“No, and I don’t want to. A granddaddy longlegs is only slightly smaller than a full-grown lion in my eyes.”
“Then instead of a knight in shining armor, I’ll be your spider slayer in shiny armor,” he teased.
“Hey, Carla, you’ve got to see this,” Scarlett called out.
“I heard that,” Jackson said. “If it’s a spider, call me and I’ll saddle up the white horse.”
“Be ready, and I’ll see you later,” I said.
“How about tomorrow afternoon at four? We can drive to El Paso for a steak?”
“I will be ready,” I said, and ended the call. I pulled on a pair of sweatpants and hoped like hell that Scarlett didn’t have a spider cornered in the kitchen.
“What’s up?” I asked when I found her peeking out the front window. I edged up to her side and leaned forward. If there was a spider or a bug of any kind between the blinds and the glass, she was going to be in big trouble. “What is Rosie doing out there in the cold with a shovel?”
“I asked her if she was going to eat the candy she won today or if she would share it with us,” Scarlett answered.
“What has that got to do with ...”
Scarlett stepped back. “She told me it was blood candy and not a single bite would go into any of our bodies. The only good thing that would ever come of that game is that you now had to stay until summer. So she’s out there burying it like it was a dead person.”
“It’s in a plastic bag. We could dig it up while she’s at church,” I suggested.
“I already thought of that, and she said she’s going to unwrap it all and make sure it’s unfit for even a coyote if he tries to dig it up.”
I watched her finish chipping a shallow hole out of the frozen earth and dump all the candy into it. Then she filled it up again and took the shovel back to the café. When she came into the trailer, she went straight to the kitchen sink and washed her hands twice.
“That evil stuff is now gone from the house. While it was here, I felt like I should call my priest and have him perform a cleansing for the trailer,” she said. “I’m going to take a shower now. I will see y’all in the morning. We will open the café at the normal time.”
I was speechless as I watched her disappear down the hallway and into the bathroom. “Do you think she’ll burn the clothes she wore today?” I asked in a low voice.
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Scarlett said. “Her faith in what’s right and what’s wrong is pretty strong. I’d hate to be the devil if he ever did materialize in front of her.”
“But burying candy?” I frowned.
“I don’t know which is worse: her playing cards to get you to stay, or wasting all that good chocolate,” Scarlett said with a sigh.
Chapter Seventeen
When Mama had said that things happen for a reason, I was too young to know what she was talking about. Before daylight on Saturday morning, I was so eager to get back to work that what she had said so long ago finally made sense. I had needed to be away from the Tumbleweed for a few days to realize how much it meant to me. Had I not practically lost my shirt, then I would have never found my new family.
“Good morning! Are we ready to get back into our routine?” I asked as I poured a cup of coffee.
“Thank you, Jesus!” Rosie said.
“Does that mean yes?”
“Absolutely,” she said. “The café hasn’t been closed this long since I’ve been here. The Good Book talks about everything in life having a time.”
I took a sip of my coffee. “What has all this been a time for?”
Could it be that the same snowstorm could have a different meaning for all of us?
“For me, it’s been a few days of getting to know you better—and realizing that you aren’t only a boss, but a friend.”
I set my mug on the bar and wrapped Rosie up in a fierce hug. “Thank you for that,” I said around the lump in my throat when I took a step back.
“There ain’t no reason to get all mushy,” she muttered.
