Texas Lullaby (Texas Montgomery Mavericks Book 7) (17 page)

“Need some company?” a female voice inquired.

Jason’s head snapped up. “Hello, Lisa. What are you doing here at this time of the day?”

Lisa Billings slid into the booth across from him. “Same as you, I reckon. Was at the library at six this morning and missed lunch. Thought I’d grab a quick bite on the way home.”

He nodded as Shelly stepped up to the table.

“What can I get ya?” she said to Lisa.

“Mind if I join you?” Lisa asked Jason.

He shrugged. “Sure.”

Lisa ordered a white wine and a grilled chicken salad. Shelly left with her standard, “Sure thang, hon,” and walked away.

“So, how’s the world treating you?” Lisa asked.

He grinned. “Kicking my ass every day.”

She laughed. “Know what you mean.”

Shelly set Lisa’s wine on the table. “Your meals should be out shortly.”

“You and Lydia are…what? Done? On a break? Back together?”

Jason took a long drink of his beer, draining about half of the glass. “Not done if I have anything to say about it.”

She put her hand over his. “Good luck. She was a fool to let you go.”

“I’m the fool for letting her.”

She gave his hand a quick squeeze. “I hope she knows how much you love her.”

“She will tomorrow. Hell, everyone will.”

Chapter Fourteen

It was close to lunchtime, if the growling in Lydia’s tummy was any indication. And she had to pee. She’d gone from patient to patient to patient without a break since eight. She needed food, the bathroom and a nap…and not necessarily in that order.

“Want to escape for lunch?” Caroline asked. “For some odd reason, we have no patients scheduled until two this afternoon.”

“Are you kidding?” Lydia threw up her hands in relief. “Thank the Lord. And, hell yeah. Let’s blow this pop stand.”

Caroline laughed. “I have one more patient and I’ll be ready.”

“Great. I’m hitting the restroom, grabbing my purse and will be tapping my foot at the back door waiting on you.”

Fifteen minutes later, Caroline joined Lydia at the door.

“Where to?” Lydia asked.

“How about that new place? Rick’s On the River? I hear that Porchia’s Heavenly Delights is supplying all the bread products.”

“Good idea. I haven’t been there, and I love anything that comes from Porchia’s bakery. If Rick’s lunches are as good as her bakery stuff, we’ll come back fat and happy.” Lydia patted her gut. “And I’m already working on the fat part.”

For mid-July, Texas was having freaky cool weather, or at least cool for Texas. The day’s high was forecast at eighty-five. Apparently, every other Whispering Spring resident had the same need to get outside today as Rick’s On the River was packed.

Caroline wiggled through the throng of people waiting and somehow scored them a small riverside table.

“How did you pull this off?” Lydia asked as a hostess led them to their table.

“Family connections,” Caroline replied with a grin.

“Right.”

They sat and took the menus.

“And I bribed the hostess,” Caroline said.

“You did not.”

“Did too.”

“Being a Montgomery must have its advantages,” Lydia said with a laugh.

“And don’t you forget it.”

Before Lydia could ask what that meant, a young waitress approached their table. “Hi. I’m Ruth Ann. I’ll be taking care of you today. You’re lucky to get a table. I guess that ad in the paper today really brought out people wanting to watch.”

Lydia frowned. “Watch what?” She looked at Caroline. “Did you read the paper this morning? I never had time.”

Caroline shook her head. “Nope. No idea what Ruthie here is talking about.” She looked at the waitress with wide eyes. “How about some water with lemon?”

“Me too, please,” Lydia said.

The young girl hurried away.

“Wonder what’s happening today?”

“No clue, but we are on the river. Boat race? Yellow duck race?”

“Wouldn’t that be fun? Not the boats, but the yellow duck race. We should talk about doing something like that as a hospital money raiser. I’ve seen that done.”

Caroline took a sip of the water that’d been set on their table. “Don’t know what you’re talking about. Explain.”

“The hospital ladies’ guild would sell the ducks for some nominal fee, say five bucks. Each duck has a number on it. That number would be assigned to the person who bought it. The day of the race, all the ducks are released at the same time upriver. There’s a finish line somewhere downriver. The first duck that crosses the line wins.”

“And what does the winner get?”

“No clue.” Lydia laughed. “Maybe the guild gets businesses to donate prizes so all the money goes toward the children’s unit the hospital needs so badly.”

Caroline nodded. “Love this idea.”

Around them, a buzz of excited conversation filled the air. Café diners stood and pointed toward the sky.

“What in the world?” Lydia asked.

Caroline shrugged and took another sip of her water. Her normally curious friend was abnormally disinterested, and that made Lydia a tad suspicious.

The
grrr
of a plane engine could be heard over the din in the restaurant. A red plane circled overhead towing a banner that read
Jason Loves Lydia
.

Lydia stood, her hands over her mouth.
Ohmigod.
Her heart did a roller coaster dip and spin. Her knees weakened, making her grab the edge of the table for support.

The plane circled the café about seven times before it flew away.

Lydia looked down at her friend, who’d remained seated through the whole show. She squinted her eyes in a glare. “You knew about this, didn’t you?”

Caroline carefully selected a slice of fresh bread from the basket on their table, slathered it with butter and took a bite. “Wasn’t there a presidential candidate who said women couldn’t be leaders because they couldn’t keep a secret?” She took another bite and grinned. “Proved him wrong, didn’t I?”

Lydia dropped back into her seat with a long-suffering sigh.

Around them, their fellow customers were clapping and laughing. At the table next to them, one woman said, “I don’t care what he did. If my boyfriend did something like that, he’d get so lucky tonight.” The women at that table laughed and nodded in agreement.

Maybe the woman had a point.

“You want to fill me in?” she asked Caroline, who pulled off a corner from her bread slice and popped it in her mouth.

“Nope,” she said. “Not yet.”

Lydia stood. “I’m going to go get a newspaper.”

Caroline grabbed her arm. “Not yet. Sit. Enjoy the show.”

Lydia retook her seat. “There’s more?”

Caroline shrugged with a grin. “Maybe.”

Lydia hid her face in her hands. “What am I going to do with him?”

Caroline tugged Lydia’s hand away from her face. “That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it?”

Ruth Ann slid their burgers onto the table. “So I just have to ask. You’re Lydia, right?”

Lydia groaned. “How did you know?”

“First, we don’t have
reserved
tables. It’s first come, first served. And second, your face is as red as a Bloody Mary.”

Caroline laughed while Lydia groaned again.

“The Montgomery men are hard to shake when they want something,” Caroline said.

Lydia picked up a hot french fry and popped it in her mouth. “I’m beginning to see that.”

The plane’s engine roared again in the sky. Lydia closed her eyes with a headshake. “Do I want to look?”

Caroline laughed. “This time, maybe not.”

Lydia cracked open her eyes and looked up and moaned.

The banner this time read:
Unblock my number, Lydia. Love, Jason.”

“I am going to kill him,” she said, but then she laughed.

“I guess that’s one way to get a message to someone who’s blocking you,” Caroline said.

“Is there more?”

“I don’t think so, but I doubt this campaign is over. Montgomery men––”

“Yes, I know. Don’t give up easily.”

When they got back to the office, all the staff was chatting about the banners. Seemed everyone had stood in the street to watch the plane do its work.

Lydia unblocked Jason’s numbers as requested, but he didn’t call all afternoon, leaving her a tad confused and mystified. However, she’d been with him long enough to realize that his afternoons could get busy and figured that’s probably what had happened.

That evening, she kept her cell phone in her pocket, again expecting it to ring, except it never did. About seven, her house phone rang and she hurried to answer it.

Her heart raced and she tried, unsuccessfully, to answer in as normal a voice she could. “Hello?”

“Hi, honey. It’s Mom.”

Lydia’s heart continued to pound against her chest. “Hi, Mom. What’s up?” She took a couple of deep breaths to calm her overreaction to her phone ringing.

“Your father and I are having kiddo withdrawal.”

Laughing, she asked, “You want to come down? Dinner’s over.”

“Actually, we were wondering if maybe we could keep them tomorrow instead of sending them to Mother’s Day Out.”

“Sure. I know the twins would love it. Levi pretty much loves everything these days.”

“Great. What time will you leave for the office? What time do we need to be there?”

“I’ll leave about seven-thirty or so.”

“Great. We’ll be there about seven-twenty.”

Once she hung up, she looked around the house. It wasn’t too bad, but she could at least run a vacuum to pick up the dog hair. Frankly, she was amazed that Jasper wasn’t bald.

The rest of the evening, her damn phone sat as quiet as a dead mouse. By bedtime, her eyes stung from staring at the stupid device and willing it to ring.

She didn’t get it. Jason told the whole world he loved her and asked her to unblock his number, which she’d done, and then he doesn’t call? What’s up with that?

Sleep that night was elusive. She flopped around for hours trying to find a comfortable position. When her radio alarm clicked on and music filled her bedroom, she was trussed like a mummy in her sheets. For the first time in forever, she was actually glad it was time to get up. At least she could stop pretending to sleep.

As promised, Lydia heard her mother’s knock at seven-twenty.

“Coming,” Lydia called, which was a total waste of breath. Ellery beat her to the door, unlocked it and was letting Ida through the door. She made another mental note for a deadbolt lock that Ellery couldn’t reach.

“Hi, Mom.”

Ida hugged Lydia. The scent of her mother’s cologne and face powder took Lydia back to how she’d felt as a ten-year-old girl taking comfort in the smell and feel of her mother.

“Good morning. Now, let me at those children. I’ve got some spoiling to do.”

“So do I.”

Lydia’s gaze snapped back to the door as Jackie Montgomery walked into her house. “Hope you don’t mind, but when I was chatting with Ida and she told me that she was spending the day with the kids, I just invited myself along.”

“Hi, Jackie. Of course I don’t mind. Should I go stand on the porch and look for Dad and Lane?”

The two older women laughed. Ida had Ellery cocked on her hip and Jackie stood with Annie. But before either woman spoke there was a third knock at the door. Since the usual doorman, or rather doorgirl was currently getting attention from her grandma, Lydia went to the door expecting either her father or Jason’s father. Instead, a uniformed limo driver stood outside her door.

“Good morning,” he said. “I’m here to pick up Dr. Henson.”

Lydia frowned. “I’m Dr. Henson, but I didn’t call for a limo.”

“Her bags are on the porch,” Ida said. “She’s all ready to go.”

Lydia whirled around. “I’m all ready to go where? And what bags are on the porch?”

Her mother grinned, as did Jackie. Obviously, these two were up to something. Lydia assumed an akimbo posture.

“Would someone like to tell me what’s going on?”

Ida looked at Jackie, who looked at Ida, then both women turned to Lydia.

“Not really,” Ida said. “You know I’d never do anything that would hurt you, right?”

“Yeah, so?”

“Get in the limo.”

“Let me get this straight. You want me to get into a car I did not order with a man I’ve never seen?”

Ida chuckled. “Well, when you put it like that, it does sound a little strange, but you’re a smart gal. You’ll figure it out. Now, go on before you’re late.”

Lydia sighed and stopped just short of stomping her foot on the floor. “Late for what?”

Her mother leaned over and kissed Lydia’s cheek. “We love you, honey. Now be a good girl and go get into the strange car with the strange man. I packed some nice clothes for you. Don’t be afraid to not use them.”

Jackie laughed, which made Ellery and Annie laugh, not that the twins understood what was happening. Lydia had her suspicions, however. Jason was behind what was going on. Probably a limo to a fancy breakfast and an apology. At least the ride over would give her time to think about her response. Should she make him grovel just a little more or forgive him straight away?

“Fine but—” she wagged her finger at both women, “—this isn’t over.”

She clomped down the stairs to where the driver held the back door open. Sliding onto the leather seats, her nose caught the aroma of fresh coffee.

The driver leaned in. “There’s coffee in the carafe, some fresh Danish in the box and today’s newspaper. Enjoy the ride.” He closed the door.

The ride? It was maybe ten minutes to her office, which wasn’t much of a ride, but she was pretty sure that wasn’t the destination. Still, she had to make sure Caroline knew something was going on.

“Help,” she said to Caroline when she got her on the phone. “I’m being kidnapped.”

“Hmm. That’s interesting,” Caroline replied in a totally bored tone.

“Really? That’s how you respond to a kidnapping call? That’s interesting?”

Caroline laughed. “Sorry. Let me try again.
Ohmigod
. Should I call the police?”

Lydia chuckled. “That’s much better. Seriously, I’m pretty sure I won’t be in the office today, especially since the limo driver has just driven out of town toward the interstate.”

“I know. Have fun.”

“Have fun at what?” Lydia demanded. “No one will tell me anything.”

“Neither will I. Drink the coffee. Eat a Danish. Sit back and enjoy the ride.”

“How did you know I had coffee and Danish?”

“Oops. Gotta run. Patients and all that.” Caroline clicked off.

Lydia shook her head, poured a cup of coffee and dug through the Danish from Porchia’s bakery. She moaned with the first bite of sugary goodness.

Only Jason knew her well enough to bribe her with fresh coffee and pick out her favorite Danish from Porchia’s bakery. Wherever she was headed, she was fairly sure who would be waiting at the end of the trip.

She settled back and decided to go with the flow, as if she had any other choice, short of being a total ass.

The coffee was strong and hot, just like she liked it. No one had done the crossword puzzle, which thrilled her. Usually one of the clinic staff would do the daily crossword before she got to it. For the next hour, she drank, ate and filled in blank spaces. It might have been the best hour in the past six weeks.

When the limo took the exit for Dallas/Fort Worth airport, she wasn’t surprised.

When the limo pulled into the airport’s departure lanes, she wasn’t surprised.