Her friend stood on the other side of the bar at the end of a busy night at The Lucky Horseshoe. After going through her boxes, she’d taken Neil downtown to do some shopping and grab some dinner with the Prentice boys at the bar. Her double bacon cheddar bison burger and spicy tater tots had put her into a happy food coma.
But mostly it was the company.
The bar had the same old feels. The exposed wooden ceiling beams, wide-plank hardwood floors, and the 1964 Rowe jukebox all created a warm, rugged charm. But it was Jolene’s bar rules that never failed to make her feel a sense of pride, in both her friend and the town. Even Neil had commented on them.
They were displayed in Jolene’s crisp no-nonsense handwriting on an old chalkboard her boys had outgrown.
Lay a hand on a woman without her permission?—
I’ll ask you to leave.
Fight with a lady here?—
I’ll call the sheriff.
No weapons inside.
Again, I’ll call the sheriff.
Spit tobacco on my floor?—
I’ll hand you a mop.
If you don’t tip proper,
you’ve earned three years bad luck.
Women came from far and wide on Friday and Saturday nights when Jolene brought in local bands. Beyond the incredible food and music, they felt safe. Jolene said it was her way of continuing what Elena McAllister had begun in Sanctuary Springs.
Women were always safe in her place, and her friend had backed it up more than once. Was it any wonder Jolene Prentice had been her hero and a quasi-older sister? She was as tough as boots with a heart of gold.
And she also snuck Hannah a second helping of her famous tater tots just as Elvis started to croon in the background about a moonlight swim. Part of her knew it was her friend being generous, but the other part was well aware Jolene was keeping her spirits up. For a while there, the whole world had seemed brighter.
Then a run-in with her father, hearing about the lumber troubles, and not fitting into most of her clothes had threatened to take down her earlier good mood. Which was why she expected no one brought up the lumber or that billionaire people suspected was behind it.
Now she was back to smiling, even though Jolene had ordered her boys home to a chorus of groans about there not being any school tomorrow. The Lucky Horseshoe was afamily place until nine p.m., and then the drinks flowed and sawdust got kicked up on the dance floor as couples took a whirl.
She’d taken a spin herself a time or two tonight until Jolene had given the last call and then herded everyone out but them, not wanting the night to end any more than Hannah did.
Sanctuary Springs still felt like home. She’d touched base with more people tonight, many of them praising her healing abilities and asking about that special salve she used on Dylan’s goose egg. Talk about a thrill. The welcome was filling up a part of her heart that had been homesick.
“This has been one of the best nights ever, Jolene. Thank you.”
“You’ve done your part.” Jolene placed another one of her signature huckleberry margaritas in front of her despite the fact that she was cleaning up the bar. “Girl, you were always part fighter, part saint. No trial was ever going to keep you down for long.”
Everyone had told her she’d survived the fever that had killed Sarah because she’d fought like a wildcat. Later, people had commented how it could have made her bitter or depressed like her parents. Maybe they were right.
“Neil, I swear.” Jolene poured herself another glass of tonic. “When one of my boys refused to eat his dinner—a rarity, as you could see tonight when they ate like the pig teenage boys they are—Hannah would sit him down in the chair and stand over him like a mama horse until he ate every bite, being both tough and sweet somehow. Even if it took two hours.”
That only made her think about checking on her little foal patient when she returned to the ranch.
“Aye, I’ve seen that side of her myself,” Neil answered with a knowing grin, sipping his water.
He’d told her he was driving tonight. How many timeshad she described Jolene’s huckleberry margaritas to him? After sampling one earlier, his only drink, he’d agreed it was both unique and memorable.
Of course Jolene had leaned in and joked about how many bears she and the boys had run off when they picked boatloads of the berry every year, much of which she froze to provide the drink year-round. Neil had shown her the bear spray he now carried around in his pocket, saying he had no desire to have a run-in.
Hannah had only laughed. She’d rather a bear than a prairie rattlesnake any day. Flame had almost thrown her one time when they’d come across one. Thoughts of her horse had her frowning before she stopped herself.Don’t think about her right now. Be present. Enjoy yourself. Drink up.
