Flirting with Texas (Deep in the Heart of Texas) (31 page)

“Good Lord.” Rachel placed the sign in the umbrella holder of the coatrack. “Wilma Tate caught me just outside of Doc Mathers’s, and I thought I was never gonna get away. Seems she’s all hell bent on gettin’ rid of the henhouse—no doubt because Elmer will be out there first chance he gets. I had to take a sign from her just to get her to shut up.”

“She corralled me into helpin’ her out, too,” Twyla said. “She promised to get a perm and haircut if I’d picket for an hour. Although I’m not about to stand out there in the blazin’ sun. The only reason I’m goin’ is to take a peek inside.”

“Well, I have to admit that I’m a little curious myself.” Rachel came around the counter and pulled her apron off the hook. “I shore appreciate you takin’ over for me, Jenna Jay, so I could get my bunions looked at.”

“Any time, Rachel.” She took off her apron.

“So when do you leave for New York?”

“Tomorrow,” she said. Jenna didn’t know why she suddenly felt so sad. It should be a relief to get away from Bramble and all its memories.

“Well, we’ll sure miss you.” Rachel pulled her into her arms and gave her a big hug. A hug that left Jenna feeling so emotional that she rushed through her good-byes to the other women and hurried out of Josephine’s Diner before she started sobbing like a baby.

Once outside, Jenna headed for her daddy’s truck that she’d parked in front of Sutter’s Pharmacy. She started to cross the street when she glanced up and saw Marcy unlocking the doors of the library. At least, the woman’s face and hair looked like Marcy. The conservative pants and blouse looked more like Ms. Murphy.

For some reason that she couldn’t explain, Jenna changed directions.

When she got inside the library, Marcy was already standing behind the desk, checking books back in. A slight smile played around her lips as she hummed a song that sounded suspiciously like “Jesus Loves Me.”

“Hi, Marcy.”

Marcy’s gaze snapped up, and she slapped a hand to her chest. “Shit!” She glanced up at the ceiling before correcting her language. “I mean, shoot, you scared the crap out of me, Jenna Jay.”

“Sorry,” Jenna said. “I just wanted to stop by and ask how Minnie was doing.”

“Minnie or Beau?” She went back to checking in the books. “Don’t look so surprised. Even an imbecile can figure out that you two had some kind of falling out.
Especially when the grinning cowboy has turned into The Grinch Who Makes Everyone’s Life a Living Hell. If he points out one more speck of dust, I’m going to beat him to death with my Swiffer.”

“I’m sure his personality change has nothing to do with me,” Jenna said, even though she desperately wanted it to be true. “He’s probably just going a little stir crazy being cooped up in the henhouse when he’s used to traveling all over the world.”

Marcy snorted. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s it. Anyway, between him and that convict that they hired to drive the van, I’ll be glad to leave the henhouse in another couple weeks.”

“Olive Washburn is working there?”

Marcy picked up another book. “I wouldn’t exactly call it working. All she does is follow me around like some stray mutt. Although her dry sense of humor has kinda grown on me.”

Just the thought of Marcy and Olive being together had Jenna smiling for the first time in days. “So are you moving in with Pastor Robbins?”

Marcy’s sigh could only be described as pure frustration. “I wish. No, I’m moving into the apartment over the bank so I can be closer to my new job.” She held up a book. “Meet Bramble’s new librarian. Mayor Sutter hired me yesterday. Although I think it had more to do with disgruntled volunteers than my qualifications.”

“That’s not true. Everyone has been talking about what a great job you’ve been doing.”

Instead of being happy with Jenna’s words, Marcy’s eyes turned sad. “I only wish it would be so easy for them to accept me as Sean’s wife.”

Jenna reached across the counter and squeezed her hand. “They will. Once you’re married, they’ll forget all about your past. You’ll just be Mrs. Robbins, the pastor’s wife that grew up right here in Bramble.”

Marcy studied her for a moment before she spoke. “You really are a good person, Jenna Jay. And I’m sorry I’ve treated you so badly. I guess I was still mad at you.”

“Mad at me? For what?”

Setting the book she’d just checked in to the side, Marcy rested her hands on the counter. “Do you remember the time that Theo Brewster called me a slut?”

“It was right before the Thanksgiving parade.”

Marcy nodded. “There were lots of folks around, but you were the one who walked your horse right out of the parade line and cornered Theo next to the Fresh Mart. Sitting there astride the horse like some warrior princess, you told him to shut up. That there was nothing wrong with women exploring their sexuality.” She laughed. It wasn’t the cold, cynical laugh that Jenna remembered. This laugh was warm and genuine.

“And if I remember correctly,” Jenna said, “you told me to mind my own damned business.”

Marcy’s smile faded. “Because I was embarrassed, Jenna Jay. Yeah, Theo called me a slut, but no one would’ve paid him a speck of attention if you hadn’t jumped in. Theo was always calling people names.”

Jenna stared at Marcy in disbelief. “But I was just trying to help.”

“Look, I get it now,” Marcy said. “You were just trying to help when you beat up the kid who called Dudley Owens a pimple puss. Just trying to help when you organized the garage sale to send Jeffrey Miller to fat camp.
But sometimes the underdogs of the world don’t want you standing up for them. Sometimes they just want to get through what life dealt them without a bunch of attention. And without their shortcomings being pointed out by a girl who has everything.”

“But I didn’t have everything. I was an outcast, too.”

Marcy shot her a skeptical look. “Because you weren’t homecoming queen or a prizewinning hog caller? No, you’re right. Instead, you were a tomboy and an amazing athlete who every person in town loves for her soft heart.”

This time Marcy reached across and squeezed Jenna’s hand. “Don’t get me wrong. Occasionally, everyone needs a hero, Jenna. Especially the underdogs. But it works so much better if you treat them as friends instead of as victims.”

Marcy’s words stayed with Jenna long after she left the library. As she walked down the street, she thought back to all the times she had helped someone. Had she cared about their feelings? Or had she just been more concerned with being the hero? Maybe her need to help people had nothing to do with them and everything to do with hiding her own insecurities and weaknesses.

She was so lost in thought that she stepped out in the street without looking and almost got run over by Wilma Tate’s Taurus filled with picket signs. Wilma blared the horn as Jenna raced to get out of her way. She had just gotten safely to the other side when her mama came tearing out of The Feed and Seed.

“Crazy woman!” Her mother shook her fist at Wilma’s departing car. “Next time you almost run over my baby girl, you’ll find yourself hog tied and cryin’ ‘Uncle!’ ” She looked back at Jenna. “Are you okay, Jennie Bean?”

Jenna didn’t feel okay. She felt a little disoriented and lost. Which is why she allowed her mother to walk her back inside The Feed and Seed and sit her down in the chair behind the counter.

“Just take a few deep, even breaths,” her mother said as she rubbed her back in soothing circles. “A scare like that can take the life right out of you.”

Jenna wasn’t scared. Just confused.

“Why am I so different, Mama?” The words spilled out with every stroke of her mother’s hand. “Why am I dumb and boyish and look nothing like the rest of the people in our family?”

Her mother’s hand stilled, and she drew back with a shocked look as if Wilma’s car was headed straight for The Feed and Seed’s front window. “Why, Jenna Jay Scroggs, what in the world are you talkin’ about?”

Jenna waved a hand at her body. “Look at me. I’m nothing like a Scroggs. I’m tall and skinny as a stick with blond hair and enough testosterone to fuel the entire Dallas Cowboys football team.”

Her mother stared at her for only a moment more before she broke out in laughter. “Oh, Jennie Bean, you always have made me laugh.”

Jenna crossed her arms and glared at her mother. “It’s no laughing matter. It’s not fun to feel like the odd man out. You can be truthful with me, Mama. Am I the product of a sordid affair?”

This caused her mother to sober, and she pointed a finger at Jenna. “You watch your mouth, young lady. I have never cheated on your daddy in my life. Just who do you think you got your athletic ability from? And your name resides on the Bramble High gymnasium wall right
alongside your daddy’s to prove it.” She pulled Jenna up out of the chair with surprising strength and pushed her all the way to the bathroom in the back. “As for you not looking like anyone in the family…” She turned Jenna around to face the mirror over the rust-stained sink. Standing on tiptoe, she pressed her cheek against Jenna’s.

Jenna stared into the mirror at the reflection of her and her mama. At first, all she noticed was the difference in hair and eye color, but after only a few seconds, she started to study the features—the high foreheads, the arch of the eyebrows, the angle and width of the noses, and the curve of the top lips.

When she reached the stubborn tilt of the identical chins, Jenna realized that Olive had been right.

Jenna Jay
was
a carbon copy of her mama, right down to the freckles on her nose.

Her mama lowered down to her boot heels, but continued to look at Jenna in the mirror. “Do these insecurities have anything to do with breakin’ a certain good-lookin’ cowboy’s heart?” When Jenna’s eyes widened with surprise, her mama smiled. “Me and your daddy might’ve done a little eavesdropping after Tessa went to bed.”

Jenna turned away from the mirror. “I didn’t break Beau’s heart. We barely even know each other.” She started to walk out of the bathroom, but her mother stopped her.

“Now I know you thought I didn’t like Davy because he was different. And there is probably a little truth to that. But the real reason I didn’t want you with Davy is because I never thought you were a good match.”

“And how do you know what’s a good match for me, Mama?”

Her mother smiled. “Because not only do you look like me, Jennie Bean, you have the same fiery personality. And no milk-toast man who lets us tell him when to go to the bathroom is going to work. We need manly men. Men who admire our strengths and understand our weaknesses. Men who refuse to play second fiddle and demand the truth. Even if the truth is the worst thing you’ll ever face.”

Tears welled up in Jenna’s eyes, and she didn’t even try to blink them back. “But I don’t know if I can do it, Mama. I don’t know if I’m strong enough to watch him die.”

“Aww, honey,” her mama hugged her close, “I wish I could give you a guarantee. But there are no guarantees in life. We all just have to accept that and do the best we can. But I’ll tell you one thing. If I was betting on anyone to come out victorious, it would be you, Jennie Bean. You do love to win.”

Suddenly, Beau’s words came back to her.
You need a cause you can win.

There in her mama’s arms, everything became crystal clear. Jenna hadn’t been mad at Beau for not telling her about his cancer. She was mad because he had offered her something that would take more work than picketing a market for a few hours or putting a couple videos on YouTube. This challenge would be the challenge of a lifetime. And she might not come out the hero. She might just end up a woman with crushed dreams and a broken heart.

Which left only one question to answer.

Was Beau worth it?

Once Jenna had made up her mind, she didn’t waste any time saying good-bye to her mama and heading out to
the henhouse. She expected to find Beau out back in the hammock, but he wasn’t there. Nor was he in any of the rooms on the main level. And what was weirder—neither was anyone else. Not Baby, Sunshine, Starlet, or Minnie. Jenna really started to get worried when she ran upstairs and all the rooms were vacant. There was no luggage or any signs of guests.

She took the stairs from Miss Hattie’s closet down to The Jungle Room two at a time. But she slowed on the last flight of stairs when she heard Beau’s voice.

“… I think you must have a hearin’ problem. I told you Jenna Jay Scroggs means nothing to me.”

The words hurt, but Jenna didn’t believe them for a second. Beau cared about her. He might not love her, but he would. And right now, she had enough love for both of them. Taking a deep breath, she burst through the door of The Jungle Room, almost knocking over the plastic plant that hid the doorway.

“I love you, Beauregard Cates—”

The simultaneous clicks of guns being cocked had Jenna sliding to a stop in the middle of the dance floor. A dance floor that now held four bound and gagged hens.

And one very annoyed silver-haired cowboy.

“D
AMN IT, WOMAN
.” Beau looked up at Jenna from where he knelt on the floor, his face heartbreakingly battered and his eyes frustrated. “Will you ever learn when to keep your mouth shut?”

Jenna wanted to fall to her knees and kiss every bruise on Beau’s face. Instead, her gaze narrowed and sought out the man responsible for Beau’s condition and the gagged and bound hens. He stood at the bar, a drink in one hand and a cigar in the other. His thin lips curled up in a smile as he waved the cigar at her.

“Welcome, chica. We’ve been waiting for you.”

“Hello, Alejandro.” She tried to keep the anger from her voice. “Did you run out of people to bully in New York City?”

Alejandro set down his glass and moved closer, the heels of his expensive dress shoes tapping against the floor. “I never bully. I just persuade.”

Jenna glanced around at his gun-toting henchmen who seemed to be everywhere. “With muscle and guns.”

Alejandro shrugged. “If I need to.” He nodded at
Beau. “This one is more stubborn than most. I was almost starting to believe him when he said he didn’t know where you were.”

“So what do you want, Alejandro?” she asked. “Don’t tell me you came all the way out here because I was trying to convince Miguel to stop being your ‘yes boy.’ ” Her eyes narrowed. “How did you find me?”