Riverbend Reunion(90)

Lily just giggled again, and when Daisy was set, she pushed the controls all the way up to the fastest speed. Bodacious twisted and turned and bucked. Daisy made it to six seconds and slid off the side flat and landed on her butt.

“You cheated,” she yelled at her sister. “You made him go faster for me and harder than I did for you.”

“Yep, I did,” Lily said. “You told me not to, but I didn’t promise that I would. Now we don’t either of us owe the other one money. Besides, Granny Stella and Granny Martha would have matching hissy fits if they knew we were betting. Have you got your quarters ready for the jukebox?”

“I do and I’ve got my song picked out.” Daisy got up rubbing her butt. “I’ll stick to playing music. I like folks clapping for me better than I like getting thrown off that thing.”

“Good choice,” Risa told them both, and then whispered to Jessica, “Things are still working out. I’m glad y’all bought old Bodacious. Now Lily will hopefully go to college and forget about riding bulls.”

Jessica blew out a lungful of air she hadn’t even realized she was holding in. “If either of the girls got hurt bad, I was going to burn that thing.”

“I wonder what song Daisy has picked out?” Haley asked.

“Three songs,” Daisy said. “I get three for my money.”

“Is the first one that song y’all played by the Pistol Annies about a hunter’s wife?” Wade asked as he sat down and pulled Jessica down to sit beside him. “I thought that was pretty cute, and it’s on the jukebox.”

“I’m thinking it will be ‘My Church,’” Jessica said.

“Nope,” Oscar disagreed with a shake of his head. “I bet it’s something more modern, like maybe one of Blake Shelton’s songs.”

Daisy put the quarters into the jukebox and turned around. “Are y’all ready for this?”

“Don’t tease us,” Lily scolded her. “Just push the buttons.”

“This is my part of the show, so don’t rush me,” Daisy threw back at her sister. “I’ve given this a lot of thought, and y’all might need tissues on the first one.”

She whipped out a box of tissues from the tiki hut and carried them to the edge of the stage, where she set them down between Jessica and Risa. “The second one and third ones just seemed to be fitting,” she said as she returned to the jukebox and pushed the buttons. “Here we go!”

Jessica knew that the song was “Danny Boy” within five seconds of the soft violin music lead-in to the lyrics. Tears rolled down her cheeks and dripped onto her shirt. She didn’t like for people to see her cry, but there was no controlling it, and then Wade buried his face in his hand and his shoulders shook as he wept. She wrapped him in her arms and raised his chin with her hand. Then, cheek to cheek, their salty tears blended together.

Mary Nell grabbed a fistful of tissues and wiped her eyes. “I hope Danny can hear this and is looking down on his tiki bar.”

Risa pulled the tissues over closer to her and Haley. “Dammit, Daisy, you’ve got us all weeping.”

“Me too.” Daisy knelt in front of her mother and laid her head on Risa’s lap. “I couldn’t think of a better song to christen the jukebox with than this one. I didn’t know Danny, but I feel like I do. Lily and I have never even seen a picture of him.”

“He was a kindhearted guy when we knew him. He was more outgoing at that time of his life than Wade, but he had a big heart just like Wade does.” Jessica finally got control of her emotions. “Thank you, Daisy, for giving us this beautiful gift today.”

“You are welcome,” Daisy said. “Now get ready to raise your hands to heaven and shout hallelujah! ‘My Church’ is the next one on the list.”

Oscar put away his bandanna and shouted louder than any of them when the lyrics asked them to give her a hallelujah. He got up, grabbed Mary Nell by the hand, and did some fancy swing dancing around the barroom floor. “We needed this after hearing ‘Danny Boy’ and remembering the man who gave his life for our freedom,” he said over the top of the music.

“Well, it is our church.” Jessica dried up the last of her tears and then wiped Wade’s face. “Are you all right?”

He hugged her tightly. “I am now, and I will be from now on. How about you? Regrets?”

“Not a single one. I’m home, and I’m happy,” she answered. “And you’ll think this is an insane time to get a message from the universe about where to bury my folks, but I just did. I’m going to put them between the church and the barn and put up a small stone to mark the place. They wanted me to be happy, and I am, and I do want a place to go talk to my mama every now and then.”

“When you are ready, we’ll take care of it”—Wade kissed her on the forehead—“and, honey, I don’t think it’s crazy at all. And after this song, I’m going to show the twins the pictures I have of Danny on my phone. They need to see the man that the bar is named for.”

“Last song coming up,” Daisy yelled. “It’s ‘Neon Church’ by Tim McGraw. We should have thought to put a neon sign up.”

“I love this song.” Lily began to dance all alone out on the floor. “I like the part about a jukebox choir and a bunch of honky-tonk angels.”