“Poor old darlin’,” she mumbled, “it has to be hard on her doing all that time travel. I can not imagine living in so many worlds every day.”
She’d finished cleaning the bathroom and had started dusting all the empty perfume bottles on Irene’s dresser, when her phone rang a second time that morning. Expecting it to be Lizzy after she got the gossip of two women keeping three men company the night before, she was surprised to see Blake’s number flashing on the screen.
“Hello,” she answered cautiously. “If you’re calling about the bedroom, I told you in the beginning that I’d have to take days off for family pretty often.”
“We’re going to take down the ceiling in the hall and living room and put up the new drywall. I’m not getting into the bedding and taping, though. We figure we can do this much and come Monday it will be ready for you. Deke is coming over soon as he gets his chores done to help us, too. But that’s not why I’m calling. We need to talk, Allie.”
“You’re coming to Sunday dinner. We’ll talk then.” She picked up a tarnished silver hairbrush and dusted under it.
“Are we still on for a celebration when you finish the bedroom?”
She had to scramble to hold on to the phone and the brush at the same time. “I have no idea. Wouldn’t you much rather go to a bar and pick up a bimbo and have dinner with her, rather than the woman who is working on your house?”
“What are you so mad about? It’s me who has the right to be mad since you said you didn’t care. What am I, Allie? A notch on your bedpost?” His tone turned edgy.
She shut her eyes against the headache that threatened. “I’m not fighting with you on the phone, Blake Dawson.”
“Then I’ll come over there and we can fight in person.”
She didn’t want to see him or talk to him, on the phone or in person, until the steam stopped pouring out of her ears. He’d accused her of being nothing more than one of those bar bitches who’d go to bed with anything that had a penis. Notch on her bedpost, indeed! If they compared, hers would have two notches where his would look like a carved-up totem pole.
“I think we’d both best cool off before we see each other,” she said tersely.
“Maybe so. I’ll see you in church,” he said, and the phone went dark.
Chapter Twenty-one
Allie woke up with the determination that she would not go to church and she would not have Sunday dinner with her family. She planned a shopping trip to Wichita Falls where she would check out all the after-holiday sales and maybe take in an afternoon matinee.
She went through six outfits that morning before finally settling on a long straight skirt in brown and beige chevron stripes and a sweater the same color as her eyes. She curled her hair and applied makeup, glanced at herself in the mirror, and decided she was entirely too bland. She traipsed across the landing to Fiona’s room and rifled through the accessories she’d left in her closet. She tried on a pretty scarf but the damn thing choked her. Finally, she settled on a heavy gold necklace with a set of crossed pistols, covered with sparkling fake diamonds.
“Making a statement, are you?” Lizzy said from the doorway.
“Dressing up a ho-hum look,” Allie answered.
Lizzy’s smile was actually sweet that morning. “I hope you’ve finally seen the light and those pistols are a sign that you’re ready to shoot the cowboy next door.”
Allie whipped around so fast that she dropped the scarf she’d tried on. “Why would you say that?”
Lizzy hugged Allie. “I heard about what happened yesterday morning and I was right. Blake was just leading you on.”
Allie changed the subject. “You look pretty this morning. Red has always been your color.”
Lizzy smoothed the front of the red sweater dress. “I came to borrow a scarf from Fiona to dress down all this red. It’s kind of loud for a preacher’s wife, don’t you think?”
Allie brushed past her on the way out of the room. “You already toned it down with those black leggings and boots. If you really wanted to look like a hussy, you could have worn fishnet hose and spike heels. And you’d better remember to put whatever you borrow right back where it was. I’m pretty sure that Fiona takes inventory every time she comes home.”
“How we could all three have the same parents is a complete mystery,” Lizzy said. “Oh, yeah, I invited Grady and Mitch to Sunday dinner. Mama said she’s invited the neighbors. I figure it will be a good time for you to see the difference between a man of God and a wild cowboy.”