Welcome to Last Chance (12 page)

Lainie put out a hand to stop her. “It's okay. He's just being a kid. Cut him a little slack on this one. Compared to the people I used to hang out with, he's an angel. At least he didn't use any four-letter words.”

“He'd better not!”

A little later when Lainie clipped an order to the turntable in the window to the kitchen, Matthew called to her.

“Hey, Lainie, may I PLEASE have a root beer?” He grinned when Lainie raised her eyebrow again.

When Lainie brought it to him, his thanks were as elaborate as his request. She set the drink next to him. “Don't overdo it. If you find some happy medium there, we'll get along just fine.”

“Lainie, wait.” She turned to see what he wanted. “I heard you talking to my mom in there. And, um, thanks for sticking up for me. She just gets me so crazy sometimes. She thinks I'm three years old or something.”

Lainie pulled a kitchen stool over to the desk and perched on it. “Look, Matthew, I'm not trying to pick sides here. Yeah, I think your mom could cut you some slack, but at least you've got a mom who cares what happens to you. And that brings some baggage with it. So deal. When I was sixteen, I had been on my own for two years. My mom truly did not know if I was dead or alive. So believe me, there are worse things than sitting in here with Carlos, doing your homework and having people serve you stuff on a tray.”

Matthew looked impressed. “Wow. You really walked out when you were fourteen? And you never went back? That's awesome!”

“I didn't walk out. My mom threw me out, and it wasn't awesome. I went hungry a lot of times. I slept anywhere anyone would let me for as long as they let me, and that was never very long. I wound up dropping out of school. So excuse me if I don't get real upset for you, Matthew. I happen to think you have a pretty plush setup.”

“Why did your mom throw you out?”

Lainie stood up and put her hand on his shoulder. “That is none of your business. Now, I'm going back to work. You need another root beer, you know where they are.”

L
ainie heard the hymns pouring through the screen door out into the night air as she opened the gate to Elizabeth's yard. Elizabeth looked up when Lainie walked in, but her fingers never missed a note.

“You know, I had forgotten how much I love playing these old songs. I must have played through the whole hymnbook today.” She followed Lainie into the kitchen. “How are things with Matthew?”

Lainie poured herself a glass of iced tea and slipped out of her shoes. “He's okay. Fayette's a good mom. I think they'll get through it.”

Elizabeth plopped onto a kitchen chair. “Pour me a glass too, would you, honey?” She smiled her thanks. “I got a call this morning from Lurlene, she's the choir director. Nadine had to go over to El Paso, so Lurlene asked me if I could come play for choir practice Wednesday. Why don't you come with me? You have the sweetest voice, and I know you'd add so much.”

“Choir practice? You've got to be kidding, right? Like Juanita's going to let someone like me join in.”

“Oh, don't let Juanita get to you. She doesn't have as much say as she thinks she does. And besides, I'm not even talking about joining, just coming Wednesday night and singing with the choir.
I have to confess, though, I did tell Lurlene what a nice voice you had. She's the one who told me to bring you with me.”

“I have to work Wednesday night.”

“But choir practice doesn't start till after prayer meeting. You should be done in plenty of time.”

Lainie got to her feet. “I don't know. I'll think about it, but no promises. Right now I'm going to grab a shower.”

Prayer meeting was over and the choir members were making their way to the choir loft when Lainie walked through the front door. Elizabeth was already seated at the piano with Lurlene looking over her shoulder and pointing out something on the music. Elizabeth looked up and beckoned Lainie forward with a smile.

“There you are. Come up here and meet Lurlene.”

Lainie walked to the front of the church and was pulled into the warm embrace of the choir director.

“Welcome! I'm so glad you came. So Elizabeth tells me you're a soprano.”

Lainie shrugged. “I haven't a clue.”

“Well, if Elizabeth says so, you are. She is one woman who knows her music. Now why don't you take that chair on the end of the first row there?”

For the next hour Lainie was lost in the music. She had no idea what the notes on her sheet music represented, but Lurlene was easy to follow as she deftly led each section of the choir through their parts. When she finally put the whole together, the anthem made Lainie's arms break out in goose bumps.

Finally, Lurlene stepped back from her lectern. “Well, I guess that'll have to do. Lainie, I'm so glad you came. We gather in the adult Sunday school class as soon as they let out on Sunday for a
quick run-through before the service. If you'd like to join us then, we'd love to have you.” She smiled at Lainie and closed her music folder. “Russ, close us in prayer, would you please?”

As Russ's drawling bass filled the room, Lainie found herself listening instead of tuning him out. When he prayed that the efforts of the choir would glorify God, she wondered if God would even notice such a small group, and at the same time she felt a pleasure that she had not experienced since she was a little girl listening to her father praise a carefully colored page from a coloring book.

Each member of the choir took the time as they left to tell her how much they loved having her sing with them. Even Juanita squeezed her arm and bared her teeth in a smile as she passed. “Well, how about you? Wasn't it nice having you sit in with us this evening.”

Not sure who it was supposed to be nice for, Lainie just nodded. Juanita swept past her up the aisle, calling for Russ to come on. He finished his conversation at his own pace, then ambled up the aisle after her.

Elizabeth gathered her music from the piano and joined Lainie. “Whew. That just about did me in. I remember now why I retired from this.”

Lainie smiled at Elizabeth's bright eyes and rosy cheeks. “Oh, I think you had a pretty good time tonight. It's lucky that you spent all that time playing hymns this week. You were good to go.”

“Oh, luck didn't have anything to do with it. It never does, you know. The Lord knew I was going to need to get my fingers all warmed up, even if I didn't.”

Lainie fell silent. Elizabeth seemed to turn every conversation to what the Lord did, or wanted, or was going to do, and it still made Lainie uncomfortable.

The silence lasted until Elizabeth got herself settled on her cushion behind the wheel of the pickup and pulled out onto the highway.

“So what'd you think of choir practice? You looked like you were enjoying it.”

Lainie reached for the bored mask she wore on such occasions, but a smile made it to her face first.

“It was fun. When we finally put it all together, it sounded amazing. I've never done that before. It was cool.”

“I've always been on the piano bench and not in the choir, but to me it's a tiny foretaste of what heaven's going to be like. Just countless voices raised in praise.” She smiled at Lainie and pulled into the drive. “And you, sweet girl, have the voice of an angel.”

Elizabeth led the way into the house, still humming. “Let's have a glass of tea.”

“You're sure in a good mood. You really miss this, don't you?”

“I guess I do, but I know these old fingers can't keep up like they used to. It's time for someone else to take over. It's nice to help out once in a while, though. But the reason I'm singing is Steven! I just can't stop praising God. Why don't we take this tea out on the porch.”

“Steven?”

“Oh, my goodness, I forgot you weren't in prayer meeting. Steven's coming home. He should be here by Thanksgiving. And if that's not a reason to give some thanks, I can't think of one.” Even in the dim light of the porch, Lainie could see the tears sparkling in Elizabeth's eyes. “I've just prayed nonstop since the day he left, and of course the rascal hardly ever called or wrote, so I just had to count on no news being good news. Every now and then, he'd write to Ray on the email and Ray would make a me copy, but I never did learn to use those computers, so I'd just have to wait till Ray would tell me something.”

“So Steven will take over the High Lonesome, and Ray . . . ? I guess he'll leave, right?”

Elizabeth set her glass down on the table with a little thump. “If you ask me, and nobody does, more's the pity, both those boys can find something better to do with their lives than run a honky-tonk. Not one good thing's ever come from there. And a whole lot of hurt just pours through those doors.”

“Hey, don't feel like you have to hold back. Tell me what you really think.”

The rocking chair slowed a bit. “Well, you just pushed one of my buttons. Last Chance got along just fine for years without a bar, and I've just never gotten over the fact that it was my own son-in-law who brought one in. I thought I'd never be able to lift my head again.”

“But won't it be nice to have Steven back in town? I mean, what else is there to do here?”

“Well, if the only choices were selling spirits or going hungry, some folks would just as soon go hungry. But fortunately, Steven's got a few other options. There's the ranch, for one. Joe Jr. is always looking for reliable hands.”

“Oh, that's sounds exciting. He'll probably jump at that.”

“Now you're just pecking at me to see if you can ruffle my feathers. Well, not tonight, Miss Lainie. My boy is safe and he's coming home, and that's all that matters to me. The Lord has taken care of him this far, and he doesn't need me, or you either, to figure out what comes next. Now I'm going inside.
Matlock
is fixing to come on. You need another glass of tea?”

Lainie shook her head. “I'm good. I'll just stay outside a while. It's been a long day.”

“Is that Ben? I wonder what he wants.” Elizabeth stood with her hand on the latch as the patrol car came to a stop at her gate and Ben Apodaca got out and ambled up the walk.

“Evening, ladies.”

“Evening, Ben. Come sit down. Can I get you a glass of tea?”

“No thanks, I'm not staying.” He tipped his hat back and looked at Lainie. “I assume you had a good talk with Elizabeth.”

Lainie nodded, afraid to trust her voice.

“Good. Well, I just stopped by to tell you your story held up.”

“Well, of course it held up, Ben. Lainie didn't track you down in the middle of the night to lie to you.”

“Be that as it may, I thought you'd like to know that those guys you told me about are all in custody.”

“Even Nick?”

“Nick's in the hospital. I guess he got messed up pretty bad when those drugs went missing. But they're keeping tabs on him, and he's sure not going anywhere for a while. Just thought you'd like to know.”

“Thank you, Ben. We appreciate it.” Elizabeth had to speak for her, because Lainie couldn't say a word. Her face was in her hands, and wrenching sobs wracked her body.

Russ held his cup up for a refill when Lainie brought the coffeepot over during breakfast the next morning. “Didn't know you could sing, girl. We need to see you up there in the choir.”

Juanita cleared her throat and tried to catch Russ's eye. But if he remained oblivious to Juanita's telepathic message, Lainie caught every word.
Over my dead body
. She poured Juanita's cup. “Well, it was a lot of fun, but I don't know about joining.”

“We don't want to rush Lainie into anything, Russ. You know what a commitment that choir takes. And besides, as far as we know, she's not even a . . .” Juanita's voice trailed off.

“Not even a what, Juanita?” Russ's voice took on its usual
irascibility. “We're not asking Lainie to lead the women's missionary society or teach junior high Sunday school. We just get up there and make a joyful noise. Why shouldn't Lainie join us?”

“Well, it may be just noise to you, Russ Sheppard, but it's a ministry to the rest of us. And anyone who joins us needs to have their heart right before they set foot in that choir loft.” She turned to Lainie and bared her teeth in a smile that never reached her eyes. “I'm sure you understand that, don't you, Lainie? It's not that you don't have a lovely voice, because you do. It's just that, well, you need to really be able to live out what you sing. Otherwise it's just a performance. I'm sure you understand that, don't you?”

“Sure. I understand perfectly. I just sang last night because Elizabeth talked me into it. It was fun, but I don't need anyone checking me out all the time to see if I'm good enough. So don't worry about it, okay? Now, do you need anything else, or should I bring the check?”

As Lainie returned the coffeepot to its stand, she heard Russ's muttered, “Well, that was real nice, Juanita.”