No answers floated down from the rafters in the garage, so I simply kept smiling and talking to folks as they loaded up their plates. Jackson and Grady had been roped into helping serve drinks, so they were the last two in line. When they finished getting their food, Scarlett and I were done with our job, and we joined them at a nearby table.
“This is a really nice way to end the weekend,” Jackson said.
“Good food. Good friends. Good family,” Grady said. “We’re a pretty tight-knit group here in Dell City.”
“Actually, from here all the way to the Tumbleweed, since y’all took us in,” Scarlett said.
“Anyone that has a Dell City address is counted in with us,” Grady replied.
I had never been included in a town before, and I liked the warm feeling of acceptance that washed over me. Yes, I had made the right decision, and it hadn’t taken me all the way to July 4 to do so. I wasn’t ready to stand on the top of my trailer and announce it to the world. Not yet, anyway. I wanted to keep it close to my heart for a while and enjoy the peace all to myself.
Grady stood up and extended a hand to Scarlett. She took it and together they walked to the center of the room. Mama Mendoza shushed the folks around her and pointed. Soon the whole room was quieter than the church when the preacher gave his sermon that evening.
Scarlett shot a smile and a wink at me from across the room. My thoughts went in several different directions. Was Grady about to propose? Were they announcing that she was pregnant?
“Since everyone is here, we have an announcement to make,” Grady said. “Scarlett has moved in with me, and just this morning she finally said yes when I proposed for the twenty-fifth time. We would like to invite all y’all to attend our wedding in two weeks. The ceremony and the reception will be held at our church.”
The applause was probably heard all the way to El Paso, and everyone rushed to congratulate them.
“What do you think about that?” Ada Lou whispered in my ear.
I whipped around to find her right there in person instead of just as a voice in my head. “I am happy for her.”
“Aren’t you going to miss her at the café?” she asked.
“When she moved in with Grady just yesterday, she promised that she would continue to work at the Tumbleweed.”
“What about when she has a baby or babies?” she asked.
“Then we’re turning half of the storage room into a nursery and hiring a nanny. You want to apply for the job?”
“I just might.”
Her answer shocked me so badly that I didn’t even have a comeback for several seconds. Finally, I found my voice and said, “Are you serious?”
“Sure, I am. Rosie told me y’all have a new girl coming tomorrow morning. When she gets trained, you could give Scarlett the weekends free. Then I’d only have to work five days a week. If I can’t handle it, I’ll talk Nancy into helping me,” Ada Lou answered.
“You’ve already given this some thought, haven’t you.”
“Yes, I have,” she said, then went up to hug the couple.
Jackson leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. “So, you’re putting in a nursery? I’d thought we would hire a live-in nanny.”
“For Scarlett’s kids?” I asked, even though I knew what he was talking about.
He stood and held out a hand. “The nanny I had it mind would be for Leroy Jethro and Barney Huckleberry. Those are strange names for a cute little girl like the one that kept turning around in front of us during church services, but I bet there won’t be another girl in her kindergarten class named that.”
“It would take a lifetime to get ahead of you,” I said on the way to stand in line to congratulate Grady and Scarlett.
“But just think about how much fun it would be,” he chuckled.
Chapter Twenty-One
Abig, full moon would have made it a perfect night. Stars twinkled in a nearly black velvet sky, but there wasn’t even a faint sliver of a moon up there. Jackson and I weren’t the only ones who were walking back to the church parking lot. Kids ran along in front of their parents and grandparents. Young couples huddled up so close to each other that cold air couldn’t have gotten between them. Jackson held my hand, and I was not a bit surprised at the little rush of heat traveling through our gloves, spreading warmth through my body.
“What are you thinking about right now?” Jackson asked.
“Helping Scarlett plan a wedding in two weeks. She says it’s going to be very simple, and that Mama Mendoza and Grady’s family are taking care of the reception. But as her family, Rosie and I need to do something. And to be honest, I am worrying a little about the new girl who will be living in the trailer with me and Rosie. I hope she fits in with the dynamic as well as I did.”
