Chapter Fifteen
Cooper hadn’t shown up for dinner either Monday or Tuesday. At first Abby was antsy, but by Wednesday she was bitchy. Just when she thought she was putting a couple of roots down, Madam Fate created a virtual tornado that tore everything up. She was glad she was cooking that day so she could be alone. Neither Shiloh or Bonnie needed to have to deal with her bad mood.
Damn that sheriff business that kept him at the courthouse both days and today he had a prisoner escort from Silverton to Lubbock. It was less than a hundred miles, but it would take all morning and part of the afternoon by the time the paperwork was done.
Abby and her sisters had set up a pattern that first week. The living room and dusting belonged to Shiloh on Monday. Cleaning the kitchen and utility room was Bonnie’s job on Tuesday and the bathrooms were Abby’s on Wednesday.
With all her jobs completed, and an hour left before the rest of the crew came home for dinner, she was bored. She’d called Haley earlier but she was in class all day. Both her sisters were repairing the corral so they could bring up the cattle next week to be vaccinated and tagged. After dinner she’d be out there with them, slinging a hammer and tearing away rotted boards, learning still another ranchin’ job. She only hoped her mood softened by then.
She heard the crunch of tires coming up the lane and looked at the clock. No, it was still at least forty-five minutes until dinnertime. When Martha barked, Abby jumped. Usually all three dogs went with whoever was going out on the ranch. It didn’t matter if they were fixing fence, plowing, drilling wheat, or feeding in the morning and the evening, the dogs were there.
Surely those Bible-toting folks didn’t come all the way into the canyon looking for lost souls. She flung open the door just as Nona raised a hand to knock on it. Nona’s bright smile put a little light in the dark mood she’d been toting around all morning.
“Hi, Abby. I hope you meant it when you invited me to drop by.”
“Yes, of course we meant it. Please come in.” Abby motioned her inside the house. “Would you like a glass of sweet tea or a beer?”
“Tea would be nice.” Nona followed her into the kitchen. “Something smells good in here. Are you the cook?”
“Today I am. We take turns cooking. I’d rather be outside.” She filled two glasses with ice and sweet tea. “It’s chicken and rice. Can you stay for dinner? There’s always plenty.”
“I’d love to. What can I do to help?” Nona picked up the tea and downed a third of it before coming up for air. “Our cook is taking the morning off to go grocery shopping. Travis took a sandwich with him to the fields so he didn’t have to stop plowing today. And I can’t cook worth a damn, so I’d love to eat with y’all.”
“Your mother mentioned that you just got married recently,” Abby said.
“Only three weeks ago. I should have come over and welcomed all y’all to the canyon before now, but things have been crazy on Lonesome Canyon. Learning so much all at once sometimes overwhelms me.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Abby nodded. “I can understand that. I’m trying to learn how to be a rancher and it’s not easy.”
“Can I be of some use and set the table?”
Abby pointed. “Plates are there. Silverware is in the drawer beside the sink. Five today. Cooper’s on his way to Lubbock with a prisoner transport, though he usually stops by. His bachelor cooking isn’t as good as ours.”
“Rumor has it that he’s interested in you,” Nona said.
Abby shrugged. “He hasn’t been here for three days and I’ve got to admit it’s made me pretty cranky.”
“I hear you. When Travis and I had to be apart, I don’t think Jesus could have lived with me.”
Abby giggled. “That’s where I was this morning. Angels would have given me a one-way ticket to Hades to get rid of me.”
“Cooper is a good, decent man. I had a terrible crush on him when I was sixteen, but there was no way Daddy would allow me to date a man nine years older than me, even if Cooper had been interested. I threw a hissy worse than any Mama ever pitched because he wouldn’t let me invite Cooper to the Fourth of July picnic as my date.”
“My mama wouldn’t have allowed it either.” The way Nona made herself at home made Abby feel as if she’d known her for years rather than such a short while. While she didn’t feel the same bond she had with her sisters, she could still see Nona being a good friend.
Nona peeled off five paper towels and folded them. “This okay for napkins?”
“Yes, that’s fine,” Abby said and then changed the subject. “Did you know Ezra well?”
“As much as you know any neighbor, I suppose. He was rough as sandpaper, and so was his voice. You could tell he was a heavy smoker. I liked him, but Mama says he lived by the old books. Women had their place and men had theirs, and the two didn’t mix. He’d be turnin’ over in his grave if he knew his daughters were out there plowin’ and fixin’ fence. And he’d come up out of the grave if he ever caught you castratin’ bulls come springtime. Women were supposed to cook and clean and obey their husbands. But somehow, I still think he’d be proud of all y’all for your independence and your willingness to learn how to run a ranch. Truth is, though, I bet he didn’t think any of you would stick around even this long.”
“Do you do that same work on your ranch?” Abby asked.
“Hell, yes! I’m a rancher, not a prissy princess. I never was too good at that obeying shit.”
Thinking of Ezra spinning around in his grave because she and her two sisters were working cattle put a smile on Abby’s face. That would teach him to leave the ranch to his daughters.
“I’m an only child, too,” Abby said.
“But you have two sisters.”
Abby refilled Nona’s tea glass. “I’ll rephrase. I was raised as an only child. And so were Shiloh and Bonnie. We had no idea we had siblings until the lawyer called us about Ezra’s death and told us about his will.”
Nona finished setting the table and leaned on the bar. “Bet that was a shocker. It’s not a whole lot of fun being the only child, is it? I wish Mama would have had twins when I was two years old instead of twenty-two. So where did you grow up?”
“In Galveston.” Abby was amazed at how easy it was to talk to Nona. Maybe it was because she was so open and honest. Whatever she was thinking sure had a way of coming out of her mouth and showing on her face. She reminded Abby of Haley, with her soft southern twang and openness.
“What did your mama do there?”
“She owned a doughnut shop and café from the time I was born until about six months after I graduated from high school.”
“Then she sold it?” Nona asked.
“No, then a robbery went bad and she was shot during it.”
Nona’s hand went over her mouth and her eyes misted. “I’m so, so sorry, Abby. I can’t imagine life without my mama. And you were so young.”
Abby nodded. “I was and it was very hard. Her lawyer gave me some good advice about the café, and one year faded into another. I reenlisted for another six years then with the intentions of making it a career, but after twelve I was burned out.”
“What about Ezra’s other two daughters? Where did they live before coming here? Their mamas are still living, aren’t they? I don’t want to bring up any more bad memories.”
“I’ll let them tell you at dinner. I hear truck doors slamming right now. And Nona, it’s okay. It’s been long enough now that I’ve only got good memories of my mama. I wish she was here, but I still hear her in my head when I need advice.”
Nona cocked her head to one side and nodded. “My mama would be like that, but I don’t want to even think about not having her here.”
“The door is opening. Would you get the salad from the refrigerator? And there’s a plate of cranberry sauce. I’ll take the casserole from the oven,” Abby said.
Nona opened the refrigerator and whistled through her teeth. “Is that chocolate silk pie?”
“Made from scratch. Even the pie shell,” Abby said.
“I see why Cooper comes for dinner every chance he gets.”