CHAPTER THREE
Mama, are you crazy?” Emily yelled. “Don’t y’all ever watch the news? Jancy mighta been a quiet-type girl in high school, but she might be a criminal now or maybe even working for that horrible man who tried to buy the diner. Give her enough money to get her out of town or at least to a cheap Frankston motel.”
Vicky held the phone out from her ear. “And how is she supposed to get to work tomorrow morning? Her car burned up in the diner parking lot. If you were stranded in a town with no motel, I’d sure hope someone would help you out. Besides, her granny was Nettie’s friend and Jancy lived right here in Pick for two years.”
“Will you at least promise me that you will lock your bedroom door and call me first thing in the morning?” Emily moaned.
“Before dawn?”
Another groan. “Yes, or earlier if something insane happens, like she kicks in your door or points a gun at your face. Call Shane or Ryder if something goes wrong. They can be there in five minutes and hold the place down until the Frankston police arrive.”
“You’ve been watching too many cop shows,” Vicky laughed.
“Don’t make me come down there.” Emily laughed with her. “But, seriously, Mama, I am worried.”
“Don’t be. I’m pretty good at reading people, and I don’t think Jancy is going to kill us in our sleep for the chocolate cake out there in the kitchen,” Vicky said.
“You are mean to mention Nettie’s chocolate cake. I like it even better than tarts,” Emily whined. “It’s not fair that Jancy gets tarts and cake and I’m a million miles away.”
“Nettie will make another chocolate cake on Friday, and you are not a million miles away. You are only in Tyler. The semester is over in four days. You’ll be home and we’ll have the whole summer together.”
“I’m holding you to that promise. And, Mama, I sure hope Nettie hasn’t lost her touch when it comes to reading people. Good night.”
Vicky kissed her finger and touched Emily’s forehead in the picture beside her bed. “Good night. Sweet dreams.”
Nettie stuck her head in the door just as Vicky laid the phone on the nightstand. Dressed in her favorite nightgown that barely had any of the original lilac color in it at all, she shut the door behind her and twisted a red bandanna in her hands. Her short gray hair stuck up all over her head in wet spikes from her shower. All it needed was pink or purple streaks to make her look like a punk rocker.
“Nettie, what is wrong? Are you sick?”
“Did I make a mistake?” She crossed the room and sat on the edge of the bed. “I’m second-guessing myself.”
“About selling the café for a development that won’t do our town a bit of good? I don’t think so. The people who buy the fancy houses will stay to themselves. They’ll get up early to go to work and come home late. They’ll buy whatever they need in Tyler or Frankston and they’ll take their kids up there to private schools.” Vicky stopped for a breath. “And what would we do? We’d be lost without the diner.”
“Not that! About inviting Jancy to stay here. She’s lived a hard life. What if she’s addicted to drugs or what if she’s got crazy people out lookin’ for her? Maybe we’ve brought them right here to our home.” The handkerchief was knotted up into a ball. “I’ve never done something so impulsive in my life—other than getting married when I was past forty, and you know what happened there.”
“Emily is having a fit about it, too, but I don’t have any bad vibes. If it was my child on the road like Jancy, I’d sure be glad if a couple of old women gave her a job and a bedroom,” Vicky answered.
“Who are you callin’ old?” Nettie shot a dirty look her way. “And you’re right. I knew when I was standing beside that sumbitch at the courthouse that I was making a mistake, but I didn’t want to admit it to my mama. She always hated him. I should’ve listened to her.”
Vicky sat down beside her and took the bandanna from her. “Until we got home this evening, you didn’t worry, did you?”
“Not a bit. She’s a hard worker, an excellent waitress, and everyone that came in felt right at home with her. Her grandma was the salt of the earth, even if she did wind up with a worthless son-in-law.”
Vicky put an arm around Nettie’s shoulders. “So your intuition has never really been wrong. Don’t doubt yourself now. She’s not going to kill us in our sleep and steal our van.”
“Thank you. Now give me back that old hankie. I was dustin’ my dresser with it when I started doubtin’ myself.” She took the bandanna from Vicky and smoothed it out before she stood up. “I’m going to bed now. Tomorrow will be as busy as it was today. Some folks were doin’ Bible school at the church and they didn’t get to see Jancy.”