It was Thanksgiving Day and everyone was sitting on the porch, enjoying the Arizona sunset and feeling almost stuffed from a delicious meal. Almost…but not quite! They were waiting for the apple crisp and pumpkin pudding to come out of the oven. They only had a half hour to go. Kelly was taking a nap, a family tradition after eating a big meal. He told Julia to wake him when the dessert was ready.
As they sat waiting, Matthew said to April, “I can’t wait until the pudding is done. I really love pumpkin pudding. Did you remember whipping cream?”
April placed her hands on her hips and said, “You gave me the recipe and you wrote in bold letters, ‘WHIPPING CREAM.’ How could I forget?”
Julia smiled and said, “Matthew asked me for the recipe so I gave it to him. He said you were going to make it for us. He must really love it.”
April turned to Matthew with astonishment. “You gave me my own mother’s recipe?”
“You bet. It’s my favorite.” Matthew chuckled as he looked at Julia. “I’ve been giving April some recipes. I couldn’t wait for her to try this one.” He kissed April’s cheek and whispered, “Thanks.”
April looked into his eyes and said begrudgingly, with a bit of sassiness, “It’s my pleasure, Matthew. I’ll cook whatever your little heart desires with no complaints!”
“No matter how difficult it is?”
April took a deep breath and said, “No matter how difficult!”
Matthew chuckled while everyone stared at April in disbelief. The twins had been sipping a glass of ice water when they heard April’s statement and almost choked. John had been resting in an outdoor recliner when his eyes popped open and he instantly sat up.
Julia felt her daughter’s forehead and asked, “Are you feeling all right, dear?”
April didn’t reply but Matthew could see they had never expected her to say such a thing.
John couldn’t believe his ears and finally said, “Matthew, how did you get her to say that? Tell me your secret. I need to know.”
“Uhm…” He cleared his throat. “I have her well trained…” When April slugged him, he laughed. “Oops! I guess I don’t, huh?”
John leaned over and said, “There’s one thing you need to know about my daughter, if you don’t already. April hates to be bossed around and told what to do and how many times to do it. If you get too bossy, she just might do the opposite. As my Grandpa used to say about Grandma, she’s a real bearcat.”
“Bearcat?” asked Matthew. “What’s that?”
“It means a fiery woman.” John glanced at his wife. “April takes after her mother.”
Julia smiled but didn’t say a word. She knew it was true. Why deny it?
April grinned and then changed the subject. “I’m confused about a few things that happened here, Dad.”
“What things?” asked John.
“First, did Hal put up the website and defame his own name?”
“He sure did. He thought it was worth it. Then he’d be rich, could buy his own diner, and disprove what had been written.”
Sharlene creased her brow and asked, “Why did Tony volunteer to check out the sinkholes rather than have Billy check it out since he had already volunteered?”
“He was curious when Kelly mentioned sinkholes. He wondered why no one had told him about it, especially when he mentioned there was a boarded up area. He knew he hadn’t done it.”
“So did Billy create all the disasters?”
“No.” John leaned back on the recliner and shook his head. “At the interrogation, he admitted to helping Hal board up the area and make the sign. He was also responsible for cutting down the fence. Then he stashed the wire cutters in Tony’s drawer. But that was all.”
“So who poisoned the water?” asked Julia.
“That was Hal.”
“But he was on vacation.”
“He came home a day early and poisoned the pond while everyone was in church.” John’s face became somber as he looked at his wife. “By the way…about the burr. Billy wanted me to tell you that he didn’t mean any harm. When Kelly told him that we were going for a ride to check out the ranch and pastureland, he was worried we would find the boxed in area and report it to Kelly. He was hoping we might come back home early if the mare acted skittish.”
“Ha!” said Sharlene in a mocking tone. “He didn’t mean any harm? He was going to shoot Tony. Remember? They had better put him in jail and throw away the key.”
Silence reined for a few moments until Matthew finally asked, “How about the fake Thunder God?”
John chuckled. “That part was quite ingenious, if you ask me. A friend owed Hal a favor, so he posed as an Indian spirit. Appearing just at sunset gave a certain mystical feeling because you couldn’t quite see him with the sun at his back. When it was time to disappear, he would toss a smoke bomb on the ground. After it filled the air, he just backed his horse between the boulders and disappeared out of sight. Then Billy reinforced it by telling everyone that he saw the Thunder God. Everything was so spooky that the men began to believe it. After Hal burned down the barn, the young man was scared and wanted out.”
Julia pursed her lips in thought and then asked, “How did he know I would be on the hilltop? He was ready in his regalia and everything.”
John had accompanied Kelly to listen to the confessions of the men at the jailhouse and had learned a few things that Julia didn’t know. “I guess I forgot to tell you. He was about to make his weekly appearance when you told Billy to saddle up the mare. Billy quickly phoned him on his cell and warned him to keep out of sight until you came back to the ranch. Apparently, your challenge was what made him come out and show himself.”
“What challenge?” asked Matthew.
John grinned. “Well, it seems my feisty wife called him a coward. The young man said, ‘No one calls me a coward. Especially a woman!’”
Matthew snickered. Then his shoulders began to bounce. Julia sat looking at her daughters with an innocent smile, gave a shrug, and said nothing. When John joined in with his son-in-law, it didn’t take long before everyone was laughing.
When the laughter finally died down, Julia said, “If you’re done making fun of me, I have a question.”
“Sorry, Julia,” said John. “What is it?”
“So what made Hal think about using a Thunder God to scare everyone?”
“Because of the terrible thunder storm right after Kelly had taken some men to Weaver’s Needle. That gave Hal the idea of using the anger of the Thunder God against him.”
Faith laughed. “Yeah, sure! Who would believe such a thing?”
“Well, it spooked the ranch hands and that was all he needed.”
Noticing an envelope on Sharlene’s lap, Faith asked, “What’s that?”
Sharlene grinned. “Oh, it’s just a goodbye note from Tony. Since he couldn’t make it for Thanksgiving, he asked Uncle Kelly to give it to me.”
“From Tony,” giggled Faith. “Oo-la-la!”
Sharlene laughed.
“So what did he say?”
“I don’t know. He just gave it to me before we came outside. I haven’t had a chance to read it, yet.”
“Well? Open it. How did he sign it?” said Faith with a knowing smile.
“I’m not opening it in front of everybody,” Sharlene said with laughter in her voice. “No way!”
“Yours Truly…” sighed Faith. “No! With fond memories of our last evening together…” She giggled. “No, that’s not it! With my deepest and undying love.”
Sharlene slugged her in the arm and Faith burst into laughter.
While the girls were giggling over the letter, April turned to her mother and said, “I’m so glad Uncle Kelly was able to keep his ranch. It would have been terrible to lose everything!”
Julia shook her head. “No, he wouldn’t have lost everything. We’d still have one another. Monetary things aren’t as valuable as love and family.”
She looked at her husband and something passed between them.
“That’s right,” said John as he smiled. “‘To love, and to be loved, is the greatest happiness of existence.’ If we lost everything we owned but still had one another, that’s all that matters.”
Matthew looked at April and nodded his agreement. She was his eternal soul mate, his wife and companion. He took April’s hand and said, “Happiness is what you make of your life, and then sharing it with someone you’re crazy about.”
Everyone was silent as they watched the beautiful pink sunset disappear behind the mountains. John reached for Julia’s hand and squeezed it lovingly, giving her the silent message of adoring love.