“You meanKnox’snew neighbor, don’t you?” Lottie asked.
Bo’s green eyes flashed when she looked up at Lottie. “I said what I meant.”
“What makes you think that?” Lottie asked.
“Knox looks happier than I’ve ever seen him. Kind of reminds me of the way Tripp changed when he met Willa Rose. And you did catch the bouquet at the wedding.”
“And Knox caught the garter. That sealed it all!” Bernie pumped her fist into the air. “And I get the credit.”
“When are you going to retire from matchmaking?” Lottie steered the conversation away from herself.
“On my ninetieth birthday, I will hang up my matchmaking hat and pass the job onto whoever wants it or close down my business,” Bernie answered. “If this works between you and Knox, then I have completed my major goal.”
“Tell Lottie about your first match while I go to thesupply room and get the bowls for peanuts, pretzels, and chocolate kisses,” Bo said.
“You mean between Clara and Nash? That was before I retired from the bar business and moved down here to Texas,” Bernie said.
“I’d love to hear about it,” Lottie said. “We’ve got the tables ready, so we have a few minutes to visit. Who is Clara?”
“That would be my grand-niece. She and Nash and Hershal, who was an old flame of mine, walked into my bar one night.”
“Is this a joke?” Lottie asked.
Bernie raised her right hand. “I swear to God it’s a true story, and honey, at my age, I don’t take such things lightly. Clara was weeping. Hershal had one of them round fish bowls in one hand and a Chihuahua in the other, and Nash—well, if I’d been forty years younger, Clara wouldn’t have had a chance. When everything was settled, I sold half my bar to Nash and gave the other half to Clara. Evidently, the heat was pretty hot between them because the bar burned to the ground a few months later. They’re married now and living up in the northern part of the state.”
“I’m glad the Chicken Coop was still around when my folks were living in that area,” Lottie said.
“Y’all ain’t foolin’ me one bit.” Bernie shook a finger at her. “You are keeping me talking, but I been keepin’ an eye on those two guys. They’re not getting that garland and lights up perfectly. But the senior citizens all probably wear trifocals anyway, so they won’t notice.”
“Nothing got past you at your bar, and I can see that you haven’t lost your bluff one bit since you moved to Spanish Fort,” Lottie said.
“Don’t you ever forget it,” Bernie said with a wide grin that deepened the wrinkles around her mouth. “Let’s go help Bo put out the snacks. It’s only ten minutes until we open the doors. I’ll tell all my matchmaking stories with the family another time.”
Lottie stood up and followed Bernie to the bar. “I’ll hold you to that.”
“Thank you for getting her out of that mood,” Bo whispered and handed Lottie a bag of Hershey’s Kisses. “These go in the red bowls. Pretzels in the pink ones, and peanuts in the white.”
“I didn’t do a good job. She figured out what I was doing and will probably blame Knox and Maverick for not doing a perfect job since we distracted her,” Lottie said out of the corner of her mouth.
“You are probably right,” Bo said, “but for the record, whether she really was the matchmaker that got you and Knox together or not, I’m glad that it is happening.”
“Thank you,” Lottie murmured and sent up a silent prayer that the relationship didn’t die in its sleep while she was in El Paso.
Lottie had never seen so many elderly folks come through the door and hit the floor to two-step to “Livin’ on Love” by Alan Jackson. They looked like they had just stepped out of a western wear store in their fancy boots, jeans, and hats.And for the next hour, they didn’t slow down, not even a little bit. She even wondered if they had a secret pill in their medicine cabinet that gave them more energy than that little pink bunny had on television commercials, because they were still crowding the dance floor six songs later.
“If that’s the case, I wonder where they compound the little buggers and if they’ll sell me a few,” she muttered as she carried another tray with half a dozen red plastic cups filled with beer across the room.
“What was that?” Knox asked when he passed her.
She told him her idea about the pills, and he chuckled. “Darlin’, at their age, they save up all their energy for good times like this. We have to use ours to frame out cabins.”
“And other more important things,” she said and wondered where the awkward Lottie went, but not for long. She liked this new person in her body a lot better than the old model.
Knox leaned in and whispered for her ears only. “Hang on to that thought for when this gig is over, and we can go back to our castle in the woods.”
“I don’t feel much like a queen right now,” she told him.
“And I feel more like a stable boy than a king, but when we get home this evening, all that can and will change.” He held up a roll of quarters. “My new orders are to put more money in the jukebox. Got any requests?”
