Riverbend Reunion(43)

“Is Oscar coming with us for sure?” Jessica asked.

Wade turned around and raised an eyebrow.

“Later,” Jessica mouthed.

“Yes,” Haley answered, “so between us all, we should fill up a complete pew.”

“I’ll be there,” Jessica said, “but right now I need to have my first cup of coffee so my eyes will open. See you there.”

“We’ll be waiting for you,” Haley said and ended the call.

Wade poured a second mug of coffee and took it to Jessica. “Good morning. I’m surprised to see you up this early.”

“Good morning to you, and thanks for this. I’d like to sleep late, but”—she shrugged—“old habits get in the way. You’ve been out two years. Does it ever get better?”

He went back to the stove and crumbled sausage into a skillet. While that cooked, he popped open the can of biscuits, arranged them in a pan, and slid them in the oven. “You’ll have to ask someone that’s been out longer than me for that answer. No matter when I go to bed, I still wake up before six every morning. You want eggs with sausage gravy and biscuits? If so, you’ll have to fry them.”

“Yes, I do, but I like scrambled better.” Jessica stood up and carried her coffee across the room. She pulled a carton of eggs from the fridge, cracked two into a bowl, then glanced over at Wade. “How many do you want? And about that phone call. We’re all going to church this morning to support Risa, who has decided not to let Stella control her. Do you want to go with us?”

“Yes, I’ll go to church to be there for Risa. I will stand with the rest of the team for Risa and the girls, but I’m pretty sure it won’t be for my own soul.” He stirred flour into the sizzling sausage. “Three or four eggs for me, Jessica. I had a great time last night, and I think the twins did, too. We should plan something every couple of weeks for them. They’re hard workers and deserve some fun.”

“We’re all hard workers.” Jessica added four more eggs to the bowl, whipped them up, and poured them into a skillet. “But the twins have been pulling more than their share. We should put them on payroll.”

“I agree,” he said. “If they aren’t helping Risa in the kitchen, they’re working out in the bar toting and fetching for us. Let’s put them on at minimum wage and that will give them money for whatever they need in school or for their cheerleader stuff.”

“I’ll tell Mary Nell to back pay them for thirty hours a week. She’s working on getting insurance for everyone this next week. According to her if someone works forty hours a week, we have to offer them insurance.” Jessica would have rather been talking about anything other than boring work details. Like maybe whether Wade was beginning to accept Danny’s death a little better. He had to get past blaming himself for his brother going into the military before he could move on with his life.

“I’m glad we’ve got her in the office.” Wade shook another small palmful of flour into the sausage and kept stirring. “I wouldn’t have any idea where to start with all that stuff.”

“It’s a miracle,” Jessica said.

“How do you figure that?”

“Well, Mary Nell breaks up with her boyfriend and comes home to get her emotions all straightened out, and she’s a bookkeeper. Risa gets tossed out of Kentucky like garbage, and she’s a fine cook. Haley is home for the summer, and she’s a counselor who is listening to all our problems. She will be wonderful behind the bar when some soldier or rancher comes in whining about his woman not treating him right. And the two of us have finished our last enlistment and need a place to call home. It has to be a miracle that threw us all together at just the right time,” Jessica answered.

Wade was silent so long that she wondered if maybe he disagreed with her and didn’t want to say anything. “I don’t believe in miracles or fate,” he finally said, “but you’re right. It couldn’t be anything else. Maybe it’s all of our rewards for the tough times we’ve been through. But going back to doing something for the twins this summer, Oscar told me that there’s a craft fair at Burnet next Saturday if it doesn’t rain. If it does, they’ll have to reschedule since it’s outside. We could knock off work at noon and go, but I thought maybe we should talk about the idea as partners before we say anything to the rest of the team.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Jessica agreed as she whipped the eggs with a fork. “I didn’t know that you could cook.”

“Enough to keep from starving”—he flashed a brilliant smile her way—“but not enough to put on a chef’s hat. The way you were talking on the phone, I thought maybe you were meeting someone for breakfast.”

“Nope.” Jessica shook her head. “Just talking about church.”

“I’m still mad at God for taking Danny away from me,” Wade admitted, “so if He wants to say anything to me this morning, He better yell. I’m afraid I kind of closed my ears to Him when Danny died. I’ll go for Risa, but even if I didn’t want to attend services, you would be welcome to use my truck.”

“Thanks.” She could hear a little catch in her own voice when he reached for the milk and his arm brushed against hers. “I need to find a small vehicle or truck of my own pretty soon so I don’t have to depend on someone else to take me places.”