“Would you buy a watermelon from me if I had a vegetable stand on the side of the road? Would you buy a book in my store?” Jennie Sue asked.
“That’s kind of an irrelevant question,” Lettie said. “But of course we would. We already buy watermelons from Rick that you probably helped harvest, and we’ll always buy used books in here because they are cheaper than buying new.”
“Exactly. Watermelons, books, companies. They are all just things and should never come between friends. Buy Baker Oil if you want to expand. Tell the whole world that you did. Let’s put an end to this crazy feud,” Jennie Sue said.
Lettie glanced around the store, evidently making sure there were no cameras or listening devices. “We could tell everyone that you gave all the money away to charity.”
Jennie Sue went to give them both a hug. “Except for what I kept back to build a house of my own. Do you know about any property in the country? Maybe five or ten acres so I could have a garden?”
Nadine nodded. “Well, I heard tell that there’s five acres north of town that Amos’s cousin by marriage would sell for a song.”
“Why is he selling it?” Jennie Sue asked.
“He split up his property and sold it off in ten-acre sections. Trouble was, he wasn’t thinkin’ real straight, and that last five acres don’t have access to a road. It would be a headache to get easements across other folks’ property. But since it abuts the Lawson farm, you could get permission from them to cross their land in your vehicle and be just fine,” Lettie explained.
“It’s grown up in mesquite and cactus. You’d have to get enough cleared for a house and sink a well,” Nadine told her. “’Course I’m not sure right now is the time to approach Rick about it.”
“Is that fence not far from the creek the one that separates that piece of property from Rick’s?” Jennie Sue was already visualizing where she’d put the house and what way it would face.
“That’s right,” Lettie answered.
“I want it. I’m going to call Justin right now.”
“And if Rick won’t let you drive through his place to get to it?” Lettie asked.
“I’ll buy a helicopter,” Jennie Sue answered.
“That’s the spirit.” Nadine nodded in agreement.
“Hey, I need to go pick out a headstone after work. I’ll treat us all to supper at the café if y’all will go with me,” Jennie Sue said as she dialed Justin’s number.
“Love to. We’ll be at Lettie’s and ready when you get there,” Nadine agreed without hesitation.
Jennie Sue used her lunch hour to go to the Baker grave sites. The big, gray granite stone in the middle was simply engraved with “Baker,” but each person buried in the enclosed area had an individual headstone—great-grandparents and grandparents and the fresh grave on the other side of the grassy area where her baby was buried. That was it. There was room for her parents but none for Jennie Sue. Should she buy a headstone for each of them? Should she bury the ashes in the urns right there?
She sat down on the grassy lawn and flattened both hands out over her baby’s grave. “My precious little darlin’. I will never understand why you didn’t live. I’m so sorry if all the stress I was under caused you to have issues. I wanted you so badly, please know that.” Tears rolled down her cheeks and dripped on the grass. “I love you so much, Emily Grace.” She needed her baby to know that she was loved and wanted—to hear her say the words. Finally, she rose to her feet and promised that she’d be back soon.
She’d intended to get a sandwich at the café and eat it as she pored over the ledger that afternoon, but she couldn’t have swallowed anything past the huge lump in her throat. She just made a fresh pot of coffee and sipped on it as she opened the ledger back up. When Iris had been there, the store had shown a nice little profit every year, but it had slowly been declining since Iris had passed away.
Jennie Sue dug around in her purse until she found her phone and called Justin. “I’m sorry to bother you again, but how much am I paying Amos for this store?”
“Fifty thousand. That’s the building’s appraisal for insurance. He’s throwing in the inventory for free,” Justin said. “It’s a steal. With a little work, you could flip it for twice that in six months.”
“I’m not interested in ever flipping it. Have we heard from Texas Red?”
“I was about to call you. They want to buy the company and the house for the CEO that they plan to send up here to take over Lawrence’s position. He’s asked to step down to a less stressful place, so Texas Red said they’d let him choose a new position before they make decisions about the rest of the staff. Looks like everyone will still have a job. It’ll take a while for the official signing, so you’ve got some time to take care of the personal property,” he said. “You still have time to change your mind. We can back right out of the deal if you want.”
“No, thank you. My mind is made up,” she said. Now if only she could figure out exactly what she wanted to do with her folks’ ashes, she’d have most of the big decisions made.
“Anything else?” Justin asked.
“Just that property I’m interested in,” she said.
“I’ve made a phone call. That’s in the works. Want to quibble with him over price? It’s a little high, considering the fact that you’ll have to have an easement to even get back to it,” he said.
“Just give him the asking price and get the deed to it, but I do want all of it, mineral rights included,” she said.
“Going to start your own oil business?” Justin asked.
“Nope. I don’t care what’s under the dirt and roots to the mesquite trees. But I don’t want anyone else to ever come in there and tell me they’re putting an oil well in my backyard, either.”
“Smart woman. I’ll get on that right now. Call me if you think of anything else,” he said.
“Thank you.” Jennie Sue touched the screen and slid the phone back into her purse. It hadn’t even reached the bottom when it rang.
“You can’t do this.” Frank’s voice cracked. “Your lawyer sent over papers for us to sign, and oh my Lord, Jennie Sue. This is too much. We can’t take your money like this.”
“You can and you will. You’ve given your whole lives to the family, and now it’s your turn to do whatever you want with the rest of yours. I love both of you so much, and this makes me happy.” Jennie Sue’s eyes welled up with tears. “Please, Frank, don’t make me all sad again. I’ve had enough of that.”
“‘Thank you’ isn’t enough,” Frank said.
“That goes both ways. I can’t ever thank y’all enough for all you’ve done for me since the day I was born. Now start plannin’ your bucket list, and then do whatever is on it,” she told him.
“I couldn’t ever tell you no.”
“Then don’t start now. Let me talk to Mabel.”
“She says that she’s crying too hard to talk to you now, but she’ll call later.”
“Tell her that I love her,” Jennie Sue said. “See you later.” Saying that brought her dad to mind and put still another lump in her throat.
“Yes, you will.”
“So have you talked to Rick?” Lettie asked when she got into the front seat of Jennie Sue’s car that evening to go to the Sweetwater Monument location.
“Not yet, but I’m going to tonight after we get this job done. We need to get things settled,” she answered.
“You are right. Rick has wallowed around in this mood long enough. My opinion is that you should get up every morning and decide if you are going to be happy or miserable. Me, I choose to be happy most of the time. Evidently someone is going to have to kick Rick in the seat of the pants to get him over this attitude,” Lettie said.
“When Lettie chooses to be miserable, I stay the hell out of her way,” Nadine said from the back seat.
“Sometimes everything is like either a dream or a nightmare.” Jennie Sue turned south toward Sweetwater. “I still have to tell the Belles that I’m not joining their club. I imagine Daddy smiling and Mama throwing things when I think about it.”
“Sounds to me like you are keeping one foot in reality,” Nadine said.
There was little traffic on the road from Bloom to Sweetwater that evening, so it didn’t take long for them to arrive at the monument place. Jennie Sue got out and went straight toward a small heart-shaped white stone sitting on the lawn for display. “I want this for my baby.”
“Then you should have it,” a lady said as she came out of the small building. “I’m Rachel Carter. You must be Jennie Sue Baker. You mentioned the possibility of three when we talked. Do you have an idea about the other two?”
Jennie Sue took her phone from her purse and showed the lady the pictures that she’d taken. “As near like these as possible.”
“I’ve got a whole book full of adornments. You can have a rose or a book or even a deer or a bull on them if you want,” she suggested.