“I will not!” Rose yelled at her through the window. “I thought we were going to dinner.”
“We’ll celebrate when you get back from Kentucky,” Molly said.
“What about the Fab Five’s van?”
“I know the dealer here. He’s going to take it back to Sunset today.” Molly waved and drove away.
Rose loved the feel of the car and the way it handled and especially the seat warmers. She drove below the speed limit all the way to the ranch just so she could savor the first moments of owning her very own car for the first time.
Hud and Tag were on the roof when she first got there, but when Hud saw her get out of the vehicle, he climbed down the ladder that was propped up at the end of the house. “Hey, is that Molly’s new car or the rental?”
“It’s my new car,” she said. “I wanted to show it to you first.”
“Well, it’s almost, but not quite, as pretty as you are.” He peeked inside and then took her by the hand and walked all around it. “Got a whole lot of room. Does this mean you aren’t going to the army after all?”
She nodded. “Probably, but I’m still thinkin’ about what I want to do.” “I just had to show it off, since this is my very first vehicle.”
“You’re kiddin’ me,” he said.
“Nope, didn’t need one at the commune, since I never went anywhere. When I was in the army, I didn’t need one because I never knew how long I’d be anywhere,” she said. “But now I do. Oh, and day after tomorrow, I’m leaving for Kentucky for about a week. I got a call on the way here from a lady at the hospital. We’re meeting tomorrow morning to talk about a job.”
“How about I grill us some steaks to celebrate your new car?” He grinned. “And maybe your new position?”
“Sounds wonderful,” she said, but in reality she was already missing him—and she hadn’t even left yet.
He gave her a quick kiss, but even that much made her knees a little weak.
Chapter Eighteen
Rose sipped on a cup of hot chocolate as she waited in the back booth of the Dairy Queen for the woman from the hospital to arrive. Every time the door opened she looked up from the book she was reading, a romance that had been translated into German. At exactly the right time, a lady walked in and scanned the restaurant. Rose stood and met the lady in the middle of the floor.
“I’m Rose O’Malley.” She extended a hand.
“Danielle White.” The lady shook her hand. “I just wanted to meet you and talk about the job opportunity at the hospital before you leave.”
Danielle was shorter than Rose by a couple of inches and older by a couple of decades. She had piercing brown eyes and long black hair that hung down her back. She wore black leggings and a flowing floral tunic, black boots that reached her knees, and a turquoise necklace that Echo would love.
“Can I order you a cup of coffee, a hot chocolate, or something to eat?” Rose asked.
“I’d love a hot chocolate,” Danielle said.
By the time Rose got back to the booth with the woman’s order, Danielle had a folder and her laptop sitting on the table. Rose set the hot chocolate down and slid into her side. “Why are we meeting here and not at the hospital?”
“I’m doing this on my lunch hour,” Danielle said. “The hospital administrator, Timothy Wallace, and I saw what you did those couple of days when you volunteered. He asked me to sit down with you and kind of lay out what we need, since it’ll probably start off as part-time work. You can be thinking about it while you’re gone.”
“All right then, shall we get down to business?” Rose said.
“With your skill set and what a help you’ll be in admissions, we can pay you well, and it can work into a full-time job.”
“The job sounds like something I’d sure be interested in doing, but may I ask, is it mainly Spanish speaking that you’d need?”
“Five years ago I would have said yes to that question, but today, we need more. That’s why Mr. Wallace and I are so interested in creating a position for you,” Danielle said. “I just wanted to visit with you and make you understand that we’re serious. Here’s my business card with my number and Mr. Wallace’s on it. If you have any questions call either of us.”
Rose didn’t even know Molly was in the restaurant until she’d slid into the seat that Danielle had vacated. “Well, where did you come from?” Rose asked.
“I dropped right down out of heaven,” Molly joked. “I had to leave my wings and halo in my new car, which is parked out there beside yours. I’ve been all over town this morning taking care of business. Been to the insurance place about the house and the car, and then to the wrecking company that’s going to take the house down and leave an empty lot.”
“Well, I just got my first official job offer,” Rose said.
“Where?” Molly asked.
“The hospital right here in Bowie. Part-time at first, but it could work into more,” Rose answered. “I’d be using my language skills to admit people to the hospital, and to translate wherever I’m needed. I liked working with Nikki—felt like I was helping people.”
“Well, hot damn!” Molly slapped the table so hard that the salt and pepper shakers rattled. “That’s the best news I’ve had in years. You can live with me until you find a place. I’ve already picked out my new home over in Sunset.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “And that ain’t far from Hud.”
“Win. Win. Win.” Rose grinned at her aunt. “And I’d be doing a job that I love.”
“Let’s celebrate by ordering something to eat. I haven’t had a good taco in a month.” Molly slid out of the booth. “What do you want? My treat because I wanted you to take this job so you can live close to me.”
“Tacos sound good to me, and thank you.” Rose was learning that arguing with Luna or Molly did as much good as fighting with a stop sign.
“I should be thanking you for making this decision,” Molly said as she headed toward the counter.
“I haven’t agreed to it yet. I’ve got to go see Mama first,” Rose said.
“Well, once you spend a week at the commune, you’ll be hurrying back here,” Molly teased.
“You just might be right.”
* * *
Hud couldn’t sleep, not even after sex that had left him and Rose both breathless, so he raised up on one elbow and stared his fill of her. Never in his wildest imagination would he have dreamed that someday he and Cactus Rose O’Malley would be in bed together. Seeing her at the Christmas party had been a pure miracle, and then to get to spend so much time with her was magic.
He wanted to kiss every freckle on her face, but that would wake her, and she needed her rest for the long trip she had to Kentucky the next day. She slowly opened her eyes and pulled his lips down for a kiss.
“Is it morning?” she muttered.
“No, darlin’, it’s just a little past midnight,” he whispered.
“Hold me until I have to go, and be here when I get back,” she said.
“That’s a promise.” He drew her over closer to him and kept an arm around her when she laid her head on his chest. When he finally went to sleep, he dreamed of her.
She had white streaks in her strawberry blond hair. She was standing in the kitchen with a baby on her hip when he came in from evening chores.
“Take your grandson, darlin’, so I can get the bread out of the oven.” She smiled up at him.
He kissed her first and then took the baby from her.
When he awoke, dawn was just breaking up the night, and she was sitting up in bed, staring at him. “You talked in your sleep,” she said.
“What did I say?” he asked.
“You were mumbling about a baby,” she answered.
“Just a crazy dream,” he said, but oh, how his heart ached for it to come true.
“Shall we have a muffin and a cup of coffee before I get on the road?” she asked.
He grinned as he pulled her back down beside him. “I’d rather have dessert in
bed before you leave.”
“Oh, honey, that’s the main course,” she giggled. “The muffin is just dessert.”
“I like your way of thinkin’.” He pulled her over on top of him and started stringing red hot kisses from that soft, sensitive spot on her neck to her lips.
A couple of hours later, he walked her out to her car, held her close, and whispered, “Come back to me, Rose. Promise me that.”
“I give you my word,” she told him. “The commune is a great place to visit, but it’s not where my heart is.”
He raised her chin with his knuckles and stared down into her eyes for several minutes before he kissed her goodbye. “Text me when you can, and call me tonight?”
“You do the same.” She hugged him one more time and got into her car. He closed the door and watched her drive away until he couldn’t see her anymore.
When he started back toward the house, Tag stepped out on the porch. “Cupid has bitten pretty bad, hasn’t he, and it’s not even Valentine’s Day yet.”
“Yep, just like you were with Nikki,” Hud said.
* * *
Rose made good time and had reached Memphis by suppertime. According to Agnes, the name she’d given her GPS lady, she was a little more than halfway to Miracle, Kentucky, barely a dot on the map.
She checked into a hotel right off the highway and called Molly for a few minutes of FaceTime. “I’m safe and in a room.”
“That’s great,” Molly told her. “Crazy, ain’t it. You used to travel all over the world, and I never worried about you. Now that you’re close to me, I fret if I don’t know you’re safe. I like being able to see you.”
“Me too, and now I’ve got to call Hud.” Rose smiled.
“Before you go,” Molly said, “you should know that Luna is at the commune. She has no idea that you’re on the way.”
“I bet Mama just loves that.” Rose rolled her eyes. “How’d you find this out?”
“She’s makin’ good use of that cell phone you got her. And she’s bought a car, too—an old 1960 Cadillac that probably eats more gas than an army tank. She drove herself from Alabama to Miracle, and when she called, she said that she just might buy a trailer and live up in those hills,” Molly informed her. “Just thought you should know.”
“Thanks for the heads-up. Love you,” Rose said as she ended the call and hit the icon on her phone for Hud’s number.
“Hey!” Hud answered the call on the first ring. “You look tired, darlin’. Did you make it all the way to Memphis?”
“Yep, and I’m in a hotel room, in my pajamas, and not planning to go out until tomorrow morning.” She yawned. “Sorry about that. I’ve had lots of coffee and sugar, and yet I’m still sleepy.”
“I wouldn’t know why,” Hud teased. “You did get a good night’s sleep last night, right?”
“Hell, no!” She smiled. “This sexy cowboy kept me awake half the night, first by having mind-blowing sex with me and after that by talking in his sleep about babies. You absolutely sure you don’t have a skeleton in the closet that we need to talk about?”
“Nope,” he said. “Where exactly in Kentucky are you going?”
He changed the subject so fast that she wondered what she’d find if she really did open his virtual closet doors. That he knew his way around a king-size bed suggested that he’d been with lots of women, but hopefully none of those nights had netted a baby.
“Miracle is the closest town, but it’s really tiny. I cross over the Cumberland River there, and go several miles along the river to the end of the road, take a dirt path back into the hills and hollers about three miles, and there’s the commune. It sits down in a pretty little valley between two mountains, but it’s narrow, so some of the trailers in the commune are on a hillside. Mama and Daddy have one of the two or three in the actual holler,” she explained. “You should’ve come with me. We could’ve stayed in a hotel in Harlan instead of at the commune. I miss you, Hud.”
“I miss you too.” His drawl seemed deeper. “A week seems like forever.”
“You’ve got lots of work to keep you busy,” she told him.
“And you’ve got to think about that job offer,” he said, “but that don’t make the nights any shorter. I’m already dreading going to bed without you to cuddle with.”
“Me too.” She blew him a kiss.
“Call me tomorrow morning before you get on the road again?”
“Of course,” she agreed.
They ended the call at the same time, and she opened the bag with her food, turned on the television to reruns of Friends, and wished that Hud was with her on the big king-size bed.
Chapter Nineteen
The next day Rose hit a snag in traffic and was held up for an hour between the Tennessee and Kentucky borders. That meant she had to drive the last few miles in the dark, causing her to almost miss the turnoff to the commune. She parked her car beside a big blue Caddy in front of her folks’ trailer. Nothing much had changed. Her mama’s flowerbeds were full of pansies, and a mama cat was nestled down in a basket at the corner of the porch. Rose stopped to count five kittens, and wondered if she could get home to Bowie with one or two. Now that she was settling down, Rose thought she would love to have a pet.
All right, she scolded herself, you’ve put it off long enough. Open the door and go inside.
Before she could straighten up, the front door flew open and her father’s silhouette filled the space. He had a double-barreled, sawed-off shotgun pointed right at her. “Didn’t you see those NO TRESPASSING signs on the fence out there? We don’t cotton to outsiders here.” Then he dropped the gun and cocked his head to one side. “Cactus Rose, darlin’, is that you?”
“Surprise, Daddy,” she said.
“Echo!” her father yelled over his shoulder. “Cactus Rose is home.”
“Well, quit hollerin’ and get out of the way.” Echo’s husky voice got louder with each word as she pushed him to the side and grabbed her daughter in a fierce hug. Taller than Rose by several inches, Echo had the same strawberry blond hair, green eyes, and full lips. She carried about twenty or thirty pounds more than Rose, but it looked good on her with her height.
Paul set his gun down behind the door and made it a three-way hug. “Why didn’t you let us know you were comin’?”
“I’d have made a chocolate cake if you’d told me exactly when you were getting here.” Echo kept an arm around Rose’s shoulder and walked with her into the double-wide trailer.
Paul came in behind them. “Luna’s been tellin’ us that you’re seeing a cowboy from Texas. Is that true? When are you bringin’ him home to meet us?”
“Where is Aunt Luna?” Rose asked.
“She’s out in the community room, entertaining folks by reading the cards for them,” Echo said.
Rose could feel her body tense. There was no way when she had been living at home that Paul O’Malley would have allowed such a frivolous thing in the community hall. Luna would have been burned at the stake—not really, but pretty damn close—if she’d played fortune-teller when Rose lived there.
Paul’s expression looked like he’d just gotten a whiff of a skunk. She glanced at her mother, and Echo sent a sly wink her way.
“She’ll be here in a little bit. Lights out at nine, remember?” Echo said.
“I hear from Aunt Molly that she’s thinkin’ about stayin’ here.” Rose sat down on the sofa. Everything was the same, from the well-worn brown couch, to the pictures hanging on the walls. There wasn’t a single photo of her in her uniform, because her father believed women didn’t belong in the military. That’s why she never wore her uniform home after that first time.
“About this cowboy?” Paul persisted.
“Do you remember the Baker boys from Tulia?” Rose looked up at her tall father. Dark eyebrows were drawn down in a scowl. His jet-black hair hung down to his shirt collar, and his arms stretched the knit of an oatmeal-colored shirt.
“Those wild kids with we
ird names? Taggart and Hudson, right?” Paul’s frown deepened.
“That’s right. They have a ranch not far from Bowie, where Aunt Molly lived. Tag is married to a nurse, and I helped her in the hospital, but that’s another story. Hud is the cowboy I’ve been seeing these past few weeks. He’s a really nice guy, Daddy. If things get serious, I might even bring him home to meet you,” she said.
Paul crossed his arms over his chest. “Well, don’t be expectin’ me to come to Texas to walk you down the aisle if things get serious, as you say. You can come home and get married in the community room like all the other kids here have done.”
“Wouldn’t dream of making you come to Texas,” Rose said with a smile on her face that didn’t come close to reaching her heart. “So y’all tell me what all—”
Luna burst into the house before she could finish the sentence. “Well, hot damn!” She ran to the sofa and plopped down beside Rose, gave her a sideways hug, and said, “This is a wonderful surprise. I was goin’ to call you tonight on my new cell phone and tell you that I was here. I’m buyin’ a trailer and an acre of ground from the commune to park it on. It ain’t new or as big as the one me and Wilbur had, but that’s not important. You’re the center of attention here. Tell me about Hud and Molly and Dixie.”
“Molly is home and in her new house. I dropped by Claire’s quilt shop on Monday. Claire looks like she’s carrying a baby elephant. Dixie and the baby are thriving, and I’ve got a job offer from the hospital. I’d work in admissions, but I’d also be all over the hospital as a translator. Hud is fine. I just talked to him a little while ago.” She spouted off the news to keep from having to deal with her father.
“We’re glad to have Luna in the commune with us,” Echo said.
Rose glanced over at her father, but his face didn’t give away anything.
“Last time I was here”—Rose steered the conversation in another direction— “the trees and mountains were green. It’s been years since I’ve been back in the winter. Things look different. How’re things with the construction business, Daddy?”
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