揑 can cook,?Risa said. 揌ire me to run the kitchen and my girls to do the cleaning.?
揌ey, we抮e going to be cheerleaders, remember??Daisy reminded her. 揥e won抰 have time to work and do all our school stuff, too. This is our senior year.?
揗aybe y抋ll could buy a boat and become fishing guides,?Mary Nell suggested.
Wade chuckled and started a few lines of 揃uy Me a Boat.?
Lily joined right in with him on the Chris Janson song, and then Daisy harmonized with her when she reached the chorus.
揧抋ll are pretty good,?Jessica said. 揧ou should try out for the choir at the Riverbend school this fall.?
揘ever thought of that,?Daisy said.
揑抎 rather sing in your new bar,?Lily said with a grin.
Jessica eyed the building with a new perspective. Chase away the spiders, sweep up all that dust, and take out the pews. That would create a nice big room for a bar. The Sunday school rooms could be used for an office, and if Risa抯 mama threw her out, she and the twins could live right there.
揧ou could turn the sanctuary into a beer, bait, and bologna store for fishermen and use the Sunday school rooms for the bed-and-breakfast,?Haley suggested.
揗y mother would go into a rigor if I worked in a place that sold beer.?Risa shook a finger at her girls. 揂nd don抰 either of you tell her that I drank one here tonight, either.?
揌ow did we get two grannies that are so religious??Daisy groaned. 揑 thought when we left Granny Martha抯 place in Kentucky that this one might be better, but Granny Stella is just as bad梠r maybe the word is holy . . .?
揝elf-righteous is what you are looking for,?Lily told her sister.
揥hatever. She and Granny Martha could be sisters,?Daisy said.
揂nd they抮e both so bossy,?Lily added.
揊ate,?Risa answered. 揟hat抯 what brought us to Riverbend at this time in our lives. For some reason we all need to be here, and it抯 got something to do with that church. I can feel it.?
揊or real??Jessica raised an eyebrow. 揟he building seemed to be trying to send me a message, too. Maybe it抯 saying that whatever I do with it, we should all be involved together.?
揟hen I don抰 like fate.?Daisy swatted a mosquito from her arm. 揃ut I do like the idea of having a job.?
揑抣l get some candles to burn next time y抋ll come out here. I抎 forgotten that the skeeters in this part of the world were as big as buzzards.?Jessica killed one that had alighted on her neck. 揙r better yet, I抣l get the electricity turned on in the church tomorrow, and we can all visit in there. I went into the sanctuary when I first got here, and everything is covered with dust and daddy longleg spiders. I抳e got some bug spray in the RV, so I抣l take care of those little critters first thing tomorrow morning.?
揂re y抋ll really goin?to drink beer in the sanctuary??Lily asked.
Daisy covered her head with her hands. 揋ranny Stella and Granny Martha are calling down the lightning for sure.?
Jessica laughed at the girls. From what Risa had told her, the twins had taken the whole bit about getting kicked out of the Jackson family better than most teenagers would have. They抎 had to leave cousins by the dozens, a close-knit family, and the school they had attended their whole lives, but they were adapting梞aybe even doing better than their mother.
Jessica tipped up her beer and took a sip. 揑抣l give all these excellent ideas some thought.?
揥e could just make it into a house,?Risa suggested. 揌ow many Sunday school rooms are there??
揌ave no idea,?Jessica answered. 揑 was only in it a few times when it was a church, and I was only in the sanctuary a few minutes this evening. Daddy didn抰 like Uncle Elijah抯 preaching. He was one of those hellfire-and-damnation preachers, and Daddy liked a more conservative church. I抣l try to get lights and water hooked up before y抋ll come out tomorrow evening, so we can take a tour.?
揟hink it抯 haunted??Lily whispered. 揇oes your Uncle Elijah抯 ghost live in it??
揋uess we抣l find out when we go in there. His spirit might have been what knocked the steeple off,?Jessica said with a giggle.
Wade stood. 揟hanks for the visit, but I抦 going home now. If you need some carpentry work done on the place, holler at me. I抦 between jobs right now.?
揟hanks,?Jessica said. 揧ou might as well come on back tomorrow. We can see if there are rats in there as big as the ones in Kandahar.?
揌ow抎 you know??Wade asked.
揟he boots.?Jessica held up a foot, showing she was wearing the same boots the military issued for deployment in the sandbox. 揥hen were you there??
揊our years ago,?he answered. 揧ou??
揓ust finished my last tour a couple of months ago, after we pulled out,?she answered. 揃oots are from a previous tour, though.?