Riverbend Reunion(69)

“Meet Lily and Daisy. And Jessica and Haley.” Mary Nell made introductions all around.

“Pleased to meet all y’all,” Eli said. “Is it true that you’re turnin’ this place into a bar?”

“Yes, it is,” Mary Nell answered as she pushed up out of the chair.

“Lily, would you and Daisy like to go fishin’ with us?” Landon asked. “We’ll have you back before midnight.”

“Better not,” Lily answered. “Our mama, Risa, isn’t here to ask, but maybe next time.”

“Sure thing.” Landon nodded toward the other folks. “Thanks for letting us use the driveway. You girls want to walk us around to my truck? We could maybe hang out a few minutes. We’re always glad to have new girls in our school.”

“Sure,” Daisy said.

“Are you really twins?” Eli asked. “You don’t look a thing alike.”

“We’re really twins, and we hear that a lot.” Lily tugged the legs of her denim shorts down and fell in beside Landon.

Mary Nell remembered those boys’ fathers and hoped that they weren’t anything like them. When she’d been in high school, the town had treated the football boys like they were royalty, but then that was understandable. Riverbend was a football town and had won the state championship for nine-man football so often they had to put up a new sign south of town to accommodate all the years.

“Let’s get this all cleaned up,” Haley said. “Like Risa, I’m beginning to feel a nice warm bath calling my name.”

“I’m ready to go home when y’all get done, Mary Nell,” Oscar said with a yawn. “It’s been fun, and it’s been real, but this old daddy is tired.”

“Go on home,” Haley said. “I’ll drop Mary Nell off on my way home.”

“Thanks.” Oscar covered another yawn with his hand. “I’ll help get the table and chairs inside first so you don’t have to make as many trips, and then I’m going home.” He folded and picked up four of the folding chairs, and Wade got the rest of them.

Mary Nell was putting things away in the fridge when Oscar and Wade finished their job. Oscar waved and told them that it had been a wonderful evening and left. Wade did the same thing.

“I need a cold beer. Anyone else?” Jessica asked.

“Not me,” Haley said. “I’m driving and pregnant.”

“I’ll take one since I’m not driving,” Mary Nell answered and slumped down into a chair. “This has been so much fun . . . and peaceful.”

“That’s a strange word for the Fourth of July.” Jessica brought out two beers and handed one to Mary Nell.

“Thanks,” she said as she rolled the cold bottle around on her forehead before she twisted the top off. “Maybe what I should have said was there was a lot less tension. I didn’t realize how much stress I was living with until I got away from it. Reminds me of when Mama made Daddy get hearing aids. He said he didn’t know what he had been missing.”

“I didn’t know Oscar had hearing aids,” Jessica said.

“Me either.” Haley brought out a pitcher of sweet tea and poured herself a glass.

“I’m sorry,” Mary Nell said. “I should have done that for you. Come on over here and sit down with us. And yes, Daddy has had hearing aids for more than twenty years. He can’t hear jack squat without them.”

“I’m pregnant, but I’m still able to do for myself,” Haley said. “I wish I could have a cold beer with y’all, but this will have to do.”

Lily and Daisy came in like a whirlwind, both looking like they could chew up church pews and spit out Tinkertoys.

“Those boys already gone?” Jessica asked.

“Yes, and they can both go straight to hell,” Lily growled and stomped over to the refrigerator. She pulled out two bottles of root beer and handed one to Daisy.

“What did they do?” Jessica asked.

“They told us that if we wanted to be popular . . .” Daisy blushed as she opened her soda pop and took a long drink.

“That what?” Haley asked.

“That we had to be willing to . . .” Lily’s face turned even redder than her sister’s.

“Put out?” Mary Nell finished for her.

Both girls nodded.

“Did they mean tonight?” Haley asked.

“Landon tried to kiss me, but I pushed him away. He called me a prude, and that’s when he said what he did,” Daisy answered.

“Eli said we’d never be popular if we were ‘that kind’”—she air quoted the last two words—“of girls. Then they got in their truck and left.”

Lily hiked a hip on the side of the table. “They said that . . . ,” she stammered. “I feel my face turning red just thinking about it.”

Daisy finished the sentence. “That since we were bar bunnies, we should expect guys to treat us like what we were.”

“What did you do?” Haley asked.

“I slapped Landon so hard that he almost fell,” Lily said.

“That’s when they got in their truck and drove away,” Daisy said. “I don’t think they were really here to go fishing anyway.”