Just in Time for Christmas, page 6
Liz pushed her cart to the right and disappeared around the end of the next aisle as quickly as possible.
“Well, hello,” Colleen said.
Liz groaned, but managed to paste on a smile. All she did was eat lunch with Raylen. It wasn’t even a date. She’d paid for her own meal and simply sat with him. Why did she feel like she was being punished?
Colleen studied her like she was a bug under a microscope. “I hear you had lunch with my brother.”
Liz tried to keep a blank expression like she’d been taught. “News must travel fast in this area.”
Colleen shrugged. “He called to tell me to pick up a few things since I’m already here.”
“Well, rats! If I’d known you were shopping for the neighborhood, I’d have called you with my list,” Liz teased.
Colleen shook her head. “It’s only because he’s my brother that he can weasel me into getting him dish soap and a bag of potatoes. Anything more and he’d be in here himself.”
“Well, I’ve got to get back to the pet aisle. See you around,” Liz said, wondering the whole time why Raylen would need those two items if he still lived with his parents. Didn’t Maddie buy the groceries and cleansers?
“Did you take that job at Jasmine’s place?” Colleen asked.
Liz nodded.
“Have you ever done waitress work before?” Colleen asked.
“I guess you could call it that,” Liz answered.
“Where?” Colleen asked.
“All over the state of Texas, some in Oklahoma, and over in Arkansas. We traveled a lot.” Liz pushed her cart past Colleen’s and hurried to the back of the store.
Her phone rang when she was safely hidden in the aisle with the pet food. She dug it out of her purse, saw that it was her mother, and pushed the button to answer it.
“Hello, Mama,” she said with a long sigh.
“We’re on the move. Next stop is Bells, Texas. You always liked that little town. Why don’t you meet us there and give up this notion of living like the rest of the world?”
“After only two days? No, thank you. Besides, I’ve got a job. I’m going to work at the Chicken Fried café in the morning.” Liz picked up a dozen cans of fancy cat food and put them in her cart.
“Doing what?” Marva Jo asked.
“Waitress for minimum wage,” Liz told her.
Marva Jo laughed so loud that Liz held the phone out from her ear.
“What’s so funny?” Liz asked when her mother calmed down.
Marva hiccupped. “Now I know you’ll come home to the carnival where you belong. You doing waitress work… Girl, you haven’t worked for that kind of money since you were fourteen. I couldn’t have asked for a better job to teach you a lesson.”
“I don’t need the money, so it doesn’t matter,” Liz argued.
“Okay, let’s talk about the cowboy next door,” Marva Jo said. “Did you tell him that you don’t have to work, that you have an inheritance big enough to buy his piece of Texas dirt?”
“I had lunch with him. And yesterday I went to his parents’ house for Sunday dinner and music afterwards. And no, I didn’t tell him anything about money. Why would I? I don’t think it would be right to say, ‘Hey, Raylen, I’m rich.’ But he did almost beat me in a fiddlin’ contest,” Liz said.
“Dammit!” Marva Jo exclaimed.
“Is that not as funny as the minimum wage?” Liz asked.
“No, it is not! You slow that wagon down, girl. You know very well that you don’t belong with a man who’s earthbound,” Marva Jo warned.
Liz sucked in a lungful of air and got ready for the age-old argument. “You fell in love with and married a man who wasn’t a carnie. So, what’s to say if I fall in love with one that—”
Aunt Tressa butted into the conversation. “Marva Jo has this phone on speaker, and I’m right here with her. Don’t argue with your mama, and learn from her mistakes. She married an earthbound man and it did not work. I don’t care if you grow potatoes and marry a dirt farmer, but you will be nice to your mama. She misses you and wants you to come back where you belong. And Haskell might have mentioned that his niece has a nice big bank account, so be sure that guy isn’t angling for more than twenty acres of tumbleweeds and chiggers before you start choosing him over family.”
“And Raylen isn’t that kind of man. If he loved a woman he wouldn’t care if she had a dime or a million dollars,” Liz protested. “I’m hanging up now and getting my shopping finished. Love you both. I can’t wait to see everyone next month. I’m putting up the Christmas tree early so you can see it.”
Chapter 4
Liz unloaded several sacks, including three bags of Christmas ornaments for her tree when she got one back to her place. She laid them on the kitchen table and admired each one of the bright shiny bells and balls. She’d looked at a six-foot tree but couldn’t make up her mind whether to get a tall skinny one or one of those huge, fat ones. Once everything was put away, she stood in the middle of the living room and eyed the room. If she scooted the sofa back, there would be plenty of room for a big, round tree with lots and lots of ornaments and a star on top.
She envisioned a real cedar tree in the spot.
No, as long as I plan to leave my tree up, a real one would get all dried out. She sat down on the sofa and was thinking about how many lights it would take to go all around the top of the roof when the phone rang. Thinking it was her mother and Tressa again, she ignored it, but when it started again after less than a minute, she fished it out of her purse.
“Hello,” she said without looking at the caller ID.
“Hey, kid. Thought I’d check on Hooter and Blister,” Haskell said. “I forgot to tell you that their vet papers are in the drawer beside the refrigerator. Hooter will need his shots in February and Blister gets hers in March.”
“I’ll put those dates on my calendar so I don’t forget. I bought ornaments for a Christmas tree today and there’s plenty of room for me to store them, so do you have a fake tree hiding somewhere or did you cut a real one every year and—”
“Whoa!” Haskell said. “Slow down, Lizelle! You know how Sara liked Christmas, or maybe you didn’t, since you were so little. When she was still with me, I always cut a real tree. But the last few years, I just put up a little bought one because the real ones shed so bad. Can’t keep enough water in the pan to keep them happy.”
“That’s what I figured. I’m going to buy a big one and I’m going to have a house that puts the stars in the sky to shame,” she said.
“Then, darlin’,” Haskell said, “go out to the barn and look up in the loft. There are boxes and boxes of decorations out there.”
“What barn?” Liz asked. “The one behind the house? I thought that was O’Donnell property.”
Haskell chuckled. “It’s a little tough to picture twenty acres when you’ve lived in a trailer your whole life, isn’t it?”
“I figured it went from fence to fence after I left the highway and then to the back side of the yard,” she said.
“From the yard fence, you go on back to the barn that you can see from the kitchen window, and then to the fence back behind that. Then you’ve got twenty acres. The Christmas stuff is in boxes, and they are all marked,” Haskell told her.
Liz sucked in a lungful of air and let it out in a loud whoosh. “Do you mean I’ve got a whole barn to put stuff in? I may go back to Walmart this afternoon.”
“So, you like it there?” Haskell asked.
“Been here two days and I’m not ready to run yet,” she said. “And I go to work tomorrow morning.”
“Lizelle, you don’t have to work.” Haskell’s tone turned serious. “Take some time, girl. You’ve worked your whole life.”
“I know, but I want to. It’ll get me acquainted with more folks than the O’Donnells. Did I tell you that I had Sunday dinner with them yesterday and I played my fiddle and Raylen and I had a contest? I beat that cowboy, but his grandma called it a tie,” she said.
Haskell chuckled again. “They are good people, the O’Donnells. Been fine neighbors all these years. Raise some of the best horses in the whole state. They would probably hire you to exercise their horses, instead of you working at a café.”
“But I want to work at the café. I can’t wait. It’s going to be so much fun,” Liz told him.
“You are as stubborn as…” Haskell started.
Liz butted in with: “…as you are?”
“Busted!” Haskell said, his voice now back to normal. “How’s Blister and Hooter?”
“Spoiled and I’m making them even worse. How are you doing out there, Uncle Haskell? Tell me the truth.”
“Dad and I are cleaning up the big barn so we can pull in one trailer at a time and do some serious repainting and repair. He’s excited about all three of us being here together and he’s even considering letting me underpin his trailer before serious winter sets in. He misses the carnival life so much, but he’s wise enough to know he’s not able for it anymore.”
Liz breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Uncle Haskell sounded busy and happy, so he wouldn’t want his land and house back in the spring, and that gave Liz a measure of hope that he really would sign it all over to her. If not, she might just look around the area for another twenty acres with a house that did not have wheels.
“Got to go now. I see Poppa headed out to the repair barn. If I don’t get out there soon, he’ll do too much.”
She barely had time to utter “love you” before Haskell cut the connection. She hurried to the kitchen window and looked out at the barn—her barn. She rushed back to her bedroom, kicked off her shoes, stomped her feet down into cowboy boots, and grabbed her denim jacket.
“Merry Christmas to me,” she sang as she headed out the back door toward the big metal building. Not only did she have a house without wheels, but she also had a barn, which meant that she had tons of storage room. She could park the carnie trailer that she’d lived in her entire life inside that big building and have room left over to store whatever she wanted to buy.
She slid the door back and the smell of hay, feed, and leather all hit her nose at the same time. She’d grown up accustomed to that odor, only it came from a pen where the riding ponies were kept. The carnival had had Shetland ponies when she was a little girl, but as they got too old for the carnival, Tressa had replaced them with Rocky Mountain horses, and Liz had fallen in love with them. The extra tuft of hair on their feet made them look like they were flying when they pranced.
“I could have some right here. I could breed Rocky Mountain and have baby colts. There’s plenty of room for a pair,” she told the dog as they wandered through the big building, discovering a riding lawn mower and a small tractor. And a mama cat with a litter of kittens hiding in the back corner, but they were all so wild that she couldn’t get near them. Located in the northeast corner of the barn, the tack room was about the size of her living room. Shelves lined the walls, and when she opened the door the leather smell overpowered the hay and feed smell. Boxes of every size and shape were shoved on the shelves and were labeled in Haskell’s spidery handwriting.
She pulled an old ladder-back chair over from the worktable. She hopped up on it and grabbed the first box she could reach. It wasn’t heavy, but when she moved it, the dust flew into her hair, her nose, and eyes. Once the box was on the table, she opened it with a knife that was lying on the table.
Inside the box she found old-fashioned Christmas lights, the kind with big, multicolored bulbs, and they had been wrapped carefully around a cardboard tube. She wouldn’t even have to waste hours and hours untangling them when she got ready to put her tree up.
Bless your heart, Uncle Haskell, for keeping all this for me, Liz thought as she looked up to see dozens of other boxes marked CHRISTMAS.
The next one she removed very gently so the dust didn’t gag or blind her. It held more lights, as did the third, fourth, and fifth ones. The sixth one was filled with ornaments wrapped individually in newspaper. She undid each one, lining them up on the table as she did. The last one had a nativity scene that would look lovely on the mantel.
It’s Christmas before Christmas, she thought as she stood back and looked at all the treasures.
***
Glorious Danny Boy, a solid black quarter horse, pulled at the reins, but Raylen kept him to a steady trot the first time around the pasture. Danny Boy had put the O’Donnell Horse Ranch on the map a few years back, and when Maddie and Cash won the Texas Heritage Stakes again the next year with Major Jack, the ranch became famous. Nowadays, Maddie and Cash raised horses but didn’t race them. Glorious Danny Boy and Major Jack had such sought-after bloodlines that Maddie was particular about what mares she’d even allowed to carry one of their colts. And each year, she sold half a dozen of her own prize colts sired by Danny Boy or Jack.
Raylen finally gave the big black stud enough rein to let him gallop around the pasture. “Do you feel like you are back in the race?” he asked the horse.
Danny Boy slowed down and went straight for the pasture fence. He neighed and several mares raised their heads.
“Are you checking on your harem? I can barely keep up with one woman at a time, old man.” Raylen leaned forward and patted the horse on the neck. He hooked a leg over the saddle horn and let Danny Boy flirt with his women for a spell while he thought of Liz. He remembered Wil telling him about the night his wife, Pearl, convinced him that her full name was Minnie Pearl Richland.
Nice try, Liz Hanson, he thought. Wake up, lady, I didn’t just fall off the hay wagon, and you are not going to snooker me like Pearl did Wil.
Was Liz’s last name Hanson? Haskell’s last name was Hanson, so it stood to reason that her mother and aunt were Hansons. But if her mother was married, then Liz’s name wouldn’t be Hanson. She hadn’t mentioned a father, not even when she was trying to make him believe that farfetched story about belly dancing.
“I bet if I’d said I’d be over at six-thirty for a belly dancin’ demonstration she would have backtracked,” he said.
Danny Boy took a step backwards. Raylen had just made the second round in the pasture when he noticed the barn door over at Haskell’s place was wide open. He reined in and dismounted.
I wonder what she’s doing in the barn, he thought as he looped the reins to the rail fence.
He jumped the fence and was almost to the barn when he heard a squeal. He picked up the pace and followed the next scream to the tack room. Most likely Liz had had her first encounter with a snake or a mouse. He slung open the door to find her with half a dozen open boxes surrounding her on the floor as well as on the table, and Christmas decorations everywhere.
“Liz, are you okay?” he asked.
She jumped and squealed again. “Dammit! Raylen, you scared me.”
“Well, you scared me. I heard you yelp and thought you were hurt,” he said.
“It was excitement, not hurt,” she said. “I found all these gorgeous old decorations so I can make my house pretty for Christmas. Want to help me?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Tonight?”
“No, but before Thanksgiving. Mama and Aunt Tressa are coming the week before Thanksgiving, and I want it decorated by then.” The light from the window made the ornaments glitter and glow.
“Sure,” he said.
“What are you doing over here?” she asked and sniffed the air. “Have you been riding? I smell horses.”
“You’ve got a good nose as well as a loud squeal,” he said with a grin. “I was exercising Danny Boy, one of our prize stallions. That’s my afternoon job several days a week.”
“Tell you what, I’ll trade off help,” Liz said. “If you will help get my house decorated by the time my family gets here, I’ll help you exercise the horses when I’m not at the cafe. I love horses,” she said.
“You ride?” That was as believable as belly dancing.
She picked up an ornament, wrapped it and put it back in one of the boxes.
“Our carnival has pony rides for the kids. We used to have Shetlands, but now we have Rocky Mountains. Ever heard of them? I ride in the winter months every single day. And Poppa has bigger horses out on the property, the ones that we can’t use for the carnival but he can’t bring himself to sell. So, yes, I ride.”
Raylen’s face registered shock, but he threw up his palms. “Sorry I doubted you. And yes, I’ve heard of Rocky Mountains. Dewar could talk for hours about Vanner horses. He’s been buggin’ Mama to invest in a pair, but she told him if he wanted to play with the fancy horses then to go ahead, but to keep them on his property. And I’ll take you up on that offer. I’ll help decorate the house if you’ll help me exercise the horses.”
“Thank you,” Liz said. “Dewar will have to come to the carnival when it comes to Bowie and see Aunt Tressa’s four Rocky Mountains. They’re spoiled rotten, and she treats them like babies.”
“When he hears about the horses, I’m sure he’ll be there.” Raylen leaned on the edge of the table and pretended interest in the boxes. Liz had been dressed like she was that afternoon, back when they were both teenagers. He’d wanted to be a jockey, but even though he was the shortest O’Donnell brother, he was still too big to qualify as a jockey.
“And you? Will you go have a look at the horses?” Liz asked.
“Of course, but only if you show me around and introduce me to everyone,” Raylen said.
“You got it,” Liz said with a smile.
Her smile affected him just like it did that day back when they were teenagers and she had hung on the rail fence and watched him exercise Major Jack. He’d been mesmerized by it and her dark eyes that he felt could see right down into the depths of his soul.
