揥e抣l have to ask Daddy about that,?Mary Nell answered.
揟hank God Mama didn抰 know that抯 where we all went, too,?Risa said with a giggle and then turned to face Jessica. 揥e can抰 tell Oscar that you like Wade. He抎 see through that in the blink of an eye.?
Haley cocked her head to one side and squinted her eyes. 揧ou do like him, don抰 you? I can see it in the way you抮e all flushed. It抯 understandable. You抳e both lost your folks and been in the service. Even beyond that, this bar is already throwing you together every day, and will be doing even more so when we open the doors. But be careful. You might ruin a perfectly good partnership if things didn抰 work out.?
揑 like him as a friend and a partner.?That was as much as Jessica intended to admit梕ven to her best friends. 揃ut I抦 willing to let Oscar think there抯 more if it will help Mary Nell out.?
揥e抎 probably be better off, to be honest.?Mary Nell sighed. 揃ut thanks for the offer to pretend to like him, or like him for real, whichever the case might be.?
揧ou are welcome,?Jessica said with a slight nod.
揕et抯 talk about all those secrets we抳e been keeping through the past twenty years. I was silly enough to think that we knew everything about each other,?Haley said with a wide grin that lit up her brown eyes.
Risa stood up and headed for the door. 揑抦 going to the kitchen. I抦 not discussing any more secrets today.?
Mary Nell pushed her chair back and stood up. 揂nd I抦 all done with bookwork for right now, so I抦 going out to the sanctuary梠r should I call it the bar?梩o help Daddy and Wade tear down pews.?
揧ou know that I抣l drag every single one of your secrets out of you before the end of summer, don抰 you??Haley asked.
揗aybe so,?Jessica said as she stood and raised her arms to stretch the kinks out of her back. 揃ut not right now. And beware! While you抮e unpacking our baggage, we抣l be doing the same for you. Do you have a crush on Wade??
揘ever did. Never will. He抯 not my type,?Haley answered. 揑 like . . .?She stopped and shook a finger at Jessica. 揂re you sure you weren抰 a chaplain or a counselor in the military??
揚ositive,?Jessica threw over her shoulder as she left the room. 揑抎 tell you my exact job description, but then I抎 have to . . .?She stopped at the door. 揧ou know the rest. What I did was so classified that it went from my building over to headquarters in a locked briefcase.?
揥as it handcuffed to the courier抯 wrist? That sounds so James Bond杋sh.?Haley followed her out of the room.
揝ometimes, but not always,?Jessica said.
揝o, you were an analyst??Haley asked.
揝omething like that敆Jessica lowered her voice to a whisper棑but just between me and you, I like the idea of being a bartender a lot better than what I was doing.?
What Jessica did wasn抰 necessarily classified anymore, but she didn抰 like talking about her job in the military, and she sure didn抰 talk about the nightmares that she still had concerning some of the decisions she and her team had to make.
Back in the bar, Haley popped her hands on her hips and said, 揅arrying these one at a time is ridiculous. I抦 going to go out to the barn and bring in that thing that guys lay on to roll up under a vehicle. I saw it out there when we were snooping around. I bet we can stack at least four on it, maybe more.?
Jessica popped a palm on her forehead and groaned. 揥hy didn抰 one of us think of that before now??
揌ey, everyone, I抦 going to make a trip to the grocery store in town for some sugar,?Risa called out. 揂nyone want me to pick up anything while I抦 out??
揑 need to go to the lumberyard for drill bits and a box of screws, and I noticed we抮e getting low on bottled water. I can pick up the sugar for you,?Oscar said.
揑抣l go with you,?Jessica said. 揑抳e got to pick up a prescription at the drugstore.?
揙kay, then.?Risa waved. 揝upper is in the oven, so the girls and I can help out here until y抋ll get back with the sugar for the sweet tea.?
Jessica grabbed her purse from the bedroom, made sure she was at least semi-presentable to go out in public, and walked out into the summer heat with Oscar right beside her. 揑 guess we抮e going in your truck unless you want to wait for me to unhook everything on the RV.?
揘ope, I surely do not.?Oscar opened the door to his vehicle for her. 揑抦 glad we抣l have a few minutes alone, though. I抳e got a couple of things I need to talk to you about.?
揙h, yeah, what抯 that??Jessica felt a twinge of concern about his comment. What if he wanted to enlist her help in getting Mary Nell and Wade together?
He slammed the door shut, and took his own good time walking around the truck and sliding in under the wheel. 揑抦 worried about Mary Nell,?he said as he started the engine and drove out of the parking lot. 揝he was in college and planning to be a CPA when she met Kevin. He sweet-talked her into believing that he was the next big thing in country music, and she quit school. You know all this already, but I抦 worried that some other smooth-talking man will come along, and it抣l be the same thing all over again.?