Hud slung his toolbox over into the back of the truck, and then opened the door for Rose. Dammit! She could have at least fallen on the wet grass and fallen right into his arms, but oh, no, she could only be a klutz when there was a bucket of nasty water behind her.
Just as he’d said, it was only a short distance to the restaurant. She felt like a queen when he opened the truck door for her again. He held out his hand to help her out of her seat. She put hers in it, slid out of the truck, and wondered if everyone in the parking lot could feel the hot vibes that she did. When he held the door of the restaurant for her, she was met with the aroma of garlic, tomatoes, and all those flavors she’d come to love when she was stationed in Rome for a year.
“I love food,” Rose said as she followed the waiter to a booth. “And Italian is right at the top of my favorite five.”
“The other four?” Hud helped her remove her jacket.
“Oh, they change daily, maybe hourly, depending on how hungry I am.” She smiled. “But Italian is always, always on the list. What about you, Hud? What’s your favorite?”
“Probably my granny’s fried chicken,” he said.
“My mama made wonderful fried chicken.” Rose slid into her side of the booth.
“I never did get to meet your parents,” he said.
“Consider yourself lucky.” She managed a weak smile.
“How’s that?”
“You would probably like my mama, but my dad, not so much. He’s controlling, and his opinion is the only one that matters,” she answered.
“I’ve known folks like that,” he said.
“Knowin’ them and livin’ with them are two different things.” She picked up the menu. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen a menu in English.”
“Oh?” Hud raised an eyebrow. “So you speak Italian?”
“Among others,” she said. “I’ve been in the military ever since I graduated from high school.”
Hud cocked his head to one side and grinned. “So you know lots of languages, then? What do you speak in Kentucky?”
“Redneck,” she laughed.
“Do your languages stay with you or do you forget it all when you come back home and speak English and Redneck?” Hud asked.
The waitress appeared at her elbow and handed both of them a menu. “While you’re deciding, could I get you something to drink?”
“Do you have Coors?” Rose asked.
“Tap, can, or longneck bottle?” the waitress asked.
“Longneck,” Rose answered.
“Your usual?” She turned and smiled at Hud.
“Yes, thank you, Kylie,” Hud said. “Coors on tap, and I’ll have my usual lasagna, too.”
“I want the taster’s delight.” Rose handed the menu back to Kylie. “In addition to being a little on the clumsy side at times, I never can make up my mind when it comes to food, so I love it when they offer a choice that has a sampling of several different things.”
“Sounds like you’ve had a pretty interesting life,” Hud said.
She shook her head. “I always wanted to travel, to see what was outside the commune. I got a little more than two years, but it was just a taste of what I really wanted,” she answered. “Daddy said that a woman’s place was to be a wife and mother, and he hated the time we were away from the commune. You should’ve seen his face when I hitched a ride to town and joined the army on my eighteenth birthday.”
She didn’t even have to close her eyes to see the hard look on her daddy’s face when she told him what she’d done. First of all he screamed at her for leaving the commune without his permission, and then he followed that up by saying that she’d join the military over his dead body.
The twinkle in her mother’s eye and the very slight smile on her face let Rose know that she disagreed with every word, and later she’d come into Rose’s bedroom to tell her that she was proud of her. “You are living the dream I didn’t have the courage to do.” Her mom had hugged her tightly.
“It’s hard to picture you in the army. How did you ever learn to take orders? I remember you being pretty independent,” Hud said.
“It’s been my life for the past ten years.” She shrugged. “I’m on a six-week leave, and after that I’ll make up my mind whether I want to reenlist for another hitch.”
“Do you want to be in the military? Is that where your heart is?” he asked.
“Right now I’m not sure I can trust my heart,” she answered.
“Why’s that?”
“It’s complicated. Let’s just leave it at that for now,” she replied.
“How much more time until you have to make up your mind?” Hud asked.
“A little less than a month. Sometime around Valentine’s Day is when I need to let them know,” she replied.
“Have you heard from Molly?” Hud asked.
“She and her friends are in France for a week, then Spain this week, and London next week. I’m a little bit mad at her. All those years I was stationed abroad, and I couldn’t sweet-talk her into coming to spend time with me.”
Kylie brought their food and set it in front of them. “Enjoy, and if you need anything, just holler.”
“Thank you,” Hud said and turned his attention back to Rose. “So where did they station you first?”
“London,” she answered.
“Did your dad forgive you when you came home for a visit?” Hud asked between bites.
“Nope,” she answered. “Every time I got back to the States, I’d go spend a day or two with Mama, and put up with Daddy still giving me the silent treatment, and then I’d come to Bowie and stay with Aunt Molly the rest of the time.”
“If you don’t reenlist, where are you going to settle down?” he asked.
She shrugged. “Who knows? Probably wherever I can find a job, and my only skill is knowing languages. Not much call for that in north Texas.”
When they finished their meal and he’d paid the bill, he drove her back to the Rose Garden. She was so busy looking at everything that she didn’t see the woman on the porch until he pointed.
“Looks like you’ve got a guest,” he said.
The woman had purple hair. Part of it had been braided into small ropes complete with multicolored beads and hung over her shoulders to her waist. The back half was pulled up in a ponytail with a pink and orange paisley scarf tied around it. Rose might not have been shocked to see a teenager with hair like that, but this woman was at least eighty and had plenty of wrinkles to prove it.
Hud parked the truck, and the woman stood up and waved. That was the first time Rose noticed the suitcase that her floral, flowing skirt had covered when she was sitting down.
“Think we should call the police?” Hud whispered.
“Is that you, Cactus Rose?” the old woman yelled out. “Molly told me you might be coming to visit. Come on up here and let me in the house. I’m tired. That last ride I hitched was with a truck driver, and riding in his vehicle damn near broke my back.”
Rose waved. “Is that you, Aunt Luna?” She could hardly believe that her great-aunt Molly’s only living sister was right there in front of her.
“In the flesh, darlin’,” she hollered across the yard.
Rose whipped her phone out of her hip pocket and hit the speed dial for her great-aunt. Thank God, Molly answered on the first ring.
“Aunt Molly, Aunt Luna is on the front porch,” Rose said.
“Good God Almighty!” Molly said. “Does she have her hair dyed some gawd-awful color?”
“Yep,” Rose said.
Molly sighed. “Give her a room. She never stays more than a week. She and Wilbur have a big fight about every five years, and she comes to my place for a week until they both cool off.”
“Wilbur?” Rose asked.
“That’s her common-law husband. They’ve been together for years. He knows where to call when he gets tired of being a jackass. Soon as he calls she’ll get on a bus and go back to Alabama.”
“I’d forgotten about her bein’ part of the family,” Rose said.
“Honey, she don’t even keep in touch except to come see me when Wilbur makes her mad. Bye now,” Molly said and ended the call.
“You know that woman, then?” Hud asked.
“She’s my great-aunt who hardly ever comes around,” Rose said.
Luna had started down the sidewalk leading up to the porch. The wind blew her billowing skirt away from her tall, lanky frame. A red sweatshirt with an image of Rudolph on the front showed beneath a long, black trench coat that billowed out to the sides.
Hud got out of the truck and rushed around to open the door for Rose. She opened her mouth to tell him to take her to the nearest recruiting office, but Luna was coming full force by then with her arms outstretched for a hug. There was nothing to do but get out and hug the woman.
Aunt Luna went right past her and grabbed Hud in a bear hug. “I haven’t seen Cactus Rose since she was just a little girl. I named her. Her mama, Echo, couldn’t decide on a name. I told her that I’d always wanted a child, and since I couldn’t have one, I should get to name the first one in the new generation.”
“I dropped the Cactus part years ago. I just go by Rose now,” Rose told her.
“Too bad. It’s such a beautiful name,” Luna said. “I hope you’re not like your daddy. Never did like that man. He reminded me of Wilbur, and there’s times when I could shoot that sumbitch. Now come give me a hug and help get me settled into my room.”
“It was real nice to meet you, Miz Luna”—Hud tipped his hat toward her—“but you ladies need to get in out of the cold. Can I help with your baggage before I get going?”
“Naw, honey, we can get that suitcase.” Luna looped her arm in Rose’s. “Besides, us girls has got some catchin’ up to do.”
Rose glanced over her shoulder to see Hud practically jogging back to his truck. There went any possibility of Hud coming back around again. The old gal might be harmless, but she looked like she ate roadkill for breakfast. Rose hoped the sumbitch Wilbur decided to come take her home—wherever the hell that was—before a whole week ended.