揝o are mine. Just now getting them broken in good,?Wade said as he started toward his truck. 揝ee y抋ll tomorrow evening, then. Who knows, we might even find a snake or two hiding in the pews.?
Daisy shivered. 揑抦 not going in there until y抋ll clear it. I hate rats.?
揑 hate snakes, so I抣l hang back with Daisy,?Lily told them. 揂nd y抋ll just changed my mind about enlisting in the army when I graduate high school.?
揃oth our grandmothers would disown you,?Daisy said. 揋ranny Martha almost kicked Daddy out of the family when he joined the army.?
Lily shot a look toward her twin sister. 揃ut he got back in her good graces when he let her name us after her mother and grandmother.?
Jessica whipped around toward Risa. 揧ou didn抰 even get to name your kids??
揟hat抯 only a minor detail of my ill-fated marriage,?Risa answered. 揜ight now, we抎 better get on back to Mama抯。 She starts calling if we抮e not home by nine o抍lock. That抯 her bedtime, and she locks the doors promptly at nine. Out of the frying pan, into the fire梩he story of my life. But I抦 hunting a job so the girls and I can get our own place.?
揥ant to live in an old church??Jessica asked.
揇on抰 tempt me.?Risa stood up, bent to give Jessica a hug, and motioned for her girls to follow her. 揑s it all right if we leave the chairs right here? We might need them tomorrow.?
揚erfectly fine,?Jessica answered.
揑抦 turning in, too,?Haley said. 揑 should go through some more of Mama抯 stuff before bedtime. Maybe there抣l be something in another note about why they hid things.?
揗e too,?Mary Nell said. 揝ee y抋ll tomorrow. Same time??
Jessica walked with them out to their vehicles. 揑f you need to talk, Haley梠r any of you, for that matter梘ive me a call, or just come on out here. You don抰 have to wait for an invitation or a specific time.?
When the dust from the vehicles had settled, she turned her beer up for a long drink. The burp it produced wasn抰 very ladylike, but then, if there was no one to hear a beer burp, did it really happen?
揌ow could we all split seven ways to Sunday, and yet when we get back together, it抯 like we were just here having a good time last weekend??she muttered as she headed back into her RV.
That抯 close friends of the heart for you. Appreciate what you抳e got here, girl. It could be the beginnings of putting roots down for all of you. Uncle Elijah抯 deep voice popped into her head.
She wondered why she would hear from him after all these years. 揥ell, Wade Granger was barely an acquaintance in high school. I wouldn抰 consider him a close friend, and yet, he kind of fit right in with us,?she argued as she pulled a box of junk cereal from the cabinet and filled a bowl with it.
He might be if you give him a chance, Uncle Elijah said.
揝ince you抮e passing out advice, you could tell me what to do with that church.?She poured milk on the cereal and carried the bowl over to the tiny table to eat.
There was no answer, so evidently, Uncle Elijah was finished with his advice. So, she ate her cereal and thought about Wade. What would bring a guy back to Riverbend to work odd jobs? He抎 always been considered a nerdy type of person who never participated in sports梠r in much of anything else, for that matter. He抎 been one of those supersmart kids who made good grades and kept his head down between classes.
He had seemed lonely that night, and glad to be invited to join the circle of friends. Jessica decided that she抎 hire him to put the steeple back on the roof. Maybe that would increase the chances of unloading the place as a church.
揑 wonder if this area is zoned commercial and if I could get a liquor license,?she mused as she stared out the window at the building, barely visible now. The moon was dark that night, and the stars didn抰 do much to light it up for her.
Chapter Two
Wade knelt in front of the three tombstones at the Riverbend Cemetery. One for his mother, one for his father, one for Danny, and an empty plot where he抎 be buried someday. Losing his parents within a year of each other had been tough, but he抎 still had his brother. Even though they were often on different continents, they had used modern technology to talk to each other every week梐nd then Danny, his only sibling and his best friend, was taken from him, leaving him totally alone.
He swiped a single tear from his cheek and whispered, 揥e should be starting a business together like we always talked about. Jessica Callaway has come back to town, and Elijah left her that old church out there on the river. You remember the one that Mama took us to when we were kids? Do you think the building would make a good bar? Do you want me to use your insurance money to do that? I always thought we抎 come to some kind of agreement and build a bar in between a beach and the mountains梜ind of like a compromise. I never thought of building one right here in Riverbend, until last night. What do you think??