揂nd now we know that it is true, but we don抰 care what Stella says.?Amos pushed up out of his chair and went to the table to get another handful of cookies. 揃ut we wasn抰 expecting to have cold beer, good food, and entertainment. Hell, Wade, I ain抰 puttin?my name on that petition. This is fun.?
揗e neither,?Fred declared, 揵ut it抯 a silly idea that Stella has cooked up anyway. I say it抯 a good idea to use this building for something. It抯 just going to sit here and rot away to nothing if you don抰。？
揟hank you.?Jessica picked up a platter of cookies and began to move among the crowd that continued to grow with every song the twins played.
Wade followed behind her, stopping to talk to folks and inviting them to get something cold to drink, pull up a chair, and enjoy the music.
When Jessica抯 platter was empty, she went back to the kitchen to refill it and found Wade standing at the sink with a beer in his hand. 揑 had to come see how things were going out front. I can see everything from here.?
Jessica joined him at the window and was amazed to find that there were only about ten people out there in the parking lot, and not a one of them was singing.
Risa had brought a chair out from inside the church and sat down at the end of the refreshment table. She would far rather have been out in the backyard listening to her girls play, but since no one was singing in the parking lot, she could hear the music just fine. She hoped that her mother and the remaining people saw her as being as cool as a cucumber, but on the inside, her stomach was a ball of nerves. They made it through two hymns, and then Stella glared at her and turned to say something to one of the few folks left to support her.
No one had stepped forward to add their name to Stella抯 on the petition. The wind swept the pen onto the ground, and the paper curled up around the wooden cross. A piece tore off and floated out across the parking lot.
Risa had to remember the bitterness in Stella抯 voice and the hatefulness in her actions when she had spoken to Lily and Daisy to keep from feeling sorry for her mother. Seeing all the friends she had thought would back her leaving one by one for the backyard, then watching the wind blow away the top of the petition梩he very part that had her name on it梙ad to be tough.
揌ow are you doing??Oscar brought out a chair and sat down beside her. 揟hose girls of yours are very talented. They could be playing for the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.?
揟hank you for that, Oscar, but they just do it for fun. Have they done any singing yet??Risa asked.
揘ot yet,?Oscar answered. 揌ow about this crew? Think they抣l give up and go home??
揑抦 not sure what they抣l do now. Mother has been whispering to the diehards that are still here behind her hand and glaring at me for the most part,?Risa said and then smiled up at Lulu Swenson, her mother抯 neighbor, who had come over to the table. 揈venin? Miz Swenson. Can I get you some cookies and a bottle of water??
揑 thought I got a whiff of chocolate a while ago,?Lulu said.
揧ou did, but you have to go around to the backyard for those,?Oscar told her and then lowered his voice. 揑 know for a fact that you go up to San Saba to the Rusty Spur at least once a month. I抳e seen you there lots of times, drinking whiskey sours and dancing the leather off your boots. Why are you throwing in with Stella on this??
揝hhh . . .?Lulu put a finger over her lips. 揝he抯 my neighbor, and she could cause a lot of problems for me if she thought for one minute that I wasn抰 upset about turning a church into a bar. Truth is, I think it抯 a good idea.?
揟hen tell her so,?Oscar said.
揘ot going to happen,?Lulu said as she picked up a cookie and a bottle of water. 揂nd don抰 you go tattling on me for going to the Rusty Spur, either.?
揗y lips are sealed as long as you keep your name off that petition,?Oscar teased.
Lulu gave him a brief nod and went back over to stand with Stella, who now only had three other women with her.
揅an the twins sing as well as play??Oscar asked.
Before she could answer, the girls?voices seemed to surround the church as they started singing 揌ush Hush.?Risa giggled at the lyrics, which seemed to fit the whole situation that evening.
揟hey抮e really good. They sound a lot like the Pistol Annies.?Oscar kept time to the music with his foot and by patting his knees with his palms.
揧ep, and Lily can do a fairly good cover of Alison Krauss, too.?Risa was proud of her girls. 揟heir other grandmother would have a pure old Kentucky hissy fit if she knew they were singing a song like that, though. She insisted that they only sing hymns and gospel music when we had family gatherings. I let them play and sing whatever they wanted at home.?