She probably was affiliated with the witness protection program and made up stories to suit her fancy on a day-to-day basis. Today she was the daughter of a woman who worked at a dude ranch. Tomorrow she was the daughter of a wealthy socialite who had a craving for young men. Next week her father might be an ambassador to a foreign country.
He fed the anger but couldn’t hold on to it. Not with her standing right beside him looking like Daisy Duke in those cute little cut-offs showing off shapely legs. Besides, what right did he have to be mad at her for subterfuge?
I haven’t been honest. If I had from the time I hit the deer, then today wouldn’t even be happening and I wouldn’t have a nagging conscience eating at my heart like an acid bath. So what right do I have to be angry with her?
“You’re frowning again,” Larissa said.
“You sure about hiring someone who thinks this place is pretty?”
Larissa nodded. “Definitely. She’s a gift.”
“What’s a gift?” Sharlene asked. “This house? You got a sugar daddy hiding in the wings? Did Amos buy this place?”
What began as a faint giggle grew into a full-fledged infectious guffaw that had both Larissa and Hank roaring. When they got control, Larissa wiped her eyes with the tail of her tank top, giving Hank a shot of her flat stomach, belly button, and the rim of her bra.
His mouth went dry at the memories at the lake. Could that have been less than a week before? It felt more like a month or a year.
“Amos is my friend, not my sugar daddy,” Larissa said.
“Well, what was so damn funny?” Sharlene asked.
“My mother likes very young men. It just hit me that I should take Amos to the charity benefit in a couple of weeks. The visual was so funny…” She got another case of giggles.
Sharlene looked at Hank. “Why was it funny to you?”
“I love to hear Larissa laugh like that. It’s like a baby’s belly laugh. Uninhibited and with I-don’t-give-a-damn attitude,” he said honestly.
Larissa stopped laughing and patted him on the arm with her free hand. “That’s the best compliment I’ve ever had. Mother says my laugh sounds like a ruptured hippo.”
One touch of her paint smeared hand and he was ready to put down the brushes and take her back to the lake. He could wash all those paint splotches away in the lake water and enjoy every minute of it.
“Daddy always says my laugh is like screeching hyenas,” Sharlene said. “Guess us Honky Tonk women aren’t so feminine, are we? Tell me about Cathy and Daisy. Were they wilting flowers or wild women?”
“You ought to write a book,” Larissa said.
“I’d like to write a book. It’s been my dream my whole life. I might forget all about the article for the newspaper and write a real novel. Now tell me about Daisy while we work. Maybe I’ll call the character based after her Rose or another flower name,” she said.
“And what will you call Cathy?” Hank asked.
“I’ll think of something. Damn, that’s a good idea, Larissa. I think I’ll call the character I build on you something like… I’ll have to do some research and see what name means ‘wild and free,’” she said.
“So you see her as wild and free?” Hank asked. He and Larissa both reached the corner at the same time.
“Of course,” Sharlene said. “Mind if I put on some music? I’ve got my portable CD player in the car.”
Larissa poked her head around the side and raised her voice. “Long as it’s not rap.”
“Waylon would leave me if I played that stuff,” Sharlene said.
In a few minutes music from Highway 101 was drifting around the house. It was an older CD recorded back when Paulette Carlson was still singing with them. She sang “Honky Tonk Heart” and said their song of love was almost ended.
Hank could relate to that part of the song. His and Larissa’s short-lived romance was getting close to the good-bye kiss. He’d found her in the Honky Tonk and he’d leave her there among her real friends and acquaintances, never to hold her or see her again.
There was too much of Henry Wells in him and too little of Victoria. She wouldn’t blink at doing whatever it took to get what she wanted while leaving a wide path of destruction in her wake. Henry still regretted and remembered an unwise choice made more than thirty years before.
“When we get to the other corner we’ll call it lunchtime,” Larissa said.
He blinked the past away and nodded. “We eating at Linda’s today?”
“No, at Betty’s. After which, they are coming over for the first viewing. I have to let them see it before it’s finished because several people have already called and told them about the color. Linda thinks they’re lying. Betty thinks it’s a hoot.”
“And Janice?”
“She’s waiting to pass judgment.”
“What’re we having today?”
“Elmer smoked a turkey and Betty’s making chocolate cake for dessert.”
“What is this? Feed Hank until he gets fat? It takes me a month of daily gym trips to get off what Oma puts on me every summer. And now these girls are adding to it. I’ll be until Christmas getting back in shape.” He managed a weak chuckle.
“Darlin’, there ain’t one thing wrong with your shape and I should know after that skinny-dippin’ trip. Linda says to get to a man’s heart you got to go through his stomach. They want you to stick around and they’re trying to entice you,” Larissa whispered so that Sharlene wouldn’t hear.
***
Betty opened the door with a flourish. “Hey, hey, you are here and right on time.”
“I brought one more mouth to feed. She came hunting for work so I gave her a paintbrush and promised her I wouldn’t let her starve,” Larissa said.
“Come on in here, Sharlene. We’re glad to have you. Is she pullin’ our leg about painting that house turquoise? We didn’t get home until after dark last night so we couldn’t see anything but that it was darker than white.”
“Don’t forget your sunglasses,” Sharlene said.
“Dinner is buffet style on the kitchen bar. Y’all help yourselves and find a place to sit around the dining room table,” Betty said.
“Are you serious?” Linda asked Sharlene.
“I love it. I’d paint the Honky Tonk just like it if she’d let me, and I wouldn’t charge her a dime to do it. Reckon they’d let me paint The Mule Lip or the Boar’s Nest like that?”
“You’d best not even suggest it,” Elmer said. “Those folks would rather let their places rust and rot as paint them up like hooker hotels.”
“Elmer!” Betty air slapped his arm.
“Well, he’s speaking the truth. Man, this is some good turkey. Did you smoke it with hickory or pecan?” Hank asked.
“Pear. We had to cut down an old pear tree to make room for a barn and I dried the wood for smoking,” Elmer said.
The two men joined ranks and sat together. Talk went from smoking meat, to hay, to cattle and the weather.
The five women sat at the other end of the table. Talk went from recipes, to the Honky Tonk, to paint colors, and finally to Sharlene’s new apartment.
“So you need anything?” Betty asked.
“It’s got a lovely living room outfit and a refrigerator, stove, washer, and dryer. I’ve got a bedroom suite of sorts and all the basics. I don’t have a kitchen table but it can wait,” she said.
“Cathy liked that little table and chairs so she took it with her,” Larissa said.
“I’ve got one out in the shed. Bought a new one last year but the old one was still in pretty good shape. I just got tired of a glass top. You want it, it’s yours,” Linda said.
“Thank you and I’ll be tickled to get it,” Sharlene told her.
The conversation got around to her cat Waylon and Larissa listened with one ear and did sneak-peeks at Hank. Something was definitely wrong and it went deeper than him having to go back to Dallas. Her “bullshit” radar was humming.
***
Sharlene peeked around from the west end where she was painting around the windows on that side. “Hi, y’all. I told you to wear sunglasses. Ain’t it beautiful? Only someone as wild as Larissa would have the nerve to do this. I love it.”
“It’s bright,” Linda said.
Janice popped her hands on her hips and studied it for several minutes. “I like it. If I squint I can imagine the porch posts in yellow. That’s what is going to really set it off. What do they call that stuff in the antique stores? Shabby something?”
“Shabby chic,” Linda said.
“Any of y’all want me to do your house next? I’ll be looking for a second job before long if they cut back staff at the paper again,” Sharlene asked.
“Hell, no!” they said in perfect unison.
Larissa poked Hank on the arm. “They love it.”
“Sounds like it,” he said.
“It’s like a fancy ball gown. You can appreciate the style without being able to wear it yourself. Can you see Merle in something Angelina Jolie would wear on the red carpet?”
He shrugged. “I get your point.”
“We’ll see y’all at the Honky Tonk tonight,” Betty said. “We’ve got a meeting at the church this afternoon.”
“Sure you don’t want Sharlene to come up with a color scheme for your house?” Larissa teased.
“I’m very sure and you might be wishing you hadn’t painted like this when folks start walking in your front door thinking you have a beauty stop or a sell flowers in there,” she said.
Larissa laughed and waved at the ladies as they piled back into Betty’s club cab truck and drove toward the church on down the road. At five o’clock she and Hank finished the painting. She was very glad she’d bought a good grade of outside paint that was guaranteed to cover in one coat.
“I like this much less than hauling hay.” She carried the paint supplies to the backyard to wash them under a garden hose.
“I’ll stop when I get the back side done and then I’ll finish up the trim tomorrow. It’s slower going than slapping paint on the siding,” Sharlene said.
Hank grabbed Larissa around the waist and pulled her to him. They were both sweaty and smeared with paint but he didn’t care. He couldn’t come clean but he had to have one more kiss to remember what might have been. He tilted her chin up and kissed her hard, tasting her sweet lips.
“Whew! That is definitely hotter than the weather,” she said when he broke away.
“You are some lady, Larissa Morley,” he whispered into her hair. “Good-bye.”
He turned and walked away before she could say anything else.
“See you tonight at the Honky Tonk?” she called out.
He didn’t look back but crawled into his truck and slowly drove away.
“What was that all about?” Sharlene asked. “I thought the way he looked at you all day that he was the cowboy who was going to ride up on a white stallion and take you away from the Honky Tonk. I thought he was your Honky Tonk Dream.”
“I have no idea. He’s got a lot on his mind. Maybe he’s wrestling with a decision.” Larissa touched her lips.
“To see if he stays or goes?” Sharlene put her hot pink brush under the running water.
“Who knows? They say women are hard to understand. Quantum physics is nothing compared to understanding the male species.”
“A-blessed-men, sister,” Sharlene said.
Chapter 11
The Honky Tonk parking lot was full when Betty, Janice, and Linda arrived for the town meeting. They thought they were getting there early but the parking lot was full and Linda had to circle around three times before she found a space to pull into.
“Looks like everyone and their cousin came out for this, even if it is in a beer joint. There’s Ella Ruth’s pickup truck. She’ll be on her knees for a week askin’ God to forgive her for going into a beer joint even if it is to save her town. Y’all reckon we’ll put the Radner bunch on the run?” she asked as she parked.
Janice nodded. “It’ll be worth calluses on Ella Ruth’s knees if we send the Radners home with their tail between their legs and howlin’ at the moon.”
Linda waved the smoke away from her face as they weaved between the vehicles on the way to the front door. “Betty, if you don’t give them cancer sticks up they’re goin’ to kill you, girl.”
“Ah, you’re just wantin’ one and can’t have it. We all got to die. Might as well go out with our vice in our hand and a smile on our face.” Betty tossed the butt on the parking lot and ground out the last embers with the heel of her boot. “Okay, girls, let’s go kick some ass. Not just for us but for Larissa. For some reason that Radner bunch wants her beer joint more than anything else.”
“Wonder why? Boiled down it ain’t nothin’ but a wood building with a concrete parking lot. Why would they be so hot to own it?” Linda asked.
“It’s the gateway to paradise.” Janice laughed.
Linda laughed. “Well, let’s go on inside and join forces to put the big Dallas corporation out of town. We don’t need their money and the grandkids couldn’t come home to an amusement park for Thanksgiving dinner, now could they?”
Sharlene and Larissa had cleaned the place, set up a table on one end to use as a podium, and arranged chairs in two rows. The rest of the folks would have to stand, but it shouldn’t be a long meeting. A show of hands, a short speech from Larissa, and if Hayes Radner showed his sorry face, a few minutes for him to give his sales pitch and then the Radners could go back to the big city and let the Mingus citizens alone. Cookies and lemonade was set up on the bar.
A small group of women led by Ella Ruth made a beeline for Janice, Betty, and Linda when they came into the joint. “We were hoping y’all would get here soon. We ain’t never been in a beer joint and it’s kind of scary.”
“Lightning ain’t hit it in all the years it’s been here so I reckon you’re safe in the middle of the afternoon. It ain’t nothin’ but a building, not so different from a church. ’Cept you get happy in church for a different reason,” Janice said.
“Well, we’re glad y’all are here. We couldn’t never come back when they were servin’ liquor and beer and such. God don’t cotton to such things and you better watch your mouth, Janice. What you said is pretty close to blasphemy,” Ella Ruth Jackson said with a sniff.
Janice sucked up a lungful of air to argue but Betty poked her in the ribs and shook her head.
“You got a mind to sell your land?” Betty asked.
“Lands no. That was my granddaddy’s land. It’ll go to my kids or my grandkids the way it’s supposed to. Besides, I’ve got property butted up to the downtown part. You think I want an amusement park out my back door? Can you imagine the noise and the traffic?” Ella Ruth answered.
“Grandkids would love it,” Linda said.
“Yes they would but that would be a couple of times a year. I’d have to live with the thing all the rest of the time. No thank you. I will not sell one square inch,” Ella Ruth declared.
“Y’all feel the same?” Janice asked the rest of the group.
They all nodded as they ate cookies and sipped cold lemonade from paper cups. “You changed your mind yet?” Ella Ruth asked Larissa when she walked past the group.
“Hell no!”
“Don’t go gettin’ all up in arms with me. I just asked a question.” Ella Ruth puffed up.
Larissa patted her on the shoulder. “Sorry, Miz Jackson. I’m just nervous.”
Sharlene joined the group. “We should’ve made a big bowl of fresh fruit and put a package of those wipe-and-go things beside it.”
Larissa asked, “Why would we want fruit? We’ve got cookies and lemonade.”
Sharlene pretended to grab a handful and throw it at the podium, then grabbed an invisible wet toilette and wiped at her hands.
Larissa giggled nervously. “We missed a good opp
ortunity. Only trouble is if he comes in here offering half of Fort Knox and I oppose, they might throw the fruit at me.”
“Well…” Sharlene smiled wickedly. “I suppose Hank could have supper off your body then.”
“Oh, dear, the way these young people talk. Why in my day we would have never thought such things much less said them out loud,” Ella Ruth said.
“Yes, but it does sound awfully naughty and I remember when you were the wildest thing in Mingus,” Wanda said.
“Hush, now.” Ella Ruth blushed.
Sharlene grabbed Larissa’s arm and pulled her away. “Wouldn’t you like to be just a little naughty to take the edge off your nerves before this meeting?”
“Oh, hush. He hasn’t even showed up or called. He might have gone on back to Dallas,” Larissa said. The day before had been a whirlwind of yellow and pink paint but she and Sharlene had finished the trim work. Then they’d had a record night at the Honky Tonk with people waiting in the parking lot to get through the doors. She should think about adding an addition to the Tonk to accommodate more people. It didn’t look like the popularity of the Honky Tonk was a passing phase after all.
She took her place behind the table and clapped her hands. The room went silent as everyone looked to her.
She took a deep breath and began. “First of all, thank you for attending. I’m not going to give you a long-winded speech about why you should or should not sell your property to the Radner group for an amusement park. I figure you’ve all pretty much made up your minds before you came. But I would like to take a poll. How many people here are definitely not interested in selling your property?”
More than half the hands in the place went up.
“Okay now, how many are interested but not sure?” she asked.
Half of what was left went up.
“One more showing. How many would sell today if Hayes Radner offered you enough money?”
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