Cowboy Boots for Christmas (22 page)

“It’s not nearly as sexy as your shaving lotion and coffee mixed up together,” she whispered.

“This feels right, Callie. You, the kids, Verdie, and the animals. It’s the way a ranch is supposed to feel.”

“It’s the way life is supposed to feel, whether it’s on a ranch or in the middle of a town the size of Dallas,” she said.

His hands slid up under her shirt. “Your skin is so warm and feels like silk.”

She shifted her position and brought a hand up to trace his jawline. “Are all the O’Donnell men as blistering hot as you?”

“Oh, no! I’m the ugly duckling of the bunch. Wait until you meet the whole lot of them. The really handsome ones will try to steal you away from me, especially Sawyer. He’s got a thing for dark hair and pretty, aqua-colored eyes.” Finn chuckled.

“Like a wise man said last night, it ain’t damn likely,” she murmured just before she closed the space and her lips met his.

“Is this makeup sex time?” he asked gruffly when the kiss ended.

“Right here in front of the fire sounds exciting, but we’ve got four kids and a granny who could bust through the door any minute. Makeup sex will have to wait until tonight.” Her lips found his again.

Would there ever come a time when his touch didn’t make her melt into a pool of hot lava? Or his kisses wouldn’t turn her legs into useless sticks? She hoped not, because for the first time ever, she felt like all was right with her life and nothing could go wrong. Not with Finn to protect not only her body, but her heart.

Callie checked all the kids one more time as they got out of the van in front of the church. Verdie had done Olivia’s hair up in a crown braid, and she wore a new red corduroy skirt, a bright green sweater with red trim, and a matching Christmas bow at the back of the braid.

“Today is the senior citizens’ program, so I’ll be joining the old folks in the choir. You two are on your own with the kids. Polly and Gladys will be with me, so you’ll have the whole pew to yourselves,” Verdie said.

“Well, Verdie! Why didn’t you tell us you were in the program? You haven’t practiced,” Callie said.

“I’ll miss you sitting beside me,” Olivia said.

“I’ll miss you, too, but next week is your turn, and I’ll have to sit by myself and miss you then,” Verdie said. “And, Callie, we’re so damned old and have done this program so many times that we know it by heart. We don’t have to practice. We just have to show up.”

“What’s in the tote bag?” Ricky asked.

“It’s my character props,” Verdie answered.

“What’s that?” Adam asked.

“It’s what I put on so I’m not Granny Verdie but whoever I’m supposed to be in the program. Kind of like Olivia when she is Lucy in the Charlie Brown part of the play next week,” Verdie answered.

“Shhh.” Olivia touched a finger to her lips. “We’re all going to surprise Callie and Finn.”

Verdie winked over the tops of the kids’ heads at Callie and Finn. “My lips are sealed. They won’t get another tidbit of information from this old granny.”

Callie made a mental note to ask if the kids needed anything for their play. And was it at school or at church or both?

Verdie circled around the sanctuary to the back of the church, through a door into what most likely led into Sunday school rooms, with Polly and Gladys right behind her. The pew looked empty without the three elderly ladies at the end and felt emptier yet with Callie at one end and four kids between her and Finn.

The preacher had a big smile on his face when he took his place behind the podium. “This morning the senior citizens of Burnt Boot will present the Christmas program. They say that laughter is good for the soul, and if the soul is happy, then all is right with the world. So with that said, I’ll turn the program over to Polly Cleary.”

Old quilts, some frayed at the edges, pinned to a rope line with clothespins, formed a barrier between the pulpit and the choir section. A red leg appeared from between two quilts, and Callie gasped. Surely they weren’t going to do a burlesque in the church.

Then a walker decorated with gold garland and jingle bells came out of the curtains with Polly behind it. She wore a red sweat suit with a picture of Rudolph’s head on the front, a flashing red nose, and antlers to match. She slowly pushed the walker to the podium and motioned for the preacher. “Take this back so Gladys and Verdie can join me. We ain’t got but one, and we have to share. Verdie is slow as well, Christmas, so I’ll tell y’all a story while she’s on her way out here.”

Olivia poked Callie on the leg. “Is this really church?”

Callie nodded. “I think so, but I’m not sure.”

Polly adjusted her antlers and said, “Back in the summer, Verdie McElroy put up her ranch, Salt Draw, for sale, and when the right buyer came along, she sold it. The new owner is Finn O’Donnell, sitting in the middle pew right there with his family. We’re right glad to welcome them to Burnt Boot, but we was sure worried about our dear friend until a couple of weeks ago, when she decided to come on back home where she belongs. Trouble was—oh, here comes Gladys, bless her heart, she’s older and slower than me, so forgive her for takin’ so long to get here. She talks slower, too, so since y’all don’t want to starve plumb to death, I’ll do the talkin’. Now where was I? Oh, trouble was that poor old Verdie, here she comes, folks. Everyone give her a hand.”

The applause came close to raising the roof a few inches when Verdie pushed the walker out from the back of the church. She wore a sweat suit that matched Polly’s and Gladys’s, but hers had a picture of Santa Claus on the front, and her Santa hat sat at a cocky angle.

“Is that Granny Verdie?” Ricky gasped.

“Looks like it,” Finn answered.

“Thank you, thank you. As I was saying, trouble was she decided to come home right in the middle of all this weather, and she had to hire a sleigh to get her here because the snow was so deep, and right outside of town, you’ll never believe…”

Verdie tried to wrestle the microphone from Polly, but she hung on, and pretty soon there was a make-believe fight going on right there behind the podium. When Verdie came up with the microphone, the walker had been turned over and the preacher had darted out from behind the curtains to settle the fight.

“Let go of me, preacher. She was infringing upon my rights to tell my story, and even if this is church, she’s not going to steal my thunder,” Verdie said.

“I like this kind of church,” Olivia said.

Polly crossed her arms over Rudolph and pouted. Gladys threw an arm around her to console her, and music filtered out from the speakers at the back of the church.

“I thought we’d just sing what happened rather than tell the story, that is, if Polly can suck in that lip and help me,” Gladys said.

“If I can hold the microphone, I won’t pout,” Polly said.

“Oh, okay, if you’ll just stop acting like a sixty-year-old.” Verdie winked at the congregation. And the three old ladies broke into their rendition of “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer,” substituting “Verdie” for “Grandma” in the lyrics.

When the song ended and they staggered off the stage with Verdie using the walker and the other two hanging on to the sides, everyone could see big hoofprints on the back of Verdie’s shirt, and the whole congregation gave them a standing ovation.

The next group was three old guys, each wearing a hoodie with an initial on the front. It didn’t take much imagination to know that they were the Chipmunks. Callie recognized the music as “Christmas Don’t Be Late,” and she was amazed at how much those fellers sounded like the original Chipmunks. When Alvin sang that he wanted a Hula-Hoop, one came rolling out from behind the curtains. Alvin did a great job of making it stay up as he sang the rest of the song, even when the preacher yelled “Alvin” just like on the recording.

Polly came back, this time pushing herself in a wheelchair, and picked up the microphone from the pulpit. “Sometimes you kids make a list for Christmas. Well, just because we’re older than twenty…”

“Pol…llly.” Gladys’s head poked out from between two quilts.

“Okay, older than twenty-one…”

“Pol…llly.” Verdie’s head came out from the other end, and she was wearing the flashing Rudolph antlers.

“Oh, all right, you two ain’t a bit of fun, and it’s Christmas,” Polly said. “Just because we are old enough”—she paused and looked over the audience—“to get senior citizens’ discounts at Dairy Queen and the Pizza Hut, doesn’t mean that we don’t make a list. As for me, I was thinking maybe I’d wish for a white Christmas this year, but wait, we already got that. Well, then, I guess the next thing on our list will have to do.”

The curtains parted and five old gals plus the same amount of gents filed out. The ladies had put tutus on over their sweat suits, and the guys wore striped vests and top hats.

Polly jumped up out of the wheelchair and yelled, “Hit it,” and the music started for “All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth.” They had made a few adjustments to the lyrics: “All I want for Christmas is to find my dentures.” They sang that if they could find their dentures they could whistle and say “sister Suzy sitting on a thistle.”

When that ended, they entertained the congregation with “Jingle Bell Rock” and “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,” and then Polly wound up the half-hour show by asking everyone to pick up the hymnal from the back of the pew in front of them and open it.

“Like our preacher told us, laughter is good for the soul. So is music and singing. We’ve had a good time here this morning, and we’re tickled to be here another year with all y’all. Here’s hoping we can all ten be here again next year and that Verdie don’t get in the way of a reindeer. Now Gladys is going to play the piano like she used to do when we really were too young to get those senior citizens’ discounts, and we’re all going to finish this morning’s service by singing together. The song is right there inside the cover, and we want to hear your voices lift the roof,” Polly said.

Verdie pushed her way to Polly’s side. “Really we want you to sing loud because we’re all hard of hearing.”

Gladys hit the keys and Polly handed the microphone to Verdie, who led the whole group in “Joy to the World.”

Callie could hear Finn’s deep Texas twang over the sweet little voices of the children and wished she was standing beside him.

Callie steered clear of the ladies’ room that morning and only caught a glimpse of Honey and Betsy shooting evil looks at each other. If only they’d both have to make a run to the bathroom, she’d gladly lock them inside.

***

“Boy, I wish church was like that every week,” Martin said on the way home.

“Not me,” Finn whispered toward Callie. “I missed you sitting beside me.”

“Sometimes I nearly fall asleep when the preacher starts talking about that old stuff, but I didn’t this morning,” Ricky said.

“I like the part when we all get to sing,” Olivia said. “Someday I’m going to be a country music star and sing in Nashville. Maybe I’ll even get asked up on the Grand Ole Opry stage when I get to be really famous.”

“It was fun,” Verdie said. “Never knew how much I missed the little things about Burnt Boot until the well run dry. I’m glad to be home, and I’m not leaving again. If y’all kick me off Salt Draw, I’ll go live with Polly and be a barmaid at night.”

“Verdie!” Callie exclaimed.

“I’d rather do that than go crazy on depression pills at the funny farm. Oh, I meant to tell y’all. My grandkids called last night. They can’t come for the holidays this year, but they asked me what I wanted.”

“What did you tell them?” Olivia asked.

“I said I wanted seven tickets to the Rainforest Café in Grapevine, Texas. I thought we might go have dinner there for New Year’s Eve and then go ice-skating in Frisco at that big old mall they got down there,” Verdie answered.

Olivia slapped a hand over her mouth. “Are you serious?”

“My Rainforest tickets will be here in my Christmas card sometime this week, but we’ll have to clear it with Callie and Finn,” Verdie said.

Finn reached across the distance between the two bucket seats in the front of the new van and laced his fingers into Callie’s. “Fine by me, but now you got to convince Callie. She might have other ideas to bring in the New Year.”

“Callie, please,” Martin whispered right behind her.

“How could I ever say no to a deal like that? How many of you have ever ice-skated?”

No hands went up, but Finn squeezed her fingers.

“You?” she asked.

“Couple of times, ma’am. We were up in Montana for a rodeo one winter, and then we went to the finals in Las Vegas. One of the casinos has a rink on the bottom floor. I’ll teach you,” he answered.

“How about you, Verdie?” Olivia asked.

“When I was a girl, we had some real hard winters around these parts and the ponds froze over. We didn’t have skates, but we put old socks over our shoes and had a big time. I’m willing to learn if you are,” Verdie answered.

The buzz sounded like bees had been turned loose in the back of the van. It was still going on when they piled out of the vehicle at the house and tore off to their bedrooms to change clothes.

Verdie picked up an apron and looped it over her head. “I’m thinking that this afternoon we’ll play board games and maybe I’ll read them a book.”

“I’m taking a long nap,” Finn said.

Callie turned around for Finn to tie her apron strings. “Me too.”

“Makeup, round two?” he whispered into her ear so softly that only she heard it.

She nodded.

“Stop whispering. It’ll make me think something is going on between you two. Want to tell me what all this moony-eyed business is about?” Verdie teased.

“It’s need-to-know,” Finn said.

“What does need-to-know mean?” Martin asked. “I’ll set the table. Adam and Ricky will be here in a minute to get the napkins.”

“Need-to-know means it’s information you only get when you need it,” Finn said.

“And you don’t need to know,” Verdie said.

“Sounds like big people talk. I’m not ready for that,” Martin said. “But I’m ready for dinner. I’m starving and I love chicken baked in the oven and potato casserole. And I couldn’t hardly sing for thinkin’ about that peach cobbler over there on the cabinet.”

“And I couldn’t hardly sing for thinking about session two,” Finn whispered in Callie’s ear.