AllFreeNovel
Share Us
In ways he’d probably never fully know, Tex had saved Nora’s music, for which she’d be forever grateful.
He was the oldest and wisest of their bunch. In his fifty-two years, he’d managed to find and keep the best woman he’d ever met, give her three children, and teach those children to raise a few of their own. He lived a simple life, but that’s how he preferred it, and anyone could see why. Gruff as he was, his skin weathered and wrinkled with all his years working out in the sun, his sandy brown beard full of gray strands, and the laugh lines framing his eyes so deep you saw them even when he wasn’t smiling—his bright blue eyes spoke of a contentment few men ever found.
Those blue eyes lit up when he turned to look over his shoulder at the sound of bodies shuffling through the shed’s rickety door.
“’bout damn time you showed up.”
Before Nora could even so much as roll her eyes at his comment, Evie found her way to the front of the group, pressed her hands against her ears and insisted, “Little ears, Uncle Tex!”
This made everyone laugh, especially Tex, who slid off his work stool and headed straight for the little girl. She grinned when he scooped her up against his chest, dropping her hands to wrap her arms around his neck.
“Like mama, like daughter,” he teased.
“I don’t call her mini-me for nothin’,” replied Nora with a wink. “And we’re here now. Feel like playin’?”
“Is my name Tex Monroe?”
“Then put my kid down and grab your bass, old man. I’ve got a new song to teach you.”
They played until the sun went down, the time flying by as quickly as it always did when they lost themselves in the music. It had been a while since Nora had found herself in church on any sort of regular cadence, but the time she spent with Tex, Ford, and Taylor in that shed brought with it a spiritual satisfaction Nora never tried to explain. Tired as she was, the weekend coming to a close, she felt rejuvenated as she helped Evie buckle herself into her booster seat.
Her phone vibrated from inside of her back pocket, and she sighed as she straightened and extracted the device. It wasn’t the first or the third time it had buzzed in the last couple of hours. When she looked at the screen and sawEarlenewas trying to reach her—yet again—she braced herself and surrendered to the call.
“Yeah, mom,” she said in greeting, shutting the back passenger door.
“Well, it’s about damn time you answered the damned phone.”
Nora-Jean ignored the comment as she made her way to the driver’s seat. “Did you need somethin’?”
“That’s how you’re gonna speak to your mama, huh? No hello. No how you doin’.”
Sinking into her seat, Nora forced in a deep breath and blew it out slowly, her eyes closed as she willed herself to remain patient. The last thing she wanted was a fight. Fighting with Earlene had never gotten her anywhere anyway.
“I’m busy. I don’t have time for a chat. Do you need somethin’ or not?”
There was a pause on the other end of the line. Nora lifted her right shoulder, using it to keep the phone pressed against her ear as she started her vehicle.
“Mom,” she prompted, impatience creeping into her tone.
“I need to borrow some money.”
Nora pursed her lips together in frustration. Earlene Perkins rarely called her daughter. When she did, she usually needed one of three things. Money. A ride. Or both.
“Did they cut your shifts or somethin’?”
For as long as Nora had been alive, Earlene had been a waitress at one establishment or another. Never once did she aspire to be more, no matter how tight money was. She got by on tips and, if she was lucky, the generosity of whatever man she invited into her bed.
“Look, I just need a little. I’ve got five shifts this week, but I’m bone-dry right now.”
Nora shook her head at her mother’s avoidance of the question then tried again.
“What happened?”
Earlene scoffed, perturbed by the inquisition—but they both knew Nora wasn’t going to give her mother a dime without an explanation as to why she needed it. While she’d never been into hard drugs, she was a regular at the liquor store. And yet, alcohol had never been her biggest vice.
“It was Robert, okay? We fuckin’ split, and the bastard took every bit of money I had stashed away.”
And there it was.
