Coming Home to Paradise (Sisters in Paradise #3)

Chapter 6

Endora glanced over at the children’s book she had been working on and sighed. She hadn’t had time in weeks to get back to the Easter story about the dog Pepper and the three cats. Luck would have to come into play if she could meet the February deadline. She left her bedroom and stopped at Rae’s door, knocked, and then peeked inside to see Rae and Bo sitting cross-legged on the bed, each holding a steaming coffee mug.

“What’s going on in here?” Endora asked and opened the door wider. “I miss the twin mornings when Luna came to my room for a visit.”

“Come on in and have a seat.” Rae patted the bed beside her. “Getting home last night was a chore with all the rain.”

“It rained?” Endora frowned.

“You didn’t hear the storm?” Bo asked.

Endora shook her head. “I was exhausted and went to bed before ten. This wedding stuff has got me stressed out.”

“No wonder,” Rae said. “You’re juggling too much with all you’re trying to get done at the church. You need to delegate some more.”

“I can’t,” Endora said with another long sigh. “But when Christmas is over…”

Bo threw up both hands. “We know! Then we can start planning a wedding as big as Luna’s was. I still think you and Parker should go to Vegas or…”

“To the courthouse,” Rae finished the sentence for her sister.

“I’m…well…worried…” Endora stammered.

“Spit it out,” Rae said.

“Worried about what?” Bo asked.

Endora frowned and tears filled her eyes. “I love Parker, and I can’t wait to be with him all the time, but I’m afraid I’ll make a horrible preacher’s wife and disappoint him and…” She stopped for a breath, and then went on. “What if I can’t handle all the responsibility, and he winds up wishing he had never married me?”

Rae wrapped her sister up in her arms, and Bo joined them for a three-way hug.

“Parker is marrying you because he loves you .” Rae patted Endora on the back.

Bo pulled a tissue from the bedside table and dried her sister’s tears. “That’s right. This is just a small community, but you’ve got a lot of help. You don’t have to do everything, or even show up at every little thing. You could lose what’s left of Endora if you stretch yourself that thin, and Parker fell in love with Endora —not with a children’s book author, or a fantastic organizer, or even a preacher’s wife.”

Endora had always taken comfort in talking to her sisters, whether it was Rae and Bo, who were only a year older than she and Luna, or the three who were above them in age. They had been the ones, along with her parents, who had helped her move on from the ordeal with her previous fiancé.

“Here’s the new rules,” Rae declared. “When you put someone in charge of a project, like me teaching the little kids’ Sunday school class, you don’t get to pop in to see how things are going. Trust whoever has that responsibility to do their job.”

“Yes!” Bo agreed. “We are not like the elementary students you used to teach who had to have their work checked. We can handle the job.”

Endora took another deep breath and let it out slowly. “Y’all are right. I just want everything to be perfect.”

“Life ain’t perfect, kiddo,” Rae told her. “I understand why you are feeling like this, though. You feel like you failed with your first engagement…”

Endora nodded with every word.

“But you didn’t,” Bo finished the sentence. “Let go of that and move on to a relationship with Parker. You don’t need that baggage hanging around your neck like an albatross.”

Endora wrapped an arm around each sister. “Thank you both, and you are right. I just need to concentrate on being a wife and mother first and foremost.”

Rae’s eyes widened. “Are you?”

“Is that why you don’t want to wait until…?” Bo gasped.

“No, and no, but I’ve tossed my birth control pills in the trash. Parker and I want to start our family as soon as we are married.” The dark cloud that had been hanging over Endora for weeks disappeared, and suddenly her heart and soul felt lighter at the very mention of having a family in the near future.

“What about between now and March?” Rae asked.

“Neither of us is a virgin, but we decided to wait until our wedding night.” Endora said and felt the heat of a blush filling her cheeks. “That sounds so crazy in today’s world, doesn’t it?”

Rae shook her head. “I probably couldn’t do that, but I think it’s sweet. Just remember one thing through all this. It’s your life and your wedding, so don’t let anyone else’s opinion worry you.”

“No wonder you don’t want to wait!” Bo said. “Holy smoke! You’ve been dating for months. Are you afraid that he’s going to do what Kevin did?”

“No,” Endora answered. “I trust Parker, but we want to…” She paused. “It’s complicated. There’s no way we could go to the parsonage and spend the night. We dang sure can’t have sex on a church pew or in my bedroom here at the Paradise. The simple answer was just to wait until we’re married.”

“There’s a barn out back,” Rae suggested.

“And Aunt Bernie’s trailer is only fifty yards from there,” Endora reminded her. “Believe me, I’ve thought of everything.”

Bo raised an eyebrow. “Hotel room.”

Endora set her mouth in a firm line. “It’s like I’m a teenager again. This county is so small that someone would see us for sure. I haven’t talked to Parker yet, but I was thinking maybe we’d have a surprise wedding like Ophelia and Tertia had.”

“When?” Rae asked.

“Right after the Christmas program. Our old preacher will be there, so we’ll have someone to do the ceremony. Parker’s family are all coming. Our whole crew will be there, and there’s a potluck afterwards in the fellowship hall so we can call that our reception. I could ‘borrow’”—she air quoted the last word—“Luna’s dress and even her bouquet. They are both stored in her old bedroom.”

Bo patted Endora on the knee. “We’ll keep your secret and even help get the dress to the church.”

“I’ll order a cake from Wichita Falls and make sure it’s in the fellowship hall. The children in my class will have their part in the program at the first, so I’ll have time to take care of that,” Rae said.

“And you won’t tell anyone else?” Endora asked.

Rae held up her little finger. “Pinkie swear that it’ll just be between us three. Us twins have to all stick together.”

“Not even Luna?” Endora begged. “She’ll want to drag out all her wedding floral arrangements and decorate the fellowship hall. Everything will get out of hand.”

“Not even,” Rae and Bo said in unison as they all three locked their little fingers together.

Endora stood up and headed for the door. “I’ll talk to Parker right after church and let y’all know if it’s a go, and thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

“You are so welcome,” Rae said. “Besides, from the way Maverick was looking at Bo last night, we may have a spring wedding anyway.”

“In your dreams,” Bo said.

Endora could hear them bantering back and forth as she made her way downstairs. The sweet smell of cinnamon floated up the stairs. That meant French toast, or else cinnamon rolls if Tertia and Noah had brought them from the café across the road. She stopped in the foyer for a moment to send up a silent prayer that she was making the right decision about an early wedding.

Tertia waved from across the big country kitchen. That morning she had swept up her ultra-curly brown hair into a messy bun on top of her head. “It’s about time someone showed up. I was afraid that you were all going to sleep until time to rush out of here to church.”

Noah’s brown eyes twinkled. “She thought just the aroma of fresh-baked cinnamon buns and coffee would have everyone storming the kitchen before now.” He had been a star football player in high school, and then had coached and been the Saint Jo High School principal until last summer, when he and Tertia got married and opened a café.

“Not even Mama or Daddy have gotten up,” Tertia said.

Mary Jane entered the kitchen and covered a yawn with her hand. “Did I hear my name? That was some storm last night. Kept me awake until almost dawn.”

Noah kissed Tertia on the forehead. “See, there’s a reason no one is up at the crack of dawn like we are. And yes, ma’am, Mama Carter, you heard your name. You got here just in time for breakfast to come out of the oven so you can have a steaming hot cinnamon roll. Have a seat, and I’ll pour coffee for you and Endora.”

That’s the kind of marriage I want , Endora thought.

Quit fretting about every little thing, and you will have it, Aunt Bernie’s voice popped into her head.

***

Rae walked into the classroom on Sunday morning with the teacher’s study guide for that day’s lesson in her hands. A memory surfaced of two sets of twins—she and Bo, and Endora and Luna—coming in that same room years ago. If any one of the four had had a halo, it would have been dusty and crooked for sure. Surely, she assured herself, she could manage Daisy and Heather Watson.

Everything was in place when six more little kids—two little girls and four boys—arrived.

“Good morning,” Rae said. “If everyone will take a seat, we’ll begin this morning by introducing ourselves. My name is Rae and I’m Endora’s sister. I am your new Sunday school teacher.”

A freckle-faced little boy raised his hand. “I’m Gary, and where is Miz Endora?”

“She’s busy with some other things,” Rae said. “I’m glad to meet you, Gary.”

“I’m Calvin,” the next little boy said.

The tallest of all the boys spoke up, “I’m Richie, and this is my brother, Donnie. He’s younger than me, so Mama says I have to watch out for him. If Heather or Daisy are mean to him, she says I have to take up for him.”

“Brothers should stick together.” Rae wondered where the twins were that morning but was secretly glad that they weren’t there.

“I’m Annie, and this is my cousin Bella. We’re in the first grade at school, but Heather and Daisy aren’t in our class.” With her curly red hair and round face, the child could have easily played the part of Annie in a Broadway play. Her cousin Bella was a blond with blue eyes and reminded Rae of Endora at that age.

“All right then, Gary, Calvin, Richie, Donnie, Annie, and Bella, let’s get started on the lesson for today,” Rae said.

“How did you remember all our names like that?” Annie asked.

“It’s just something I’m able to do,” Rae answered.

“We’re here!” Heather and Daisy said in unison as they slung the door open and slammed it behind them. “Did you bring cookies?”

“No, did you?” Rae asked.

Heather crossed her arms over her chest. “The teacher is supposed to bring cookies.”

“Why would you think that, Heather?” Rae asked.

“I’m Daisy,” she protested. “And the teacher brings cookies or candy to give us when we are good.”

“No, darlin’, you are Heather,” Rae told her. “And you should be good because it’s the right thing to do, not because you want a reward.”

Daisy narrowed her eyes and glared at Rae. “I want Miz Endora to be our teacher.”

“We don’t always get what we want,” Rae said, and then lowered her voice to a whisper. “Sit down and we will talk about baby Jesus, and then my twin sister, Bo, will come in here and you will all practice the two songs you are going to sing for the Christmas program.”

Heather plopped down in a chair. “Do what she says, Daisy. She might have a gun on her leg like cops on television, and she might shoot you. That would make Daddy sad.”

“But Aunt Rosie wouldn’t care,” Daisy said. “She likes you better than me.”

“I do not have a gun. I won’t shoot you, but if you don’t behave, I will send you out to sit with your aunt Rosie for the next month. You won’t get to be in the Christmas program, and that will really make your daddy sad. Do you want your daddy to be sad?” Rae stared right into Heather’s pretty blue eyes.

“You win,” the child said with a long sigh.

“Besides, I don’t like sitting with those old women,” Daisy said. “They smell funny.”

“All right then, who either read our lesson for today or listened when their parents read it to them?” Rae asked.

All eight raised their hands. Rae asked questions and the kids really got into the discussion, sometimes to the point of arguing and talking over each other. The next fifteen minutes went so quickly that Rae was surprised when Bo knocked on the door and peeked inside.

“Are y’all ready to do some singing?” she asked.

Several of the children nodded, but the Watson twins glared at her.

“You can’t be Miz Rae’s twin,” Heather said.

“You don’t look like her,” Daisy added.

Rae shrugged when Bo raised an eyebrow. “You can take that one, sister.”

“We are twins, but we are not identical,” Bo said. “You can talk to your parents about the difference in fraternal and maternal twins after church. For right now, we’re going to sing, so march single file out to the sanctuary.”

“Why?” Gary asked. “We been singin’ in here.”

Bo opened the door wide and stood to the side. “You need to see where you will be standing and get used to the piano music with the songs.”

“This is supposed to be fun, not like school,” Heather grumbled.

Rae winked at her sister but didn’t say a word. She had made a little progress with the ornery twins, but she would pick her battles. Thank goodness for that freckle below Heather’s ear that let her tell them apart. That was the first baby step forward.

***

After Sunday school, Bo took her place at the piano on the right side of the sanctuary. Singing at Whiskey Bent the night before and then playing for church services that morning reminded her of a country song, “One Wing in the Fire.” Lightning didn’t come down from the rafters and turn her into a pile of ash, so she figured that God wasn’t too upset with her. The congregation sang a couple of hymns and then Parker took his place behind the lectern. Bo quietly slipped down the narrow outside aisle to find a place to sit since there were no empty places in the front pew, where she usually sat with Endora.

Parker read something about when God visited Mary and told her that she would have a son, but past that Bo didn’t hear a single word. Right there in front of her, standing up to allow her to sit down on a pew was Maverick Gibson with a big smile on his face. The aisle was so narrow that she couldn’t go around him. To make a fuss would make everyone in the church stare at her even more than they already were. The cell phones would come out, thumbs would be a blur as folks ignored Parker’s sermon, and texts would fly around the sanctuary like an annoying fly.

She nodded at Maverick and slid onto the old oak pew. Maverick sat down beside her and whispered. “You sure look pretty today. That sweater matches your eyes.”

“ Thank you ,” she mouthed and kept her eyes straight forward. That did not mean she didn’t notice that his thick hair was flowing down to his shoulders and that his beard had been trimmed. Or that his dark-green-and gold-plaid shirt, starched and ironed no less, brought out the flecks in his eyes. His jeans were creased, and his boots were so shiny she could have used them to apply her makeup.

“You played those hymns beautifully,” he said out the corner of his mouth.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“Bar is closed on Sunday. Thought maybe I could talk you into going to lunch with me,” he answered.

“Thanks, but not today,” she said.

“Maybe another time,” Maverick said with a grin that almost made her change her mind.

Somehow she made it through the next thirty minutes, but if she had to die or pass a test on what the sermon was that morning, she would have had to crawl up in a casket and cross her arms over her chest. Her eyes kept sneaking peeks over at Maverick, who stared straight ahead and either heard every word of the sermon or pretended that he did.

After the benediction, she stood up and turned around to find her oldest sister, Ursula, grinning at her from the pew right behind her. “Who’s your friend?”

Maverick stuck out his hand. “I’m Maverick Gibson. Are you one of the sisters?”

“I’m the oldest, Ursula.” She shook hands with him. “This is my husband, Remy, and that little guy with him is our son, Clayton. Are you new to this area?”

“Yes,” Maverick answered. “I’m the manager of the bar where Bo had the meet and greet last night. I’ve never been to Spanish Fort. Seems like a nice little town.”

Remy waved with his free hand. “Best-kept secret in Texas. Got any plans for the afternoon?”

“Not a one since Bo turned me down for lunch,” Maverick grinned.

Bo could already see where Remy was going and tried to give him a look that told him to stop in his tracks and not do it. Aunt Bernie would have a fit if she knew Maverick was at the Paradise.

“You should come home with us to the Paradise for lunch,” Ursula said. “It’s just family, and afterwards we’ll enlist your muscles to help finish decorating for Christmas. I understand you and Bo did a bang-up job of fixing up the bar last night.”

“It’s going to look good right through the holidays,” Maverick said, “and I would love to go to dinner.” He turned to focus on Bo. “If it’s all right with you. I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

“It’s fine with me,” she said with her best fake smile. “I’m sorry that I didn’t ask you myself. I rode with Rae this morning, but maybe I could go with you and show you the way?”

“That would be great,” Maverick said.

When he turned his back, Bo used her thumb and forefinger to pretend to shoot Ursula. All she got in return was a head wiggle.