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  Cathy took advantage of her cousin running out of air to begin. “The story is that I spent a couple of days with you. I’ve got thirty minutes before the Tonk opens and that’s barely long enough to tell you but I’ll talk fast. First thing is that my cell phone went dead and I only got it charged up a little while ago. And I couldn’t call you but your voice on that one message I heard was what helped me get through the ordeal.”

  “With that sentence you’d better talk fast,” Daisy said.

  When she finished Daisy started again. “Are you sure Brad won’t come back around to finish the botched job? And those two sumbitches that took you? What happens if they come back and try again? And I’m calling Tinker as soon as he gets there and telling him to start living at the Honky Tonk to be your bodyguard. Good lord, Cathy, they could have killed you.”

  “I’ve got it under control. I’ll send you a copy of the tape and you will send it to Green Oil Company in Mena if he does anything else. He sure doesn’t want his uncle to know what he did. Trust me. It is finished,” Cathy said.

  “I’ll be down there next week. I want the details when I get there,” Daisy said.

  “I can’t wait to see you. All the old crowd will probably come when they find out you are here,” Cathy said.

  “No, they won’t. We’ve all moved on and in different directions but I’ll be glad to see Amos and Merle and meet your Travis Henry.”

  “He’s not my Travis,” Cathy protested.

  “Yet.” Daisy hung up.

  Tinker came in ten minutes early, got his normal six cans of cold soda ready, and plugged a few coins into the jukebox so music would be playing when the first customers arrived.

  “So how was Daisy?” he asked.

  “She’s fine,” Cathy said.

  Tinker leaned on the bar. “And where were you and Travis really at?”

  Cathy looked up from the dishwasher. “What did you say?”

  “You didn’t go to Daisy’s. You didn’t go anywhere because you wanted to go. Something happened that you don’t want everyone to know about. So tell me.”

  She couldn’t lie but she only told him that she’d been kidnapped, chained to a floor, and that Travis came to her rescue. She’d called him because she hit redial.

  He nodded when she finished. “Them two that took you to that place—were they the ones that were casin’ the Honky Tonk?”

  “I think they were. They were trying to figure out what I did and where I went so they could kidnap me,” she said.

  “I’ll get one of them throwaway cell phones tomorrow. Something ever happens again you call me,” he said.

  She nodded.

  “Only person that’ll have the number is you so if it rings I’ll know you’re in trouble. If those two know what’s good for them they’ll stay in Louisiana. They show their faces here again, them or that ex feller of yours, I’m takin’ care of them.”

  “Thank you, Tinker,” Cathy said around the lump in her throat.

  “Going to be a good night. We had a bumper crop on Monday. Larissa helped Jezzy and Leroy back behind the bar. Takes three to do your work. Last night was busy but not like Monday. Time to open the doors.” Tinker picked up his cooler and headed for his post. Oscar and Duroc would do well to keep their distance from Mingus, Texas.

  Jezzy and Leroy were the first ones in the doors and didn’t stop until they were behind the bar. Jezzy grabbed Cathy in a hug. “We were so worried until Travis called. You’ve got to come to Sunday dinner and tell us all about it. Travis won’t talk. He just says that you were already on your way out of the place and you took care of things,” Jezzy said.

  “Who were they? I’d like to chain them to the floor of a cold shack in the middle of a cold drizzle and leave them there for a while,” Leroy said.

  “All I know is Oscar and Duroc. Why would anyone call someone a hog’s name? He did have red hair. That’s about all I remember about either of them.”

  “Maybe he had little beady eyes and a big nose,” Jezzy said. “You need us to help?”

  “I can handle it. You’d best go lay claim to a table. It looks like another busy night.”

  Merle was sitting on a stool when Cathy turned around.

  “So how’s Daisy? Heard she is pregnant. That right?” she asked.

  “It is. What can I get you?”

  “The truth,” Merle said.

  Cathy looked across the bar at her. “That is the truth. Daisy is pregnant and she is very happy.”

  “But you ain’t seen her and neither has Travis. This bar was barely picked up and ready for customers on Monday night and Jezzy and Leroy were so jumpy it was awful. Daisy didn’t ever leave for a two-day vacation and neither would you. You can fool some people but not me. So where in the hell were you?”

  Cathy leaned over the counter and whispered, “Kidnapped and chained to the floor in an old fishing shack over on a bayou. Travis rescued me late Monday evening. My ex-fiancé caused it.”

  “That sounds enough like a crock of shit that it’s probably the truth. Where do you want the bodies buried or do you want their ashes left in the fishing shack?” Merle asked.

  Cathy patted her arm. “Thank you but all I got was a couple of names and one of those has to be a nickname. They were Oscar and Duroc and my ex-fiancé hatched the idea. He was going to rush in and save me when my defenses were down, I was half starved, and almost dead. It was all a big plan to get me to go back to him so he could keep his job. He’s been in a bunch of trouble with his boss who is also his uncle. Evidently he’s got six months to settle down. Guess he thought he could scare me into going back with him. Kind of like ride in on a white horse and save the princess so she’ll believe anything you say and put up with anything you do.”

  “We’ll start with him. With a little persuasion he’ll give up those other two clowns’ full names. He likes that shack so much his sorry ass spirit can live there forever. I’ll expect the whole story at Jezzy’s on Sunday. Give me a beer and I’ll go talk Luther into a game while I wait on Garrett and Angel. That Garrett is getting pretty damned good. He might even give Angel some competition in a few years.”

  Cathy quickly changed the subject. “So you think they’ll be together that long?”

  “Honey, those two were made for each other. I don’t know why they have this pretense of meeting here and then going to the ranch. She ought to just go there from work. It would save a lot of time. Got to admit, though, I like a game or two while they are flirting around with each other.” Merle picked up the cue stick case with one hand and the beer with the other. “Might as well get a quart of Coors ready for Luther. I’d take it to him but my hands are full.”

  When Luther reached the bar Cathy set a Mason jar in front of him.

  He grinned. “It don’t take you long to know what I like. I missed you, darlin’. I thought it was right strange that you and Travis was both gone at the same time but then I heard about your cousin needin’ you. So I’m not givin’ up on that date just yet.”

  “Could I get a pitcher of whiskey and Coke down here?” a lady asked from ten feet away.

  “Gotta go,” Cathy said.

  “I’d like a bucket of Coors and one of Miller,” another woman said.

  Larissa pushed the swinging doors and set two buckets on the counter. “I’m glad you are home. Things ain’t the same around here without you.”

  “Thanks. Want to work tonight?”

  “Only if after closing we can sit down and have a visit,” Larissa said.

  Cathy grimaced.

  “That’s the deal. Take it or leave it.”

  “Visit about what?” Cathy asked.

  “Where in the hell you’ve really been and why Travis was gone at the same time. I’m nosy as hell and I want to know. So do I draw beer or not?” Larissa popped her hands on her hips.

  “Deal,” Cathy said. She might as well tell the story one more time. It wasn’t going to stay under covers forever anyway. And while they were
visiting, Larissa was going to answer some questions too.

  “Good, I’ve been on pins and needles ever since Monday night when I came in here and found Jezzy and Leroy in a tizz behind the bar. You shoulda seen the place. There wasn’t room to shake a booty without hitting someone else.”

  Tinker didn’t have to turn anyone away from the door but it was a busy night, especially for a church night. At ten minutes until two the jukebox was featuring Blake Shelton’s “I’ll Just Hold On.” The lyrics said something about the girl having a gypsy soul and that he didn’t know why he was falling for her.

  “You like this song?” Larissa loaded the dishwasher and set the dial to start.

  “It hits home pretty good right now,” Cathy said.

  When the song finished Tinker unplugged the jukebox and pointed toward the clock.

  “Ah, man, it can’t be two already,” a woman said from the shadows where she had a biker cornered.

  “We’ll be open tomorrow at eight. Come on back then,” Tinker said.

  The night was over. Travis was gone. Tears welled up behind Cathy’s eyelids but she held them at bay. She wouldn’t cry. She should have followed her gut instead of letting her heart get in the way.

  Tinker set his empty cooler on the bar, tossed his cans into the big trash can, and checked both bathrooms before he left. “See you tomorrow night.”

  Larissa threw her rag on the bar, opened a longneck Coors, and carried it to a table where she propped her feet on an empty chair.

  Cathy did the same.

  “So where were you?” Larissa asked.

  “Why did you move to Mingus?”

  “We’ll get to that. You go first.”

  “I had an ex named Brad Alton. He got mean and thought he could whip me one night. Anyway, he got in a few good licks before I came to my senses and fought back,” Cathy said. She told the story for the umpteenth time. It had begun to feel like a fairy tale instead of reality, like it had happened to another woman and she was merely telling it after the fact.

  “Ex? Boyfriend or husband?”

  “Boyfriend,” Cathy said.

  “Was it cold in the shack?” Larissa asked.

  “Oh yeah, and there were rats the size of possums.”

  “Did you sleep with Travis?”

  “What’s that got to do with anything?” Cathy blushed.

  “Guess you did. Okay, before we start on my story, I want you to promise when you and Travis get together permanently that I get first crack at buying the Honky Tonk from you.”

  “I told you the first time I met you that this place is not for sale and never will be. It’s mine and I’m going to work it until the day they—”

  “I know… carry your dead body out. But in case you change your mind, I want it. I’ll pay you double what Hayes offered you and sign a contract that says I will never ever sell it to him,” Larissa said.

  “Okay, if I ever sell it, which I won’t, then you can have first crack at the sale. Now why are you in Mingus?”

  “It’s a long story. I’m hungry. Let’s go find an all-night restaurant in Stephenville and have some breakfast while I tell you,” Larissa said.

  “Better idea. Let’s go back in my apartment and cook something. How about Fettuccine alfredo and garlic toast?”

  “You cook?”

  “You don’t?” Cathy asked.

  “I’m learning. It’s part of the find-myself-in-Texas deal. I’m also going to put in a garden this spring. Know anything about that?”

  “Not a blessed thing other than put the seeds in the ground and hope like hell it rains.” Cathy led the way back into her apartment, turning out lights and checking both bathrooms one more time on the way.

  “Nice place you got back here. Never figured it to look like this,” Larissa said.

  “Have a seat. Want a glass of tea while I cook?”

  “No, I’ll just finish my beer. Can I help? I really am trying to learn.”

  Cathy took a package of chicken breast from the freezer. “I’m going to thaw this in the microwave and cook it in a cube of butter.”

  “Real butter?” Larissa asked.

  “I like real butter. As little as you are, surely you don’t have to be careful of calories and fat grams?”

  “Hell, no. I could eat a whole cow and not gain a pound. I just want to get this right. I love Alfredo. Used to order it when…” She paused.

  “You don’t have to tell me every detail but I want to know why in the hell you are in Mingus, Texas, with your background. It’s plain as the nose on a big old hog that you came from money, so talk while I cook.”

  The microwave bell dinged. Cathy removed the chicken and diced it into small pieces on a thick wooden cutting board while a cube of butter melted in a cast iron skillet. She’d raked the chicken off in the hot butter before Larissa started.

  “I grew up in northern Oklahoma, near Perry. My grandfather had the money and I was his only grandchild. It was put into a trust fund when he died to be given to me in monthly allotments until my twenty-first birthday at which time they had to turn the whole nine yards over to me. I was eight years old when he died and Mother was the trustee of my funds. She had gotten wild in her college days. I was the result of that. She married the boy but it didn’t last. Grandfather paid him off when the divorce came down. That’s where my Indian blood comes from. Mother is a redhead and would remind you of Jezzy.”

  “She still up around Perry?” Cathy set a pot of water on a back burner for the fettuccine noodles and buttered four pieces of thick sliced bread with garlic butter.

  “No, Mother travels. She has a house in Paris. France, not Texas. One in Italy. A place in London. She’s only fifty and looks thirty so there’s plenty of men and excitement in her life.”

  “Anyone left up there?”

  “Just the house and a small staff that keeps it in order so if either Mother or I ever want to go home. It’s over between Orlando and Perry, way back in the country. You’d never see it unless you were looking for it and never get inside the gates without the right words,” she said.

  “Miss it?”

  “Can I set the table while you do that?” Larissa asked.

  “Are you avoiding the question?”

  “No, I don’t miss that place. It’s just stones and glass and lots of land. Home should be more, don’t you think?”

  “Go on.” Cathy slipped noodles into the boiling water.

  “Okay, I graduated from high school in Perry, went to college at OSU because it was close by. When I was a little girl my mother traveled a lot and I had a nanny and the house staff. Looking back I think the people I went to school with thought I was part of those folks instead of the ones who owned the place. Anyway, when I was twenty-one Mother transferred the funds. I set out on a holy quest to find myself. Kind of like a hippy but with funds.”

  “Did you?” Cathy asked.

  “What?”

  “Find yourself?”

  “I’m thirty this summer. I think I’m close.”

  “Took you nine years?”

  “It has.”

  “Where did you go to do it?”

  “Started with a trip around the world that took five years. I didn’t just visit places. I lived in them. Egypt. Jerusalem. Russia. England. Even a month in China back in a remote area in a convent.” She hesitated.

  “And?”

  “And in December I was back home in Perry and nothing felt any more right there than it did in Cairo or Moscow. Christmas was just around the corner and my old nanny had put up a tree and Mother had sent small presents. You know what’s in small presents, Cathy? I’ll tell you. Expensive jewelry. There it all was coming together for me. Turkey dinner, presents. And no family or friends. My heart and my soul weren’t satisfied. So I got out the map of the United States. Actually it’s hanging on the wall in the library along with maps of every place in the world. So I didn’t get it out but I pulled it down and played pin-the-tail on the donkey with it. I
picked up one of those tacks that has a big plastic head on it, shut my eyes tightly, and decided to move wherever I stuck the pin.”

  “Good God! Mingus, Texas.”

  “You got it, honey. Lord, that smells good. Can you make it hurry?’

  “It’s almost done. So what did you do?”

  “I came down here and fought with myself. Stayed in a motel in Stephenville for a week and drove over here every day. It was horrible. I was about to decide to go to Italy and spend a month with Mother but something kept saying that I’d be sorry. So I drove through the whole damn town a dozen times a day. Finally, one day a realtor was putting a sign on some property up there a block from the post office. I stopped and asked about the house. It’s a two-bedroom built in the 30s and sits on four lots. The old couple who were selling it had to go to a nursing home. There’s a garden out back and a place for chickens but I haven’t gotten that brave yet. A stray cat came up and I adopted him. He’s black and white like that old Sylvester cat in the cartoons. I named him Stallone and he’s fitting in well.”

  “So how long are you really going to stay before you figure out Mingus isn’t where you left your soul in another life?” Cathy asked.

  Larissa smiled. “I already figured it out. I’m at home.”

  “You say that this week. What about next week when you get really bored?”

  “So far, so good. I’m happy here. Even Mother says she hears it in my voice. I get bored some days but there’s always the Honky Tonk to look forward to in the evenings. And when spring comes and I start gardening I won’t have time to get bored. Plus, you’re going to sell me this place in a few months and then my soul will really be at home.”

  Cathy drained the noodles and added them to the creamy chicken mixture, quickly browned the toast in the oven, and set both on the table. “Don’t get your hopes up. You ever heard that old thing about not having wings and roots both?”