Riverbend Reunion(7)

“You got that right,” Lily agreed with a nod.

“If all four of us plus the twins decide to stay here, that would make it eight hundred ninety-nine,” Risa said.

“They haven’t counted me yet”—Wade turned up his bottle and took a long drink—“so that would make it an even nine hundred. I was in a bar over in Mingus, Texas, a few years ago, and that town only has a little over two hundred people in it. It’s got two bars and all the counties around it are dry, so they flat out do a business on the weekends. You’re sitting on a virtual gold mine, Jessica. All the surrounding counties except San Saba, and that barely even touches Burnet County, are dry. Folks would come from all around us to have a little fun. Throw in a grill and you could even serve up burgers and fries.”

“I can already hear Granny Stella’s screams.” Daisy giggled.

“Right along with everyone else’s here in the county,” Haley said.

Jessica was glad to see that Haley’s tears had finally dried up, and she was sipping on her beer. If nothing else, the old church gave them something to talk about that evening.

“Not my daddy,” Mary Nell disagreed. “He makes moonshine in the barn out back of the house. He’s even got a license to make and sell it. He would love to see a bar go in this close to town.”

Lily looked up at the sky. “Granny Martha is probably talking to God right now, and the two of them are planning to send lightning streaks down to strike all y’all dead for even thinking about turning a house of God into a bar.”

Jessica took a long look at the building. Wade was probably teasing, but it was a pretty good idea. She could visualize Uncle Elijah giving her two thumbs up from his grave. The old guy had tried to reform and become a preacher back when she was in middle school, but his church—the very one she was staring at—had failed to bring in enough of a congregation to even pay the electric bills. He had shut the doors a year after he’d opened them, and then he fell off the wagon again. His liver finally had enough of his drinking and had failed him just last year.

“A bar sounds like a crazy idea,” Jessica said and wondered if her Uncle Elijah had bought his moonshine from Oscar. “What about a bed-and-breakfast place?”

“Who’d come to Riverbend?” Haley asked. “In case you’ve forgotten, this isn’t a resort area. And did you learn to cook while you were in the service? A bed-and-breakfast would require serving up something fancy every morning at the very least.”

“I can make toast and pour cold cereal in a fancy bowl,” Jessica answered.

“I can cook,” Risa said. “Hire me to run the kitchen and my girls to do the cleaning.”

“Hey, we’re going to be cheerleaders, remember?” Daisy reminded her. “We won’t have time to work and do all our school stuff, too. This is our senior year.”

“Maybe y’all could buy a boat and become fishing guides,” Mary Nell suggested.

Wade chuckled and started a few lines of “Buy Me a Boat.”

Lily joined right in with him on the Chris Janson song, and then Daisy harmonized with her when she reached the chorus.

“Y’all are pretty good,” Jessica said. “You should try out for the choir at the Riverbend school this fall.”

“Never thought of that,” Daisy said.

“I’d rather sing in your new bar,” Lily said with a grin.

Jessica eyed the building with a new perspective. Chase away the spiders, sweep up all that dust, and take out the pews. That would create a nice big room for a bar. The Sunday school rooms could be used for an office, and if Risa’s mama threw her out, she and the twins could live right there.

“You could turn the sanctuary into a beer, bait, and bologna store for fishermen and use the Sunday school rooms for the bed-and-breakfast,” Haley suggested.

“My mother would go into a rigor if I worked in a place that sold beer.” Risa shook a finger at her girls. “And don’t either of you tell her that I drank one here tonight, either.”

“How did we get two grannies that are so religious?” Daisy groaned. “I thought when we left Granny Martha’s place in Kentucky that this one might be better, but Granny Stella is just as bad—or maybe the word is holy . . .”

“Self-righteous is what you are looking for,” Lily told her sister.

“Whatever. She and Granny Martha could be sisters,” Daisy said.

“And they’re both so bossy,” Lily added.

“Fate,” Risa answered. “That’s what brought us to Riverbend at this time in our lives. For some reason we all need to be here, and it’s got something to do with that church. I can feel it.”

“For real?” Jessica raised an eyebrow. “The building seemed to be trying to send me a message, too. Maybe it’s saying that whatever I do with it, we should all be involved together.”

“Then I don’t like fate.” Daisy swatted a mosquito from her arm. “But I do like the idea of having a job.”

“I’ll get some candles to burn next time y’all come out here. I’d forgotten that the skeeters in this part of the world were as big as buzzards.” Jessica killed one that had alighted on her neck. “Or better yet, I’ll get the electricity turned on in the church tomorrow, and we can all visit in there. I went into the sanctuary when I first got here, and everything is covered with dust and daddy longleg spiders. I’ve got some bug spray in the RV, so I’ll take care of those little critters first thing tomorrow morning.”