Page 8 of Shine On Oklahoma

They walked through, then out the other endand back around to the smaller barn, which had been completelyconverted, too. One part was sectioned off, and had a counter witha cash register. It was lined in pegged wallboards, every inchcovered in items for sale. There were spinning racks and displayshelves of all sorts. The merchandise changed with the seasons andranged widely in value. In the summer, there’d been sparklers andfull-sized flags and kits to hang them. Up to a couple of weeksago, there’d been Jack-o-lantern carving kits with fancy patterns,all sorts of Halloween decorations, and a rack of costumes ten feetlong. But Halloween had passed, and now the shop was filled withwreaths of orange and yellow maple leaves, and cornucopia shells,some filled to overflowing and some empty so you could fill themyourself. Lots of turkeys, lots of native Americans sitting down tofeast with the newly arrived immigrant pilgrims.

“This is really… this isnice, Kiley,”Kendra said, and it was sincere. She moved through the shop,picking up a Thanksgiving-themed apron. It was white with russetpiping, and had a bountiful table stitched together in a mosaic ofdifferent colored cloth, and quilted onto the front. The word“Grateful” was embroidered above it.

“Wow,” she said. She checked out the tiny,tight stitches and then the price tag. “Are you kidding me? Is thiswith a markup, Kiley?”

“Twenty-five percent,” Kiley said.

“Where did you find something this good forthis price?”

“The town librarian makes them. VelmaScruggs, you remember her?”

“Velma is still the librarian?” Kendra mether sister’s eyes and smiled.

Dax stopped breathing. It was genuine, thatsmile. There was no calculation behind it, no motive. It wasbubbling out from underneath the mask she wore. It looked the same,that mask. But it wasn’t real.

The real thing was almost blinding. And Daxknew the difference better than anyone else, except maybeKiley.

“We turned the whole second level into ahaunted house for September and October,” Kiley said, her pride andexcitement in the bright resonance of her voice. “I swear, everykid in town went through ten times.”

“What did you charge them?”

“Not enough that you wouldn’t tell me tocharge more,” she said. “I felt bad for the kids who came back overand over and just stopped charging them at all.”

Kendra lifted her brows. “You running abusiness or a non-profit?”

“We did fine,” Kiley said.

“Sure. Next year, sell season passes. Chargeas little as you want, but getting something out of every visit isbetter than getting nothing out of some of them.” She lookedaround. “And get a handful of vending machines out here. Pop,snacks. You have teenagers, you’re gonna need snacks. Get machinesinstead of hiring staff to feed ‘em, and you’re immediately makingmore money without doing another thing.”

Kiley shot her husband an unspoken question.He replied with his eyes somehow. Dax saw the communicationhappening, but it was entirely private. That was amazing. Was everycouple in love like that?

Kiley turned back to Kendra and said, “That’sa really good idea.”

“Of course it is. Knowing what people wantand how to give it to them is the first lesson Jack ever taughtus.” Something flashed in her eyes when she said her father’s name.Dax saw it and frowned and felt like the guy whose job it was towatch the skies, waiting for signs of alien life. Nothing, nothing,nothing, then suddenly something. And before you can even figureout what it was, you’re back to staring at nothing again andwondering if the something was anything at all.

He would hate that job.

He hated the job he was facing right then,too. Caleb Montgomery, a local lawyer and Rob’sstep-brother-in-law, had got him the name of an extremely discreetaccountant. The fellow was already going over the track’sbooks.

Dax had to protect his mother from any legalfallout from his father’s behavior. So he couldn’t let the SRAanywherenearthose books until he knew what was in them,and figured out how to protect his mother from being prosecuted forit. She’d been a silent partner, just collecting a check for hershare every quarter, but Cal had assured him if anything illegalhad gone on at the track, she would face charges anyway.

The lawyers were waiting for him to get backto them, to accept or refuse his inheritance. He needed to stallthem and wasn’t sure he could.

The crew was heading back toward the housenow. They’d asked Kendra to stay for lunch, and they’d included himin the invitation. So he headed to the house with the rest of them,and watched Kendra’s eyes as they walked through the kitchen withits rustic white cabinets and wrought-iron hardware, and its redand white checkerboard tiled backsplash and white granitecountertop. He watched her as they went into the big, cozy livingroom with the sectional sofa all draped in shaggy, fringy, snugglylooking throws in brown and tan and burgundy and mustard. Throwpillows in the same shades, but not too many. And not those square,rock hard ones either. These were soft, made for resting your headon.

He’d rested his head on them more than oncewhen he’d still been drinking. Right after Kendra left town sixteenmonths ago and three days ago. Not an excuse, just a fact.

Rob said, “I’m gonna order pizza. Anyrequests?”

“Ham and pineapple,” both twins said atonce.

“And some wings on the side,” Kiley said.“And tell ‘em not to be stingy with the blue cheese.”

Kendra grinned, but snapped her mouthstraight again.

Rob texted in the pizza order, then inclinedhis head toward the kitchen and Dax followed him out there. Robpoured tea from a glass pitcher shaped a lot like his wife, overice in tall glasses. After he’d closed the fridge, he handed aglass to Dax.

“I’m gonna ask you a favor,” he said. “Andit’s a big one.”

---