Getting Lucky

by Carolyn Brown

  "Well, now I do believe all the ladies at this table are lovely this evening," Ellen said. She was dressed in her usual flamboyant colors. Hot pink that evening: a dress with a tight-fitting bodice scattered with rhinestones and a flowing satin skirt overlaid with filmy illusion with stones around the hem. Diamond jewelry was on her wrist, in her ears, and hanging around her neck. Her red hair was piled up in a 'do that had been popular thirty years before.

  "Thank you, and you are the prettiest one of the bunch," Julie said.

  "Honey, come and sit by me," Ellen said.

  "You go sit by Griffin and be careful what you say to this old broad. She eats up compliments like most women do chocolate," Nellie said.

  "Don't pay any attention to her. I'm Ellen, Slade's great-aunt. You'd be Julie. I've heard about you. And next week I'm buying something that shade of red. I've always loved it but got told my whole life that a natural redhead couldn't wear it. Guess you just proved them wrong, darlin'."

  "Pleased to meet you," Julie said.

  "And I'm Slade's grandmother, Nellie Luckadeau. Ellen, most natural redheads can't wear that color because they have freckles. Your natural red hair comes out of a bottle from Wal-Mart. Sit down here with us, Julie and Griffin. Alvera came over and gave us the lowdown on you, Julie. If that old buzzard likes you, you must be doin' something right."

  Alvera piped up from the other side of the table, "You call me an old buzzard again and I'll put pepper sauce in your Preparation H next time I come to visit. I just call the shots the way I see 'em. Julie's my kind of people. I don't care if you like her or not. I do."

  "Thanks, Alvera," Julie smiled.

  Slade chuckled. "You older ladies better be nice. If you fight tonight, you're going to go to bed without a snack."

  "That's fine. Just don't tell me I have to go to bed without a man with all these pretty things running around in tight fittin' Wranglers and tux coats. That would be punishment worse than finding an empty bottle of Jack Daniels," Ellen said.

  Julie giggled.

  "They're always like this," Jane said. "Makes me sorry I never had a sister."

  "Me, too," Milli said. "Got brothers but no sisters."

  "Curse of the Luckadeaus," Beau said. "Not many girls, so we appreciate beauty."

  "Which reminds me," Griffin said. "Melinda announced that she's pregnant and she's of the opinion that all it takes to make a Luckadeau girl is liquor and lots of it."

  "Worked for us, didn't it?" Slade said.

  Jane nodded and touched his arm lovingly. "It sure did."

  "I can vouch that both parties don't have to be drunk. Just the Luckadeau part," Milli said.

  Nellie slapped the table and crystal rattled. "Well, I'll be damned. That's why I didn't get a girl. Lester was a teetotaler."

  "Melinda says she and Matt both hit the bottle the night she got pregnant. Seems like the night Lizzy was conceived was right after one of these parties and I was pretty plastered," Griffin said.

  Julie turned a faint shade of mint green. She didn't want to hear about Griffin and Dian having sex even though they had been married and produced Lizzy. Then she was instantly irritated at herself for caring. The past was the past and she had one, too.

  "How about Annie?" Milli asked.

  "Neither of us were feeling any pain," Julie admitted.

  "Well, there's the proof," Milli said. "Our son was conceived when we were sober. Katy Scarlett, our daughter, when Beau was in mourning for his old girl friend and six sheets to the wind."

  "Six?" Julie asked.

  "Honey, three wouldn't begin to describe him that night. He was so drunk he barely knew his name, didn't understand me when I told him mine. The only thing he could do other than pass out was… well, suffice it to say, instinct has its purposes," Milli said.

  Jane nodded. "The Luckadeau men do have that instinct even when they are drunk, don't they? Ellie was conceived when we were both piss drunk."

  "Hey, hey, let's not tell all the family secrets," Slade said.

  Julie listened to the easy banter around the table and ate slowly. At least the women hadn't run her out of the barn with their sharp remarks. Maybe Alvera had a gun hiding in the folds of her denim pant set decorated with rhinestones and she'd threatened to kill the first one who was mean to her. If that was the case, she'd better have lots of bullets and the first one should have Melinda's name on it.

  Griffin was so close that she could smell his after shave and that alone caused her hormones to jump into overdrive. The black Wranglers, polished eel boots, big belt buckle, and western-cut tux jacket over a crisp white shirt didn't help matters much, either. Then there was the little issue of those crystal clear blue eyes and that rakish white streak flowing back from his forehead. Like Melinda had said about Graham, it all combined to make a nun's panty hose creep down around her ankles. Only Graham Luckadeau was just the shell; Griffin was the whole man.

  The barbecued brisket was tender, moist, and cooked to perfection. The stuffed baked potato was fine and the salad wonderful, but she might as well have been eating Cream of Wheat and whole wheat toast. She'd never been so nervous in her whole life, not even the day she walked into court and was accused of adultery.

  The band played softly while they ate and then, at a signal from Griffin, they picked up the tempo and the lead singer invited everyone to join Griffin and Julie on the dance floor.

  Griffin stood up and held his hand out to Julie. "That would be our cue to start the dancing."

  "Why?" she whispered as he led her to the dance floor.

  "Usually Momma and Daddy start it for me. I figured it was time for me to step up to the plate and really take over the sale this year. This is an important time for me, Julie. Don't ruin it."

  "Ruin it! You pompous snob. I just wondered why," she said.

  He slipped an arm around her waist. "Now you know."

  She put her hand in his and laid her other hand on his shoulder. He took a step forward until she melted into his chest and the music began. Dancing with Griffin was almost as good as kissing him. If she hadn't known better, she would have sworn those Fourth of July spar klers were real and not just a figment of her imagination. And if dancing with him was this sweet, she couldn't imagine how it would feel to make love with him.

  The singer crooned "You Can't Give Up on Love," into the microphone. The song said that love didn't come easy and it was hard to hold so you couldn't give up on it. Near the end of the song, the singer took a moment to invite everyone else to join Griffin and Julie on the floor. In a few seconds the whole place was crowded and someone had tapped Griffin on the shoulder.

  "If I could cut in, please?" Alvie asked, sweeping off his big black hat.

  "Of course," Griffin said politely. He would rather have pulled a .38 Saturday Night Special from his waist band and shot the man square between the eyes, but he couldn't be rude to someone who'd just dropped more than a hundred grand in the sale pot.

  "Hello, pretty lady, I'm Alvie Marlin from up near Jackson Hole, Wyoming. You certainly do look lovely tonight."

  "Thank you. I'm Julie Donavan."

  "Mighty pleased to meet you, Julie. You ever been to Wyoming?"

  "No sir, I have not."

  "Well, we could remedy that right quick. I'm going home tomorrow morning. You've got an open invitation to my little spread," Alvie said.

  "But you don't know me. I could be an awful person," she teased.

  "Honey, I can take awful. Hell, I can even take mean. I've lived in the wild country my whole life. I could stand the mean if I could come home to that pretty red hair and what goes with it every night," he flirted.

  "You might ought to rethink that," she said.

  "Dance another one with me and let me tell you a story," he said when the song ended.

  The singer began another one by Alan, "All American Country Boy." She stayed in his arms and he sashayed her around to the quicker tempo.

  "This is my song. Just listen to it. Like
old Alan says, my neck is a little red and I do drink a little booze and I don't back up. Not anymore. About twenty years ago, I was green as prairie grass in the spring time and I came down here to the Lucky Clover sale. Saw Melinda and God Almighty, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven and she was a real angel. I stuttered when I asked her to dance. I relived the way she fit in my arms for twenty years and wished I'd asked her to marry me right then. But I didn't and two years later when I came back, she was married to Matt. I don't take chances no more," Alvie said.

  "You flatter me," Julie said.

  "Ain't no flatter to it. When you walked in the door a while ago, all the dreams I had of Melinda just floated out of my mind. Twenty years worth. I'm forty years old. I own the biggest spread in Wyoming and honey, I'll sign every acre of it over to you if you'll go home with me tomorrow."

  "I've got a five-year-old daughter that's the product of a one-night stand with Graham Luckadeau. I'm divorced. I don't even have a home of my own. I live here and help Griffin," Julie said.

  "Honey, I don't give a damn if you were a two-bit hooker. I'm in love. You can take your time about falling in love with me. I don't care how long. Just go home with me," Alvie said.

  For an insane moment Julie considered it. Alvie was a fine specimen of a cowboy, with his dark hair combed back from a handsome face. His mouth was full and his eyes brooding. He was so honest, it was painful. And Wyoming was a hell of a long way from Texas.

  "You'll change your mind when the next woman in a red dress walks through the door. Right now I've got to go kiss my daughter good night." Julie left him standing in the middle of the dance floor with a silly grin on his face.

  When Julie got there, Melinda was ushering all three kids out toward the house where a sitter awaited.

  "See you met Alvie," Melinda said.

  "Yes, I did."

  "Poor old Alvie. Fell in love with me when we were twenty. He's so handsome and honest it about takes a woman's breath away," Melinda said.

  "You knew?" Julie walked beside her.

  "Of course. He's been in love with me ever since. Stutters terrible when he's around me. All but tonight. While you and Griffin were dancing—which by the way, y'all looked good together—Alvie came up and sat at our table for a minute. Talked as straight as me and you. First time ever he didn't stutter around me."

  "Why didn't you fall for him like he did you?"

  "I'd already met Matt and he made me stutter."

  They settled the kids into bed and an elderly lady from the church had a book ready to read to them. When she said, "Once upon a time," Melinda and Julie headed back toward the party.

  Alvie met them at the door and held his hand out to Julie. "May I have this dance?"

  "I'll be damned," Melinda whispered. "What are you going to do?"

  "Run?" Julie said.

  "Be easy. He's a darlin'."

  Julie took his hand and let him lead her out onto the dance floor.

  "I didn't mean to scare you off. It's just that I let one opportunity slip through my fingers and I vowed I'd never do it again," he said. "You'll be thinking I'm a lunatic. So Miss Julie, would you mind if I called you once in a while just to let you know the offer is real and still stands?"

  "That would be fine, Alvie. I'll look forward to your calls," she said.

  One moment she was dancing with Alvie, the next Griffin had taken his place with a tap on the shoulder.

  "What is going on?" Griffin scowled.

  "Alvie just offered to sign his entire kingdom over to me if I'll go home with him," Julie said.

  "He did what?" A surge of jealousy swept through Griffin like wildfire.

  "I didn't stutter and neither did he," she said.

  "You aren't going." A very long pause. "Are you?"

  "Not right now, but I did say he could call me. I promise not to talk on your time, boss man."

  "You make me so mad sometimes I could spit tacks," he said.

  She looked up and batted her eyelashes at him. "Imagine that."

  "What about Lizzy and Chuck?"

  "Six month split. You get them six months. I get them the other six months."

  "Do I get Annie on alternate six months?"

  "Hell no. Annie has always been mine and will always be mine. Lizzy is Annie's and thus part mine. Annie isn't part yours. We can share Chuck."

  His blue eyes narrowed. "How in the hell do you figure that?"

  "I can figure anyway I want. Alvie is going to give me his kingdom, remember. Besides, Lizzy will whine and fret without Annie."

  The song ended and everyone clapped. The singer went right into Kenny Chesney's "You Had Me from Hello." Griffin could well identify with the singer when he said something about her smile capturing him and her being in his future and about it being over from the start. Looking back he'd been as thunderstruck that first day when he saw Julie in the classroom as Alvie had been with Melinda. The only difference was that Alvie admitted it from the start and didn't know what to do about it; Griffin had been fighting it for months and it could be too late to do anything about it.

  "What are you thinking about? You look like you really could chew up tacks," she said.

  "I'm thinking about the songs. Care to dance another one?"

  "Sure. I'm not a wallflower and I'm sure Alvie will dance if you are too tired," Julie said.

  "You wouldn't do something foolish, would you?" he asked.

  "I don't rush into anything anymore. Not sex or marriage. Both got me in a hell of a lot of trouble," she said.

  "Fair enough," he said.

  Right then if she'd been ready to do something insanely impulsive, he would have dropped down on one knee and proposed in front of a whole barn full of people, his momma, and even God to keep her from going.

  Alvie claimed the next dance, to no one's surprise and yet to Griffin's misery. Griffin stood on the sidelines and wished for the first time in his life that he had the kind of personality that Alvie had cultivated in the past twenty years. One that could sweep in and knock a girl off her feet. One like Graham had had.

  "So, pretty lady, I've been watching you all evening and I think I'm a day late and a dollar short again. I've seen you with Griffin and I see the sparks and—"

  She butted in, "There are no sparks between us. We are just friends. Just because my daughter belongs to his brother it doesn't mean she or I belong on this ranch permanently."

  Alvie smiled, his brown eyes wishing he could believe what his ears heard. But his eyes had seen and his heart had felt. It wasn't going to work. Griffin had already laid claim to Julie, even if he wasn't wise enough to know it just yet.

  "Tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to wait for you to call me. I'm a patient man, Miss Julie. Very, very patient. Who is that?" His eyes widened and his mouth dropped as he looked toward the doors.

  Julie turned her head slightly to see a figure silhou etted in the doorway of the barn. A woman stood there as if she didn't know where she was. She wore tight jeans and a denim jacket over a red T-shirt, and had flamboyant red hair cut in a style that feathered back from her face and flowed almost to her waist.

  What in the hell was Sally Donavan doing at the Lucky Clover ranch?

  "Excuse me. That would be my sister." Julie thought she left him on the dance floor but when she reached the door he was right behind her.

  "Sally?" Julie said.

  Sally grabbed her in a fierce hug and whispered, "My God, Julie, you look beautiful, and who is the hunk behind you? I could just cover him in chocolate and have him for a late night snack."

  "What are you doing here?" Julie asked.

  "I quit my job and came to get some courage before I go home and tell Momma. She's going to be furious but I just couldn't do it another day. I couldn't even finish the year, so I quit after the first semester. I hate teaching," Sally said.

  Julie kept her arm around Sally's shoulder and ran into a grinning Alvie when she turned around. "We're in the middle of a party. Come,
join us. The house is full but you can share my room and stay as long as you like. This would be one of the buyers at the sale, Alvie Marlin, from up near Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Alvie, please meet my sister, Sally."

  "P-p-p-pleased to m-m-meet you, S-s-sally," Alvie stuttered.

  Julie suppressed a giggle.

  "Maybe you'd like to dance with Sally, Alvie?" Julie said.

  He nodded, the grin never leaving his face. He'd seen Julie's beauty when she walked through the barn doors in that red dress, but his heart saw Sally. Alvie was in love for real. Even more than with Melinda. He'd just been thunderstruck with all the force that heaven had to offer.