“Well, when I was a little kid, I wanted to be Cinderella, but now that I’m a big girl,” Gracie said, “I want to be a schoolteacher like my mama.”
And if she needed money, an apartment, or anything else to realize her dream, by golly, Kate would take care of it.
Hattie patted Gracie’s shoulder. “You’ll make a wonderful teacher. You were so good at keeping things organized and put back into their proper place in Bible school. I wanted to be in the air force and fly fighter jets. But in my day, women weren’t allowed to do that. I ran the convenience store in Bootleg for fifty years before my husband took sick and we sold it.”
Kate could see someone as sassy as Hattie sitting in the pilot’s seat of a fighter jet. Too bad she’d been born generations too early to get to do what she wanted.
“And you, Victor?” Kate asked.
“My daddy was the bank president, and I was trained up to follow in his footsteps. But once when I was about ten years old, the carnival came to town for the festival and I had the wildest hankering to run away with it and be one of the crew. Those girls in those cute little costumes were pretty amazing to a ten-year-old.” He blushed.
Kate could see him mooning around after the ladies in their skimpy, shiny costumes and wishing that he could be a part of the carnival.
“And what would you be?” she asked.
“At the time a tightrope walker.” He grinned.
“Lord help my soul!” Hattie gasped. “When you were ten, you were like a long-legged newborn colt.”
“But it sure looked exciting,” Victor said.
Was the excitement surrounding everything in Bootleg what had gotten a firm hold on Kate’s heart and soul? If so, it would end and be nothing but a memory after she got back home in a few weeks—much like Victor’s excited idea of joining the carnival. Kate was an oil woman, born, bred, and raised to work in that field. Could she ever be anything else?
Jamie reeled in a fish about the size of the one Victor had caught. “I wanted to be a teacher from the time I was a little girl.”
Kate had no trouble believing that. Jamie was one of those people who had tunnel vision. It’s a good thing that she didn’t find out about Conrad before he was dead, or that one-track mind-set might have landed her smack in jail for life.
“I’ve worked in lots of places since high school.” Amanda reeled in her line and laid her rod and reel on the dock. “Convenience store, auto supply business, lumber yard, retail clothing, banking, and now my little discount-clothing place. But as a child, I only wanted to be a mother. I guess I’m finally getting my wish. What about you, Kate?”
Kate kept her eye on the bobble dancing out there on the gentle lake waves. “I’m like Victor. I was raised to take over for my mother in the family business, and I suppose it’s too late now to think about anything else.”
“It’s never too late to change,” Hattie said. “When we sold the store, I didn’t think I would ever get used to staying at home every day, but I did, and before long, it was the best job I ever had. I get to be more involved with the church and the festival, and I get to go fishing when I want. So don’t ever think that you can’t change your mind.”
Even at forty-four years old?
“So if I want to run away with the carnival in a couple of weeks, no one will shoot me?” Kate teased.
“I wouldn’t shoot you, but I’d rather you stayed here in Bootleg,” Victor said.
“My mother would drop graveyard dead if I even mentioned such a thing,” Kate said softly.
“Naw, she wouldn’t.” Victor chuckled. “She might rant and rave for a while, though if she came to visit you here, she’d understand. And she might even taste the water here and be willing to join us.”
“Well, I think the water tastes terrible, but I like it here,” Gracie said. “I talked to Snugglies last night and he said he wouldn’t mind if we lived here forever.”
“Who is Snugglies?” Victor asked.
“He’s my teddy bear, and I tell him everything,” Gracie said.
“Well, then, I guess he’s very important,” Hattie said.
“Oh, yes. He’s almost as important as my mama,” Gracie told her and then started singing. “Come on, little fishies, eat the worm on my hook.”
Before she could sing the line the fourth time, something took the cork under the surface. “Come help me, Mama,” she squealed.
“I can’t,” Jamie shouted. “I’ve got a bite, too.”
Kate laid her fishing pole to the side and hurried over to Gracie’s side. Putting her arms around the little girl’s shoulders, she gently held the rod steady and helped her turn the handle on the reel. Victor looked like he was about to dance a jig right there on the rough wood platform when they brought in another nice-size catfish. With those moves, maybe he could have mastered the tightrope.
“Would you look at this, Hattie? We’re going to have a feast,” he yelled.
“I’m not hard of hearing!” She tapped her ears. “But take a look at Jamie’s fish. It’s almost as big as Gracie’s! Your singing worked, child. You really might snag the biggest fish at the festival.”