Hotter than Texas (Pecan Creek) - By Tina Leonard Page 0,51
Pecan Creek.
She opened the back door, gasping. “Lucy!”
Her sister turned away from the fridge. “Shit, Sugar, you almost made me bite my tongue.” She chewed on some pound cake she’d snagged from the fridge and hadn’t bothered to put on a plate.
“Where have you been? I’ve been worried about you.” Sugar got on the kitchen stool at the island block, after making certain Paris had plenty of fresh water in her dog bowl.
“I can’t tell you.” Lucy grinned. “But unless you’re sleeping with Jake, I bet I’m having more fun than you are.” She licked her fingers and reached for another sliver of cake. “Although sleeping with Jake is probably one of those oxymoron things. I doubt you could sleep if Jake was in your bed.”
“Tell me where you’ve been. I know very well you didn’t come home last night.”
“Actually, I did, around midnight. You were sleeping like one of those Chinese stone warriors, so I stole Paris for my bed.”
“That’s why she wasn’t in mine when I woke up.”
Lucy nodded. “And I left early this morning.” She pulled a wad of cash from her pocket, handing it to Sugar. “I’m hoping this will help make the rent. What is the rent on this joint, anyway?”
Sugar counted off six hundred dollars. She looked at her sister. “Tell me where you’re getting all this money, or I swear I will drag you down to the ground and tickle you until you wet your pants.”
“Jeez. I just drank a glass of tea.” Lucy shrugged. “You’ll have to clean it up, because I’m not telling. I can’t. I’m sworn to secrecy, but trust me, it’s fun!”
“That comforts me.”
Lucy came around to hug her, laying her head on Sugar’s shoulder. “Aw, big sis. You worry too much. Have you ever stopped to think that I can take care of myself?”
Had she? Could Lucy take care of herself?
“I do worry,” Sugar said, and Lucy said, “No! Tell me something I don’t know,” so Sugar decided it was best to let it all hang out. “Kel’s getting a divorce.”
Frowning, Lucy sat across from Sugar, pushing the pound cake in between them. She cut her sister a slice, and though it wasn’t exactly what Sugar wanted after drinking a vodka shot with Jake, she broke off a chunk. “That’s too bad. I’m sorry to hear that,” Lucy said. “Kel’s a nice man. He’s cute, and he’s crazy about his kids.”
Sugar blinked. “According to the grapevine—”
“Jake,” Lucy filled in.
“Kel,” Sugar said, and Lucy looked up. “According to the grapevine, Kel’s wife has a problem with you.”
Lucy stared at her. “Me?”
Sugar nodded.
“That’s dumb,” Lucy said. “Kel doesn’t like me. Kel and I are friends. I talk to him as much as I talk to Evert and Bobby German.” She shrugged. “She sounds like a dumb broad, or maybe there’s another problem. I wouldn’t give up on such a darling guy just over gossip.” Lucy plowed into some more pound cake, completely unworried. “Go ahead. Taste it. I want your opinion.”
Sugar was so astonished by her sister’s comments that she obeyed. “This is delish. Who made it?”
“Yours truly.” Lucy beamed. “I’ve been getting cooking and baking lessons.”
Sugar put her fork down. “Do you ever think about going to college, Lucy?”
Her sister laughed. “No. Why would I? I served my country. I’m hanging out with you and Mom. I’m not going to waste my life sitting at a desk listening to a prof blab.”
“The thing is, I wonder if you’d be better off around people your own age, or closer, anyway,” Sugar said.
Lucy looked at her. “Sugar, I’ve never been around people my own age. Why would I start now? Frankly, everything I know I’ve learned is from people older than me. I feel like it’s made me wise beyond my years, which, to me, is a good thing.”
That was the problem—Lucy hadn’t really ever been around a friend set common to her years. She’d never had real girlfriends after high school. And now if Kel’s wife was going to have an issue with Lucy, Sugar wondered if Pecan Creek was the best place for her sister. “You could probably go on some kind of assistance. We could look into the GI Bill or whatever is available to us.”
“Yeah. Like the military would have anything nice to say about me. Pretty sure that’s a dead end.” Lucy’s voice was flat. “What’s bugging you? It can’t just be Dumb Debbie.”
“We don’t know that she’s dumb. It’s difficult when one spouse has been