“He’s only thirty-five,” Bernie answered for Clara. “He got all that gorgeous gray hair prematurely.”
Vernie Sue sniffed the air and snarled her nose. “I’d have to see his birth certificate to believe that.”
“And Aunt Mary Jane?” Clara ignored her grandmother. “We heard in church this morning about forgiveness. Jesus didn’t judge anyone, so what right do we have to put ourselves on a pedestal and look down on anyone?”
“Yes, I will do better,” Vernie Sue nodded. “I’ve missed a lifetime of making memories.”
“Choices and consequences.” Clara wondered if she had fallen asleep or been in a trance the past hour. If so, she sure hoped that when she awoke, the past few weeks were real and not a part of the dream. “We make the choices and then we have to live with the consequences,” she finally said. “I’ve got a feeling that this feuding among sisters might go back further than any of y’all can imagine. Did Great Granny have a sister?”
“Three of them,” Vernie answered. “And her mother had five sisters.”
“I’d say it’s time for all of us to break the tradition,” Clara said. “Seems to me like it’s gone on long enough.”
“Out of the mouths of babes,” Bernie said.
“I have learned a lot from you,” Clara told her with a smile. “I’m glad my path brought me here. I’m happier than I have ever been.”
Bernie swiped at a tear with a tissue and then tossed the box across the room. “Vernie Sue, you better go to the bathroom and look in the mirror before you head down to Spanish Fort. You’ve got black mascara streaks in your wrinkles.”
Vernie Sue nodded and stood up. “I may be a mess, but that’s minor compared to the disaster that we’ve all made for the past decades. I won’t promise I will change overnight. I’m too set in my ways for that, but I’ll give itmy best shot to do better. How about we order some of that pizza for supper—my treat—and have a real visit?”
“Why don’t you get out that box of pictures that you are taking with you to the Paradise, Aunt Bernie?” Clara asked.
Bernie’s blush was as red as her hair. “I guess that would be the ultimate test of whether Vernie Sue will stay in touch with me or if we go our separate ways.”
Clara giggled, more out of nervousness than humor. “Bring them on, and no matter what, I’m sticking with you.”
Chapter 16
Bernie glanced at the feed store calendar hanging on the kitchen wall that Saturday morning and knew the time had come to give Nash a definite answer. Where had the past three weeks gone? It seemed like only yesterday that Nash, Hershal, and Clara walked into her bar, each of them with a different problem.
The six days since Vernie Sue and Marsha had been there had seemed to speed by so quickly that Bernie got dizzy just thinking about it. She and Vernie Sue had talked on the phone once since her sister had gone back to Fritch, and Bernie figured out really quick that some old dogs couldn’t be taught new tricks. Especially Vernie Sue—bless her heart! But at least the old gal had turned her venomous bite toward a couple of women in her church and was leaving Marsha and Mary Jane alone, as well as Bernie and Clara. That was a blessing right there. She and Vernie Sue might never be the sisters they could have been, but Bernie was willing to work with what she had.
“And after all, she lives five hours from me now, andsix when I get moved,” she told Pepper as she opened the back door and followed him outside.
He ran off into the woods, and she carefully eased down into a lawn chair, being careful not to spill a drop of coffee from her full cup. “Everything I can’t bear to leave behind is packed into boxes, so why wait another three weeks? I called my lawyer yesterday, and he has the papers ready to sign,” she muttered between sips of coffee.
Pepper ran across the yard like a mountain lion was chasing him, stopped right at her feet, and barked. She set her mug on the ground and picked him up. “We are going to do just fine in Spanish Fort at the Paradise. I figure you’ll have to be on a leash more than you are now, mainly because in the beginning I didn’t care if one of those squirrels out there in the woods had you for dinner. But you’ve grown on me, and you are a damn fine listener. I promise to take you for a long walk every day and not let Mary Jane’s cat claw your eyes out.”
The dog curled up in her lap and went to sleep. Bernie leaned over and picked up her coffee and took a sip. “I’ve talked to myself so long that I’ll have to be careful when we get settled in. I might tell secrets that need to be buried with me.”
Pepper snored, and she giggled.
“What’s so funny?” Clara asked as she came out the back door with a cup of steaming-hot coffee in her hands. “Do you want a heat up? I’ll go back in and get the pot if you do.”
“No, I’m fine, but I’ve made a definite decision about selling the bar. You and I just need to visit about your plans before I put it on stone,” she said. “Sit down and tell me if you really want to stay here or if you are having doubts and want to go to the Paradise with me. If you and Nash are getting as serious as it looks like to me, remember that it’s only an hour to Spanish Fort, and that’s close enough that you won’t even have to call it long-distance dating.”
“Aunt Bernie,” Clara answered without even a second’s hesitation, “I love you and my Aunt Mary Jane, and I’m glad she and Mama are taking baby steps toward mending things between you. But I don’t want to go with you. I want to stay here with Nash.”
“How serious are things between y’all?” Bernie asked.
“Let’s just say that I’m glad the walls of the bar can’t talk.” Clara gave her a broad wink. “I’m going to church with him and his grandparents tomorrow morning and the hay barn might bethe place. If you are selling to him, we’ll be living in the same apartment, but quite possibly not the same bedroom. Does that answer your question?”
“Yes, it does, and Madam Fate is telling me to call the lawyer. I’ll discuss it with you kids tonight at the cigar therapy session,” she answered.
I’ve done it,Bernie thought.My first mission has been a success.
***
