The Trouble with Texas Cowboys (Burnt Boot, Texas #2)(82)

“You got a point there, but it really got hot today,” Gladys said. “Tyrell Gallagher sent Leah Brennan a lovely box of long-stemmed roses. Tyrell is denying it to Naomi, who is threatening to have him drawn and quartered in the church parking lot. Mavis wouldn’t even let Leah bring them in the house. She said that they were probably poisoned with arsenic.”

“Not arsenic, that other stuff. What’s it called?” Verdie tapped her chin.

“That shit that’s worse than bubonic plaque,” Polly said.

“Anthrax?” Sawyer asked.

They all three pointed at him. “That’s it!”

Jill tied an apron around her waist. “She really thought the Gallaghers would send over anthrax?”

“Before she’d let Tyrell and Leah start dating, or any other Gallagher and Leah for that matter, Mavis would give them a bath in it,” Verdie answered.

“We all knew the day would come eventually when one of them fell for the other side, and we knew it would be a big battle. It’s just hard to picture Tyrell interested in Leah. If anyone would have a torch for her, it would be Tanner.” Polly sighed.

Jill’s eyes opened so wide she couldn’t force them to close. She knew in her gut what had happened, because she’d done the exact same thing with the doggie treats and the pork rinds.

She slapped the bar. “Sawyer?”

“What’d I do?” He chuckled.

“This is a come-to-Jesus moment, which means it’s confession time,” she said.

“Forgive me, darlin’, for I have sinned, but they tried to ruin our date, and they shouldn’t have brought us into their shitty old pig war to begin with. And I’m not really sorry for a bit of it.” He bowed his head and looked up at her with a broad grin and mischievous eyes.

“What are you two talking about?” Gladys asked.

“We’re talkin’ about roses, Chicken Chips, and pork rinds,” he said.

“And you did all of that, didn’t you?” Verdie asked.

“Guilty. But we didn’t ask to be kidnapped, have to sleep in a barn, or ride home in a wagon. We didn’t ask to be surrounded by them at the movies or for them to try to ruin our dinner. They deserve payback,” Jill said.

Gladys clucked like a hen gathering in her chicks before a storm. She pulled her phone from the pocket of her bibbed overalls and hit two buttons. “Mavis, honey, I don’t think you need to send Leah to a convent just yet. I’m not at liberty to say who sent the flowers, but they are not from Tyrell or any other Gallagher. They were sent to stir you up. No, I don’t care what you say. I won’t tell you how I found out or who they are from.”

A pause while she stared at the ceiling.

“No, they aren’t from Tanner, either. I believe you done stirred in the wrong shit pile and upset some folks. Now that’s all I’m saying. Why don’t y’all call a truce? The church party is Friday night. Be nice if the feud was over by then, wouldn’t it?”

No one had to strain to hear Mavis’s answer. “Call a truce? Are you bat-shit crazy, Gladys Cleary? The Gallaghers stole my hogs, and there will be no truces. And you tell those smart-ass informants of yours that if I find out who they are, they are dead.”

“Guess we’d better dig the foxhole a little deeper,” Sawyer said.

“Their bark is a lot worse than their bite, but I don’t reckon there’s going to be a truce before Valentine’s Day,” Verdie said. “I’m going home now unless y’all want to have a dominoes game at Polly’s house.”

“Give me a bottle of that Jack Daniel’s,” Polly told Sawyer. “And, Jill, it don’t matter how many people are in here tonight. You turn off the jukebox and the lights at eleven o’clock.”

“I’ll do it,” Jill said.

“And just for the record, that was funny as hell.” Verdie chuckled. “That’ll teach them to keep their feudin’ at home and not involve other folks in their battles.”

“Shit, Verdie! Whole town has been connected one way or the other since the damn thing started. Let’s go play dominoes and drink Jack Daniel’s. It’ll get even funnier in an hour or two,” Polly said.

They hadn’t been gone more than a few seconds when Jill’s phone rang. She whipped it out of her hip pocket and said, “Hello, Callie.”

“I just heard what happened yesterday. Need some help tonight at the bar? I’ll leave the kids with Finn and bring my six-guns,” she said.

“I might take you up on that if it gets too rowdy. Keep your phone on and your boots ready. Don’t have to tell you to keep your guns loaded,” Jill said.

“You do not. If they want to bitch and bite, they can do it, but they’d best leave the O’Donnells alone.”

“I’m a Cleary,” Jill said.

“Hopefully not for long. I’ll be ready if you need me.”

The call ended, and Jill held it out, staring at it until Sawyer’s arms wrapped around her from behind and he kissed her on the neck. “Bad news?”

“I don’t think so. I reckon it could have even been good news. We’ll just have to see what Callie meant. She did offer to bring her six-guns to the fight if things got out of hand here in the bar tonight.” Jill eased around and rolled up on her toes for a real kiss.