Riverbend Reunion(87)

Risa sat down beside Jessica. “They’re church pews. My suggestion is that we use the fancy lettering that’s on the mirror behind the bar. Kind of blends the church with the bar, doesn’t it?”

“Maybe we could add a couple of palm trees on either side,” Lily said. “That would really make it look like a tiki bar.”

“And on the other bench we could ask Zach to put some longhorns across the top of the lettering,” Daisy suggested.

The twins, Haley, and Mary Nell all took a seat. Lily whipped her phone out of her pocket and found some art for everyone to look at. Oscar meandered out to the spot where Zach and Wade were putting up the sign.

Haley pointed to clip art of a palm tree. “Maybe Zach could spread the actual logo out a little more so that it covered most of the back rather than making it the same size as the etching on the mirror and fix the palm tree so that the leaves kind of laid over on the end of the lettering.”

“Yes,” Lily agreed, and went on to find artwork for the horns.

“Does sitting here make y’all think about singing hymns?” Jessica shivered despite the heat.

“No, it makes me think about how far we’ve all come this summer,” Lily said.

“It doesn’t bother you that you can’t keep in touch with your cousins?” Risa asked.

“Nope,” Daisy answered. “We’ve been so busy with our new friends and our music that we’re okay with that. How about you old girls? Y’all regretting your decisions about living here and making a bar?”

“Old?” Risa raised an eyebrow.

“Older than we are,” Lily said with a grin.

“No regrets here,” Risa said.

“Or here.” Haley laid a hand on her still flat stomach. “Not a single one.”

“Not me,” Mary Nell added. “Life is good.”

“Yep, it is,” Jessica added.

Mary Nell pointed toward the sign going up out there at the edge of the parking lot. “We’ve almost done it this summer, ladies. We wanted to be ready to open in time for homecoming, and it looks like we’ll make it.”

“I’m glad we named it Danny’s Place,” Haley said. “It has a nice ring to it.”

“Have y’all seen the Pistol Annies video when they’re singing ‘Hush Hush’?” Jessica asked. “That’s what comes to my mind today. That church at the beginning of the video reminds me of this one, only this one doesn’t have a steeple, and all the secrets they tell about in whatever town they’re singing about is Riverbend all over again.”

Mary Nell pushed a strand of red hair back up into her messy bun. “You got that right, but then most small towns are rumor mills.”

“And big towns,” Haley said. “Our high school had more kids in the system than the population of Riverbend, and the rumors were just as bad as they are in a small town. What are we going to do about that steeple anyway?” She nodded toward the thing still out there beside the church.

“Oscar has a plan for the wood in it,” Jessica answered. “He says it’s going to be a surprise. Look!” She pointed. “They’re setting the new sign in place already. I thought it would take longer than this.”

“It’s really official now,” Haley said. “We are all working for Danny’s Place no matter what the people in town call this bar.”

“It’s kind of anticlimactic.” Lily sighed. “I was hoping for a clap of thunder or maybe a bolt of lightning. I wanted a sign from heaven so that I could prove to Granny Stella that she was wrong about God hating us for what we’re doing. If lightning didn’t strike the building, then it would be pretty good proof.”

Risa draped an arm around Lily’s shoulders and drew her close for a side hug. “We don’t need proof of anything, my child. Everything is working out for all of us pretty well.”

“Don’t include me in that all of us business,” Mary Nell whispered. “Kevin called again last night. He promised to go to rehab and therapy if I’ll just give him another chance. He even says he would be willing to move to Texas and be content just to play gigs in this area. I don’t know how long I’ll be fighting this war, but I keep telling him no.”

“His name should be Linus,” Risa said.

“Why’s that?” Mary Nell asked.

“You are his security blanket,” Risa answered.

“You got that right,” Mary Nell said with a sigh and a nod.

“He has found out too late that he’ll have to find another security blanket, though, hasn’t he?” Jessica asked.

“Yes,” Mary Nell answered with conviction, “but if I didn’t have y’all to talk to, and have the fear of disappointing Daddy again, he might be able to talk me into giving him that second chance. He looked so pitiful, and it’s hard for me to say no.”

“We are here,” Haley said, “anytime of the day or night.”

“You might want to kick me out of that basket of all of us having things working for us, too,” Risa said.

“No! You’re not going back to Kentucky, are you?” Jessica gasped.

“Nope, but Martha could file unfit-mother charges against me, so everything isn’t going too well for me, either.”