Glenn’s brows arched high on his forehead. “Chicken Ranch? As in the best little… whorehouse?”
“Don’t look so astonished. It was, after all, a true story.” Eileen held back her own laughter.
“Oh, this I’ve got to read about.”
“I can do better than that.” Before Eileen could finish her sentence, she noticed half the eyes in the room circling wide and could almost hear their jaws clicking open. “We can go see the old ghost town.”
“Oh,” Joanna almost squeaked. “Yes, Three Corners is pretty much intact. A little dirty, a little dusty, but if you like history it could be fun.”
Finn shot a quick glance at DJ. “Of course, you’ll want one of us to go with you. For the snakes.”
“Nonsense.” Eileen waved him off and faced Glenn. “Will you still be here tomorrow?”
Glenn smiled at her. “How can I pass up a real live—sort of—ghost town?”
“Then tomorrow we’ll go.”
“If you can wait another day,” DJ said, “I can ride shotgun. You know, for the snakes.”
Joanna’s face scrunched up a little. “They were a bit of a problem.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Eileen frowned at her nephews. “I’ve lived here long enough to be able to handle a little old snake.”
“Or two,” Joanna added.
“Or two,” Eileen agreed.
Glenn nodded at his former fiancée. “Works for me.”
“Then tomorrow it is.” Eileen tossed a glare at her nephews across the table, almost daring them to contradict her.
Glenn smiled at her. “I think visiting the ghost town should be a hoot.”
Ignoring her nephews, Eileen grinned at Glenn. So did she. Didn’t she?
CHAPTER EIGHT
Despite the momentary difference of opinion over whether or not Eileen and Glenn needed a chaperone for a day of sightseeing, the remainder of Sunday supper had gone off without a hitch. It actually surprised Eileen how well Glenn seemed to fit in. Teasing and joking with her nephews, playing with the little ones. She couldn’t help revisiting what their lives would have been like if Helen were still here.
“Now that it’s just family,” Ethan shifted to where his wife was putting away dishes and slid an arm around her waist, “there’s been a new development that we need y’all to be aware of.”
If not for the dour expressions on both their faces, Eileen would have taken wagers there was going to be a new Farraday added to the clan. Instead, she braced herself for what might have put that frown on Ethan’s face.
“Please don’t tell me Aunt Eileen has another man hiding in the closet?” Grace tried for a hint of humor until Sean shot his daughter a paternal glare of reproof that had her contritely easing back against her husband. “Sorry, Aunt Eileen.”
“No worries,” Eileen answered. Glenn had to be one heck of a surprise for everyone. “I promise to give y’all fair warning next time an old flame comes calling.”
Sean nearly choked on his coffee, a couple of her nephews gaped wide-eyed, and Meg and Toni shot her a thumbs up.
Shoulders shaking from repressed laughter, Grace nodded at her aunt. “Deal.”
Doing her best to smile at the teasing, Allison leaned into her husband. “I wish it were. This time it’s Fancy.”
That got the crowd’s attention. Every person in the room stood pin straight. All sense of humor and teasing wiped away.
“What about her?” DJ asked.
Allison looked to Ethan. He nodded and squeezed her against him. “I don’t hear from her very often. When I first came to Texas some of you might remember the only news I’d received from her were in the form of two texts. I can’t do this and later, I’ve changed my mind.”
“Right,” DJ nodded. “That was when you guys decided to work together to make sure your sister didn’t regain custody of Brittany.”
“Yes.” She stretched out her arm and grabbed hold of his free hand, squeezing it. “All I’ve received since is a postcard or two after her country music group had a few hits on the radio.”
“They’re actually pretty good,” Grace added. “I bought an album.”
“She does have a lovely voice.” Allison smiled a moment. “This morning she called while I was in surgery.” She sucked in another deep breath. “She left me a voicemail. They’re performing in Dallas tonight.”
“Really?” Meg said softly.
Allison blinked hard before facing the family again. “From there she’ll be coming to Tuckers Bluff.”
“She can’t get Brittany back…” A tinge of panic laced Toni’s words. “Can she?”
The moment the words were out of Toni’s mouth, Eileen turned to Sean. Across the room, their eyes met and she could read the same burning concern in them that had taken hold of her heart and squeezed. They couldn’t lose Brittany.
Grace raised her hands as if to calm all the unspoken fears and shook her head. “I wouldn’t think so. Not only did she sign away her rights, she left her daughter—her infant daughter—in a box on a doorstep.”
“A safe haven,” DJ pointed out.
“Doesn’t matter to a judge,” Grace barked back. “But, that said, I don’t know if she’d be entitled to some sort of visitation privileges. If her life is cleaned up—”
“She’s a musician. Touring. From city to city,” DJ interrupted. “Cleaned up isn’t the first word that comes to mind.”
“What do you think?” Brooks addressed Ethan.
“I don’t know right now.” Ethan’s sigh came out hard and heavy. “I really don’t.”
“It isn’t a problem until it’s a problem.” Sean had muttered those very words more than once through out the years. And heaven help them, she couldn’t remember a single time the concern had not become a problem. Standing stiffly against the pantry wall, Sean’s lips pressed tightly together.
Resisting the urge to cross the room and stand beside him proved harder than she’d expected. For years they had been a united front for the children, but starting now she might have to get used to a whole new family dynamic. And just how did she feel about that?
****
“This should be fun,” Rick, Tow the Line’s versatile occasional keyboard player, once in a while vocalist, and mostly drummer, said from the backseat.
Fancy had no idea what about this dry Texas scenery struck the only other member of the band besides Garrett to want to tag along for this leg of the trip as having potential for fun. Behind the steering wheel, Garrett slanted a sideways glance at Fancy. She knew it was intended to be reassuring but driving past the dingy motel on the outskirts of Butler Springs only made her realize just how close she was coming to confronting her past—and hopefully her future.
Rick continued, “I mean, you read about Texas ranchers, cowboys, cattle drives, and imagine things like John Wayne and Clint Eastwood on horseback, but the closest thing to a cattle drive I’ve ever been to are the big statues in downtown Dallas.”
“Those bronze sculptures in Dallas may be the closest you’re going to come to a cattle drive. We’re just visiting her sister, not taking on jobs as cowhands.” Garrett was the only member of the band who knew the truth of why Fancy was so nervous about visiting her sister. Everyone else gave no thought to singing and touring and rarely taking time to go home for a visit. That was a sad but true story for so many in the music world. But only Garrett had been around on Brittany’s birthday when after a glass too many of wine she’d broken down and told the best friend she’d had in forever about the little girl she’d left in Tuckers Bluff to be raised by the kindest stranger she’d ever met.
So much had changed since the day she drove that old clunker out of Tuckers Bluff, out of Texas, and nearly out of her mind.
****
“Penny for your thoughts?” Sean stepped into the living room, not completely sure he wanted to know the answer to that particular question.
Eileen held out the item she’d been cradling in her hands, a ph
otograph of Ethan and Allison the day Brittany was christened. “They’re a good family.”
“Yes, they are.”
“I don’t want to see them lose that. We can’t let Allison’s sister have Brittany.”
“No.” Sean sank into the sofa beside Eileen. “But we don’t know what she wants and there’s no sense fixing a problem until we know we have a problem.” Setting the framed photograph on the coffee table, he glanced at the album flipped open beside it. Not an album, a scrapbook. “I haven’t seen that in years.”
Eileen swallowed and nodded. “I remember being so tired. Helen used to tell me that God had the good sense to not let a pregnant woman sleep through the night without waking up a few times to use the bathroom. She called it boot camp for future new moms.”
“I remember.” For years the mention of Helen would bring an ache so strong he thought it would never go away. Never believed that a day would come when he could smile at the memories without a trace of the pain. “I’m sorry I wasn’t more help early on.”
Shaking her head, Eileen waved off his apology and turned back to the album.
“I’m not sure how Helen found some of these photographs, but some nights forever long ago after I’d been pacing with Grace, when I thought I’d never be able to do right by that sweet little baby, I’d look at this album and I could hear Helen telling me ‘Go for your dream. If anyone can beat the odds, it’s my little sister.’ And I had. I learned to tend bar, serve drinks, wait on tables, do dishes, anything that would pay the bills. Eventually the singing gigs started coming. I’d work all day, sing all night and the next day get up and do it all over again. Then one day, all I had to do was sing all night. I’d done it. I had my dream career.”
“Helen was very proud of you. We both were. You’d come a long way from that sixteen year old girl who traveled in a gaggle of teens and giggled all the time.”
“You remember that?”
“Hard not to. All I had were two male cousins who lived in Austin. There were no teenage girls in my family. Let’s say you and your friends made an impression.”
“I suppose it could have been worse. We could have scared you off.”
“Not a chance. You know how much work goes into running a ranch. I was just like Finn. Lived and breathed this place with my father. I was so annoyed he insisted I go to college.” Sean paused a moment, remembering the day he’d sat across from Helen in class and knew he owed his father a debt of gratitude for being a stubborn old coot. “Anyhow, once Helen and I decided that our future was together, she wanted me to spend more time with your family. I didn’t know why, but the few times we managed to visit, whether it was family dinner just for the day, or longer for the weekend, the house was always filled with giggling teenagers.”
Eileen rolled her eyes. “The reason we always had a house full of girls is because every last one of my high school friends was madly in love with you and the minute I mentioned Helen was coming home with her boyfriend, the Texas cowboy, none of my friends could think of anyplace they’d rather be than my house.”
“You’re kidding me?”
“Nope. And to tell the truth,” Eileen held up her hand and pinched her two fingers almost together, “I may have had a teensy little crush on you myself.”
“Now I know you’re pulling my leg.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” Eileen shrugged on a soft laugh and pointed to the scrapbook. “But looking at this record of my career that Helen made, and remembering her words… How much she believed in me. I knew not only did I have to do right by Grace and the rest of you, I could almost hear Helen telling me of course I could.”
“You did better than right. You were the mother my children needed. The backbone this family needed and,” he searched for the words but none seemed to be good enough, “so much more. Thank you.”
Eileen stared into his eyes and Sean swore he could feel his heart pounding from the inside out. So much more.
CHAPTER NINE
“Your family was teasing about the snakes, right?”
Eileen briefly took her eyes off the road to look at Glenn. “No.”
“I see.” The expression of complete and utter horror on his face was almost laughable. “So what do we do if we, uhm, see one?”
“Shoot it.” She slanted another sneak peek at her passenger and bit back a smile. Never before had she actually seen anyone turn so close to sheet white. “Don’t worry. I know how to hit what I’m aiming at.”
This time his eyes rounded so big and wide, for a few seconds she considered if his eyeballs really could fall out of his head. “You shoot?”
Chuckling, Eileen nodded. “Very well.”
“I see.” His gaze returned to the road ahead and silence hung for a few more minutes. “Not sure which makes me more nervous, a rattle snake or you with a gun. Did you bring one?”
“This is West Texas. Leaving your ranch without a gun is like driving off in a truck without gasoline.”
She could feel his gaze burning into her. “What else do you know how to do? I mean, that you didn’t do before?”
“Well,” she blew out a breath and tipped her head in thought, “I guess the most important thing is I know how to cook and feed twenty or more people.”
“That I noticed. Even though the steaks were grilled outside, I could see who was actually running the kitchen. Plus, several people oohed and aahed at the mention of your special potato salad.”
“Not much to making that.”
He seemed to relax a little in his seat. “Better than you used to be able to do.”
“True.” She chuckled a little louder remembering how often her meals had been charbroiled without a grill.
“What else?”
“I also can ride a horse and not fall off. I can assist with birthing calves and foals, even though I rarely have to. Especially with Adam in the family. He could tend to any sickly critter almost since he was out of diapers.”
“I’m impressed. I’m afraid if you put me on a horse, I’d fall off the other side.”
“That’s been known to happen.” She resisted the urge to rub her hip that had hit hard Texas dirt more times than she cared to remember. “But it’s not so bad once you get the hang of it.”
“And you got the hang of it?”
“I did.” How long it took her not to spook at the sight of animals twice as tall as her, who rocked like a bough about to break when they walked, was a story for another time.
“And you like it?”
She cocked her head to one side, keeping one eye on the road and the other on him. “Yes. I love my life here.” My boys and Grace. It had taken years, but she’d gotten used to the dirt and the dust and manure and hard work.
“And the music?”
Yes. What about the music? “I’d be lying if I said this opportunity didn’t…intrigue me.”
“I suppose intrigue is better than a flat out no.”
“Did you expect me to say no?”
“You haven’t said yes.” He shifted in his seat, angling more in her direction. “I’ve been trying to read you and sometimes I think you really want to do this, and then others I think I’m reading you all wrong and you could not care less. And sometimes I’m not sure you’re paying any attention at all.”
She was paying attention now. Mostly. Except for the part of her mind that was clear across the county, in Tuckers Bluff, wondering was it something in the stars, some type of retrograde that was bringing all these surprise visitors to town. And would surprise visitor Fancy the singer prove to be a problem?
“Like now.” Glenn straightened. “Eileen?”
The sound of her name shifted her thoughts. “Yes?”
“You’re here, but your mind is somewhere else. Want to share?”
Did she? Once upon a time she would have shared anything with this man. Now, she didn’t have a clue. And even if she was inclined to talk, Sean had said it best, there isn’t a problem until it’s a problem. So, whatever was h
appening in Tuckers Bluff could be handled without her. All the parties involved were legal and intelligent adults. At least Ethan and Allison were. She couldn’t attest to the abilities of a woman who left her child in a box. Either way, hovering wouldn’t make any difference. None of her family were young children where a kiss from Aunt Eileen or a Band-Aid could make things all better. Nope, the kids needed to solve their own problems, no matter how much she wanted to hog tie Fancy and lock her in the closet until Brittany was twenty-one.
“Eileen?” he repeated.
She blinked. Twice. “Yes. I was just thinking Ethan and the others are all grown up.”
Glenn chuckled. “Looked that way to me.”
Grown and married and raising families of their own. They should, and can, handle their own problems without her interference. Maybe Glenn’s arrival was serendipitous. Perhaps Fancy showing up was fate working to show her that her boys didn’t need her any more. That it was time to finally live her own life. To move on.
Patiently waiting in silence, Glenn watched her put her thoughts together. That had been one of the things she’d once loved about him. She could be whoever she wanted to be. Do whatever she wanted. Until staying with her sister was one thing too much. None of this ruminating was helping her make up her mind. Which life did she want to live? Only one way to find out. And visiting a ghost town was as good a place as any to start.
****
“Did you sleep well?” Meg held out a tray of warm muffins.
“Yes.” Fancy hoped the owner of the B&B wasn’t terribly observant. The dark circles under Fancy’s eyes from not one but several nights spent tossing and turning would belie the single positive response. “This is a lovely home.”
Meg beamed. Her husband, Ethan’s brother and Brittany’s uncle, remained unreadable.
“These are fantastic,” Rick mumbled around a mouth filled with blueberry muffins.
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