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  “Mitch wasn’t rich so why are you talking about money?” Stella said. “What else have you got to say before we eat? I’m hungry and I want you to say your piece before we eat, then I don’t want to hear anymore about this.”

  “Mitch might not have had money but this Rance fellow didn’t buy the Morgan ranch with apples and oranges. So do you plan on continuing this relationship with him?” Lucy asked.

  Maggie took her stand on the band box before Stella could answer. “Come on Stella. You know what a basket case you were those first few weeks after Mitch dumped you. Remember how devastated you were? Remember how bad he hurt you, and you’re just now coming out of it. I was so glad when you went to Dallas last weekend for a little holiday. There’re so many men in the world who’d kiss your feet. Joel’s been pantin’ after you for weeks, Mother says so, and you won’t give him the time of day. Then this rich dude comes up here from Texas and you go all ga-ga and melt at his feet just because he reminds you of Mitch. You can’t go back and redo one thing, Sister. This drugstore cowboy is cut out of the same cloth. We tried to tell you Mitch was bad news. Even Granny could see through him. At least she left you something to make a living with. So suck it up and act like the adult you are and listen to us. If we didn’t love you we wouldn’t be sitting here arguing with you.”

  “I intend to do whatever my heart tells me to do. Besides I’ve probably run him completely off and he’ll never call again. So stop worrying,” Stella said.

  “You listened to your heart once and it sure made a big time fool out of you,” Lucy said.

  “Yes, it did.” Stella nodded. “But it wasn’t my heart’s fault, and I’m going to listen to it again. It’s all I’ve got to go on, you know.”

  “You’re a foolish girl. I can tell by the gleam in that man’s eyes that he’s going to rip your heart out and stomp on it,” Lucy said bluntly. “And when he does I promise I’m going to come and sit right down at this table and say ‘Stella, you are a fool. I told you so.’ I let that business with Mitch go and didn’t tell you how I felt about him. Man wouldn’t even marry you in our church so your friends and family could be there. Had to get married in Vegas on the way to California, and we abided by your wishes. But if you persist in getting burned again, then it’s going to be ‘shame on you’ and I’m going to sit right here and gloat.”

  “Far be it from me to keep you from your gloating glory,” Stella said.

  Lauren sat up from the sofa where she had awakened soon after something was said about the rye bread. “I don’t know why you’re on her case anyway. She made a mistake with Uncle Mitch but at least she admitted it. Lots of people make mistakes. Granny Brannon made one when she married her husband. She says he was a philandering fool after anything in a skirt, and then you married her son, Granny Lucy. And he didn’t turn out a whole lot better, did he? And look at Uncle Hudson; he’s divorced, too. Besides you didn’t come over here and ask Aunt Stella what she thought about you dating Mr. Howard so what gives you the right to jump on her case about this Rance fellow? And Momma, why don’t you go ahead and tell her why we really came down here? Daddy has a girlfriend and it looks like we might be moving back to Sulphur over Christmas break, so Momma wanted to talk to Granny Lucy about staying with her until we could get our own house. Besides, Aunt Stella isn’t a teenager with raging hormones. She’s got a little bit of sense, so let’s have a sandwich and get on the road. I’ll drive, Momma, since I’ve had a nap.”

  They all looked at Lauren like she was an apparition straight from the backside of hell. Stella’s own situation took a back burner and her heart literally broke for her sister. Maggie had been in love with her husband, Tommy, since they were in junior high school. Stella knew all about the fear of starting over again in the real world. She’d been there. She’d felt the pain and she wanted to hug her sister and wipe away the anguish, and put a .38 slug right between Tommy’s eyes.

  Maggie’s voice quivered in a sob. “Middle aged crazy. He’s forty one and afraid he’s about to go over the hill. She’s twenty three. Lord, I’m scared to death. And I don’t want you to make another mistake.”

  “I’m so sorry. You two want to stay here?” Stella pushed her chair back and went to hug Maggie.

  “No, this is your bread and butter. I can’t take two rooms. I just need to stay with Momma a couple of weeks. I talked to a real estate company in town and looks like I can work there.” Her voice trailed off.

  “It’s just that we’re going to have to adjust our living style,” Lauren said. “Daddy says he’ll pay child support and give Mom a settlement. But it won’t send me to college later on and the new bimbo wants a family so he’s got to think about more kids.”

  Maggie shuddered. “I guess he always did want a big family, and my early hysterectomy shattered his dreams.”

  Lauren crossed the room and sat down in her mother’s lap. “Hey, don’t blame yourself. I don’t think any of us here in this room have real good luck when it comes to men. I’m going to date Ricky for ten years. Maybe it’s in our genes not to have a lick of sense when it comes to the male race. Now let’s eat lots of fat grams and calories and make it all go away. Whatever you eat when you’re baring your soul or arguing doesn’t have any calories anyway.”

  Stella gulped and raised a well arched eyebrow at her mother. “Mr. Howard?”

  “Don’t you even start,” Lucy shook her head violently.

  “But he’s bald and he wears thick glasses and he’s skinny as a rail.” Stella protested.

  “And he thinks I’m the most beautiful thing set upon the face of this earth. He brings me bouquets of wild flowers and takes me fishing.”

  “And he’s Daddy’s exact opposite.”

  “Exactly.” Lucy’s stern mouth turned up at the corners. “I was going to tell you today anyway.”

  Stella still couldn’t believe it. “But you had to straighten me out first.”

  “Did I get the job done?”

  “Probably not,” Stella said.

  Lauren started making sandwiches for all four of them. “Well, at least we’ve got all the cards on the table. Momma’s getting a divorce. Granny has a boyfriend. And Aunt Stella has a feller who looked pretty durn sexy to me. If she don’t want him, I might even trade Ricky in on an older model.”

  “Hey, wait a minute!” Maggie’s eyes widened. “I’ll hear no more about that.”

  Stella bit off a chunk of the sandwich and used the rest as a pointer. “And I’ll hear no more about school problems. We’ll all rally around when it comes time for college. The world needs good doctors and you’ve got the brain power to be one. We’ll take care of it somehow.”

  “I know you all will and I love you for it,” Lauren said. “Maybe I’ll be the first doctor to implant a devise into men’s brains that makes them decent people.”

  “Then it will be money well spent,” Stella said.

  Chapter Eight

  A fine sprinkling of flour dotted Stella’s nose as she kneaded the bread dough. When she cooked, a job requiring no concentration for her, her mind wandered. She worried about how the pending divorce would affect Lauren, or if maybe Tommy would come to his senses. And if he did, would Maggie forgive him and take him back?

  After Maggie, Lauren and her mother left at the same time last night, Stella roamed the house aimlessly. That didn’t work so she put in a half hour of vigorous riding on her stationary bicycle. That accomplished nothing either. No amount of plotting or planning could help Lauren and Maggie. Why couldn’t she just settle into her comfortable old routine?

  Routine? That was blown to smithereens. Maggie was on her way to the divorce courts. She and Lauren were coming back to Sulphur. Her mother was dating Junior Howard, the retired middle school math teacher? Now that was a shock. Lucy and Wes Brannon were the prince and princess of Murray County in their day. Lucy with her long, jet black hair and Wes Brannon with his Greek-god good looks. It was the wedding of the whole decade and twenty years later
the divorce of that decade.

  Stella frowned at the ball of dough. “But Junior Howard?”

  Her mother opened the back door. “What about Junior?”

  “Wow, Rance must have really spooked you. I don’t see you around here for two months and then twice in less than twenty four hours,” Stella said.

  Lucy poured a cup of coffee. “Oh, watch your smart mouth. I wanted to talk about Maggie and Lauren and I couldn’t while they were here. Started to call you on the phone last night but Junior came over to watch a movie.”

  Stella plopped one big white lump of dough into a greased bread pan. “Mr. Howard kept you from talking to me last night? I didn’t think any man was ever going to tell you what to do again?”

  “And I didn’t think you were going to fall for another tall, dark man. Come on Stella, let’s call a truce. I won’t bad mouth that Texan this morning if you’ll leave Junior alone. I came out here to talk about Maggie. They’re welcome to stay with me, but that little house two doors down from me is up for sale. To keep her from having to pay rent in an apartment, well, I’ve got a little put away. Maybe enough for a down payment and the first couple of payments. What do you think?”

  Stella poured a cup of black coffee and joined her mother at the table. “What does Maggie think? She’s the one who’ll have to live in it. And it’s sure not that big two story she’s used to in Coffeyville.”

  “I haven’t talked to her yet. Wanted to see what you thought.”

  Stella reached for the phone on the bar. “Let’s call her then. Never know until we ask, will we?” The phone rang just as Stella’s hand touched the receiver and she jumped like she’d been shocked.

  She shook her finger at Lucy’s grin. “Brannon Inn.”

  “Good morning, Brannon Inn.” The deep Texas drawl made her blush and her mother’s grin turn to an instant frown. “Did I give the guests time to eat breakfast and be on their merry way?”

  She carried the phone with her as she checked the rising bread, but even that wasn’t going to get her far enough away from her mother’s listening ears. “Yes, you did.”

  “I wanted to tell you what a wonderful time I had again and ask if there’s a possibility I could come over for supper the next few nights. My cook has quit and gone back to Waco. I won’t be a bother. Just charge whatever you want. I only want to eat a decent meal once a day and I can’t cook anything that doesn’t come out of a can. Sometimes that’s stretching it because I burn chicken noodle soup.”

  She hadn’t scared him away, after all. Her heart raced like a steam engine just hearing Rance’s voice. “I suppose that would be all right. Mother and I were just sitting here talking about how busy we both are.”

  “Aha!” He chuckled. “So did I pass muster at that little cafe or do I have to send a singing angel bearing roses and chocolates?”

  “You better shine up a halo and polish a pair of gossamer wings. I had a good time this weekend, too. Actually, I figured I’d scared you off.”

  “You sure don’t have any problem stepping up and speaking your mind, Stella, but I’m not easily scared. What’s the itinerary this week? Guests have breakfast then off for the afternoon?”

  She ignored Lucy’s angry frowns which were supposed to make her wither up and fall into a pile of gray ashes on the floor. “I have to check. I’ve got the cordless phone so keep talking while I go to the living room. Okay, I’ve got the book. Right now I’m booked solid with part of a family reunion. Supper every night so you are in luck. They leave on Thursday and it looks like there are sixteen hunters arriving Friday afternoon so I’ll be cooking for them. You’ve got at least ten days.”

  “I’ll be there and thanks? Can you talk a while or do you need to visit with your mother?”

  “Family crisis right now,” she said.

  “Want to do some winter fishing on the river after she leaves and before you have to start supper?”

  “How about pond fishing? Don’t know if you realize it but that farm pond at the back edge of your property is stocked too heavy with catfish so if they’re not too well fed we might entice them with a good old earth worm. I haven’t been fishing this winter and the sun is out today. It’s supposed to be sixty degrees by this afternoon. If we catch them I’ll fry them for supper and not charge you.” She agreed mostly to show her mother that she could plan and run her own life—thank you very much.

  “Be there at nine o’clock?”

  “I’ll be ready.”

  “See you then,” he drawled.

  Her cheeks flushed with two spots of high color. “See you,” Stella said.

  “So I suppose that was Rance?” Lucy snipped.

  “Yes, it was and I’m spending the rest of the day fishing with him.” Stella dared her to argue.

  “You’re heading for heartache.” Lucy reached for a big, round sugar cookie from the platter in the middle of the table.

  “Maybe so, but it’s my heart and if it aches I’ll be the one who has to hurt. I promise I won’t come crying on your shoulder,” Stella said.

  “No, you won’t,” Lucy informed her. “Because I’m not feeling sorry for you one bit. Now, we were calling Maggie about the house so dial her up and let’s see what she thinks.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Stella said. The only woman in the whole world stronger than Lucy Brannon had been Audra Brannon. It would be easy to believe that Lucy was actually Audra’s daughter instead of daughter-in-law. Lucy’s mother, Grandma Jacks, was a little gray haired woman who never raised her voice or fought a battle. When good things came into her life she enjoyed them quietly. When bad things arrived she ignored them. How Grandma Jacks and Grandpa, a tall, dark haired gentle giant of a man, ever produced someone as sassy, brassy and even classy as Lucy had always been a complete mystery to Stella.

  “Good mornin’, Maggie,” Stella said when she heard her sister’s tired voice.

  “Same to you,” Maggie tried to sound cheerful but she didn’t fool Stella.

  “Momma is here with me and she’s got an idea. But we thought we’d put it to you before we make a decision. You remember the Hatch place?”

  “Of course, Mrs. Hatch died a few months ago didn’t she?”

  “The estate is settled. Anyway it’s for sale and we thought maybe you might like to have it.”

  “Honey, I couldn’t buy a settin’ hen. There was a note from Tommy when I got home last night. While we were gone he moved his personal things out and left a financial statement about what he’s willing to do. The house is mortgaged to the hilt and I sure can’t keep up the payments with no job and besides Lauren is chomping at the bit to move away from here.” Her voice caught somewhere between a sigh and a sob.

  “Hey, sister, don’t cry. Do you like that little house? It’s a lot smaller than what you’re used to but I think you and Lauren would have enough room and it’s close to Momma and you both could come out here when town got too close for you.” Stella talked fast to cover her own emotions.

  “I could live in a tent on the banks of the Washita. And while I’ve got you on the phone, the lady at the real estate office called a few minutes ago. She said she’s hiring her sister after all, so there goes my job. No job, very few skills, and no place to live. That’s what I get for keeping a spotless house and making meals from scratch.”

  An idea popped into Stella’s head, and she wondered why she hadn’t thought of it before. “Maggie, Granny left me the Inn but it was because she thought I’d need it someday, which I did. But we’re both her granddaughters and it’s a little gold mine. I’ve stashed away a pretty good sized nest egg in just the few months I’ve been here and even you said I need to get a life. So why don’t you and Lauren come work here. That way you’ll have a job and I can see if I can find a life to fit me. I’m not interested in a one size fits all lives and it’ll have to be custom made so it might take a while.” She teased to break the seriousness. “When can you get here?”

  “We can stay at mother’s place,�
� Maggie sounded hopeful for the first time. “And thanks, Sis. I can certainly clean and cook. Just tell me what to do.”

  Stella noticed that Lucy was absolutely beaming. “That’s a role reversal, isn’t it? You’ve been telling me what to do my whole life. And you won’t stay at Momma’s place. You’ll pick out two rooms here in the Inn and live here with me. I’ll love having you and Lauren around.”

  “I suppose so, but don’t listen to me anymore,” Maggie said. “Except where that scoundrel, Lance Harpo, is concerned.”

  “Rance Harper is his name, and I won’t listen to you there either.”

  “I don’t even know where to begin . . .” Maggie started.

  “You’ll begin when you get here. When will that be?”

  “We could come tomorrow. Lauren is exempt from semester exams because she hasn’t missed school and has a four point. Is that too early?”

  “No, it sure is not. Stay with Mother until Friday when this group of boarders empty out, but come on over tomorrow morning. We’ll get an early breakfast on the table for a bunch of folks here for a family reunion. That’s pancakes, sausage gravy and all the trimmings. You can make the biscuits. Now start packing up whatever you can. It’ll take your mind off Tommy. We’ll live through this, Maggie. We’re the Brannon girls and they’re made of spit and vinegar.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Maggie really laughed.

  Lucy picked up another cookie then laid it down. It had been a tough job to fasten the button on her jeans that morning, and she’d be hung from the nearest oak tree with a rotten rope if she let herself go to fat. She’d vowed when Wes finally left with his secretary that she wouldn’t let herself go to seed and weed, and she hadn’t. But these past weeks of fixing extra desserts for Junior had sure taken their toll on her waistline.

  “Well?” Stella raised an eyebrow. “Am I redeemed?”

  “No, but what you did was very nice and I’m proud of you. You’ve needed help here for several months and your sister is just the ticket for that. I didn’t know this place was a gold mine.”