揧es, and thank you,?the twins said in unison as they rushed past him.
揥e抣l get them, and bring y抋ll each a beer,?Lily said.
Wade turned to face Jessica. 揑 have a confession. I wanted to buy this place from you and put in a bar myself, but I didn抰 have enough money to do what I envisioned doing with it. I can go half with no problem, though.?
So that抯 why he made that suggestion last night, Jessica thought.
揇id you already look into the legal stuff??she asked.
He shook his head. 揘o, but I did find out that Elijah had it zoned commercial before he built the church. Y抋ll can think about it if you need to, but I am very serious about my offer.?
揥hat if you used your money to buy into the place, and then you hated working with us??Jessica asked.
Wade flashed half a smile. 揑抳e worked with easy people, and I抳e worked with total butts. You do your job, and I do mine. Why wouldn抰 we get along? We抣l be together quite a bit during the remodel, but after we open, our hours will probably be from six in the evening until two in the morning, like most bars. I抣l live in my trailer, and you probably won抰 even see me during the day.?
Lily and Daisy returned with soda pop and beers in their hands, brushed away a few cobwebs from the corner of the back pew, and sat down side by side.
揥e抣l be in school, so we won抰 be around during the day, either,?Lily said.
揂nd if we get to be cheerleaders, we抣l be gone some at night, too,?Daisy added.
揑f we don抰 get chosen, we can help Mama in the kitchen. I抦 pretty good at dishwashing, and I do a mean job of cutting up tomatoes for hamburgers,?Lily said.
Jessica sat down on the end of the pew, and peace fell around her shoulders like a nice warm blanket on a winter night. This was where she was supposed to be, and what she was supposed to do. The bar would provide a job for Risa and her girls, as well as a place for Mary Nell梐nd Haley, if she decided to stay in Riverbend.
揑f we抮e serious敆Jessica let out a long breath of air that she hadn抰 even realized she was holding in棑I抣l talk to my lawyer as soon as I can get a hold of him.?
揑 better be looking for three beds because Mama is going to throw us out, but I抦 dead serious,?Risa said. 揑 need a job. I have no skills or experience, but I can cook, and I can clean. At least I won抰 have to dust mounted deer heads, stuffed squirrels, and antlers that are hanging in every spare corner of Paul抯 trailer house.?
揑抣l supply beds,?Haley said, 揳nd the living room stuff, too. Wade, can you help move them in your truck??
揘o problem,?Wade answered, 揵ut, Risa, you might want to wait until we know for sure this is a reality before you break the news to Stella. If she says that you抳e got to leave, I抣l bring the flatbed trailer that I use to haul all my tools around in over to Stella抯 place and move whatever needs to come this way.?
揂nd I won抰 tell Daddy until we know for sure,?Mary Nell added. 揑t would disappoint him to think he might have a local outlet for his moonshine and wine and then find out that the whole thing fell through because of some legal problem. I vote that if that happens, we go back to the drawing board and figure out something that will let us all work together.?
揥e抳e got a secret.?Lily giggled.
揂nd wild hogs couldn抰 drag it out of us.?Daisy draped her arm around her sister抯 shoulders. 揃ut it would be tempting when Granny Stella starts preachin?at us about our souls.?
揘ot a word,?Risa warned with a shake of her finger.
揕et抯 toast to a partnership and, if this doesn抰 work out, to whatever does.?Jessica held up her bottle of beer, as did Wade.
揟o friendship.?Mary Nell raised her bottle.
揟o friendship,?Haley and Risa chimed in at the same time.
揟o moving away from Granny Stella.?Lily held up her root beer.
揂men!?Daisy agreed.
Chapter Three
Isaac Yandell, Jessica抯 lawyer, pushed his wire-rimmed glasses up on his nose and ran a hand over his bald head. 揧ou do realize that Riverbend is a small, conservative town, don抰 you? Are you absolutely sure you want to turn a church building into a bar? You抮e going to get a lot of arguments from the local folks.?
揧es, sir, I do know that Riverbend is a small town, and I also realize that the church is a prime spot for a bar because it抯 sitting right at the corner of three dry counties and is only a few miles from another one to the south and a fifth one to the north,?Jessica told him.
揚lus, Fort Hood is right over the county line,?Wade said from the corner where he抎 chosen to stand rather than sit in one of the chairs in front of the lawyer抯 desk.
揥ell, there抯 no reason the building couldn抰 be used for anything commercial. Elijah said you could use it for anything, or you could burn it down if you wanted to. I also can抰 see a valid reason why you couldn抰 get a beer and liquor license, but that will take about three months. If everything goes smoothly, you might be able to have a grand opening the middle of September. To do that we need a name for your bar, and we抣l need to submit forms for everyone who will be serving liquor. That means a valid birth certificate and social security card for each person,?Mr. Yandell said. 揝hould I start proceedings today, or do you need to think about this a little longer? It抯 a really big decision. You are saying that you are going to live in Riverbend under the shadow of contention for a long time.?