“You’ve got a point,” she said and pointed toward an open door. “I would guess that my room is that one over there since the other doors are closed. I see two beds in it, so if the noise levels get too loud, come on over. I won’t need them both, and we’ve slept in closer quarters than that the past two nights.”
Ford picked up his duffel bag, crossed the room, and opened one of the doors. “This looks like Grandpa’s stuff, so I guess this is where I’m supposed to be for the next week.”
“I’m going to unpack”—Joelle stood up—“and then I’m going to sit in one of those rocking chairs out there until suppertime.”
“See you out there in a few minutes,” Ford said.
Joelle didn’t mean to fall asleep when she finished unpacking and stretched out on one of the beds, but she did. An hour later she heard excited voices in the living room, checked her phone, and groaned.
“Took a little nap, did you?” Sharlene asked. “Well, darlin’, it’s time to get up and go to supper with us. We thought you two kids might already be at the dining hall.”
“Do I need to get all dressed up?” Joelle asked.
“Nope, it’s casual tonight. The last night we’re herewe can dress either in vintage clothes or semiformal,” Sharlene answered. “If you comb the tangles out of that mane of hair, I reckon you’ll be fine in your jeans and shirt. And right after supper, we’re going over to the honky-tonk. It closes at ten on senior week so us old biddies can get our beauty rest.”
“And tomorrow?” Joelle asked.
“Horseback riding in the morning and a shooting contest at two o’clock. You kids can do whatever you want,” Sharlene answered and then clapped her hands. “Chop! Chop! Everyone is waiting on the porch.”
***
Ford lay perfectly still in the sand waiting to finish his mission so he could throw off the camouflage and get to his exfil coordinates. The targets were moving toward him, and his finger was on the trigger. Then he heard the whirring of helicopter blades coming over his head and knew in his heart that they were not the calvary coming to help him, but the enemy arriving to rain hellfire down upon him. He began to sweat, hoping that they couldn’t spot him in the sand-colored suit he wore. Then the bullets started coming down like a hard rain. The only thing louder than that noise was the beating of his heart.
“Wake up, Grandson!” Billy Joe touched him on the shoulder.
Ford’s eyes popped wide open, and he sat straight up and hoped that hadn’t given away his position. For asplit second, he wondered how the weather had dropped from downright scorching hot to cool enough to make him shiver, but then he remembered that it was just another bad dream.
“Nightmares again?” Billy Joe asked. “I thought the VA was supposed to have helped with all that.”
“They did their best,” Ford said as he swung his legs over the side of the bed, “but they said it will take time. Personally, I think it’s going to take a miracle. Is it suppertime already?”
“It is, and then we’re going right over to do some dancing. I hope your grandma don’t mind if I two-step around the floor with some of these women. I ain’t held a woman in my arms since she passed on, and she was one jealous lady,” Billy Joe answered.
“She would want you to be happy,” Ford assured him.
Billy Joe patted him on the shoulder. “She would want the same for you. Maybe a good supper and a few beers will help you sleep better tonight.”
“That would be great, but I don’t expect miracles,” Ford said and headed out of the bedroom. He glanced over at Joelle’s room and wondered if she was the miracle that kept him from having the vivid dreams. He hadn’t had one in the two nights he’d slept beside her on the floor of the VW bus, and yet when he just lay down for a short nap, the dreams had returned.
“Seems to me like just looking at all those flowers and symbols would cause more nightmares than beingthe lone survivor of a mission that took out the rest of my team,” he muttered.
“What was that?” his grandfather asked. “You got to speak up. My hearin’ ain’t what it used to be.”
“I was talking to myself,” he answered.
“No problem. A man’s got to visit with himself at times to straighten things out,” Billy Joe said.
Ford and Joelle hung back and walked behind the three older folks on the way up the road to the dining hall. As they walked, his hand brushed against hers several times. He felt a little like a teenager, not knowing whether it was an accident or if maybe she was making the first move.
The place was buzzing with excitement when they arrived, and the smell of fried chicken and fresh-baked bread filled the room. Supper was served buffet style, and the guests sat around tables that seated ten. That left five places for strangers at their table, but by the time the meal was over, they were already friends and talking about what part of the country they came from.
When they had all finished, they went next door to the honky-tonk, where Billy Joe bought the first round of beers for all ten of them, then plugged five dollars’ worth of quarters into the jukebox and grabbed Nita by the hand.
“I’ll be back soon as this song is over to dance with you, Sharlene, so get ready.” Billy Joe winked at her. “One of us needs to hold down the fort at all times,which means stay at our table, so that the old people who are here don’t steal it from us.”
“Joelle and I can hold down the table,” Ford told him. “And Grandpa,youare old.”
Billy Joe and Nita both shook their fingers at Ford.
