Part 8 (1/2)

She glanced up at the bright, yellow kitchen, hoping to hear Hannah's voice. When she didn't, she felt a little worry bubble up. Ruby's trademark loud guffaw was followed by Hedy's deep chuckles. Temple took the three steps upward and she followed right behind him.

”Hey,” she called. ”Is anybody besides Temple ready for barbeque?”

”Be still my heart.” Ruby pointed toward the white with gold swirls laminate countertop. ”Set it right there where I can have at it.” Ruby wore jeans, a red top, and black cowgirl boots. She'd styled her dark-brown hair in a simple, efficient blunt cut at her shoulders.

Hedy sat in her wheelchair at one end of Ruby's 1940s enamel, tin-top pie table with its wooden Art Deco-design base painted in yellow and orange.

Lauren gave her aunt a quick kiss on her cheek and then set the sacks of barbeque on the counter. ”Where's Hannah?”

”That little apple of your eye is upstairs taking a nap. She got all tuckered out from baking a batch of chocolate chip cookies.”

”I'm anxious to meet her.” Hedy gave Lauren a big grin. ”I'm hoping she's a chip off the old block.”

”If she's anything like you, Hedy, we're all in trouble.” Ruby guffawed again.

Lauren joined their laughter. She was so glad to be with these country Texas women with their humorous talk and down-home ribbing. She might meet a few like them in Houston, but here in the countryside, most of the women were like Ruby and Hedy. Straight talkers. Hard workers. Salt of the Earth. They had a generosity of spirit that never turned anyone hungry away from the table. Lauren knew she and Hannah couldn't be in better hands.

”We'd best feed Temple first, or we'll all be in trouble.” Lauren pointed down at him.

”So true,” Hedy agreed, reaching to stroke Temple's short, thick fur.

”And with those sacks you plopped down in my kitchen, we've now got a war on our hands.” Ruby glanced at Lauren with a twinkle in her eyes.

”What do you mean?” Lauren asked as she pulled out a st.u.r.dy wooden chair with a yellow cus.h.i.+on and sat down beside her aunt.

”The smell of barbeque is in compet.i.tion with the scent of fresh-baked cookies,” Ruby replied with a dry tone in her understated Texas way.

”If you think that's bad,” Lauren said as she absentmindedly adjusted a stack of white paper napkins on the tabletop, ”there's going to be an even bigger battle when I pull out the pie Slade baked and sent home for us.”

”Yum!” Hedy looked at the sacks from the Chuckwagon Cafe. ”What flavor?”

”Rhubarb-blackberry,” Lauren said. ”I think he's using us as guinea pigs for the new recipes he's trying out.”

”I've been helping him out as his pie-taster.” Hedy glanced around the kitchen, smiling mischievously. ”Something about pies just suits me of late.”

”I'm glad something does,” Ruby said. ”You've been eating like a bird.”

Hedy just shrugged in response.

Lauren caught Ruby's gaze and received a nod of understanding in return. Maybe tonight, between pie, cookies, and barbeque, they could get Hedy to eat well for a change.

Temple yowled in an impatient tone.

”I'd best get that boy a plate before he decides to leap up on the counter and dig in all on his lonesome.” Ruby reached into a sack, pulled out a plastic container, opened the top, and selected a slice of beef. She broke the meat into bite-size pieces and set them in a blue china bowl the exact color of Temple's eyes.

”Is that for me or the cat?” Hedy chuckled as she pointed at Ruby's preparations.

”What do you think?” Ruby laughed as she set the plate under the wide bar that extended to the sink and around one side of the kitchen.

”I figure in this town humans eat on paper plates while cats get the best china.” Hedy continued to chuckle as she pointed at Temple, who delicately sniffed the meat, then chomped a piece between his teeth.

Lauren joined their laughter, knowing Hedy's words weren't far from the truth. Folks had always loved and valued their cats in Wildcat Bluff. Thinking about love, she wanted to get upstairs to see her own little girl, but she didn't want to wake her just yet.

Suddenly she felt her child nearby, in the way mothers so often do, and glanced up at the short staircase that led to the top floor.

Hannah stood with her hand on the railing, looking like a sleepy blond-haired angel with big, brown eyes. She wore her favorite pink, long-sleeve T-s.h.i.+rt with rhinestones in the outline of a horse and matching leggings. She held up a too-big red cowgirl hat with one small hand so she could see out from under it.

”Mommy, I made cookies today!”

And Lauren felt her heart go out to the love of her life.

Chapter 11.

”Sweetie, I can't wait to try them.” Lauren pulled out the chair beside her and patted the cus.h.i.+on. ”Why don't you join us?”

Hannah took a step downward, then stopped and sat on a carpeted stair. She shyly peeked out from under the brim of the large hat, brown eyes wide as she looked back and forth between Lauren and Hedy.

”I want you to meet someone special.” Lauren kept her voice soft so as to rea.s.sure her daughter, since Hannah had become reticent around strangers.

”Aunt Ruby's special,” Hannah said in a soft, sweet voice.

”Thank you.” Ruby gave her an encouraging smile. ”You're mighty special, too.”

Hannah shyly ducked her head to study her bare toes. ”You make good cookies. And you're a cowgirl.”

”Not lately.” Ruby chuckled as she set food containers on the countertop. ”But I still know my way around a horse. Fact of the matter, lots of folks who hail from Wildcat Bluff won champions.h.i.+ps in their time.”

”That's so true.” Lauren gestured toward her aunt. ”Hannah, I want you to meet your great-aunt Hedy. She's a former rodeo star, too.” Lauren wished her daughter was as outgoing and trusting as she had been before the loss of her father. Somehow she was going to find a way to get her daughter back to that positive place.

Hannah stood up, took another step downward, and stopped again. She c.o.c.ked her head to the side and grabbed her hat as it slid off her head. She held the big hat against her small chest. ”How do you get to be a great-aunt?”

Lauren smiled, feeling intense love. ”She's your grandmother's sister, so she's your great-aunt and my aunt.”

”Ruby's my aunt, too.”

”I'm a friend-aunt,” Ruby quickly explained. ”Hedy's your family-aunt.”

”I like aunts.” Hannah took the rest of the stairs down and stopped beside the table. She looked at Hedy's wheelchair. ”Mommy fixes folks. Maybe she can fix you so you can ride a horse again.”

Lauren inhaled sharply, wis.h.i.+ng she'd explained about Hedy's wheelchair before Hannah had seen it. And just like an innocent child, she went straight to the heart of the matter.

Hedy chuckled, shaking her head. ”Wish that were possible, but I'm not fixable. Anyway, I've got something better than legs.” She demonstrated a few quick moves with her power wheelchair.

Hannah's eyes grew wide. ”Bet you can go fast as a horse.”

”Almost,” Hedy agreed. ”I hear you've got your heart set on being a cowgirl.”