“Two big Cokes, one sweet tea, and . . .” He looked over at her.

“A root beer,” she said.

“I wonder if the other folks would want something?” he asked.

“We only have two hands each.” Kate smiled. “And look, they’re starting this way.”

They passed one another in the middle of the road. Girls skipping ahead with Jamie and Paul behind them. Aunt Ellie and Mama Rita were right behind them, with Amanda and Wanda bringing up the rear. They looked like a family, and Kate envied them even the pretense.

“These drink wagons are going to make a fortune today,” Paul said. “Especially with the kids thinking they have to run everywhere. It’s worse than trying to herd cats.”

“And that makes them hot, and the heat makes them thirsty.” Waylon grinned.

“But they are so happy with their little red faces. Think how well they are going to sleep tonight,” Kate said, wishing for the thousandth time that she had a whole bunch of kids to herd like cats that day.

Kate felt sorry for Gracie on Sunday morning. She was still disappointed that she hadn’t won the fishing contest in her category. She came in third place, netting her a new tackle box and some fishing gear, which she declared would help her win the next year. Still, it wasn’t easy to go to church knowing that Jeremiah—a boy, at that—had won the tickets to Six Flags.

“At least I get to go to the ranch tomorrow and ride in the stagecoach. Jeremiah don’t get to do that,” she declared as they entered the church and headed up the middle aisle to join Hattie.

“Gracie!” Jamie chided.

“Well, I do, and that’s better than Six Flags tickets, ain’t it, Kate?”

“Maybe you could ask for those tickets for your birthday,” Kate said. “I went to Six Flags one time, and it reminded me of the festival. Vendors and rides. Not a lot of difference.”

“Then I’d rather have a pony for my birthday.” Gracie skipped along to the pew where they usually sat.

They were getting settled when Waylon slid in the end space beside Kate. He leaned over and whispered, “My partner at the precinct called. There’s a new lead. Nothing much yet, but on Tuesday I’m going to Dallas.”

“On Tuesday the girls and I will be in town for our name change business,” she said.

The song leader took her place behind the lectern and gave out a number. Kate had never heard the song, but she found the place in the hymnal. When the piano player started a run that sounded a whole lot like Floyd Cramer’s, everyone in church began to clap along with the music.

The tune was simple but fast and the words repetitive: “Glory, glory, hallelujah, since I laid my burden down.” Every other line repeated the line about laying down the burden. What Amanda had said about them sharing the burden three ways for being a fool when it came to Conrad came to her mind.

Kate thought of the load that Waylon was carrying as he tried to solve Conrad’s murder. And even closer to home was the burden she carried about the oil company. Had God or fate or destiny put it all on her at this time of her life because it was time to make a change?

The last piano note hung in the air for a moment before the preacher went back to the pulpit. He opened his Bible and looked out over the congregation. “That congregational hymn should have opened up all y’all’s hearts for my sermon. I was thinking today of that verse where Jesus says that his yoke is easy and his burden is light.”

“Amen!” Victor said loudly, and several more folks echoed the same.

Kate nodded and tried to listen to the sermon, but her mind wandered. The burden of deciding what to do with her life weighed a lot more than the preacher said, and she doubted seriously that trusting Jesus would lighten the load.

But trusting your own heart might, a little voice whispered in her mind.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Jamie awoke at the crack of dawn to find Gracie sitting up in bed and staring at her. “Is it today?” Gracie whispered.

She threw a pillow over her head and groaned. “Today is the day, but first we have to go to work. Amanda is going to the doctor this morning, so you can’t stay home with her.”

Gracie flipped back the covers and pumped both fists in the air. “I’ve been waiting forever for today. It’s going to be even better than the festival.” She grabbed the pillow and tossed it to the foot of the bed. “Today we get to go to the ranch and see the animals and ride in a stagecoach and have a picnic and smell hay. I like it when Kate comes home smelling like that.”

Jamie sat up and stretched to get the kinks out of her back and neck. “You like it here in Bootleg, don’t you?” She needed reassurance one more time that she’d made the right choice.

Gracie nodded. “I don’t like it, Mama. I love it! I been tellin’ and tellin’ you that. We got a lake and fishin’ and swimmin’ and Miz Hattie and Victor and Kate and Amanda and Lisa. It’s the best place in the world.”

“But will you get tired of this and want to go back to Dallas?” Jamie asked.

In two bounds Gracie was back on the bed, hugging her mother tightly. “I’m not going to get tired of it here, Mama. When can we go to our old house and get the rest of our stuff?”

“Won’t you miss your friends at school and Mama Rita?”

“Yes, I would, but I would miss this place more if we went back. Can I have a kitten, since we won’t live in town anymore?”

Jamie hugged her daughter tightly, soaking in the scent of a little girl who was still fresh and sweet. Later, she’d smell like hay and sweat. “We’ll see about a kitten. Let’s go make breakfast and eat on the deck.”

“Yes, yes, yes,” Gracie squealed as she pumped her fist in the air.

All of Jamie’s doubts about moving were erased by that gesture. Gracie was happy even after the excitement was over. Mama Rita had told her she’d made the right decision and that she might even retire to Bootleg. She was not going to let the doubts and fears cloud her world anymore.

Gracie twirled around in the middle of the floor, arms out to her sides. When she finally stopped, she fell backward on the bed and giggled. “Everything is still spinning, Mama.”

“Well, you silly goose, you’ve scrambled your brain and it has to settle back down.” Jamie laughed.

“I’m not a goose,” Gracie argued. “I’m a little girl and I knew them people at the school were going to give you a job.”

“How did you know?” Jamie asked.

“Because I asked God when we said our quiet prayer in Sunday school. Hattie says that if we ask God in secret, he will say okay and he did,” Gracie said seriously. “Can we have pancakes for breakfast?”

“We sure can. Sausage or bacon?” Tears filled Jamie’s eyes, but she quickly wiped them away before Gracie saw.

“Both.” Gracie giggled and took off for the kitchen in a run.

Amanda heard laughter and awoke from a beautiful dream about her baby’s first Easter. Aunt Ellie had made him a cute little basket.

She laid a hand on her stomach. She would have rather spent the day with the rest of the crew out at the ranch, but she should not miss a doctor’s appointment. After that scare with Braxton-Hicks, she really wanted to be sure everything was all right. Tugging the nightshirt down over her belly, she padded barefoot to the kitchen, where the smell of bacon was already wafting through the house.

“Good morning.” She knuckled sleep from her eyes.

“Today is the day!” Gracie exclaimed.

“For what?” Amanda teased.

Gracie rolled her eyes. “Ah-mannn-duh!”

“Oh, I forgot, this is the ranch day when you and Lisa ride in a stage, right?” Amanda winked at Jamie.

“Yes, and see the animals. And we’re having pancakes for breakfast with bacon and sausage. And when is that baby coming out of your stomach anyway?” Gracie finally stopped to draw in a breath.

“In about four weeks,” Amanda said.

She was about used to Gracie asking so many questions, but that one took her by surprise. Still, she was glad that she’d answered honestly and not stammered around trying to find something right to say.