揟hat抯 right,?he said with half a smile. 揝ometimes they answer, but it抯 not in the way you think.?He went on to tell her about his visit with Danny. 揥hen those trees rustled above my head, I felt like he agreed with me.?
揢ncle Elijah popped into my head and gave me a thumbs-up when I got serious about making this building into a bar, like he used to do when I was a kid and he agreed with me,?she admitted.
揝eems like a pretty good omen when we have both of their blessings.?Wade reached across the table and laid a hand on Jessica抯。 揑 believe with all my heart that this is going to work for us, Jessica. I抳e got Danny抯 insurance money to keep us afloat until we抮e showing a profit, and that shouldn抰 be long, since the only overhead we抣l have is utility bills and the stocking of liquor and food.?
揑抳e got Uncle Elijah抯 money as well as what my folks left me, so I抦 really not worried about that, either. We can each put an equal amount into the working account that Mary Nell will set up for us,?she said and hoped her voice wasn抰 as high and squeaky as it sounded in her ears. Evidently Wade didn抰 feel the sparks dancing around them when he touched her hand, or he wouldn抰 be talking about money.
Never work. Her father was in her head now. You can抰 date a partner. If you break up, there抯 bad feelings that will bleed over into your business.
I know that, she thought with a little sigh, and besides, I抳e got to help my friends get through all their problems. I don抰 have time to fall in love with Wade Granger.
Chapter Six
The room that Mary Nell chose for an office had originally been the pastor抯 office. A desk sat at an angle so she could see out the window into the parking lot. Empty bookcases that might have once held extra Bibles or maybe volumes of sermons lined the back wall, and two burgundy wingback chairs had been placed in front of the desk. She had dusted, swept, and even cleaned the window. Now sunlight flowed into the room and warmed her face. She抎 set up spreadsheets for payroll, for expenses, and for debits that morning, and liked the room better than the tiny cubicle she had at her job in Nashville. Later, she would put some pictures on the bookcases, and maybe add a couple of green plants over by the window.
She couldn抰 imagine Jessica抯 uncle, Elijah Callaway, sitting in the office chair any more than she could imagine him standing behind the lectern. Elijah had spent a lot of time out around the barn where her dad made his moonshine and beer, so she抎 seen him almost every year when she came home for a visit. Visualizing the old guy on a barstool with a beer in his hand was a whole lot easier than picturing him with a Bible.
Oscar rapped on the door and poked his head inside. 揇oes this mean you抮e staying in Texas and not going back to Tennessee??
Mary Nell motioned him inside. 揑 didn抰 leave anything in Nashville that I need to go back for.?
揘ot even your job and the friends you made??Oscar asked.
揑抳e got friends here, an office of my own,?she said with a smile. She pointed toward the window. 揂nd a view. It might just be of the parking lot, but it beats a cubicle with a fluorescent bulb on the ceiling.?
揂nd you抳e got me,?Oscar said.
揟hat抯 right.?Mary Nell抯 smile got even bigger. 揑抳e got you, Daddy, to always tell me that you told me so. I wonder where I抎 be today if I had listened to you all those years ago.?
揥e can抰 go back and undo what we抳e done, sugar,?Oscar said, 揵ut we can learn from it and go forward with determination not to make the same mistake twice.?
揂men!?Mary Nell got up and walked around the desk to give her father a hug. 揑 love you.?
揕ove you, too, sweetheart. Always have. Always will. It抯 good to have you home, and to hear you say that you抮e here to stay. I want you to find a good man like Wade. One that will worship the ground you walk on,?Oscar told her. 揂nd then I want you to have a whole yard full of grandbabies for me to spoil.?
揥ade is a friend.?Mary Nell caught a movement out of her peripheral vision and turned to look at a bright red cardinal on the other side of the window. 揂nd I need to find myself before I get into another relationship.?
揧ou抣l be letting a good man slip right through your fingers, and let me tell you . . . ,?Oscar started.
Mary Nell didn抰 like the 搇et me tell you?speech any more than she did the 揑 told you so?statements, but her father was usually right, so she turned back to focus on him rather than the pretty cardinal. Hopefully, the cold glare she shot toward him would shut him up.
It didn抰。
He went right on. 揧our mother and I were good friends before we fell in love. That makes the best kind of relationships, the kind that stands up through the tough times,?Oscar finished. 揂nd on that note, I抦 going to leave you to your work. If you get finished, we can use all hands on deck to help stack wood after Wade and I take the pews apart.?