Be My Texas Valentine by Jodi Thomas

Author:Jodi Thomas
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.
Published: 2011-11-15T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5

Laurel twisted uncomfortably in her chair, absolutely flabbergasted at Melba Ruth’s statement, which appeared more of a promise than a passing remark. Setting her chin in a stubborn line, Laurel took a deep breath and adjusted her smile, hoping that her friend would realize that she was as determined not to be a part of the women’s social club as Melba Ruth seemed to think she would.

For a two-cent piece, if it wouldn’t be rude, Laurel would say her farewells and head back to town.

Laurel would not—absolutely would not—get involved regardless of how much respect and love she had for the older woman.

Melba Ruth settled back in her chair, picked up her teacup, and took a sip. As if reading Laurel’s mind, she looked over the lip of her cup and raised a questioning eyebrow. She shifted her gaze to the Wilson sisters. “Then what did the men decide to do to raise money?”

The Wilson sisters looked at one another as though if they stared long enough one would give in and answer the question.

“A Valentine’s Day box supper and dance,” said Pearl.

Melba Ruth almost choked on her drink. “A what?”

“A Valentine’s Day—” Pearl repeated, but was interrupted by her sister.

“She heard you the first time, Pearl.”

“There’s no way for the love of Jesus my son would ever go for such an idiotic idea. He’d pay for it out of his own pocket before he’d get involved with a girlie thing like that.” The lines of concentration deepened along her brows. “There’s just no way.”

“There was a lot of talk about how much money the women could make if they held one, so I think he was sincere,” said Pearl, although her sister gave her a look that questioned her sanity.

The women batted the notion around. Suddenly, Laurel had an overwhelming desire to contribute her own observations. Surely it wouldn’t be a sign of her willingness to become permanently involved in their mission ... surely!

“I don’t think he was serious at all,” she said as the others stared at her. “I agree with you, Melba Ruth, there’s no way he’d go along with something like that. I couldn’t hear very much, but by the time he got around to making that part of the announcement, he’d stepped near me at the front door and made it very loud and clear that since he was president of the men’s organization and there was no clear consensus as to what should be done, he’d make the decision. It came straight from the mayor’s mouth. I believe he wants us to think he’s going through with the plans he announced.”

“That makes sense.” Melba Ruth pursed her lips, seemingly in deep thought. “He’s trying to sell us a pile of cow patties and make us think they’re flapjacks. He might be my boy, but he’s as sly as a fox when he wants to be.”

“You mean he knew that we’d come report back to you, and then we’d all jump onto their idea. Then it’d look like we were being underhanded and stole their project.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.