Emmett before she turned her attention to Jim Bob who popped up like a windup toy and led her to the dance floor. Daisy wished she had life by the horns as well as Chigger did.
At midnight she turned around to find Jarod leaning on the bar at the far end. She made her way to him, filling a couple of orders as she went. "What can I get for you?"
"Nothing. I'm taking Uncle Emmett home. He's tuckered out. I just wanted to tell you that you don't have to come to dinner that Sunday. He'll forget all about it by tomorrow. The Alzheimer's gets worse every day. He'd argue with a stop sign. I swear he would."
Daisy could have listened to him talk for hours. His deep voice mesmerized her. Her eyes were half closed and a smile tickled the edges of her full mouth as her imagination ran rampant. Would his voice go even deeper if he was in bed with her and whispering sweet things in her ear as he nibbled his way to her lips?
"Did you hear me?" he asked.
"Sorry. My mind was somewhere else." She blushed. "I gave my word and I'll be there. I was joking about the beef steak. I will definitely bring the cheesecake in case he remembers. It's no trouble. I'll just pick one up at the grocery store."
"I'd rather you didn't. What did he mean it was time for you to come out there?" he asked.
"It isn't your ranch and what goes on is between me and Emmett. You don't want to be there for dinner, that's fine. Go somewhere else. Why are you staying anyway if you don't want to be there?"
Jarod shook his head. "Don't call it dinner. It's supper. He'll really go off the deep end if you call it dinner. That's the noon meal. And I'm there because he needs help. My dad will probably sell the place or else give it to one of the grandsons when Emmett is gone."
"It's the old way of thinkin'. He's just holdin' on to what he knows. Why aren't you going to keep the ranch?"
"I don't want it. I refuse to let it dry up and blow away, but I damn sure don't want to live in this godforsaken country. And you got that right about him holdin' on to what he knows. He won't let go of a damn thing. Guess I'll see you a week from tomorrow."
"That's your choice. I'll be there. You decide where you'll be," she said.
"Sassy piece of baggage, aren't you?"
"I am what you see."
He let her have the last word and made his way through the dwindling crowd for the door where Emmett was shuffling along with his walkers, in the plural sense of the word. He had his aluminum walker surrounding him. Jim Bob Walker was on one side, Joe Bob on the other, and Billy Bob held the door open for him. Jarod wondered if it wouldn't solve a whole hell of a lot of problems if he went back to Oklahoma and let Emmett bequeath his ranch to the Walker brothers.
***
Daisy shut the doors at two o'clock. She popped the top off a bottle of beer, propped her legs up on a table, and went back over the night's events. Every single thought either began with a vision of Jarod or something he said.
"Damn it," she swore and attempted to turn her thoughts away from him by thinking about the Honky Tonk. The beer joint had been good to her, had given her a job and a family of sorts. What was a family anyway? A bunch of people connected by a bloodline? Well, the Honky Tonk was home to a bunch of people connected by friendship. That could make a family, couldn't it?
She raised her bottle up in a toast. "Ruby, I don't know what in the hell you saw in me that day, but I'm glad for everything you did. Thank you. You changed my life. Now could you erase that sexy man out of my heart and mind?" Daisy asked.
She started across the floor when a hard pounding on the front door caused her to change course in the middle of the room. Before she took two steps, they hit the door again, this time harder and longer. She swung it open, expecting to see a Mingus citizen with a cat that had been hit on the road and needed to
At midnight she turned around to find Jarod leaning on the bar at the far end. She made her way to him, filling a couple of orders as she went. "What can I get for you?"
"Nothing. I'm taking Uncle Emmett home. He's tuckered out. I just wanted to tell you that you don't have to come to dinner that Sunday. He'll forget all about it by tomorrow. The Alzheimer's gets worse every day. He'd argue with a stop sign. I swear he would."
Daisy could have listened to him talk for hours. His deep voice mesmerized her. Her eyes were half closed and a smile tickled the edges of her full mouth as her imagination ran rampant. Would his voice go even deeper if he was in bed with her and whispering sweet things in her ear as he nibbled his way to her lips?
"Did you hear me?" he asked.
"Sorry. My mind was somewhere else." She blushed. "I gave my word and I'll be there. I was joking about the beef steak. I will definitely bring the cheesecake in case he remembers. It's no trouble. I'll just pick one up at the grocery store."
"I'd rather you didn't. What did he mean it was time for you to come out there?" he asked.
"It isn't your ranch and what goes on is between me and Emmett. You don't want to be there for dinner, that's fine. Go somewhere else. Why are you staying anyway if you don't want to be there?"
Jarod shook his head. "Don't call it dinner. It's supper. He'll really go off the deep end if you call it dinner. That's the noon meal. And I'm there because he needs help. My dad will probably sell the place or else give it to one of the grandsons when Emmett is gone."
"It's the old way of thinkin'. He's just holdin' on to what he knows. Why aren't you going to keep the ranch?"
"I don't want it. I refuse to let it dry up and blow away, but I damn sure don't want to live in this godforsaken country. And you got that right about him holdin' on to what he knows. He won't let go of a damn thing. Guess I'll see you a week from tomorrow."
"That's your choice. I'll be there. You decide where you'll be," she said.
"Sassy piece of baggage, aren't you?"
"I am what you see."
He let her have the last word and made his way through the dwindling crowd for the door where Emmett was shuffling along with his walkers, in the plural sense of the word. He had his aluminum walker surrounding him. Jim Bob Walker was on one side, Joe Bob on the other, and Billy Bob held the door open for him. Jarod wondered if it wouldn't solve a whole hell of a lot of problems if he went back to Oklahoma and let Emmett bequeath his ranch to the Walker brothers.
***
Daisy shut the doors at two o'clock. She popped the top off a bottle of beer, propped her legs up on a table, and went back over the night's events. Every single thought either began with a vision of Jarod or something he said.
"Damn it," she swore and attempted to turn her thoughts away from him by thinking about the Honky Tonk. The beer joint had been good to her, had given her a job and a family of sorts. What was a family anyway? A bunch of people connected by a bloodline? Well, the Honky Tonk was home to a bunch of people connected by friendship. That could make a family, couldn't it?
She raised her bottle up in a toast. "Ruby, I don't know what in the hell you saw in me that day, but I'm glad for everything you did. Thank you. You changed my life. Now could you erase that sexy man out of my heart and mind?" Daisy asked.
She started across the floor when a hard pounding on the front door caused her to change course in the middle of the room. Before she took two steps, they hit the door again, this time harder and longer. She swung it open, expecting to see a Mingus citizen with a cat that had been hit on the road and needed to
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