Hotter than Texas (Pecan Creek) (30 page)

Sugar and Maggie glanced at each other. Sugar could tell her mother was as dumbfounded as she was.

“So what about the other two bedrooms as windows into Vivian’s soul?” Maggie asked.

“Those are the ‘guy’ characters, neither of them entirely honorable, counterpoint to Belle Watling and Mona Stangley,” Lucy explained. “Neither J.R. Ewing nor the American Gigolo were particularly interested in anything but their own pleasure.” She got up to toss some glitter on the letters. “They were not heroes. They were,” Lucy continued, “Vivian’s vision of the way she came to see men—selfish, self-involved and sexual beasts. Therefore, all discussion of sex must absolutely be avoided in Pecan Creek. Trust me, there’s a lot of sex going on, but nobody is ever going to bring it up, or Vivian’s carefully constructed image of Pecan Creek will no longer exist. Most folks are pretty happy with the primness here, because except for the random freak occurrence like our dead guy, the town is safe. Locked in its bubble.”

“Yowza,” Sugar said, “I would never have spent so much time analyzing Vivian Bentley’s psyche.”

Lucy laughed. “It was fun to pick her apart. She’s not really a villainess. Anyway, the real poop she’s going to have is when she sees what I’m doing to her bedroom. I’m staying with the theme of famous characters in entertainment, but I’m classing up the joint.”

Sugar blinked. “Lucy, I might be scared.”

“I figured Jake out too. Remember when he told us that he and his mother had a huge debate over the
American Gigolo
room, but he wouldn’t tell us if he was for it or against it?”

Maggie and Sugar nodded.

“Guess,” Lucy said.

“He designed it,” Maggie guessed.

“I don’t care,” Sugar said. “But I’m guessing it was Vivian’s idea, and Jake wasn’t on board.” She got up to plug in the lights, and the float exploded with twinkly, winking colored lights. “I base my hypothesis on the fact that what I know of Jake makes me believe he would have either gone with a James Dean
Rebel without a Cause
room or a
Star Trek
room. He has some rebel going on, and I wouldn’t put him past some trekkie fantasy.” She thought about her theory for a few seconds, then nodded. “Probably more James Dean, though.”

“Exactly.” Lucy laughed. “He’s a traditionalist. I think
American Gigolo
would have been too hard-edged and contemporary for Jake. And it is. People love the over-drama of the other three rooms, but the
AG
room is just too overt.” Lucy sat down again, staring at the float. “If Vivian had a Gere thing going on, she should have gone with
Pretty Woman
. The good-hearted-ho theme would have remained intact.”

Sugar nodded. “You’re right. But that’s not the movie you chose.”

“No.” Lucy looked gleeful. “Sort of keeping the theme but getting away from the super-sex theme. It’s my dream bedroom. My dream life, maybe. Every girl’s dream. And maybe, just maybe, my dream will come true.”

“You want to be an actress?” Sugar asked.

Lucy wagged a finger. “You can’t tease any hints out of me.”

“Well, with all the robin’s egg blue going on, all I can think of is a Disney movie.” Sugar shrugged. “Like
The Little Mermaid
or something.”

Lucy shook her head. “Forget about it. You’ll never guess.”

Maggie got up. “I have to talk to you. Both of you.”

Sugar looked at Maggie, who no longer had a playful, bemused smile on her face as she’d listened to her daughters’ theories and musings about the Bentley family. Surprised, Sugar realized her mother looked worried.

“What’s wrong, Mom?” Sugar asked.

Maggie’s hands worked nervously. “I can’t sit here and talk about Vivian when I’ve been no prize as a mother. God knows we sit around and dissect her behavior, and heaven knows she’s no warm fuzzy, but she’s not the devil, either. And she’s no worse than me.”

“Maggie!” Lucy looked at her mother. “You’re a good mother. You’re a nice person. Everyone loves you.”

Maggie sat down between her daughters, picked up their hands, touching her cheek to each hand. “I’ve been needing to get this off my chest for so long. I hope you’ll still believe the best of me when I tell you this.”

Sugar blinked. “Whatever you have to say isn’t going to change how much we love you, Mom.”

“Exactly.” Lucy kissed Maggie on the cheek.

Maggie released their hands. She drew a deep breath. “You probably don’t remember much about my second husband.”

Sugar stiffened. She remembered.

But she wasn’t about to say anything. Her blood ran cold inside her, her own guilt bothering her. She couldn’t take it if Maggie made some confession that she’d never gotten over the man. Shithead was lucky he’d escaped with his head still on his body. Sugar looked at a barn wall, focused her attention on her mother’s pain.

“I don’t remember a whole lot about him,” Lucy said. “I’m sorry, Maggie.”

“You were pretty young, not even a teenager,” Maggie said. “Sugar probably remembers him a little more.”

Sugar met her mother’s gaze. She didn’t say a word.

“I’m so sorry, Sugar,” Maggie said. “I was in the hall that night. I heard what you did.”

Sugar’s body went completely stiff. She couldn’t move.

“And I thank you for what you did,” Maggie continued, touching Sugar’s cheek. “I’m just so sorry I wasn’t a better mother. I’m sorry you had to fight that battle alone. But thank you for being so brave.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Lucy demanded.

“It doesn’t matter,” Sugar quickly said, protective of Lucy.

“It matters,” Maggie said softly, “because you’ve borne everything ever since then.”

“My God, will someone tell me what’s going on?” Lucy demanded.

“I had no idea, Sugar,” Maggie said. “I’m ashamed to say that. But I really didn’t. It wasn’t a case of ignoring clues or anything. I sincerely didn’t know he was…a pervert.” Maggie’s eyes glimmered with distress. “I’ve wondered for years how I could tell you that I was sorry. But I didn’t know how to say it. It’s not easy to speak up and admit you’ve been harboring some kind of monster.”

“
My God
,” Lucy said, “will someone please tell me what the hell happened? Who the hell was a pervert?”

Sugar put her arms around her mother. “It wasn’t your fault, Mom. He was a worm. And you deserved so much better.”

“Jesus,” Lucy said, “are you talking about our stepfather? Was he a pervert?”

Maggie nodded, turning to face Lucy, tears pouring down her cheeks. “I am so sorry.”

Lucy shook her head. “Don’t be sorry to me. Nobody ever molested me. I can assure you, I was a virgin until Bobby German got in my— I mean—” She cut herself off. “I mean, I was never molested. I know it beyond a shadow of a doubt.”

Maggie turned to Sugar. Sugar’s heart spiraled at the pain in her mother’s eyes. “Let it go, Maggie,” she said. “Lucy doesn’t remember. She was sound asleep.”

“Lucy doesn’t remember what?” Lucy demanded. “I can remember numbers from ten years ago and can memorize four pages of text without missing a word. What doesn’t Lucy remember?”

Maggie held her daughters’ hands again. “My husband went into your bedroom one night. Sugar saw him go in.”

“Oh shit,” Lucy said. “Did you leave him any balls, Sugar? Is that why he left in the night?” Lucy gasped. “Sugar! Did you
kill
him?”

A slight smile touched Maggie’s face. Even Sugar smiled—just a bit.

“I didn’t kill him. I just helped him leave our house.”

“Poor bastard,” Lucy said. “Did I just sleep through all the excitement like a baby? I probably never moved, did I?”

Sugar shook her head. “You slept like a princess, Lucy. Which is just the way it should have been.” Once again the rage washed over her. Sugar had to blink back the white light of fury that had never left her that night.

“I was in the hall,” Maggie said. “I saw him go in. I froze. I’m so ashamed of that.”

“Mom, stop.” Sugar pulled Maggie to her. “If you’ve been beating yourself up about this all these years, you shouldn’t have.”

“You did what I should have done,” Maggie said. “When I saw you go in after him, I should have had your back. I’d like to think I would have if he’d turned violent, but I just don’t know. I was so astonished.” Tears poured down Maggie’s cheeks again. “It’s really hard to know that your daughter has to fight your battles, that you let her down when she needed you the most.”

Sugar shook her head. “You’re a wonderful mother.”

“But I know you must have been watching him,” Maggie said, “keeping an eye on him. And if you were suspicious of him, then I know in my heart he must have made a move on you. And I think it’s the reason you married Ramon,” Maggie continued, wiping at her eyes, “when you knew he wasn’t the kind of man who’d ever be faithful to you. I think my fear and my weakness affected you for a long time.”

Sugar wrinkled her nose. “Mom, Shithead did make a move on me. I kicked him in the balls so hard it was a wonder he could ever stand in anything other than a caveman stoop after that.” She gently touched her mother’s face. “I figured that since he knew he wasn’t going to get anywhere with me, he might try more vulnerable ground.”

“Vulnerable?” Lucy looked at them. “I always thought I was taking care of this family. I always thought I was the adult.” She hugged Sugar and Maggie to her. “Sugar, you’ve always been the big sister every girl should have. You have to tell me, what did you do to Shithead?”

Sugar shook her head, relief engulfing her now that she knew her mother hadn’t pined for her husband. The relief was so intense it was almost painful. “I believe a baseball bat might have been involved. I was as tall as he was, and he knew I had a helluva swing. It was a fast conversation.”

“God, you’re a tough broad,” Lucy said admiringly. “And so I slept on in my ivory tower, completely unaware you were fighting my battles.”

“And mine,” Maggie added.

Sugar sighed. “I didn’t fight any battles. I just wasn’t ever going to let anything happen to us.”

Lucy looked at her. “No wonder you were so pissed when that officer made a move on me and then got me in trouble.”

Sugar nodded. “I knew damn well you hadn’t been messing around with a married officer. I was glad you slapped him. I just wanted you to take the discharge and let us get the hell out of there. I’d had it with the military at that point. It just wasn’t worth it anymore. Being a woman in the military can be a challenge, and I was ready for some peace in my life.” She held her family tighter. “Whatever happened, I was proud that we always stuck together, through thick and thin, as a family.”

“I know,” Lucy said, “I always thought we had the coolest family of all.”

Maggie pulled out of the embrace to wipe her eyes with the collar of her white blouse. “I have the best daughters in the world. The very best.” She sighed. “I wanted so much for you over the years. There was so little I could provide for you. And then, somehow, you grew up independent and strong, and I knew everything was going to be all right. Even though I’d never really been able to give you anything except my love.”

“Which turned out to be all we needed,” Sugar said. “It’s going to be all right, Mom. From here on out, everything is going to be just fine.”

Maggie nodded. “We’ll crank this float down Pecan Creek’s town streets and turn the town on its ear, and they’ll probably run us out of here, but we’ll be together.”

Lucy laughed. “I’m going nowhere. I’m staying right here and making Vivian Bentley my best friend. And I’m going to talk Bobby German into being my pool boy when we get rich off of Sugar’s nuts and buy ourselves a real pool.”

“That sounds wonderful.” Sugar closed her eyes, imagining the pool, the blue water, the cleansing baptism of sinking into refreshing coolness. “Next stop, three pool men, one for each of us.”

They hugged each other, marking a silent vow.

It was going to be all right. In fact, everything was going to get better than anything they’d ever imagined when they’d first loaded up the blue Oldsmobile for Texas. Sugar knew in her heart the future held nothing but blue water, pecans and maybe, J.T. Jake Bentley’s hard muscles and teasing smile.

J.T. Jake Bentley
would
make a hot pool boy.

If she could close the door on the past.

Jake looked at the repair job Lassiter had done on the Bait and Burgers. It looked better than new. He wondered if Lassiter wanted more work renovating Pecan Fanny’s.

Jake had big plans for Pecan Fanny’s.

But first, he had to talk to Kel.

He hadn’t seen Kel in days, and that was a bad sign. Kel usually hung around, the Bait and Burgers being both job and hangout for him. But since he’d moved out of Jake’s house, Kel had been lying low.

He hadn’t been a very good friend. And the truth was, Kel had always been there for him.

“Jake.”

He turned around. “Hello, Mother.” He kissed Vivian on the cheek. “What brings you to the Bait and Burgers?”

“What brings you?” Vivian shot back.

“Well, I happen to own this greasy spoon,” Jake said, and Vivian gave him a gimlet gaze.