hour later, Shannon pulled into the gravel parking lot of the City Limits, a big metal building on Highway 12 east of Rainbow Valley. According to the moveable sign out front, White Lightning was playing that night. Whenever they didn’t have a real gig in Austin or Houston, they played at the City Limits for a few bucks and all the Bud they could drink.
Shannon pulled her truck in between a beat-up Chevy minivan and a spit-polished Ford pickup. She got out and walked through the parking lot by the light of the red and blue neon sign. When she opened the door, she found the place already packed. The band wasn’t playing yet, but the jukebox was blasting.
Les Parker had opened the bar in 1964 at a time when Rainbow Valley liquor laws prohibited him from running his business in town. Much to the dismay of the upright, uptight citizens who supported those laws, he thumbed his nose at them by establishing his business approximately six inches outside the city limits. Its current owner, Terri Vaughn, kept the kind of décor and attitude Les Parker would have been proud of, which included neon beer signs, an ancient jukebox, a pair of scuffed-up pool tables, and a gigantic stuffed javelina standing guard by the front door.
Then times got tough, and Terri recognized the limitations of catering only to locals. She toned the place down to attract tourists, with fruity drink specials, flavored margaritas, and a cutesy menu, but it seemed to Shannon that Terri was always more comfortable serving sinners than saints. Every once in a while one of those sinners stepped out of line, but Terri had a baseball bat behind the bar and zero tolerance for bad behavior.
Shannon passed the stuffed javelina and approached the bar. Terri was behind it, drawing a couple of frozen margaritas from the slush machine. Tonight she’d pulled her long, bleach-blond hair into a loose ponytail at the nape of her neck, letting it fall in a curly mass down her back. She filled out her Levis and tank top in a way that got the attention of most men, but as soon as their heads turned, she gave them a glare that told them they’d do well to look someplace else. Unfortunately, that tended to limit her dating opportunities. But Shannon liked any woman who was tough as nails and took no crap, who made her own rules and stuck by them.
Part of the behavior Terri expected of her customers involved her beagle, Rufus. The sign over his doggy bed near the bar made it clear what they were not to do:
Do not feed the dog.
No matter how much he begs.
Those who ignore this warning will be shot.
On her way to the barstool Eve had saved for her, Shannon took a detour to say hi to Rufus. He lifted his graying muzzle, sniffed her hand, then gave her a doggy smile as she scratched him behind his ears.
“How’s he doing?” she asked Terri.
“Doesn’t much like his shots,” Terri said as she slapped the margaritas on the bar for Shonda to take to customers. “Not crazy about his diabetic dog food, either. But he tolerates it. As long as I can keep people from sneaking him French fries, he’s going to be just fine.”
Shannon gave Rufus one last pat on the head before sliding onto the barstool beside her sister. Eve already had a margarita in front of her, and Terri immediately set one in front of Shannon. Shannon leaned in and took a long drink from the straw, closing her eyes ecstatically. Nothing was better than a big, tart, slushy, salty Texas margarita.
A few minutes later, Cynthia showed up. She wore a denim skirt, a pair of boots, and a straw hat over her short, dark hair. Miraculously, a margarita also appeared in front of her.
They chatted about nothing for several minutes, and then Cynthia said, “Dr. Morgensen told me he decided to sponsor the petting zoo at the festival.”
“Yeah,” Shannon said. “It means a lot to the shelter.”
“Forget the shelter, Shannon,” Eve said. “He’s thinking it means a lot to you.”
“So exactly how serious are you two?” Terri asked.
“Pretty darned serious,” Eve said. “After all, they’re getting married.”
Shannon rolled her eyes at the same time Cynthia’s eyebrows flew up. “You’re getting married?”
“No!” Shannon said. “God, no. Eve’s just causing trouble again. I’m not even thinking about getting married.”
“Fine,” Eve said. “Break your mother’s heart.”
Shannon sighed. “Can’t a man and a woman