Honky Tonk Christmas (21 page)

Holt grinned. “This damn thing really does sound like a soap opera on television.”

“Doesn’t it? Wonder if we could sell the premise to one of the major companies and start a new soap. We could call it
Honky Tonk Angels
!” she said.

“I get half the profit if you do.”

“It’s not your story,” she argued.

“But I encouraged you to put it all in chronological order so I’m as good as the producer,” he said.

“Twenty-five percent and I get seventy-five,” she bartered.

“Thirty-five.” His eyes sparkled.

“Okay, it’s a deal. If we ever sell
Honky Tonk Angels
to the big soap opera world you can have thirty-five percent of the take,” she agreed.

“Well, don’t stop now. What happened?” he asked.

“Okay, there was enough heat between them to cause the people with the global warming stuff to start to worry. I mean every time they got together sparks flew and boom, they fell in love,” she said.

“The end?” he asked.

“Not quite. He was in and out of the Honky Tonk as well as her house. She helped him haul hay and made him help paint the house. Imagine how he felt when she told him what colors she’d chosen.” Sharlene smiled.

“I don’t have a bit of problem imagining that scene. I bet his nose hairs curled as much as mine did and I didn’t even have to deface a perfectly good house like he did, but tell me the rest of it. How’d she find out he was really Hayes?”

“She and her buddies put together a town meeting and invited the Radners to attend.”

“Holy crap! And all this time she had no idea that Hank was really Hayes?”

“Not a clue until he walked into that meeting.”

“What happened?” Holt was really into the story.

“They had a big fight out behind the garage and he left. When he tried to call her and explain she put the phone on the jukebox and played ‘My Give a Damn’s Busted.’ She wouldn’t talk to him at all, period. Then her mother came to Dallas to this big charity to-do and wanted Larissa to go with her. Stop right here and hear a little about Doreen, her mother. She’s a short redhead like me and people thought I was her daughter instead of Larissa because Larissa’s father is Indian and Mexican. Remember what she looked like that time you saw her at the ranch? She has dark hair and eyes. Doreen had Larissa while she was in college and her parents and a nanny raised the baby while she ran all over the world and had affairs with very young men.”

Holt shook his head. “More and more like a soap. Write up the pilot and let’s sell it.”

“I don’t do script. Only prose,” she said. “So anyway, when they got to the charity thing Hank was one of the men being sold at the bachelor auction to raise money. Larissa paid something like fifteen thousand dollars for him and then left him sitting in a rundown fish café in Dallas. But it broke the ice and he finally moved back to the county and won her heart. It took some doing and there were times when I thought the charm had finally failed, but they finally settled the fight and lived ‘happily never after.’ The end.”

“It’s not the end. You are still in the picture,” Holt said.

“But you know all about me. You just spent a whole day with my family and you are part of the extended story. You are building an addition on to the Tonk and living in the Bahamas Mama house. There’s no hidden identity. No old boyfriend to kidnap me. Nothing exciting going on here.”

“Then tell me more about Iraq.”

They were driving through the hilly north side of Palo Pinto County where the road twisted and curved back on itself. Up in the area where Larissa and Hank lived. She wanted to ask him to stop, but it was already getting dark and it wasn’t fair to leave Tessa alone at the beer joint too long. She didn’t want to talk about Iraq or the nightmares or what she did there. She wanted to suppress it all and forget it.

“There’s nothing more to tell about Iraq. I spent two years there and I can describe it in three words. Hot. Hotter. Hottest. Most of the time it was the last word. Like I’ve said before, Iraq and the war over there is something you either did and saw or didn’t. Words aren’t worth a damn in that case. And besides, I talk too much and have already told you about Iraq.”

“Sharlene, I love to listen to you talk. It’s like listening to those tapes where someone is reading. Your voice is soothing and smooth and you have a way with words. No wonder you can write a book,” he said.

“Thank you but you are covering your ass,” she said.

He pulled the truck into the full Honky Tonk parking lot. People were crawling out of their trucks and cars and heading for the porch.

Holt turned to face Sharlene. “I’m telling the truth. I’ve loved listening to the Honky Tonk Angels story. We’re home and I didn’t even mind the drive. But now I have to take these kids who have slept for five hours home and try to get them to sleep tonight. Tomorrow is a school day.”

“I forgot about that. Poor babies are up past their bedtime.”

“They’ll be home at three thirty every day ready for a snack and a nap after the weekend and a late night tonight.” He unhooked his seat belt and hurried around the truck to open the door for her and retrieve her bags.

“Thanks for going with me, for driving, and for…” she giggled.

When she stepped out he wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her to his chest. “Thank you for a wonderful weekend.”

He tipped her chin up and kissed her hard right there in front of everyone in the parking lot. “I loved every minute of it.”

“Even those with Dorie?” she asked.

“Oh, yes, ma’am, even those with Dorie.” He grinned. He wasn’t about to tell her that that half hour he spent with Dorie had convinced him that Sharlene was special. Dorie’s touch hadn’t set off any bells and whistles and her voice wasn’t honey in his ears like Sharlene’s. Dorie did not pour molten desire in his veins like Sharlene did when she brushed up against him.

“Then why the hell are you kissing me?” she snapped.

“You go figure it out and I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said. Explaining would require a commitment. Holt wasn’t ready to go that far.

***

The place was hopping. Every lusty redneck cowboy and cowgirl in five counties had evidently decided to start their week with dancing and drinking. Tessa and a stranger were behind the bar when Sharlene threw her duffle bag under Luther’s chair and made her way across the dance floor to the bar.

Tessa waved from the mixed drinks section. “Hey, hey, you made it earlier than I figured you would. Grab a tray and get two pitchers of Coke and Jack ready. Meet my sister, Darla. She was sitting on my doorstep when I got home today. She’s moving in with me and Luther for a while until she can get her own place. I told her she could work tonight for tips,” Tessa said.

“Glad to meet you, Darla.” Sharlene mixed Jack Daniels and Coke together in a pitcher being careful not to create a fizzy top on it. “Thanks for helping out while I was out of pocket.”

“I need a job and I’ve done this kind of work. Need some full-time help?” Darla asked.

“Tess?” Sharlene looked at her.

She nodded.

“You’re hired. We’ll talk about wages and benefits later tonight,” Sharlene said.

“Thank you,” Darla said. She was as tall as Tessa, only slimmer built and no glasses. She had the same luminous green eyes and dark hair, smooth complexion, and smile.

“You are twenty-one, aren’t you?” Sharlene asked.

“Twenty-three last month. Not married. No kids. Bad taste in men. I’m four years younger than Tess,” Darla said.

Another soap opera segment begins,
Sharlene thought with a grin. “Okay, ladies, they’re starting a line dance. You know what that means.”

“Set ’em up and get ready for the stampede,” Darla said.

“You got it, girl,” Sharlene said.

After the joint closed down Sharlene popped the tops off four bottles of beer and carried them to the nearest table. “So you still think you want to work here after tonight?” she asked Darla.

Darla tipped up the bottle and took a long gulp. “Yes, I do.”

“Tell me now if you’ve got any bad habits like drugs or alcoholism,” Sharlene said.

“Just horrid luck when it comes to men. There ain’t many Luthers out there and if there was I couldn’t find him with both hands and a flashlight. I don’t have a damn bit of luck when it comes to men. Tess is the lucky sister,” Darla said.

Tess laid a hand on Luther’s arm. “I know it!”

Sharlene took a long drink of beer and set the bottle down on the table. “Well, if being unlucky with men was a sin, a hell of a lot of us would have hell’s fire licking at our rear ends. I pay minimum wage to start with. Raise in three months if you’re still around and one of the cowboys hasn’t talked you into running off with him. One free beer a night if you want it after work and if you want to clean the place up before hours, that’s extra money and up to you,” Sharlene said. She remembered when Larissa gave her the same deal and she’d been glad to get it.

Darla didn’t hesitate a minute. “Deal and yes, I will come in an hour early every night and do cleanup to get the extra money.”

“Okay, now my turn,” Tessa said. “I want off either Saturday or Monday night.”

“You got it,” Sharlene said.

“Just like that?” Tessa asked.

“Hey, you’re good help. Six nights a week is a load. Plus you work from noon to five every day for the oil company. You’re going to burn out if you don’t take some time. You want a night off too, Luther?” Sharlene asked.

“Who’d you get to be a bouncer for you?” Luther asked.

“I expect Kent would do it in a heartbeat on Monday nights. Loralou doesn’t come around that night because she has to work a three to eleven shift on Mondays. So you want a little time off with your woman?” Sharlene teased.

“Talk to Kent. If he’ll take the job, I’ll take a night off.” Luther nodded.

“What about you? You want a night off too?” Tessa looked at Sharlene.

Sharlene held up both palms. “Hell, no! The Tonk is my life. Once in a while I might ask you to open for me but I’ll be here. Except for that week when I’ve promised my friends I’ll come for a visit and sign books in their home towns, I’ll be right here.”

***

She made it through the whole week and weekend without going back to the orange rocking chair on Holt’s porch. But the next Friday night she was a mess. She locked the Honky Tonk doors and paced from one end of her apartment to the other. The only thing that was going to put her mind at ease was sitting on Holt’s front porch so she picked up her keys and headed for the garage.

She parked on the road and sat down in the chair so easily that it didn’t even startle the stray wild cat snooping around the end of the house. She sighed deeply when she looked up at the stars and the half-moon. The cat slinked past her and took off in a run toward the trees on down the road.

“Can’t sleep?” Holt asked from the corner of the house.

“I was being quiet,” she said.

“Come on in the house. I’ll make us some hot chocolate and we’ll watch a movie. Maybe that will help,” he said.

She stood up. “I’ll go on home. I can’t keep disturbing you like this. I don’t know what it is about Friday nights.”

“Maybe it’s knowing you won’t see the kids until Monday,” he said.

“Could be. I’ve gotten pretty attached to them,” she answered.

“Well, I can’t sleep either so you might as well come on in,” he said.

“Are you sure, Holt?”

“Yep, fact is I was about half expecting you tonight,” he told her.

“Really?” she asked.

He smiled. “Maybe I was just hoping.”

She started in that direction.

He met her halfway and threw an arm around her shoulders. “How do you like John Wayne?”

“Love him.”

“Well, let’s go watch
The McClintock
.”

“That’s my grandpa’s favorite movie. He says that the lady, what’s her name? Anyway, she reminds him of his mother, the grandma that I was named after,” Sharlene said.

“I can see that,” Holt said.

He steered her inside, put the movie in the DVD player, and went to the kitchen to make hot chocolate while the first credits rolled. Some old lonesome cowboy sang about birds and bees in the country. Even though it was a historical Western movie, Sharlene could easily see country just like Corn in the background. Cows, horses, dust, and farming.

“Did I miss very much?” Holt asked when he put a cup of hot chocolate in her hands.

She kicked off her boots. “No.”

“Does that make you homesick for cows and ranch life?”

She swallowed the first sip hurriedly and answered, “Hell, no!”

He laughed. “Maureen O’Hara does look somewhat like you. She’s taller though.”

She started fighting sleep about halfway into the movie and snuggled up against his side. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what it is about this couch that makes me sleepy.”

“Stretch out with me. We’ll just cuddle together and watch the rest of the movie. If you fall asleep that’s fine.”

He scooted as far back as he could and she stretched out with her back to his front, their heads sharing a pillow. He hugged her close, keeping an arm around her midsection and kissed her on the neck. “I love your red hair.”

“Thank you, but many more of those kisses and we’ll be doing more than watching a movie, and that might not be such a good idea with two kids who could come in here at any time.”

“So you make a lot of noise?” he teased.

She slapped at his arm. “You’ll make me blush and the glow will wake them.”

Maureen was fighting with John about their daughter when she fell asleep. When she woke up two little kids were staring down at her with wide eyes and big smiles.

“Good morning,” she said.

“Did you stay all night?” Judd asked.

“I fell asleep watching a movie. Holt?” She nudged him with her elbow.

He buried his face in her hair. “You’re on your own. I went to sleep too.”

“Can we keep her?” Waylon whispered.

Holt chuckled.

Sharlene elbowed him harder that time.

“Please, Uncle Holt. Please say we can keep her. We can ’dopt her and she can be a Jackson,” Judd said.