“You’ve come a long way since we’ve been at Nanny Lucy’s.” Nessa sighed.
“So have you,” April told her. “I had to make progress because I hit rock bottom. The inheritance was a godsend for me, and getting a job that I love was icing on the cake. I’ve found that I don’t need a man to complete me. I’m good on my own, and I like myself a lot better. I’m glad I didn’t have another place to go, because you’ve helped me work things out. I didn’t have to make a tough decision about whether to quit my job and stay here, but you did. That wasn’t a moment thing, Nessa. That was changing your life to fit the future that you want. As far as last night goes, you need to own your sexuality, girl. You wanted it. You got it. It didn’t work out the way you thought it might, but you have a beautiful memory.”
Nessa pulled her SUV into the Kroger lot, parked the car, and turned to face April. “What made you so smart?”
“I read a lot—mostly self-help books when I was trying to figure out why my own grandmother didn’t seem to love me,” April answered. “Thank you for even thinking that I’m not the dumb cousin, though. Hey, remember that song we heard called ‘Everything’s Gonna Be Alright’?”
Nessa fished around in her purse until she found her phone and searched for the song. “What’s this got to do with us?” she asked as she hit the play button.
April’s head bobbed with the beat of the music. “Listen to it and let your spirit float. It keeps sayin’ that everything’s gonna be all right, and I believe it. We’ll have ups and downs, and argue and maybe cry together, or other times we’ll all laugh until our sides hurt, but everything is gonna be all right.”
Nessa unfastened her seat belt so she could be free to move her shoulders with the music. “You’re right. As long as we all have each other, we’re going to be fine. I’m so glad that we all three are staying at the house.”
“Me too.” April nodded. “You and Flynn have helped me understand Nanny Lucy better, and that helps me to forgive.”
“I’m not there yet,” Nessa admitted. “I thought she was perfect, and my bubble has been blown. I was coming back to the home where I felt peace and freedom. And you were coming back to where you felt the opposite. But in the past few years, I could kind of see this side of her when I would come visit. She was glad to see me, but then I felt like she’d just as soon that I go on and leave her alone.”
“I got the same feeling,” April said with a nod of understanding, “but I thought she was probably better with you. She always gave me the impression that she loved you the most. I guess we all come across to others in different ways. I was a pain and a thorn in her side. You were the kid that looked like her and was born to her favorite child. Flynn was the one she felt sorry for because he lost his mother, and yet was disappointed in because he was like his father. We can’t change that,” April told her.
Nessa opened the door. “Well, I’m sure glad that you are here to help me.”
April pulled the keys out of the ignition and tossed them to her. “Don’t forget these.”
“See? Here to help me.” Nessa smiled, even though she wanted to throw beer cans at the front of the store, or maybe storm over to Jackson’s when she got home and use words that would fry the hair out of her father’s ears.
Crickets, tree frogs, and hoot owls combined their voices to serenade Flynn as he sat on the porch with a beer in his hand. A lonesome coyote lent his howling to the mix. Tex came around the end of the house and snuggled up next to him.
“Are you lonesome? Jackson had to run into town to get a gallon of varnish. He’ll be back soon.” Flynn rubbed the dog’s ears. “A month ago, I would have been sitting in a bar, sipping on this beer and scanning the place for a woman. Know something, though?”
Tex growled down deep in his chest and focused on the road.
“I’m happier right here than I would have been in a bar. Even though we’re not out hunting for women, you can be my wingman tonight.” Flynn continued to rub the dog’s ears.
Tex barked once as if agreeing with Flynn.
“Good boy.” Flynn chuckled and then grew serious when he heard the crunch of gravel as a vehicle came down the road toward the house. “It’s too soon for April and Nessa to be home. They’ve only been gone thirty minutes. Maybe Jackson is stopping by on his way back. You just might get a ride home, Tex.”
When the vehicle came into view, Flynn stood up. It wasn’t Nessa’s SUV or Jackson’s truck but a small compact car. “Someone has gotten lost. Nanny Lucy would give those people the big-oak-tree directions. You know what that is, Tex? It’s when she would say, turn around and go back to the road, go north so many miles, or south so many blocks, then turn left at the big oak tree. I always wondered how many big oak trees there were in Texas.” He laughed at the memory and waited for the car to stop so he could give directions.
His whole body stiffened when Tilly slid her long legs out of the car and waved. “Hey, just the man I wanted to see.” She slammed the door and started toward the porch. “I came to kidnap you, Flynn O’Riley. We’re going dancing tonight at the Lonestar Bar and Grill in Paris. Go change those shoes for some dancin’ boots.” She stopped on the bottom step and let her eyes roam all over him.
He had worked in the oil fields in the hot summertime. He’d spent sweaty hours in Jackson’s workshop. But the way Tilly let her eyes linger on the zipper of his jeans made him feel like he needed a shower more than any other time.
“Thanks for the invitation, but . . .”
She butted in and held up a palm. “There are no buts. Either we go dancing tonight, or else we spend time together right here on this porch.”
“But I have other plans. I was just going out to my truck to go to Paris when Tex showed up and I stopped to pet him.” Flynn hoped that God realized his little white lie was better than the much bigger sin that Tilly had in mind. Besides, he could go to Paris, get one of those waffle cones of soft yogurt, and call that his plans.
She squinted her overly made-up eyes at him. “That’s too bad, darlin’. I got the feeling we could be good together, both in vertical dancing and horizontal. Is it another woman you’ve got plans with?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Flynn lied again, and then his conscience pricked his very soul. “But come on up here on the porch and sit a spell. I’ve got a few minutes.”
With a big smile on her face, she swaggered over to the porch and sat down on the steps beside him. “What do you want to talk about, darlin’?”
“I’ve been the male version of you, and I woke up one morning and didn’t like myself so much. I’m taking baby steps toward a change, and I like myself better each day. I just want you to know that I’m not interested in dating right now—not just you, but anyone. A woman deserves respect and honesty, and . . .” He paused.
“What do you want in the end of this big change?” she asked.
“I want a solid relationship built on love and, like I said, respect, not just sex,” he answered. “What do you want from life?” He could tell Tilly that she would never find anything stable by chasing after men the way she was doing, but she needed to come to that conclusion on her own for it to do a bit of good.