Page 25 of Shine On Oklahoma

And then another woman, a sunshine blonde,came trotting along the sidewalk with a big pink and white stripedcardboard box.

“That’s Sunny Cantrell,” Allie said when thewalking ray of sunshine got close enough.

“From the bakery, right?” Kendra asked.

Sunny nodded. “Nice to meet you, Kendra.”

“Sunny’s doing baby shower cupcakes,” VidaliaBrand said. Then, “There’s food in the truck girls.”

Kendra got swept into the tide of grown womenscurrying to obey the alpha, while Vidalia unlocked the saloon tolet them all in. Soon she was carrying a covered Tupperware platterand heading into the dim interior of the OK Corral. It was a muchmore downscale bar than The Long Branch, obviously meant for thelocals, not the tourists. Rich wood tones were everywhere, from thebar to the racks behind it, to the woodwork to the flooring. Therewere tables and booths, a kitchen in the back for bar food, andwagon wheel light fixtures lining the ceiling.

Vidalia removed the chairs from on top of abig round table and gave it a wipe down. Then they unloaded thefood and Kendra sniffed the air. “Am I dreaming or do I alreadysmell coffee?”

“I set the auto-timer,” Vidalia said. “Shouldbe fresh and ready.” The others had scattered, returning quicklywith plates, silverware, cream and sugar, and blessedly largecoffee mugs. And then they sat around that table and dug in.Vidalia moved around them, pouring their mugs full before sittingdown herself.

Kendra sat there a second. “I did not expecta full-blown breakfast.”

“This family’s big on food,” Doc Sophie said.“They’re all gonna be on cholesterol meds by sixty.”

“Fortunately, I don’t believe in age,”Vidalia said. “Or prescriptions.” She speared a sausage link withher fork. All the food was piping hot and abundant, including thegooey cinnamon buns Sunny had brought from the bakery.

The chit-chat was friendly, but minimal for awhile, because they were all too busy eating to talk.

“So,” Emily began when the eating had begunto wind down. “I made you a copy of everything we’ve agreed on sofar.” She handed a folder across the table. It had printed pageswith holes punched. Wow. Efficient. “That doesn’t mean any of it iscarved in stone. You’re running the show now, Kendra.”

Vidalia got up and started clearing plates,and when Emily rose to help, she held out a hand. “No, no, youplan. This won’t take a minute.” She was as good as her promise,whisking away everything but the coffee mugs and returning with afresh pot to refill them.

“Yeah, well…to be honest I’ve never doneanything like this before, so I’m sure whatever you’ve got startedis fine.” Kendra was running her fingertip down a bulletedlist:

Date: November 20th

Time: 3 PM

Place: The Long Branch dining room

Catering: Chef Ned

Cake: Sunny (cupcakes)

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