Read Online Honky Tonk Christmas by Carolyn Brown - Free Book Online
Authors: Carolyn Brown
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want to have a name like his.”
“Momma said that the reason we call her Judd is acause I couldn’t say Ashley when I was a little kid but I could say Judd,” Waylon said.
“Shhhh, the movie is startin’. If we talk, we’ll miss the good parts,” Judd said.
Waylon settled into his pillow more comfortably. “I thought we were going to watch TV in the bar where we went yesterday.”
“It only gets the sports and news channel. I thought you’d be more comfortable in here,” Sharlene said.
“I like it in here. It smells good,” Waylon said. He was asleep in ten minutes.
Judd forced her eyes to stay open, blinking only when her eyes stung so badly she couldn’t bear it. She finally picked up her pillow, put it next to Sharlene on the sofa, cuddled up next to her thigh, and went to sleep.
Sharlene leaned into the corner of the sofa. She and the mermaid had a lot in common. They were both misfits in the world. Sharlene had grown up in Mennonite country where the puritanical influence was still prevalent. Her parents weren’t of that faith but they were very strict, very religious, and still adhered to the old ways. Girls grew up to be women who stayed home, raised babies, cooked three meals a day, and kept a spotless house. If they did work outside the home, they didn’t neglect their first duties to the family. They even ironed pillowcases and tea towels and God forbid that they ever had frozen dinners for supper. Sharlene wasn’t sure that a wife and mother could even look at the Pearly Gates if she didn’t make supper from scratch and that involved going to the garden to gather it in the spring and summer.
Boys grew up to be men who had jobs outside the farm only if necessary and who milked cows, ran cattle, plowed, planted, harvested, and brought home the bacon. Men did not do dishes, cook, or wash clothes even if they had the time and the wife had a job in town. One sink full of dishes would rob them of their masculinity for all eternity. Sharlene figured if her mother died before her father that he’d starve to death. She might need to suggest to her mother that she start putting frozen dinners in the extra freezer out in the garage so he’d survive long enough to rope in another wife.
She went to sleep with a smile on her face. If Claud Waverly looked at another woman before or after Molly died, he wouldn’t have to die to get a taste of hell. Molly would deliver it to him on a shiny silver platter.
The minute she drifted off to sleep the dreams started. Jonah was beside her in this one, asking her if she was ever going to ruin her perfect record. According to the U. S. Army, the average soldier would hit a man-sized target ten percent of the time at 300 meters using an M16A2 rifle. Snipers were required to hit the same target ninety percent of the time from 600 meters out. Sharlene was one of the elite who could hit it ninety-five percent of the time from 1000 meters. So far she hadn’t missed. Jonah kept joking about her falling apart the day that she did.
They were belly down in the sand under deep camouflage waiting for the white limousine. Her first bullet was to take out the front passenger tire, then fire the RPG, rocket propelled grenade, and to leave no one alive. She blinked twice and fired and awoke with a start before it hit the target.
She wondered what Iraqi children were doing in her bunker. The noise of hammers sounded like machine gun fire. She looked up expecting to see Jonah’s dark eyes but instead the credits rolled at the end of the movie on the television. Waylon’s eyes popped open and he gasped when his sister wasn’t lying right beside him. He slowly scanned the strange room and finally sighed when he found her on the sofa beside Sharlene.
Sharlene inhaled deeply and banished the dream from her mind.
Judd wiggled and then opened her eyes. “Did you have a good nap?” she asked Sharlene.
“Yes, I did. How about you?” Sharlene hugged her closer.
“I
“Momma said that the reason we call her Judd is acause I couldn’t say Ashley when I was a little kid but I could say Judd,” Waylon said.
“Shhhh, the movie is startin’. If we talk, we’ll miss the good parts,” Judd said.
Waylon settled into his pillow more comfortably. “I thought we were going to watch TV in the bar where we went yesterday.”
“It only gets the sports and news channel. I thought you’d be more comfortable in here,” Sharlene said.
“I like it in here. It smells good,” Waylon said. He was asleep in ten minutes.
Judd forced her eyes to stay open, blinking only when her eyes stung so badly she couldn’t bear it. She finally picked up her pillow, put it next to Sharlene on the sofa, cuddled up next to her thigh, and went to sleep.
Sharlene leaned into the corner of the sofa. She and the mermaid had a lot in common. They were both misfits in the world. Sharlene had grown up in Mennonite country where the puritanical influence was still prevalent. Her parents weren’t of that faith but they were very strict, very religious, and still adhered to the old ways. Girls grew up to be women who stayed home, raised babies, cooked three meals a day, and kept a spotless house. If they did work outside the home, they didn’t neglect their first duties to the family. They even ironed pillowcases and tea towels and God forbid that they ever had frozen dinners for supper. Sharlene wasn’t sure that a wife and mother could even look at the Pearly Gates if she didn’t make supper from scratch and that involved going to the garden to gather it in the spring and summer.
Boys grew up to be men who had jobs outside the farm only if necessary and who milked cows, ran cattle, plowed, planted, harvested, and brought home the bacon. Men did not do dishes, cook, or wash clothes even if they had the time and the wife had a job in town. One sink full of dishes would rob them of their masculinity for all eternity. Sharlene figured if her mother died before her father that he’d starve to death. She might need to suggest to her mother that she start putting frozen dinners in the extra freezer out in the garage so he’d survive long enough to rope in another wife.
She went to sleep with a smile on her face. If Claud Waverly looked at another woman before or after Molly died, he wouldn’t have to die to get a taste of hell. Molly would deliver it to him on a shiny silver platter.
The minute she drifted off to sleep the dreams started. Jonah was beside her in this one, asking her if she was ever going to ruin her perfect record. According to the U. S. Army, the average soldier would hit a man-sized target ten percent of the time at 300 meters using an M16A2 rifle. Snipers were required to hit the same target ninety percent of the time from 600 meters out. Sharlene was one of the elite who could hit it ninety-five percent of the time from 1000 meters. So far she hadn’t missed. Jonah kept joking about her falling apart the day that she did.
They were belly down in the sand under deep camouflage waiting for the white limousine. Her first bullet was to take out the front passenger tire, then fire the RPG, rocket propelled grenade, and to leave no one alive. She blinked twice and fired and awoke with a start before it hit the target.
She wondered what Iraqi children were doing in her bunker. The noise of hammers sounded like machine gun fire. She looked up expecting to see Jonah’s dark eyes but instead the credits rolled at the end of the movie on the television. Waylon’s eyes popped open and he gasped when his sister wasn’t lying right beside him. He slowly scanned the strange room and finally sighed when he found her on the sofa beside Sharlene.
Sharlene inhaled deeply and banished the dream from her mind.
Judd wiggled and then opened her eyes. “Did you have a good nap?” she asked Sharlene.
“Yes, I did. How about you?” Sharlene hugged her closer.
“I
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