A south wind rustled the leaves in the old live oak above his head. Wade had never been superstitious, but it seemed like Danny was saying that he agreed with the idea. A bright red cardinal settled on a low branch and began to put on a show for him. Wade抯 mother used to say that cardinals sang 損retty boy, pretty boy.?She had always called Wade and Danny her 損retty boys?and even had a set of gold dog tags made for each of them engraved with Mama抯 Pretty Boy. They couldn抰 wear them every day, but when they were off duty, they used them like a necklace, leaving their regular ones behind.
揑 hear you, Brother,?Wade said as he walked back to the truck that had belonged to Danny. He slid in behind the wheel; touched both sets of his brother抯 dog tags, which were hanging from the rearview mirror; started the engine; and drove toward the old church. Now, he just had to figure out how to either buy the place outright or else talk Jessica into taking him on as a partner in the business. He weighed the pros and cons on the way across town. On the pro side, if he bought the place outright, he would be his own boss, and all the profits would be his. The biggest thing on the con side would be finding help. Folks who owned the local convenience store said they couldn抰 get anyone to work, and he knew from experience that he was the only handyman in the area.
Jessica has friends who might help you out if you go in with her as partners. Danny抯 voice popped into his head. Use my insurance money to go in business with her. Then you抣l have some working capital left over in the bank account until the place begins to earn its keep.
That was the first time since he抎 lost his brother that Danny had spoken to him. He pulled over on the side of the road and said around a lump in his throat, 揟ell me more of your thoughts.?
Evidently, Danny had said all he was going to say that day, because the only thing that Wade heard was the whine of the AC in the truck. 揙kay, then, partners, if possible,?he said as he pulled back onto the road and turned on the radio. It was still tuned to the same station that his brother had left it on the last time that he had driven it. A quarter, two dimes, and three pennies were in the cup holder, where his brother had tossed the coins when he had parked it on post the day he left for his last mission.
Wade wasn抰 superstitious梐t least not until that very day梑ut he wished that Danny would send him another sign. He felt guilty that Danny had taken his advice and joined the army right after he graduated from high school. He missed him. If only he had encouraged Danny to go to college, he might be alive today. The next song on the radio was 揃roken Halos?by Chris Stapleton. Tears hung on Wade抯 thick, dark lashes as he listened to the words that told him not to ask Jesus why.
揃ut I want to know why,?he whispered. 揧ou were a techie who sat behind a desk, so why were you even in that vehicle that day??
He turned onto Preacher Road, which led back to the church, and nodded in agreement with every word Stapleton sang. Apparently, Danny did have something more to say, and he used the song to relay his message. Wade finally had a smile on his face as he pulled in beside the other vehicles in the parking lot.
Even with all the mosquitoes buzzing around, he had enjoyed sitting out there with friends from his past the night before梕specially Jessica. Maybe it was their matching boots or the fact that he had always thought she was the prettiest girl to ever come out of Riverbend that made him feel more of a connection to her than the other women. Whatever it was, she had invited him to come back, and he wasn抰 going empty handed. He had driven down to Burnet that afternoon and picked up a couple of six-packs of beer and one of root beer for the twins if they came with Risa. He turned the engine off and sat there for a moment before he opened the truck door. The next song on the radio was an old George Jones tune, 揅hoices.?
He listened to about half of the song and said, 揑 get the messages, Danny.?He opened the door and picked up the cooler from the back of the truck.
揇id y抋ll even go home??he yelled at the women sitting in the same chairs they抎 been in when he left the night before.
揥e抮e waiting on you, so we can go see inside the haunted church,?Lily called out. 揥e need two heroes to chase away rats and snakes. One抯 not enough.?
揑t抯 not haunted,?Daisy declared. 揇id you bring a gun to kill the varmints? Jessica says that she killed all the spiders and even swept their carcasses up so they won抰 scare us.?
揥e don抰 waste ammo on those things,?Jessica said in mock seriousness. 揥e use our Ka-Bar knives to take care of critters like rats the size of possums.?
揂voids the noise of gunfire.?Wade was amazed that he could joke after the morning he抎 had.