“Man, I could get used to this kind of treatment,” she muttered to herself as she watched him walk around the front of the truck and then open the door for her. He kept her hand in his after she slid off the seat and nodded toward the silver SUV in the parking lot.
“Those are Texas tags,” she said.
“Think it might be some of your relatives come to haul you back to the Panhandle?” he teased.
“Nope,” she answered. “But it might be one of Aunt Mary Jane’s girls on their way home for a few days. I would love to see either Rae or Bo. It was like a breath of fresh air to talk to Endora and Luna. I can’t wait for you to meet all of them. Maybe we can go down there for Thanksgiving dinner. Aunt Bernie says they all come home for the holidays.”
He stopped and kissed her on the forehead. “Darlin’, I would be glad to go meet your family, but I’ll have to decline for dinner that day. I can’t leave Granny and Grandpa alone. How about we have dinner with them, and then supper with your folks.”
“Do you think we’ll be together that long?” she asked.
“I hope so,” he whispered.
“If we are, how about we just combine our families? Darlene and Hoot can go to Spanish Fort with us,” she suggested.
“I’d like that, and I think Grandpa and Granny might, too.”
“You want to come in and say hello to Aunt Bernie?” she asked.
“I can’t stay but a minute. Grandpa was headed out to the fields after he waved goodbye to us,” Nash said. “But it would seem rude not to at least speak to her since she let me have you for most of a day.”
Clara led him into the living room, stopped dead in the doorway, and stared at her mother and grandmother. Surely she was hallucinating. Even if Myra or Luke diedin a tragic accident, they would have called, not come all the way from Fritch to give her the news. “What…how…why?” she stammered.
“They surprised me, too,” Bernie said. “They say they are going to the Paradise tomorrow to make nice with Mary Jane. I don’t believe them for a minute.”
“What are you doing here?” Clara finally got a full sentence out, and then remembered that Nash was still holding her hand. She turned to him and said, “I’m so sorry. This is my mother, Marsha, and my grandmother, Vernie Sue. Mama, this is Nash, who hopefully will be my boss when Aunt Bernie sells the Chicken Coop to him.”
“Oh, I’m going to sell the bar to Nash all right, since he’s proven that he loves it as much as I do,” Bernie answered.
“It’s right nice to meet y’all. You have a beautiful daughter, both inside and out. I have to go help get some hay into the barn this afternoon, or I would stick around a while,” Nash said and planted another sweet kiss on Clara’s cheek. “Darlin’, call me later?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a long, lingering, and very passionate kiss. “Take that to the field with you and think of me.”
Nash grinned and nodded. “I would anyway, but I appreciate that little added bonus there.”
When Clara heard the back door close, she crossed her arms over her chest and turned to face her motherand grandmother. “Now what in the hell are you doing here?”
“That is no way to talk to your elders, and don’t use foul language when you ask me a question, and you shouldn’t be kissing a man in front of us like that.” Vernie Sue stopped and sucked in some air before she went on. “You were raised better than that, but I guess Bernie has taught you…”
“Whoa!” Clara held up a palm in protest. “Aunt Bernie has been nothing but kind to me. You are the one that taught me not to depend on relatives.” Her blood was nearing the boiling point, and if they bad-mouthed Bernie again, she would show them exactly what kind of blistering hot words could really roll out of her mouth.
“You are unappreciative and…” Vernie Sue started again.
“Shut up, Mama,” Marsha said and then stood up, crossed the room, and wrapped her arms around Clara. “I’m sorry about that. I came to tell you that I’m sorry for my behavior, not fight with you. And Mama has gone back on her word to be civil, so I’ll apologize for her, too.”
Clara’s whole body went stiff. She couldn’t make herself wrap her arms around her mother and forgive her for the past, no matter how hard she tried.
Marsha stepped back and sighed. “I guess a simple apology isn’t enough.”
“I told you so,” Vernie Sue snapped. “She’s just like Bernie—unforgiving and mean.”
“Thank you for that,” Clara said. “I’ll take it as a wonderful compliment.”
“Let’s go home to Fritch,” Vernie Sue said. “I don’t imagine we’ll get any better reception at that brothel where Mary Jane lives.”
“A private word, Clara?” Bernie asked in a quiet voice as she stood and led the way to the kitchen.
Clara followed her but kept going right on out to the backyard. “Aunt Bernie, what is really going on? Why are they here?”
