Page 24

Vonnie Sutton’s life was in full blossom. Getting home to her parents and having a safe place to be had become the turning point in her and her son’s lives, and she had Sonny Bluejacket to thank for it.

The quiet generosity of handing her five hundred dollars to get her and Randy to a safe place was something she’d never forget. One day she hoped to be able to pay that gesture forward. But for now, she had a new job in the wings. A place to live, and grandparents begging to take care of her boy while she worked.

One day she and Randy would move out on their own again, but for now, they were sheltered in place, and it was their blessing to be there.

***

Heather Kincaid had gone home, as well. Back to Houston, and into the world in which she’d been raised. If it hadn’t been for the presence of her baby, Carlie, she could almost believe she’d never left. Her parents were supportive and loving and laying no blame, but they all knew where it was—on the shoulders of the man who’d betrayed her trust.

Some days Heather felt hopeless of ever getting over what Del had done. She had loved him so much, but on other days, she had to admit that she hadn’t known him at all. All she’d known was the face he presented to the world. The dark, secret side of him willing to steal had been a complete unknown.

She stayed in contact with Delroy, her father-in-law, because she’d promised, and because he would always be Carlie’s other grandpa. Delroy didn’t deserve to bear his son’s shame, but she knew he would, because he was an honorable man.

She sent pictures of Carlie and had taught him long distance how to make video calls, and Carlie was beginning to recognize his face and voice every time, which elated Delroy to no end.

She called him PopPop. He called her Toot.

And every time she and Carlie waved goodbye, even when he was smiling, she saw the sadness in his eyes.

She had no idea what was happening to Del. She didn’t know his high-powered lawyer had been worth the money, after all, or that the judge in Del’s case had given him probation and a hefty fine instead of jail time. But she wouldn’t have cared to know. His crime was not hers to bear.

***

Nubby Zane was counting down the days to his release and knowing what he was facing when he went home. He could ignore it. He could lie and pretend it never happened. But the truth was the target on his back. Everybody he knew, was aware that he’d left town with Walker. And they now knew where Walker was, and how he’d got there. Retha told him that their people no longer spoke Walker’s name. It was the same thing as a death. He no longer existed to them.

It was the single reason he knew he wouldn’t go home. When he got out, he wasn’t going any further than Tulsa. He knew people there who didn’t care about honor or good names. And neither did he.

***

Walker cursed every day he woke up, and went to bed every night in the hopes that would be the end. But the evil within him was stronger than his desire to quit. He’d spent his life full of envy and rage, and now, even that had been taken away.

His right to make his own decisions had been stripped.

His desire for revenge had turned into the desire to be left alone, which was impossible in a prison full of angry men.

Morris, the tattooed guy Walker shared a cell with, gave him a wide berth. All Walker had to do to freak him out was get in his face and start speaking his native language.

It never failed to scare the hell out of Morris, and he’d made it known within their free time in the yard that the old Indian cast spells, and to leave him alone if they didn’t want to be cursed. But it was also stirring up a contingent on the grounds that viewed his power as a threat.

Walker was marking time and knew it.

***

While Sonny was working on the ranch, Maggie had framed the paintings for Pearl, attached the wires for hanging, had them loaded in her car, ready to take to work. Her work schedule with Pearl was set, and she was ready for tomorrow.

She knew Pearl was up and in the shower by four thirty, so she was going to come in early and hang them before Pearl came downstairs. She needed to show Pearl what she’d been doing in secret, and explain how Sonny finding them had changed her life.

***

After making and baking a chicken pot pie for their supper, Maggie left it in the warmer and went out to the back porch with a glass of ice water—the cubes tinkling against the sides of the glass as she sat.

The day was like most other days, hot in the sun, hawks and buzzards in the air, and horses on the ground. Somewhere in all that was the man who’d changed her life, and she was waiting for the sight of his face.

Her glass was nearly empty when she thought she heard his truck, and then she stood and walked to the edge of the porch. When she saw the horses in the pasture turn and look to the south, she knew it was him. And then the truck came into view and there was that moment of relief. She knew he would stop and tend to the horses before he came to the house, so she picked up her glass and went back inside.

Like water, life had found its level again.

***

Sonny didn’t know she’d been watching for him, but he’d been thinking about her. When he finally drove to the house and got out with the bouquet of wildflowers he’d picked on the way home, all the cares of the world fell away.

He checked the bouquet one last time before opening the door and saw a persistent little bee that had been crawling inside a fold of petals.

“You’re done here,” he said, and blew gently on the flower to make sure the bee flew away, then walked inside.

Maggie met him as he crossed the threshold into the kitchen and welcomed him with a kiss. “I missed you,” she said.

He handed her the flowers. “I missed you, too.”

“Oh Sonny, thank you. I love them.”

“Wild and beautiful, like you,” he said, then went to fill Emmit’s recycle jar with water to put them in. “Something smells good.”

“I made chicken pot pie. It’s in the warmer.”

He hugged her. “Sounds wonderful. How about I go clean up now and then we can eat? I’m plenty hungry.”

“Do your thing, and I think you made the evening news. I saw an early trailer on Channel 10 News in Amarillo. Apparently, you have risen from the dead,” she said.

He shook his head and walked off.

She didn’t know if he was pleased with the revelations, or just wondering what the fallout was going to be, but time would tell. The way she looked at it, a second chance at life was a gift, and the wrappings it came in didn’t matter.

***

Maggie left the TV turned up on purpose when they sat down to eat, knowing the evening news was about to air.

Sonny glanced at her as he sat down and caught her watching him. He winked.

“No, I don’t mind being on the news. I’d rather not be thought of as dead until I am.”

She nodded. “Okay then. Just making sure.”

They dipped out a spoonful of the chicken pot pie on their plates, added servings of salad, and dug in.

“Magnolia, you are a really good cook. Thank you for this.”

“Welcome, honey, oh…they just mentioned your name,” and she upped the volume with the remote.

Sonny listened as he ate, but didn’t comment. Clearly, they’d garnered their information from someone at the restaurant because the pictures they were showing were of the ones people had taken with them there. They also mentioned his horse training business on a ranch south of Crossroads, and Magnolia Brennen as his fiancée, and ended the piece by rejoicing at his return to the public eye.

“You made the news, too,” Sonny said. “But your name is really going to blow up after Max gets your stuff ready to hang.”

“Do they always frame pictures for clients?” she asked.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. You’ll have to ask him, but I’m guessing he’s doing it because he’s anxious to hang your work. He’ll get his cut of a sale. Don’t worry about that.”

“Anything I get is icing on the cake considering how long they’ve been stacked up in the spare room.”

***

They were getting ready for bed when they heard a coyote howl, and then an answering yip.

Sonny got the rifle and went outside, listening. The yips sounded again, but further off and fading. They were moving away from the ranch, which was fine with him.

He came back inside, put up the rifle, and went back to Maggie.

The only thing she was wearing was the ring he’d put on her finger, and a smile.

“Have mercy,” he whispered.

She smiled and patted the bed next to where she was lying.

“Don’t mind if I do,” he said.

***

Maggie left for town in the dark. She’d dressed for the day in one of her favorite summer dresses and her pink Ropers, and couldn’t wait to get to the Rose and hang the paintings. When she pulled into the back parking lot and saw that the only lights on were in the upstairs apartment, that meant Pearl had yet to come down. She grabbed her purse and the two paintings, and headed for the door. Once inside, she disarmed the security system, then relocked the back door and slipped through the kitchen to the dining area. She already knew exactly where to hang them, and quickly turned on enough light in the dining room to see.

She could hear the water still running in the upstairs shower, so she grabbed the hangers and the little hammer she’d brought with her, and put the first hanger in the center of the east wall, and one on the center of the west wall. Then she hung the paintings and stepped back.

One was tilted a little off center, so she ran to readjust it, and then nodded in satisfaction. It was the first time seeing her work hanging on a wall, and she was a little anxious about how they would be viewed, but that was something she couldn’t control.

She heard the water go off and glanced at the time. It was twenty minutes to five. She took a deep breath, turned on all of the downstairs lights, and sat down at a table to wait.

Within minutes, Pearl called out. “Who’s downstairs?”

“It’s just me, Pearl!” Maggie shouted.

“Then start the coffee, please. I need a cup.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Maggie said, and put her purse away, tied on an apron before getting to work, all the while listening for the sound of Pearl’s footsteps on the stairs. And the minute she heard them, she went back into the dining room to meet her.

Pearl was looking at Maggie when she caught sight of the sunset painting over her shoulder. She gasped, then pointed.

“Where did that come from?”

“From me,” Maggie said. “It’s a gift for you.”

“Well, it’s just gorgeous, baby, and I love it. Where did you get such a thing?”

“I painted it, Pearl. It’s kinda been my hobby. I always loved to draw, but I didn’t start painting until after I moved into your house.”

Pearl looked like she was seeing a ghost. “You can do this, and you never said?”

“I didn’t think they were any good. I was just doing them for me,” Maggie said, and then pointed to the other wall. “I brought you one more.”

Pearl turned and started toward the other end of the dining room, with Maggie at her side. By the time Pearl reached the painting, she was crying.

“Sweet baby Jesus, girl. It looks like if I spoke to them, they would turn around and talk.” She took a deep breath, and then reached for Maggie’s hand. “You made me pretty.”

Maggie frowned. “Honey, you are pretty. That’s how you look to all of us.”

Pearl covered her face and started to weep, slow, quiet tears she’d long ago buried.

Maggie put her arms around her and just held her. “This was the news I was going to tell you about. Sonny found them when he was helping me pack clothes to come stay with him after Walker’s attack. He nearly lost his mind. I didn’t believe him when he said they were good. He begged me to let him contact an art dealer he knows in Santa Fe, so I did, but told him it was going to be his embarrassment to deal with when they told him no. But it was just the reverse. The art dealer had a bigger fit than Sonny. Long story short, the dealer is on his way from Santa Fe today. He’s coming to catalog them, and take them to his gallery, and have this big show of my work to introduce me to the art world. Sonny knows him personally. And this is not a joke. If all of their carrying on about my paintings is real, I might be about to get rich and famous.”

Pearl wiped her eyes and started smiling, and then she started to laugh.

“This is the best news I’ve ever had in my life, and you know what the first thing I thought of when you said rich and famous?”

Maggie smiled. “I can’t imagine.”

“Jerry Lee, one day finding out that the girl he dumped on the steps of the Yellow Rose Café has gone and turned herself into a star.”

Maggie laughed. “That would kinda chafe his butt, wouldn’t it?”

“All the way to the bone,” Pearl said, and then looked back at the painting again. “I can’t get over it. It’s almost like looking at a photograph instead of a painting. You are so blessed, so very blessed by this gift. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Two Brennen originals hanging on the walls of my little café.”

“It’s just me, making sure a piece of me is always at the Rose with you,” she said. “Now enough crying. Let’s make biscuits and get this show rolling. The others will be coming in soon, and I’ll have to leave when the dealer arrives. His name is Max Andros. As soon as all of the paintings are out of your little house, I promise to clean it up good for the next renter. Then tomorrow, Sonny and I have to make a flying trip to Silverton to get a marriage license; after that, I’m back on regular schedule with you until I’m not. Are you okay with that?”

“I’ll keep you as long as I can, then celebrate your new journey,” Pearl said, and headed to the kitchen.

***

Max Andros and his driver landed in Amarillo on the early morning flight, picked up their vans at the rental agency at the airport, then Max sent Sonny a text.

We’re at the airport in Amarillo and just about to head out. See you in an hour or so at the Yellow Rose.

Then he signaled to the other driver to follow, and headed for the exit that would get them to the access road for I-27 south. He was as anxious as a kid at Christmas to meet Magnolia Brennen, and see what she’d amassed in four years of paintings. He’d enlarged the pictures Sonny sent to the point that he could see the brush strokes on the canvas and was still in awe of her work.

He had staff already at the gallery gathering frames from storage, and he would get his framers on the job as soon as they returned. He hadn’t had an opening for a new artist in ages, and could not wait to coordinate this event.

***

Sonny was in the pasture on the John Deere with a big, round bale on the hay spike. He’d already moved the feeder ring a few yards from where it had been so the horses could get to what was left on the ground, and was about to drop the new one into the ring when his phone signaled a text. He dropped in the bale, then stopped to check his phone.

Max Andros was on the ground and headed to Crossroads, which meant he needed to get cleaned up and meet him there. He’d gotten Maggie into this, and he wasn’t going to leave her dangling, trying to figure all this out on her own. A short while later, he was on his way into town, and upon arrival, parked at the Rose and headed inside.

***

Maggie and both of the other waitresses were waiting tables when he walked in. He took off his hat and headed for one of the smaller tables, noting the paintings she’d hung on the wall. Even as he was sitting down, one of the old cowboys in the corner called out, “Hey, Sonny. Did you see what your girl did? She’s gonna make us famous.”

He grinned. “Well heck, Duroy, I thought you already were.”

His answer had them slapping their knees and agreeing and then they went off into their own little world about the old days on the circuit.

Maggie walked up behind him and kissed the back of his neck. “Hey, good-looking. Want something to drink or are you just waiting for Max?”

“I’m just waiting, darlin’, but I’ll take a Coke anyway.”

She flipped away, with her skirt swinging with the sway of her hips and those pink boots tapping out a rhythm all their own, then came back within moments with his drink.

“Pearl was over the moon. She cried. We cried. We’re good,” she said. “Gotta pickup. Talk to you later.”

So, he sat, watching how deftly she handled fussy patrons, messy children, and fielded the young male diners with their date invitations and marriage proposals. Whatever she said left them laughing. He smiled, knowing all too well how some cowboys worked, proposing to someone at least once a week, and trying to bed the ones who refused.

About a half hour later, Sonny saw two long white vans pulling into the parking lot. He laid some money on the table for his drink, gave Maggie a nod, and pointed outside.

“Be right there,” she said, and took off for the kitchen. “Pearl, they’re here. I have to go now. I’ll see you Wednesday, okay?”

“Very okay. Go meet your future, little girl. So proud of you.” Pearl said.

Davey turned around. “Where’s she going?” he asked.

“You weren’t paying attention this morning, were you?” she asked.

He grinned. “I reckon not.”

“We’ll talk about it later,” Pearl said, and slapped a burger on a bun and began building it.

Maggie traded her apron for her purse, and went back through the dining room and out the front door.

Sonny saw her coming. “There she comes now, Max.”

Max Andros turned just as the pretty dark-haired girl exited the Rose. Her hair was flying. Her skirt tail billowing in the breeze, and the smile on her face would have stopped a weaker man’s heart.

“Holy shit, Sonny. She’s stunning.”

“She’s also full of sass,” he said, then put his arm around her shoulders as she slipped up beside him.

“I probably smell like french fries, but I’m ready to go when you are.”

Max blinked, and then burst out laughing and held out his hand. “I’m Max Andros, and I have a feeling we’re going to become great friends.”

Maggie’s gaze was fixed on the stranger’s face, and she wasn’t smiling.

“Sonny gave you a glowing recommendation. But I can see through a snow job when I hear it, so kindly don’t let me down. This is a dream I don’t want to end.”

“Understood, and duly put on alert,” he said. “You two lead the way, and we’ll follow, okay?”

Maggie gave Sonny the side-eye. “You did tell him not to make fun of Pearl’s Christmas lights, didn’t you?”

Sonny turned. “Max. Don’t make fun of Pearl’s Christmas lights.”

Max looked confused. “I wouldn’t dream of it,” he said, without knowing what they were even talking about.

“Okay Magnolia, he has been warned,” Sonny said.

She nodded, then circled his truck and let herself in.

Sonny saw the bemused look on Max’s face. His driver had a similar one.

“She’s as real as it gets, so let’s do this,” he said, then got in his truck, gave Maggie’s hand a quick squeeze, then started it up and drove away.

Maggie had the house key in her hands when they got out, and all but danced up the steps and into the house, with the men right behind her.

“This house belongs to Pearl. I’ve been living here for a little over five years. It’s kept me safe, and it’s kept me warm, and when I didn’t know what to do with my free time, this is what I chose,” she said, and led them into the spare bedroom, and stepped back.

Sonny knew she was anxious, but he also saw Max’s reaction. She was already in.

“Sweet bird of youth,” Max muttered. “I feel like Indiana Jones discovering an unknown treasure. My heart is beating so hard I’m losing my breath. Let me look. Just let me look. We’ll start cataloging soon. Is there an order to this?”

“The sunset paintings are all on the west wall because suns set in the west. The paintings of the Rose and the people who stop there are over there. The random ones are inside that closet. The portrait of Sonny is on the easel, under the cloth. I’m going to go sit down in the living room now so you can’t see me cry from the joy I am feeling.”

Max removed the cloth from the painting of Sonny. He’d seen the picture of it, but it didn’t come close to the actual thing.

“Jesus, Sonny… I keep expecting you to talk.”

Sonny nodded. “I’m going to go check on Maggie. You look your fill, and then we’ll help you catalog and number.”

“Are these paintings titled?” he asked.

“Look on the back.”

Max found faint writing in pencil. “Excellent,” he muttered, and started combing through the sunsets, then the paintings from the Rose, and slowly sorted them into his own system of filing. After that, the four of them began the job. The driver was taking photos with his fancy camera, while Max recorded the number and the title to coordinate with the order in which they would be on the memory card.

Hours passed. Sonny called in a to-go order of brisket sandwiches and cold drinks from Belker’s Deli, and Maggie volunteered to pick them up. She needed space to breathe.

When she came back, they paused long enough to go to the little kitchen to eat. As they sat down, Maggie glanced around the little table.

“In all the years I lived here, this is the first time I’ve ever had guests at this table, and now it will also be the last.” Then she took a drink of her Pepsi, unaware of how much she’d revealed about herself.

“First and last. I am honored to be present,” Max said.

As soon as they finished, they went back to work, and two more hours passed, while she sat on the sofa in the quiet of the little house, listening to the three men in the other room until she finally heard Max say, “I think we’re done here.” At that point, she felt a tug of anxiety again, and then let it go. What would be, would be.

After that, and at Max’s direction, they began carrying out certain paintings in groups, and loading them accordingly, until the little room was bare, and there was nothing left but a little dust and the faint scent of acrylic paint lingering in the air.

Maggie watched them driving away, and wondered if this was anything like what a parent would feel, putting their babies on a school bus for the first time, knowing something so precious was now in the care of others.

Sonny walked up beside her, and slipped his hand under her hair and gave her neck a slight squeeze.

“Hard day, honey?”

She made herself smile. “Just tired. Now we wait.”

“Now we wait,” he said. “Let’s go home.”