Page 24 of The Party Line

“How ’bout you pay for lunch tomorrow at Annie’s and we’ll call it even?” I suggested.

He settled back down into his chair, and I could almost hear his bones squeaking like the hinges on the back door. “It’s a deal, but you could be getting the short end of it.”

“I doubt it because I’m going to order dessert, too,” I teased as I carried the box across the yard. “You open the box, and I’ll help put the new collar on her.”

“Sassy!” Jasper called out, and the dog came running across the yard. “Your Christmas present has arrived early.”

“It’s March,” Connor chuckled. “I think the present has come late.”

“Shhh ...” Jasper scolded. “Sassy don’t know much about holidays just yet, so she’ll believe whatever I tell her.” He opened the box and grinned. “You done good. The collar matches her eyes, and the leash is one of them good ones that gives her room.”

Sassy stopped at his feet and looked up at him with big blue eyes. Her tail thumped against the wood porch boards while he removed the old collar from around her neck.

“I can put the new one on,” Jasper declared. “That way she’ll know it’s really from me.”

“Okay, then,” I said. “Connor and I are going out to take down the strawberry stand.”

“I’m going to take it down, and Lila is going to keep me company,” Connor said.

I propped my hands on my hips and glared at him. “I can and will help. That’s what friends do.”

“Y’all remind me of me and Gracie when we joked around,” Jasper said as he finished buckling the collar around Sassy’s neck.

“Did you ever flirt with her?” I gave Connor a dirty look and then focused on Jasper.

“Yep, I did,” Jasper chuckled. “When I got home from the army, I tried my best lines on her. She let me know right quick that we were best friends and would never be anything more.”

“Because she had feelings for Davis and he was gone?” I asked.

Jasper’s bony finger shot up and moved so fast that it was nothing but a blur. “I’m old, Delilah Grace, but I’m not stupid. You are fishing, but today the fish ain’t bitin’. Now, look at how pretty Sassy looks with her new collar. Thank you for getting these things for her.”

“You are welcome.”

Connor laid a hand on my shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Come on, woman, we’re burnin’ daylight. I have to be in San Antonio by five this evening.”

I brushed his hand away and tried to give him another dose of evil eye, but I giggled. “Two things: don’t steal my lines, and don’t call mewoman.”

He started to salute, but I grabbed his arm. “And one more thing ...”

“And that is?” he asked with a big grin.

“Don’t salute me. You’re not in that world anymore.”

“Yes, ma’am!” he said with a nod and a bit of sarcasm.

Jasper slapped his thigh, threw back his head, and laughed. “Thank y’all for reminding me of Gracie today.”

“Anything we can do to make your day,” I said. “You want to go to Mama’s house with me this afternoon? You haven’t been off the place all week.”

“We’ll go to church tomorrow, get us a big old juicy burger from Annie’s, and visit Davis and Gracie after that. That’s enough getting out for this old man this week. Besides, Sassy would miss me real bad if I left right after she got her new collar,” Jasper said. “But we will test out her leash and come out to watch y’all tear down the strawberry stand. I always hate to see the season end. I only see some of the folks once or twice a year if they don’t go to my church.”

He chuckled again when he bent forward and snapped the new leash to Sassy’s new collar. “Davis and Gracie bantered more than me and her. Their eyes would sparkle when they were arguing. I miss that so much, even after all these years. The only ones who put fire in her eyes after he died was you and Sarah, but it was a different kind of twinkle.”

“Tell me a story about something they argued over,” I said.

Jasper smiled, but I saw the haunted look in his eyes.

“Another time, maybe, if I don’t forget by then.” His voice quivered and he cleared his throat. “Sassy wants to go for a walk right now.”

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