My Give a Damn's Busted (29 page)

The sun came out late Friday afternoon and the wind twisted around to the south. By night the roads were clear enough that pickup trucks could navigate and folks were tired of being homebound. Luther didn’t have to count the customers but there were enough people to fill up the dance floors and keep all three bartenders busy most of the time.

Larissa felt Hank’s presence before she noticed him skirting a double string of line dancers taking up most of the floor. He claimed a stool at the end of the bar and their eyes met in the middle. He pointed toward the Mason jar she was filling for someone else and she nodded. When she’d finished that order she picked up a pint and pulled the handle marked Coors.

“I wasn’t expecting you tonight,” she said.

He handed her a five-dollar bill and she made change. “Roads were clear enough to drive on. Ice patches still on the bridges but they have been sanded. Just have to be careful.”

“Are you staying in town?”

“Depends on whether I’m asked.” His eyes twinkled.

Justin Langley claimed the last two bar stools on Hank’s left. “Asked what? I brought someone for you to meet, Larissa. I can’t believe you are still around here. What was your name? Hank something? I figured you’d have given up on her by now. Most cowboys only last a few weeks.”

“How about you?”

“Justin?” the tall brunette with him asked.

“Ah, honey, you know I like to tease. Larissa, meet my wife, Denise. We got married the day before Thanksgiving and were on our way to Branson, Missouri, for a honeymoon when the snow stopped us. We spent two nights holed up in a motel and now we’re back on the road to Branson. The Christmas stuff is all lit up and she loves Christmas, don’t you?”

“I do, and it’s nice to meet you, Larissa. I’d like a Grey Goose martini.”

“Nice to meet you. Your first drinks are on the house. Glad to see that you roped Justin down and I hope you have a long and wonderful marriage,” Larissa said.

“Thank you,” Denise said.

“Beer?” Larissa asked Justin.

“No, I’ll have whatever she’s drinking tonight.”

She hustled two real martini glasses from under the cabinet, cleaned them until they sparkled, and poured the drinks into them.

“Where’s the jars?” Justin asked.

“Denise deserves something fancy if she’s going to put up with your sorry hide the rest of her life,” Larissa said.

Denise was still smiling as they carried their drinks to a table, removed jackets, and draped them over the back of chairs and hit the dance floor just as a slow Alan Jackson song started.

“And another good man bites the dust,” Hank said.

“You better watch your smart mouth or you’ll be driving right slow across the bridges tonight,” Larissa said.

“Is that an invitation to stay over?” he asked.

“It is,” she said.

“Could I get a pitcher of margaritas and one of hurricanes?” a man at the other end of the bar asked.

Larissa nodded and went to work. She set them on a tray when she finished and took his money. When she looked back down the bar, Hank was talking to an older couple who had taken Justin and Denise’s places.

“Can I get you something?” she asked without even looking at them.

“Larissa, this is James and Elvira Morleo. They came from over in Abilene,” Hank said.

She was so engrossed in Hank that it took a few seconds for what he said to sink in. When it did, she looked across the bar and gasped. Her father had been right. She was looking into the future forty years at the reflection of herself. Her grandmother was about the same height, had black hair sprinkled lightly with gray, and brown eyes. The face shape was the same and although Elvira carried twenty or thirty extra pounds it wasn’t hard to imagine her at thirty looking exactly like Larissa.

“Quite a shock, isn’t it?” Elvira said.

“Unbelievable,” James muttered. He was the same height as Elvira. His hair was gray and his face shape and eyes were like Larry’s.

“I think I’ll have a Coors in one of those jars. James likes Bud in a bottle. Larry is outside parking the car. This might not be a good time or place but the family wanted to come over here and meet you. They all love country music and dancing. Don’t worry about remembering their names. It’ll all come with time. Right now we just want to see you,” Elvira said.

Sharlene took over the bartending when Larry and his wife walked up to the bar.

“Hello, Larissa.”

She nodded.

“This isn’t a problem is it?”

She shook her head at thirty or more people filing into the bar, setting up camp at two empty tables. “Not at all. I got to admit, that much family scares me, but it’s never a problem.”

“Go on and be nice,” Sharlene said. “Tessa and I can take care of this for a while.”

Larissa’s eyes darted toward Hank. “Go with me?” she mouthed.

He finished off his beer and stood up. “I’m Hank Wells. Larissa and I’ve been seeing each other a few months. You’ll be Larry, her father? I’ve heard a lot about you.” He extended his hand.

Larry’s handshake was firm and he studied Hank’s face as he shook. Finally, he smiled. “I’m glad to meet you, Hank. I’d like to introduce my wife, Mary Beth, to you and Larissa.”

She looked from Hank to Larissa. She was about the same height as Sharlene. She had strawberry-blond hair cut chin-length and blue eyes. She was slim built but something about her said that she could take care of herself.

“I’m glad to meet you, Larissa. I’m looking forward to getting to know you better. This probably wasn’t a good idea—hitting you at your business with so many of us—but it didn’t sound so formidable at home. Forgive us if we’ve overwhelmed you,” Mary Beth said.

“Not at all. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Let’s go see everyone else,” Larissa said as she came through the swinging doors at the end of the bar. Hank met her a few feet before she reached the party of four at the bar and slipped his hand in hers. The support of his touch couldn’t be measured in gold, silver, or even time.

She met Larry’s brother and sister-in-law, four cousins and their spouses, Elvira’s sister, her husband and two of their five kids, plus cousins and spouses with that connection. Names went over the top of her head and faces were a blur.

“It’s not often I get this woman out from behind that bar. So if y’all will excuse us I’m going to dance with her,” Hank said.

“That’s fine, son. I reckon she needs a breather away from all of us for a little bit,” James said. “I’m going to the bar for buckets of beer. Anyone want a mixed drink?” He waited a few seconds but got no takers. “I hope you didn’t want a sophisticated bunch of relatives, Larissa. We’re basically a bunch of rednecks.”

“Family could never disappoint me. I’m just happy to get to know you all, and for the record, I’m a beer drinker too,” Larissa managed to get out.

Hank led her out to the dance floor and wrapped her up in his arms. “You handled that beautifully.”

“I want a beer, maybe a whole six-pack. One day the only relative I have is my mother. The next, just look, and Elvira said this was only the tip of the iceberg.”

“Scary, ain’t it?”

“As hell. How many relatives do you have?”

“Mother was an only child. Grandfather had a brother and he had a son. They live in Hawaii and I’ve met him one time. Dad had three brothers, all older than he is and all dead. They had kids but they’re scattered six ways to Sunday. Dad keeps them on the Christmas card list and Oma sends a greeting once a year. Nothing like this for you to have to meet,” he said.

“Thank God!”

At midnight she’d danced with her grandfather, her father, and several cousins. They’d told her stories and did their damnedest to pull her into their vast family. When they left she and Hank walked them to the door and introduced her grandparents, Larry, and Mary Beth to Luther. She waved her hand to include the rest. “And these are all relatives too, but I can’t remember their names. This is Luther, one of my first friends when I came to Mingus and the best bouncer in the state.”

Luther took them all in with one nod. “Pleased to meet you. Come back and visit us anytime.”

When the last one filed out the door, she leaned against Hank. “Thank you.”

“Things are slowing down. Why don’t you let Tessa and Sharlene close up tonight and you go on home. That had to have knocked the sap out of you, but you don’t need one of them DNA things to know that that was definitely your blood kin. You are the spittin’ image of your grandma and her sister,” Luther said.

“Yes, I am. And I think I will go home.” She headed back to the bar to tell Sharlene and Tessa. The room did a couple of spins but she got control quickly. She’d had too much all at one time and she hadn’t had a thing to eat since lunch. Her blood sugar was probably bottomed out.

She drove home with Hank’s headlights in her rearview mirror. Why hadn’t she thought about letting Sharlene close up before that night? She could have been spending hours more with Hank.

Since when did anyone or anything mean more to you than your Honky Tonk?
The question brought her up short and scared the hell out of her.

Larissa sat on the edge of the bathtub. Every second that ticked off the clock lasted two hours. Her hands were clammy. Her stomach was tied up like a pretzel. Finally, the second hand made its way around the numbers one last time. She picked up the stick and shut her eyes. She should’ve called Sharlene to come look for her but she couldn’t tell anyone her biggest fear.

She opened one eye a tiny slit but the stick looked fuzzy. There was nothing to do but spring them both open and find out.

“Dear God!” She threw the stick in the trash as if it were evil and threw up in the potty.

She went back to bed, rolled over on her side, and thought about the line on the pregnancy stick. Hank mumbled something in his sleep, slipped one arm under her and one around her, and molded his naked body next to her back.

He nuzzled his face into her hair and slowly opened his eyes. “Have I told you this morning that I love you?”

“I don’t think you’ve ever told me that,” she said. He hadn’t even said those words six weeks before when they’d had that fabulous three act sex bout in the hotel in Dallas. Lord, that’s when it happened! She counted backwards and remembered every single time since then and for the test to be positive it had to have happened at the Hyatt in Dallas.

“Well, I’m telling you right now. I know it’s probably too early to say the words but I’ve wanted to for a long, long time. I love you, Larissa Morley, with my whole heart. Are you crying?”

She nodded. “You know I love you and for the record I’ve never said those words to another man. I’m just all emotional this morning.”

He turned her over to face him and strung kisses down her neck. “I’m in awe.”

“Well, get ready to be stunned as well as in awe,” she said.

“Are you going to propose to me? I thought you might a week ago after family night at the Honky Tonk but got my hopes dashed when all you did was come home with me at a decent hour,” he teased. It felt so good to say the three words to her, to get them off his chest and let her know that he was serious about their relationship and commitment.

“No, I’ll leave that job to you. Please don’t feel like you have to…”

He jumped out of bed, pulled her up to a sitting position, and dropped down on one knee in front of her. Naked as the day he was born, he took her hand in his and said, “Larissa Morley, will you marry me? We can have a long engagement. I’ll wait forever if you’ll just give me some hope. You can work at the Honky Tonk and we’ll live at the ranch. Or we can live right here in this gawd awful house and I’ll commute back and forth to the ranch every day.”

Her dark eyelashes couldn’t keep the tears back. He had proposed before she told him. She’d never feel like he’d been doing his duty.

He got up off his knees and sat down beside her on the bed. He figured she couldn’t say yes because she still didn’t trust him and she couldn’t hurt his feelings by saying no. He took her hand in his. “Darlin’, don’t cry. You don’t have to give me an answer right now. I’ll wait six months and ask you again.”

“I can’t…” she sobbed.

He hugged her tightly. “I’m sorry I put you in such a spot. I was so excited to hear you say the words and I love you so much.”

“I can’t tell you because I’m afraid you’ll be upset. It was an accident. I promise I didn’t do it on purpose,” she said.

“Larissa, what in the devil are you talking about? You didn’t do what on purpose?”

“The stick is in the trash. I thought I was getting the flu or that I’d eaten something wrong. But the stick is positive and I…” She laid her head on his chest and wept.

“Stick? Positive?” He frowned.

“I’m pregnant.”

He jumped up, grabbed her, and danced around the bed. “I love you. I’m not mad and I wouldn’t give a damn if you did do it on purpose.”

Tears turned to laughter. “Really?”

“Yes, really. When are we getting married?”

“I love you too, Hank Wells. Is tomorrow soon enough? The courthouse isn’t open on Sunday.”

***

They were married the next morning at the courthouse in Palo Pinto. The court clerk and the janitor served as witnesses to the wedding. She wore an off-white lace dress and new white dress boots that she’d gotten on sale in Dallas when she and her mother went shopping. Hank wore the same western cut suit that he’d worn to Doreen and Rupert’s reception.

He picked her up like a new bride and the kisses started when they left the courthouse doors. “I love you, Larissa Wells,” he said between kisses so hot that they could have heated up all of Palo Pinto County.

“I love you, Hank Wells. You sure you don’t want to stop at a motel between here and the ranch?”

He chuckled as he set her in the passenger’s seat. “Honey, there’s not even a gas station between here and the ranch. We’ll tell Henry, stop by and let Sharlene know the news, and then go anywhere you want, as long as I don’t have to share you for a whole week.”

“Will Henry be all right at the ranch that long without you?” she asked.

“To get you, Henry would let me leave for a month.” He pulled her close to his side. “I can’t believe we are married and we’re going to have a son.”

“Better hope it’s a girl because its name is Ruby,” she said.

“Victoria?” he said with a frown on his face.

She giggled. “Ruby Victoria. I like it.”

“I wasn’t asking to use her name. I was thinking about how she’d go up in flames if the baby was a girl and you named her Ruby. Flames won’t even begin to describe the inferno she’ll set to blazing if you put her name in there with Ruby’s.”

“Flames? Maybe she’ll have red hair like Mother. I don’t know which you are happier about, cowboy. Me as a bride or the baby,” she said.

He tilted her chin up and kissed her tenderly, yet passionately. “Darlin’, we might have a dozen kids or this might be our only chick. I will love whatever we are blessed with. But you will always be number one with me. I keep pinching myself to assure myself that I’m not dreaming and touching you to make sure you aren’t going to vanish into a puff of smoke. Have I told you today that you are a stunning bride?”

Tears welled up in her eyes. “You are making me all weepy again.”

“You are making me happy.”

“I love you,” she whispered again.

“That still amazes me after everything we’ve been through. I love you too.”

***

It was a lovely day for the second week in December. A little nip in the air and all the trees bare of leaves, but the sun was shining brightly when they drove up in the yard at the ranch house. She slid under the steering wheel and got out of the truck on Hank’s side. He threw an arm around her shoulders and felt her shiver.

He quickly removed his coat and wrapped it around her. “You are cold.”

“Is Henry going to be angry with me?” she asked.

“Hey, what are you two doing all dressed up?” Henry said from the corner of the porch. “You look beautiful in that lacy thing. Don’t know that I’ve seen you in a fancy dress before. What’s the occasion? Come on over here and draw up a rocking chair. We ain’t going to have very many more nice days. Surprised that we got this one after that snow business a couple of weeks ago, but the weather is fickle in this part of the world. An ice storm don’t mean that it won’t warm up again.”

Larissa sat down in the rocking chair next to him and Hank propped a hip on the side of the same chair. “We got something we need to talk to you about, Henry.”

“Okay, sit down and shoot,” he said.

“We just came from the courthouse. We got married,” Hank said bluntly.

Henry jumped out of the chair and embraced them in a three-way hug. “Well, hot damn! And you done it the right way. I don’t even have to wear a monkey suit and go to a weddin’.”

“Well, there
is
going to be a reception at the Honky Tonk next week so you’ll have to get dressed up for that,” Larissa said.

He sat back down in his rocker but he kept a hand on Larissa’s arm. “I reckon I can do that. When are you moving to the ranch?”

Hank leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “I told her that she could live in town and run her Honky Tonk, Dad. I’m not making the same mistake you did.”

Henry nodded. “Then you’ll be moving to Mingus and coming back and forth. That’ll be hard on both of you but if it’s what you want, then I understand.”

“It’s not what I want,” Larissa said. “I want to live here and learn new things. I want Oma to teach me how to run this place. I’ve got a degree in business finance. I can help and I want to be where I can see my husband any time of the day or night.”

Henry wiped at his eye with a handkerchief he pulled from his hip pocket. “I couldn’t wish for nothin’ better. Sharlene going to manage the Honky Tonk for you? Hell, I don’t even care if you see me cry. You’ve both made me the happiest man in the state of Texas today.”

“Sharlene is going to own the Tonk. Hank and I might visit sometime. But I’m making a clean break.”

“Well, double hot damn! Let’s get a beer and celebrate,” Henry shouted.

Larissa shook her head. “I can’t have a beer, Henry, or a martini or a drink for the next few months. I’m pregnant.”

The few crickets who’d survived the ice storm stopped chirping. The wind stopped blowing. The coyotes fell silent. Not a bawling Angus cow could be heard. The silence was as heavy as concrete.

“My prayers have all been answered,” Henry whispered then he shouted. “Oma, come out here and hear the good news!”

***

The reception was held in the middle of the afternoon on a Sunday. Everyone in town was invited. Doreen and Rupert arrived an hour early. Victoria arrived fifteen minutes late.

Larissa wore her wedding dress, a wide gold wedding band, and a big smile. Hank was dressed in his western suit. Pictures were taken. Merle served punch and Linda, Betty, and Janice took care of the cake and finger foods.

When the parents were all there, Sharlene picked up the microphone from her karaoke machine and said, “Family and friends, we are here to celebrate Larissa finding her cowboy and proving that the Honky Tonk charm worked one final time. Larissa has given me the Honky Tonk and I’m here to stay. Three times is the limit of any genie lamp or magic. Luther is putting money into the jukebox right now for the first bride and groom dance. While they are dancing, cake and punch are being served and the bar is open for anyone who wants something stronger.”

Hank led Larissa to the middle of the floor. She wrapped both arms around his neck and nodded at Luther.

“Please tell me he isn’t going to play ‘My Give a Damn’s Busted,’” Hank whispered.

“Well, it damn sure was. Thank goodness it wasn’t completely broken. There were a few parts where we could fix it. I had to go to an old give-a-damn graveyard to find the parts,” she teased.

“Where is that graveyard just in case I mess up again and need to find a part or two?” Hank asked.

“It’s out on the backside of the Lazy R Ranch. Up on a rise,” she said.

He tilted up her chin with his fist. His whiskey colored eyes met her dark brown ones and his lips found hers in a lingering kiss.

Garth Brooks sang “To Make You Feel My Love.” The lyrics talked about everything he would do to make her feel his love. He sang that he could hold her for a million years and that he’d known it from the moment he’d met her. That there was no doubt where she belonged, that he would go hungry and would crawl down the avenue to make her feel his love. He said that she hadn’t seen nothing like him and that he would go to the earth to make her happy and make her dreams come true.

When the song ended, he kissed Larissa passionately. “Do you really feel like that?”

“If I didn’t I wouldn’t be married to you.”

He led her off the dance floor. “I want to buy that CD and play it for you every single night.”

Victoria slid off a bar stool and met them at the edge of the floor. “Hank?”

“Mother, I can’t believe you called me Hank.”

“Would you give me and Larissa a moment?” she asked.

He looked at his new bride and she nodded.

“But only a moment, Mother. I will never share her very well and I won’t leave her side very long. I’ll get us some punch, darlin’,” he said.

Larissa looked at Victoria. “Yes, ma’am?”

“I still don’t like you,” Victoria said.

“I wasn’t expecting a miracle right along with my wedding ring and marriage license. Frankly, I don’t give a damn if you like me or not. But I reckon we can call a truce a few times a year for Hank, can’t we? And then there’s the matter of your grandchild.”

“Dear God, so that’s the way you roped him in,” Victoria said.

“No, he proposed to me before he knew about the baby. If he hadn’t I wouldn’t have married him. We are in love. It’s your choice to be a part of our lives or not. I won’t force anything on you,” Larissa said.

“You are more like your mother than I thought. She always could put me in my place. Okay, then, I will try.” Victoria pouted.

“That’s a start,” Larissa said.

Henry touched Victoria on the shoulder. “Could I have this dance?”

“My God, Henry. I forgot that you’d be here,” she gasped.

He held out a hand. “You’re lookin’ good, Vic.”

To Larissa’s surprise she walked into his arms.

Garth began to sing “If Tomorrow Never Comes.” Hank crossed the room in a dozen long strides and took Larissa in his arms again.

“What did she say?” he asked.

“Not much but I think everything is going to be just fine.” Larissa smiled up at him. “Do you think they are listening to the words to this song?”

“No, but I am,” he said. “And I intend to tell you every day and try in every way to prove that you are my only one just like he’s saying.”

“Have I told you in the last five minutes how much I love you?” she whispered.

“Yes, but I’ll never get tired of hearing those words,” he said. “Look over there.”

Larry was leading Doreen to the dance floor and Rupert had an arm thrown around Mary Beth.

Larissa sighed. “And it all came about because of a thumbtack stuck in the middle of the map of the United States.”

The End