Lone Star Bride

“Even her. She knows I smother when there’s too much family around. Besides, I’ve been on the road since I was twenty-six. That’s eight years.” Tony let Ruby put the bread into the toaster and push down the spring lever, then motioned for her to let him take over.

Mariah leaned against the counter and sipped on her beverage. “Where do you travel?”

“All over. I prefer the northwestern states, but I’ve done spring break in Florida, July Fourth in Boston, the Jazz Festival in Memphis, and Mardi Gras in New Orleans.”

“Mariah was born and raised in New Orleans,” Ruby said.

Tony smiled. “I love the French Quarter. Always do my best work there. I don’t know if it’s the atmosphere, the music or what.”

For just a moment Mariah’s features softened. Tony guessed his words had brought back fond memories. Obviously she missed Louisiana.

“What made you move to Texas?” he asked, as his now-toasted bread popped into view.

“I like bluebonnets.” Mariah said, referring to the state flower. That answer, of course, told Tony nothing. Finishing her drink, Mariah set the glass in the sink. “I have to run, ladies. I’ll see you both tonight, okay?” Turning she headed for the door.

Tony tensed. “Mariah, wait!”

She paused, a look of irritation on her face.

“Can I bum a ride to the garage?”

Mariah’s gaze shifted to the unbuttered toast in his hand. “I’m ready to go now.”

“Oh, surely you’ll give him time to butter his bread,” said Ruby.

Mariah sighed. “I’ll be outside. Please hurry. I have a nine o’clock perm.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Tony answered.

The moment Mariah vanished from view, Opal grabbed a paper towel and then motioned for Tony to put his toast on it. “I’ll do the buttering. You get on some shoes.”

Since he’d forgotten his bare feet, Tony groaned, nodded and dashed up the stairs. Barely three minutes later he bounded back down them, sneakers now on his feet, grabbed the buttered toast from Opal and, with a jaunty wave, ran out the front door.

Mariah, her forehead already beaded in sweat, flashed him a look of impatience, but said nothing as they got into her sensible white sedan. The drive to the garage took maybe five or six minutes. By then Tony had consumed his toast. Muttering thanks, he got out of the car and shut the door. She drove away at once without a backward glance.

For several seconds Tony stared down the street after the car. Never had he met a woman who tried so hard to dislike him. And never had he met a woman who so intrigued him. He wanted to find out what made her tick. He wanted to find out what turned her on.

Too bad she wanted him to drop dead.

“Must be losing my touch,” Tony murmured with a shake of his head. He turned and walked slowly to the garage, which appeared to be closed. Spying a note taped to the door, he stepped closer to read it and learned that the shop would be closed today.

Suddenly faced with a free day, Tony set off toward town on foot, searching for a pay phone. He found one at a gas station two blocks away and called home. His mother answered on the second ring.

“Hi, Mom,” he said when she answered. “It’s your prodigal son.”

“Well, hello, prodigal son,” Margaret Mason answered, clearly pleased to hear his voice. “Where are you?”

“A little town called Pleasant Rest.”

“And are you having one?”

Tony laughed dutifully at her little joke. “Actually I’m here because my truck broke down yesterday. Hopefully the mechanic will get it repaired pretty soon and I’ll be home in a day or two, as planned.”

“You’d better. Aunt Irene is already making plans for a big Christmas dinner.”

Tony’s mouth watered at the thought. “I’ll be there if I have to take the bus.”

“I consider that a promise.”

“It is. Will you tell everyone hi?”

“Of course,” she answered.

“And if you get mail for me from any junior colleges, will you put it somewhere safe?” Safe being anyplace his nieces and nephews couldn’t get hold of it.

“Actually you got something from Amarillo Junior College last week. I wanted to steam it open but your dad wouldn’t let me, so I put it on top of the refrigerator.”

Tony chuckled. “It’s a job application. I’m thinking about teaching art again.”

“Why, Tony, that’s wonderful.” She sounded honestly pleased—no surprise. An art teacher herself, Margaret Mason had never really understood how he could give up his career, though she had graciously accepted his decision.

“Yeah, well, it won’t be at a high school and probably not in Amarillo, so don’t get your hopes up.”

“I won’t,” she told him, no doubt a lie. In spite of any and all warnings, she would continue to hope he’d move back to their neck of the woods and build a house within spitting distance of theirs. And why shouldn’t she? All his sisters had done exactly that, thanks to a gift of land from their dad. Beyond one foolish lapse, Tony had resisted the bait.

“Well, I’d better go, I guess. Love you, Mom.”

“I love you, too, son,” his mother responded, words that warmed him as much today as they had the first time he’d ever heard them.

At five-thirty that afternoon, Mariah waved goodbye to her last customer, a teenage boy in for his biweekly buzz cut, then heaved a sigh of relief. For a day that should have been easy—according to her appointment book, that is—this one had turned out mighty tough. Only part of the problem stemmed from walk-ins and the unseasonable heat, she decided, as she swept up and then locked up. The other stemmed from her tumultuous state of mind and a resulting stress.

Did Tony Mason get his truck repaired? she wondered as she walked to her car and got in. Was he safely on the road now, headed to Amarillo and out of her sight?

She sincerely hoped so. The man did a number on her sense of security, for sure, and as a result she snapped his head off every time he spoke, and otherwise played the role of big bad witch. Mariah, who worked with the public every day and knew how to be charming, especially regretted having been that way, since she could tell her rude behavior distressed Ruby and Opal.

But Tony hadn’t gone, she discovered a short time later, when she stepped on the front porch and saw him sitting there, under a spinning ceiling fan, sketching Ruby. Mariah now saw what the oleander bushes had hidden from the driveway—Ruby posing in a flared-back wicker chair, looking every bit the southern belle, while Tony sat several feet in front of her, working at an easel he must have brought over from his truck.

One peek at the sketch as Mariah waved and waltzed by, revealed him to be an artist of considerable talent. Dismayed instead of impressed—she desperately needed reasons to hate him—Mariah stepped into the kitchen to say hello to Opal, whom she found at the stove. The smell of a pork roast and baking cookies filled the air.

“Oatmeal raisin?” Mariah asked hopefully by way of greeting. That was her favorite cookie. Opal, looking a bit flushed from the heat of the oven and numerous pots and pans gave her a nod.

“They’re Tony’s favorite,” she answered, belatedly adding, “and since they’re yours, too, I’m making a double batch. I also have a roast in the oven. Dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes.” She nodded toward the table, which looked picture-perfect with a bold, checkered cloth that matched the ruffled curtains, pristine white plates and the best silver. There was even a red rose in a bud vase, serving as the centerpiece.

“Thanks,” Mariah murmured, heading on upstairs. Refusing to think about what she’d just seen, she quickly shed her clothes, which reeked of perm solution and hairspray. After donning a terry robe, she walked to the bathroom for a shower. She stayed in the stinging spray longer than usual in hopes it would pound the tension from her body. And when she finally dressed in jeans and an oversize Dallas Cowboys T-shirt, she did feel better, at least physically.

Mentally, however, she remained a wreck. On one hand it bothered her that Opal and Ruby so obviously adored Tony, since he could do them much harm if he wasn’t exactly what he claimed to be. But on the other hand, it bothered her even more that she’d put those dear ladies in the position of feeling guilty for liking him.

This was their house, after all. Tony, an invited guest, and quite possibly as nice a person as he claimed, had as much right to be there as Mariah, an invited boarder. Besides that, he provided a diversion—something they badly wanted, even though it was something she could live without.

Standing before the bathroom mirror, brushing out her hair, Mariah vowed to be friendlier to Tony at dinner so Opal and Ruby could relax and enjoy him. It was time to shake off or at least ignore old prejudices. Time to take the man at face value and give him a chance to prove he didn’t deserve her scorn or fear.

It wasn’t his fault he sent her hormones into a frenzy. And it wasn’t as if she was in danger of getting involved with him, crazed hormones or not. So far he hadn’t done anything to threaten her heart or even her body. In fact, beyond a visual once-over, he didn’t seem the slightest bit interested in either, which suited her fine.

“From now on, I’m judging him only on what he does, not on what some other jerks did,” she promised her reflection, before exiting the bathroom and walking downstairs to the kitchen.

There she found Opal whipping potatoes with the electric mixer. Mariah got to work doing what else had to be done—filling glasses with ice for tea and setting the butter, salt and pepper on the table.

Since that table wasn’t very large, Mariah assumed they would do as always and serve their plates buffetstyle from the pots and pans on the stove. But Opal soon set her straight by handing her china bowls and pointing to the gravy and green beans.

So Tony had earned special guest status.

Mariah shook off her instant alarm and did as Opal wanted. She also set the roast pork planer on the table, too, only then noticing that one of the extra leaves had been inserted to enlarge the table capacity. Those leaves, large and heavy, weren’t easy to maneuver, and Mariah was surprised her landladies had gone to the trouble for a couple of meals.

Keeping her vow to reform, Mariah made no comment, however, but simply helped Opal in any way she could. Finally, everything was ready, and Opal called her sister and Tony in to dinner.

They entered the room laughing. Tony walked immediately to the sink and washed his hands. Mariah noted smears of chalk on his jeans and on his face. He didn’t know about the color on his cheek and chin so didn’t wash it off until she caught his eye and wordlessly tapped a finger to her own face. Then he shook his head, grinned and wiped off the smear before moving to the table.

“Wow,” he murmured, obviously impressed. “This looks like Sunday dinner at the Mason house. Mom cooks a huge roast every week and feeds anyone who shows up—usually a houseful since all my sisters and my dad’s five older sisters live within a mile of my parents’ cattle ranch.”

“How nice for your folks,” murmured Opal, pointing Tony to the chair opposite the one in which Mariah sat. She and Ruby took their usual places across from each other. “My children and grandchildren are scattered all over the United States.”

“Mine, too,” said Ruby, adding, “Would you say grace, Tony?”

He did without hesitation and so sweetly that Mariah felt yet another pang of guilt for judging him so harshly without really knowing him. In truth, he could claim one of the three qualities she admired most in a man—family ties. So when he murmured “amen” she squared her shoulders, opened her eyes and pasted a smile on her face.

He blinked in visible surprise and slowly smiled back. “It sure is great to be having dinner with the same nice folks I had breakfast with.”

So he also appreciated some elements of family living....

“Hard day at the shop?” he asked.

“Harder than expected,” Mariah answered. “But nothing I couldn’t handle.” She passed him the green beans.

“One of my sisters is a hairdresser,” Tony told her as he scooped out a spoonful. “She has a shop in her house. Do you have your own place or are you working on percentage?”

“I have my own, thanks to Emerald Pierson,” Mariah said, quickly explaining about the business loan the twins’ sister had given her. “She’s actually the reason I’m in Texas.”

“Her and the bluebonnets.” His sexy smile now teased.

Mariah blushed, remembering her evasive answer to him earlier, and changed the subject. “What’d you find out on your truck?”

Tony’s smile slipped. “Actually, Micah didn’t order the part until late this afternoon.”

Mariah frowned. “Why not?”

“Lisa had her baby last night,” interjected Opal by way of explanation for Micah’s uncharacteristic lapse of dependability. “Micah was at the hospital in Fort Stockton until after one o’clock this afternoon.

“Is everything okay?” Mariah loved Lisa Patterson, one of her longtime customers, who wasn’t due to deliver for another three weeks.

“Mother and baby are fine,” Ruby answered.

“I can’t believe no one told me at the shop today. Did she have a girl like they expected?”

“She had a boy,” Ruby said with a jubilant laugh.

“Lucky Lisa,” Mariah murmured, wishing she were the one with the new baby boy. She caught Tony’s eye. “Sorry about leaving you at the garage this morning. I never even noticed it wasn’t open. How’d you get back here?”

“I walked, and I enjoyed it. The place is really prettied up for Christmas, and what better way is there to get a look at a town than strolling the sidewalks?”

“None, I guess, though it’s unseasonably humid for much walking.” Mariah helped herself to potatoes, then passed the bowl. “Did Micah give you any idea when he’d get whatever it is you need?”

“He hopes by Friday or Saturday, but it could be as late as Monday if heavy holiday shipping delays things.”

“We told Tony not to worry about it,” Opal said. “He can stay here. We’ll be glad to have someone to visit with.”

Am I so boring? Mariah wondered with a stab of emotion very like jealousy. She immediately chided herself for her childish feelings, the depth of which surprised her. Opal and Ruby just wanted some excitement. And though Mariah didn’t, she couldn’t blame these dear women, who weren’t her property or even her family, though they certainly felt like the latter.

A woman on her own, Mariah appreciated how the twins had opened their hearts and let her be a surrogate daughter. She couldn’t resent their adopting Tony in the same way, just couldn’t...but apparently did. Perhaps because he had family of his own already. It also rankled that he wasn’t paying for his keep, something she’d always taken care to do.

Mariah shifted her attention to Opal. “You did a wonderful job on the roast.”

“Everything else is perfect, too,” added Tony. Opal positively glowed at the compliments.

“Opal has always been handy in the kitchen,” said Ruby, the next moment launching into a tale about the time she talked her twin sister into baking a cake for the football team, then told everyone she’d cooked it herself.

That story triggered the memory of another and then another example of sisterly feuding. Mariah let their words and laughter wash over her, grateful for the shift in focus from the issue of Tony’s housing. By the time the meal ended, she actually regained a little of her good humor.

“Now you ladies get out of this kitchen,” Mariah said, shooing them toward the door. “I’m washing up.”

“I’ll help,” Tony announced, an offer that disconcerted Mariah.

She waited until the twins were out of sight before answering. “This isn’t at all necessary.”

“Sure, it is.” He began to stack the plates.

“No, really. You go visit with the girls. They love having you around.”

“I’ve visited with them all day. It’s time to visit with you.”

Great. “I’m really not in a talkative mood.”

“Tired? Or upset with me for accepting the twins’ hospitality?” Tony asked. Mariah’s unguarded expression evidently told him all he needed to know. “I thought so, and since I intend to pay cash for the rest of my time here, I don’t understand why you feel that way.”

“You’re going to pay cash?”

He nodded. “If I don’t have enough after I pay for my truck repairs, I’ll get the money when I’m in Amarillo for Christmas and either drop it back by or mail it.”

Mariah wondered if he intended to borrow it from his parents or something.

“Meanwhile, Ruby and Opal have my IOU,” he continued, handing her another stack of dishes. “You know I have as much right to rent a room as you do, Mariah.”

“I realize that.”

“Then why don’t you lighten up? Smile? Get over it?”

Not trusting herself to answer without growling, Mariah turned her attention to filling the sink with water, setting the dishes in it, then washing them one by one. She breathed slowly and deeply, all the while reminding herself of her vow to give Tony a chance. Meanwhile Tony ran water over each piece she finished, then tucked them in the drainer as if he’d been helping out in the kitchen for years.