

  "You oughta feel sorry for me. I've had to put up with her all her life. Went to school with her when she was a blonde-haired, snotty-nosed kid. Then my brother married her when they wasn't old enough to know no better. The old bitch will be a burr under your saddle until she's dead. Just don't back down from what you want to do. She's goin' to fight you ever' step of the way on ever' decision, but hell, honey, it'll make you strong. Time she's in the grave… hopefully it will be sooner rather than later… you'll have enough steel in your bones to run things proper."

  If Julie had kept the grin inside, she would have burst.

  Mamie laughed aloud. "Yes, ma'am, we'll do our damnedest to stay in the saddle the full eight seconds at the meetin'."

  "I'm countin' on you. Got to go speak to Everett now. Thanks for the beer. Would you look at that? Clarice has arrived in all her pasted-on glory. God dang, she looks like hell," Alvera said as she stood up.

  Julie looked around and sure enough, there was Clarice getting out of a brand-new Cadillac. She wore turquoise Spandex capri-length pants, a flowing thin shirt printed with flags of every color of the rainbow, and a bright red camisole. Her sandals, with kitten heels that sunk into the moist grass every time she stepped, were the same color as the pants.

  She looked Julie right in the eye, tilted her chin up, and went in the opposite direction.

  "Guess she's here to do some politickin'," Mamie said.

  "I love this town," Julie said with a giggle. She didn't even realize she'd said the words aloud until Mamie grinned.

  "Oh, darlin', you just wait until you get to know all of them and the way their lives entangle. It's a hoot," Mamie said.

  Julie felt Griffin's gaze even before she could see him, making long strides up the edge of the water and watching the boats. Her nerves frayed out at just the sight of him in those tight jeans and boots. She let her eyes linger another moment—glad for her sunglasses so he couldn't see how he affected her—before she looked back out at the lake.

  Griffin noticed her when he heard his daughter squealing and looked around to see the two little girls with white streaks shining. He hadn't thought about her being there but Lizzy would be glad to see Annie. He'd take that child without a second's hesitation if he could, especially if he could adopt her without having to deal with Julie. He wondered if she'd be willing to agree to a settlement? He answered his own question with two words: "Hell, no!" in a low voice. After the way she'd protected Annie and Lizzy both that day on her porch, he had no doubts that she'd kill anyone who tried to take her child.

  He claimed a corner of Marita's quilt. "Hello, ladies."

  "Where'd you come from?" Mamie asked.

  He opened the cooler. "Had to get the chores done before I could leave. Lizzy was in hot water so Marita brought her early. Want a beer?"

  Mamie took the offered longneck.

  "You?" he asked Julie.

  She reached and he passed. Their fingertips brushed and sparks flew around them like fireworks on New Year's Eve. By continuous refusal to acknowledge the sensations, she hoped they'd simply die in their sleep one night. She'd made a colossal mistake with a Luckadeau one time before and it was not happening again. The hormones shifted into high gear even when women had sex on a regular basis, but when a lady had been celibate as long as she had? Well, it stood to reason the hormones would shoot right on into overdrive.

  An old oak tree that had lived out its usefulness would put out a bumper crop of acorns the year before it died. A woman who was on the brink of menopause, especially in the Donavan family when the ladies went through it in their late thirties, would have sexual cravings because her body wanted one more baby. Look around at all the tag-along kids in the world born when a woman was past forty and thought she'd finished having her family.

  Thirty loomed right around the corner when Annie was born and Julie had tried every fertility drug known to the medical profession. Derrick had refused to be checked, saying that his swimmers were strong. Turned out he was wrong. Annie was proof of that. Now Julie was thirty-four and the biological clock was about to run out of time, so it was setting up a howl for sex. Forget about making love; her body didn't care a flip about love. It was trying to procreate and by damn she wasn't letting it have its way if her decision caused the governor of the great state of Texas to go blind or if it caused Clarice Utley to be nice for a whole day.

  Yeah, right! her conscience argued. If Griffin Luckadeau gave you a push you'd fall backwards and take him down with you. Wake up, lady. It's move or be miserable. You can't live in Saint
Jo and have a moment's peace in your heart.

  Griffin stole glances at Julie, who was looking espe cially pretty today. She seemed more pensive than usual and much less prone to get her hackles up. He studied her from behind mirrored sunglasses and liked what he saw. No wonder his brother was attracted to her. Mercy, but she was a fine-looking woman. But she'd slept with Graham and that threw up a block so big Griffin could never climb over it.

  "Want another beer?" Griffin asked.

  Until he spoke, Julie hadn't realized she'd finished off the whole beer. She held up the empty bottle and stared at it for several moments before she shook her head.

  "Where were your thoughts? Looked like you were seeing right through that bottle and into eternity," Griffin said.

  "My thoughts aren't up for discussion. Why don't you sail?" Julie asked.