“Honey, I was the inspiration for Gretchen Wilson’s ‘Redneck Woman’ and I’ll look at any belt buckle I want to,” Cathy declared.
Leroy called from the living room, “Dinner about ready in here?”
“Herd ’em in,” Jezzy said. “I’m puttin’ the peas in the bowl now.”
Jezzy sat at the head of the table with Leroy to her right. Angel sat to her right and Sally next to her with Merle at the other end. Cathy sat to her right with Travis beside her. It wasn’t the best-case scenario, but it wasn’t too bad. If she’d been on the other side of the table then she would have had to look straight into his crystal clear blue eyes. Just knowing he was sitting beside her almost gave her an acute case of hives. If someone had told her a week ago that she’d be having dinner with someone who took her breath away on New Year’s, she would have sent for a straightjacket and had the person committed.
Cathy’s hands shook when she picked up the tea pitcher, filled her glass, and passed it on to Travis. His big hand closed over hers in the transfer and she clamped her jaw shut to keep from gasping at the scarlet blush rising up on her neck. Any minute now she’d be blushing like a prepubescent teenager with a crush on the next big name in Hollywood.
“Is this sweet tea?” he asked.
“You diabetic? Only thing we drink in Texas is sweet tea. And besides, Sally made banana nut cake.”
“No, I’m not diabetic. I drink sweet tea. Hate that stuff they sell in stores that takes two cups of sugar that never dissolves. Glad you told me about the cake. I’ll have to save room,” he said.
Angel groaned. “Travis?”
“Get ready for it, Angel. I’m going to embarrass you. You been tellin’ everyone I ain’t housebroke. Well, if you’re goin’ to give me the name, then by damn, I’ll have the game. This reminds me of home and I’m not going to be bashful,” Travis said.
Leroy handed him the platter of cornbread. “Man works all day in the hot sun or the freezing cold, he ought to be able to enjoy his vittles without worrying about etiquette. You want seconds or thirds you better eat fast, though. New Year’s dinner is my favorite one of the year. So you best load your plate up real good. We might even fight over the last chunk of cornbread.”
“I love this kind of food and I would be willin’ to arm wrestle you if it comes down to that last piece of bread,” Travis said.
He was glad to have a table full of folks around him on the holiday. He’d like it even better if one of his sisters was sitting beside him instead of that bartender who thought she was mean enough to take him on in a fistfight. He wasn’t a fighter by nature but a lover and he damn sure didn’t want to fight something that pretty. He’d much rather brush that errant strand of blond hair back and kiss the soft spot on her neck. Or maybe taste those luscious lips one more time. The fire that idea produced made him remember what Leroy said about working all day out in the weather. Maybe if he changed the subject, he wouldn’t think of Cathy with every single breath.
He looked at Leroy. “Gets hot down here in the summertime, does it?”
Angel answered, “Ah, honey, come July the lizards will be carrying a canteen slung over one shoulder and a sawed-off shotgun slung over the other one. I used to visit Aunt Merle in the summer and thought I’d die.”
“Why a shotgun?”
“To shoot anyone who tries to take their canteen,” Cathy said.
Travis laughed with everyone else. “Well, then I’ve been warned. Summer will be hot. Except I expect I won’t be in this area when it gets that hot. We got two months to bring in this well if Jezzy’s land looks good. The day it comes in I’ll be long gone. This ham is delicious, and what’s your secret in these peas? They taste smoky.”
Jezzy smiled. “Granny Green taught me to cook and she used lots of bacon drippings for seasoning. That’s what’s in the peas. She said a woman like me had best learn to cook because that’s the only way I’d ever get a man.”
“Why’d she say something like that? A woman like you? What’s wrong with you?” Angel asked.
“I’ll tell you the short form. Granny Green had a son, Joshua Noah, who was born with a perfect halo that floated exactly six inches above his head at all times. Not once from womb to tomb did that thing ever get off-kilter. He grew up to be a fine preacher man and had two godly sons of his own. Named them Elijah and Paul right out of the Bible like he and his wife, Deborah, had been. My mother was two years younger than my uncle and she’d been named Rachel Ruth. She had the holy name but somehow she must’ve been hidin’ behind the door when they gave out the baby haloes in the nursery. But when they were givin’ out hellion horns she did get a set of those. She got a degree in business and went to work in Dallas. She was in her late twenties when she got pregnant and she did not get married. Granny threw a fit and that’s putting it mildly. She told Granny not to fret. She would name her child a name right out of the Bible just like David and Samuel. She named me Jezzy Belle. Granny thought I was the devil reincarnated into a red-haired kid’s body. Anyway, that’s the reason Granny thought I needed to cook. Tainted as I was, not many men would even look at me.”
“You ever get married?” Angel asked.
“Hell, no! Leroy did three times and proved it wasn’t for either one of us, didn’t you?” She looked at him for confirmation.
“She’s right. I should’ve listened to her. We was best friends from the time we both crawled on the school bus out of Bugtussle, Oklahoma, on our way to kindergarten. And all three times the day of my weddings she said I was makin’ a big mistake but I didn’t listen. Got Sally out of the first deal so I can’t gripe. The next two didn’t last long enough to produce anything other than bad feelings,” Leroy said.
“How about you, Cathy?” Angel asked. “You ever been or expectin’ to get married anytime soon?”
“That wouldn’t be a no, but a hell no. I have not been. Do not intend to be. When I die I will have never been. They’re going to take me out of the Honky Tonk with my cold dead fingers wrapped around a bottle of Coors after I’ve worked all week. Now it’s your turn. You been married, Angel?”
“I’m only twenty-three. I’ve been in school my whole life, but that could change if the right cowboy came along and asked me at this point in my life. I think I’m ready to fall in love,” Angel said.
Cathy wanted to ask Travis about his love life but the words wouldn’t go from her brain to her mouth. Instead she looked across the table and said, “What is it that you and Travis do, anyway, with this oil business?”
“Travis and I are petroleum engineers. We go in first and determine if there’s a possibility of oil. And he’s right about the two months. Once we start drilling Amos says we’ve got that long to bring it in or move on. That’s why the operation behind the Honky Tonk is temporary,” Angel said.
“We’ll bring one in. Angel can smell it. I swear her nose is as good as an old divining rod. It twitches if you look real close,” Travis said.
Angel pointed at the bowl of potatoes. “Pass those please. And you’re just payin’ me compliments so I won’t say anything else embarrassin’ about you, darlin’.”
If he is really her darlin’, why didn’t he kiss her on New Year’s Eve? There’s too much age difference for them to have gone to school together. So what are they to each other? Cathy wondered.
Travis sent the potatoes around to her. “Yes, I do love you, sweetheart. I’ve always loved you. You shoulda been my fifth sister instead of my bratty cousin.”
Something akin to a helium balloon arose in Cathy’s spirits. He hadn’t kissed her and then thrown her over for another woman within minutes. Angel was his cousin.
Angel dipped heavily into the bowl. “Real potatoes. I can tell the difference in them and the instant kind. Instant potatoes stink.”
“I agree. No amount of butter and sweet cream will hide that smell,” Cathy said.
“I hate to cook so I don’t get meals like this very often. If we hit oil I’m going to tell
Amos to give you a bigger cut than normal with the stipulation that I get to come to dinner every week,” Angel said.
“Now that sounds like a deal,” Jezzy said.
“Is that a true story about your name and your mother?” Cathy asked Jezzy.
“It is,” Leroy answered for her.
“I thought Jezzy was a nickname for Jessica,” Cathy said.
“Nope, it’s really Jezzy. Got the name and the reputation.” Jezzy laughed.
“Ah, come on now. I can’t believe…”
“That I’m a Chigger?” Jezzy’s eyes twinkled.
“Who’s Chigger?” Travis asked.
“Chigger would’ve been a hooker but never could charge for her services. Said it would be a sin to charge for something so much damn fun as sex.”
“Then I must be a Chigger,” Jezzy said.
Cathy noticed that Travis’s tea glass was empty and handed him the pitcher. “You might meet her sometime. She and my cousin, Daisy, were best friends. She and Jim Bob still come to the Honky Tonk every so often. Used to be every weekend but she’s seven months pregnant now. She can’t drink and says she’s too fat to dance. Plus Jim Bob says the smoke isn’t good for the baby. I miss them all, even Billy Bob who was constantly trying to get me to marry him.”
“Why?” Travis asked. Jealousy slapped him in the face and he couldn’t understand why. He’d only met Cathy the night before so he shouldn’t care if another man was in love with her.
“You think no one would want to marry a bartender?” Cathy asked.
“No, I just wondered why he quit coming to the beer joint if he wants to marry you. Doesn’t he love you anymore?” Travis stammered.
Lord but the woman was prickly. It was almost as if he’d pissed her off in another life.
“Billy Bob Walker was in love with the Honky Tonk more than the owners. He’d marry Marie Lavaux if she owned the joint,” Merle said.
“Who’s that? Where does she live?” Travis asked.
Jezzy swallowed quickly to keep from spewing tea. “You ain’t never heard of Marie Lavaux?”
Travis shook his head. “She from around here?”
“It’s the woman in an old Bobby Bare song. She’s a witch. It’s on the old jukebox. Don’t you listen to country music?” Cathy asked.
“Of course I listen to the old country music. I’d forgotten about that song. Why was Billy Bob in love with the Honky Tonk?” Travis asked.
“He’s always wanted a beer joint. Since he was a kid, it’d been his dream,” Cathy answered.
“Then why didn’t he just build one?” Travis’s curiosity was piqued and he wanted to know more about this Billy Bob character who loved Cathy for all the wrong reasons.
“Because there’s already two others in Mingus. The Trio Club and the Boar’s Nest. But owning a beer joint was only half his dream. The other half was marrying a barmaid.”
Travis gave her his undivided attention. “Did he finally marry one?”
“No, he married a Sunday school teacher. All goes to show that sometimes love don’t take you where you want to go,” Cathy said.
He carefully let out his breath. Heaven help him if Angel heard a whoosh of air that said he’d been holding a lungful of air. “Ain’t that the truth. My sister Rose wouldn’t even date someone outside the law department in college and she wound up married to a hospital administrator.”
“So your sister is a lawyer?” Cathy asked.
“Rose and Grace are lawyers at Henry Law Offices in Fort Smith with my dad. Gwen is a pediatric doctor. Emma is a kindergarten teacher. All in Fort Smith. I’m the wandering child.”
“How about you, Angel? You got brothers and sisters?” Cathy asked.
“One of each. Gabriella is ten years older than me. We call her Gabby. She teaches on the college level at the University of Tulsa. Nathanael is eight years older than me and he’s a business executive with my father’s import/export business. We call him Nate. Momma loves angels. That’s where they got their names. When I was born Daddy told her to forget all the research into finding what angel to name me after and to just name me Angel, so she did. Of course, she tempered it with Merlene. That’s to keep one foot on the ground when my head is floating in the clouds.”
“After Merle?” Cathy asked.
Angel handed Travis the platter of ham to send around the table again. “That’s right, but I think it backfired because Aunt Merle don’t keep her feet grounded all the time either.”
“Here, here, don’t be airin’ dirty laundry at Jezzy’s New Year’s dinner party.” Merle laughed.
Travis passed it on without taking a second helping. Suddenly his stomach was filled with quivering knots. He hoped he wasn’t getting sick.
Cathy elbowed him and was glad everyone else was teasing Merle about her wild days and didn’t see all the blazes dancing around the table. “Thought you were going to embarrass Angel. You didn’t even take a second helping. It’d take at least three helpings to embarrass Angel, wouldn’t it? She was yellin’ ‘hell yeah’ with the best of the redneck women last night.”
Angel nodded. “Two helpings is his normal meal. Three would be embarrassing. I think he’s showing out for you or Sally today. He never just eats one plate of homemade food.”
“I’m saving room for extra cake,” he declared.
Cathy touched the warm spot on her elbow. With Travis wearing a flannel shirt and her in a thick sweater, surely vibes couldn’t have shot through that much cotton. Her appetite disappeared and she could have strangled Travis. No man was worth losing her taste for ham and black-eyed peas. If she couldn’t eat her portion of the cake, Travis Henry might really find himself on the business end of Granny Green’s old blunderbuss. It could easily be his last day upon the earth, so he’d better eat very well.
She suddenly felt even more antsy than when she realized Travis was sitting in the living room. She wanted to rush back to the safety of the Honky Tonk. She felt like she was standing on the edge of a tall rocky cliff with a hurricane approaching. The wind was whipping around her in a frantic frenzy and she couldn’t move for fear of falling. But she couldn’t think of a single reason to run out right in the middle of a meal.
Dessert would be served and then there’d be coffee in the living room and the football game. Jezzy had gone to a lot of trouble to make the day special and Cathy couldn’t be rude and disrespectful. She started running down a list of excuses why she needed to go home right after the final field goal was kicked or touchdown was made so she wouldn’t have to stay for supper too.
Jezzy pushed back her chair. “Looks like everyone is finished. I’ll take away the dirty dishes if you’ll bring in the cake, Sally.”
Cathy gasped when she saw the cake. “My grandmother made cakes like that for Christmas dinner. I haven’t had one in years. I’m having two pieces if it puts forty pounds on my rear end and thighs.”
The feeling that she was about to be engulfed by a hurricane passed and her appetite returned. The cake was every bit as good as the ones she had as a child, so she decided Travis could live another day.
“Y’all come on in the living room where it’s more comfortable. We can have our coffee in there and watch the pre-game show. Anyone want to put five dollars in the pot? I’m betting the Cowboys whip that sorry West Coast team by ten points,” Leroy said.
“Could I put in an order for a cup of hot tea? And I’ll put five in that the Cowboys whip them by at least two touchdowns,” Travis said.
Cathy frowned. Travis Henry didn’t look like the tea drinking type to her. Beer, yes. Sweet tea, yes. But what did she know about the man? He might not even be a real cowboy. Maybe it was a weekend disguise and he wore three-piece suits to work like Amos did.
“Of course,” Jezzy said.
“Make that two, then. Would you have green tea?” Angel asked.
“Yes, we do. Sally likes a whole array of teas. Personally I used to wonder how in the devil she woke up in the morning without
coffee until she brewed me a cup of black tea. It was strong enough to fry the eyeballs of out of the devil’s mother-in-law. Sally, will you help me make coffee and tea? We’ll bring the rest of the cake to the living room with the pretzels to nibble on while we root for the Cowboys.”
Leroy pushed his chair back and led the way. “Pre-game show starts in ten minutes. So when are you going to start with the soil samples?” he asked as he led the way into the living room.
A built-in cherry entertainment center with a flat screen television in the center covered the north wall of the living room. It was flanked on two sides and across the top with bookcases stuffed with fat mystery novels, paperback romances, cookbooks, and a full set of ancient encyclopedias. An overstuffed light brown, buttery soft leather sofa with matching loveseats on each end made a U-shaped conversation group with a coffee table in the center. Leroy sat on one end of the sofa with Merle on the other end. Cathy and Angel sat on the loveseat to his right and Travis on the one to his left.
Travis leaned forward and asked, “Jezzy does have full mineral rights ownership of the land, doesn’t she? Her two cousins will have to be talked to if she doesn’t.”
“Oh, yes, she bought it all and at a horrible high price. Made sure she owned it all the way to hell, as she said when she signed the papers that day. She didn’t want them to ever come back on her for even a plate full of calf fries.” Leroy laughed.
Angel touched Cathy’s arm. “What are you frowning about?”
Cathy put on her best fake smile. “I was just thinking.”
Angel lowered her voice. “You were frowning and you were looking right at Travis. He didn’t mean any harm by the kiss. I’ve never known him to do something so irrational.”
“Had he been drinking?”
“Not Travis. He’s a one-drink-a-night man. Never seen him drunk and I’ve known him my whole life.”
Sally brought the tea tray to the living room and set it on the coffee table. “Sugar and cream?” she asked Travis.
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