Sweet Vidalia Brand (9 page)

“Well of course I have but–”

“Write it all down, in the form of a letter to your younger self, or do it all inside your head, and talk to that younger Vidalia as if she were one of your own daughters. And then, Vidalia, no matter how hard, you take your own advice.”

She sat there blinking slowly, and realizing that she knew exactly what she would tell one of her daughters about something like this. Tell the truth. Apologize profusely, beg forgiveness, offer atonement if necessary but first, buck up and tell the truth.

She drew a deep breath, got up from her seat and nodded. “You’re one hell of a preacher, Reverend Jackson. I ever tell you that?”

“A time or two.” He got up as well, reached out and took her hand, holding it between both of his own. “You remember one thing, Vidalia. God would never judge you as harshly as you are judging yourself right now. And there is nothing He wouldn’t forgive.”

She knew that. She knew all of that. Why had she been half-expecting divine retribution to come crashing down on her instead of loving forgiveness? She knew better, didn’t she?

She just had to come clean. And not just to Bobby Joe. But to her daughters. Oh Lord, why couldn’t doing the right thing ever be easy?

By noon, Bobby’s sons had all arrived, and he’d given them the grand tour of the Long Branch, and pitched his invitation to help him with the grand opening, and then stick around for the holidays.

Joey was eager right off the bat, always up for a good time. Rob was less than enthusiastic, until Jason chimed in with an unrestrained yes and a meaningful look at the other two.

Hell, if they didn’t already suspect something was up, they would now, Bobby Joe thought. But he wasn’t going to let that put a damper on his day. He had every intention of enjoying his time with Vidalia this afternoon. So he left his sons with a list of jobs that needed doing around the place. Now that the crews of workers had packed up and gone home, there was no one to do it but him, and he tired a lot easier than he used to. Which was one of the symptoms that was supposed to warn him when things were...winding down. But he wasn’t going to think about that right then.

He met Vidalia at the Christmas Tree farm five miles from Big Falls and drank in the sight of her in her snug jeans and suede jacket. She didn’t wear a hat. It was chilly today, and he thought she should have but didn’t say so. He’d brought along a hand saw, and the two of them hiked out into acres of pine trees with a map showing the layout of the place. Balsam firs this way, blue spruce that way, and so on.

“I’m dying for the perfect Douglas Fir,” she said. “Eleven feet tall. You?”

The Douglas Fir section was a long ways back. He hoped he’d have the wherewithal to drag the tree back to the road for her. “I’m opting for a blue spruce,” he said, choosing the kind of tree closest to the road. “But we’ll get yours first.”

“Deal.”

She smiled, and he just basked in her for a second. The sun was beaming down on her hair, the chilly breeze lifting it and playing with its curls, and her eyes were like a chocolate bar in the sun. Her cheeks were pink from the cold, and it made her even more beautiful to him.

“What?” she asked after a moment.

He shook his head. “You’re just pretty enough to take a man’s breath away, is all.”

Her smile seemed to falter. She lowered her eyes.

“What’s wrong, Vidalia?”

“Nothing. I....” She sighed. “Nothing. I mean, there
is
something. But I don’t want to ruin our day with it. So I’m gonna put it out of my mind and just enjoy this. And being with you.”

“Is there someone else?” he asked, because he couldn’t stand not to know.

She looked him right in the eyes. “There’s never been anyone else, Bobby Joe. You said you never got me outta your mind. Well, I need to be honest and admit that I never got you outta mine either. I never will.”

A little rush of alarm went through him. He lowered his head, guilt rising up in his chest. He should tell her. He didn’t expect her to return his feelings at all, much less this quickly, this easily. Her words to him were a dream come true, but it just wasn’t fair. He had to tell her. He couldn’t let her fall in love with him before she knew he was dying.

He couldn’t.

“I never got over you, Bobby Joe. And I don’t imagine I ever will. But I did a bad thing to you way back then, and I’ve got to make it right with you now. Before we go any further. I’ve got to tell you–”

“There’s something I’ve got to tell you too, Vidalia,” he said very softly. He met her eyes, dreading that discussion. And then a father walked past them, dragging a pine tree and carrying a little girl on his shoulders, and they were laughing their way through a chorus of Jingle Bells. Bobby smiled and felt lighter. “But not today,” he said. “Today, let’s just get some Christmas trees, have fun, and not worry about anything heavy. Okay?”

She smiled brightly. “That is more than okay,” she told him.

The scene in the parking lot in front of the Long Branch Saloon was like something out of an old western film. The five daughters of Vidalia Brand stood shoulder to shoulder facing the three sons of Bobby Joe McIntyre. About ten feet of recently laid blacktop stretched between them.

Kara Brand had made the call asking for this meeting. Jason had felt bristly, like his family was about to be accused of something and had expected a hostile encounter. He hadn’t been all that worried about it, though. At least not until he’d seen them.

He and his brothers might as well have been face to face with a gang of super models. The apples had not fallen far from the tree in this family. Robert and Joey were as rocked by their beauty as he was, but he hoped they also noticed that every last one of them was wearing a wedding ring. Off limits. The McIntyre’s didn’t roll that way. If there was one thing their father had managed to drum into them during their upbringing, it was that you didn’t so much as flirt with a married woman. Hell, not even a going steady girl, when they’d been in high school. It was probably the one item in their father’s moral code that stood above all others.

A handful of cars came and went, and he didn’t miss their sudden deceleration or the rubber necking drivers.

Finally, he cleared his throat and walked closer, extending a hand to the apparent leader, “I’m Jason McIntyre.”

“Maya Brand.” She smiled a little stiffly and shook his hand with a respectably firm grip.

“These are my brothers, Robert and Joseph,” he said, indicating the two men who flanked him.

“My sisters,” she replied. “Edie, Kara, Melusine and Selene.” She nodded at each girl as she named them.

His defensiveness relaxed a little. “Those are all names of goddesses, aren’t they?”

“Mama had high expectations for her daughters,” Maya said. “Robert, are you named for your father?”

Rob said, “We all are. Dad’s full name is Jason Robert Joseph.”

More traffic passed, slowed. More drivers gaped.

“We don’t get inside soon, there’s gonna be a crowd gathered,” Melusine said. “And if we’re gonna have a shootout, it oughtta be at the OK Corral, so we might as well talk instead.”

Nodding, getting her attempt at levity, but not thinking it very funny, Jason led the way, held the door for the females and let them enter first. The youngest one, the platinum blonde with the very blue eyes, looked around in wide-eyed appreciation. “This place is amazing. Wow, is that a player piano?”

“It is,” Joey said, sounding proud. Of the three of them, he was the one who was eating all this up. He loved finally being included in one of their father’s projects and was diving headlong into the whole outlaw skit nonsense Dad had planned for them. It wasn’t surprising. Joey was the fun-loving kid of the family, and he was taking Selene to show her the piano, tinkling the keys and pointing out the hidden controls.

Robert was harder to read. He’d always been laid back, easy going, never had strong opinions about much of anything. But his go-with-the-flow attitude had been replaced by heartbreak recently when his long-time girlfriend had jilted him.

Jason didn’t imagine their father’s news was going to be easy for either of his brothers to take.

“Pick a table, ladies,” Joey called, going behind the bar for the tray of cookies he had waiting. “I raided the kitchen after you called. Bring that coffee, will you Rob?”

Robert nodded and picked up a carafe from the pot behind the bar. The youngest Brand girl, Selene, slid onto a barstool and said, “We don’t need a table, the bar’s just fine.” Then she ran a hand over it and nodded. “Real fine.”

One of the sisters elbowed her, Melusine, if he had them straight. “We’re here to talk about our mother and your father.”

“And if our mother knew it, she’d probably disown us,” one of the two tall ones put in. Edie or Kara. Edie he thought, but either one could be the former model. Heck, any of them could. “So we’d appreciate your discretion.”

Joey frowned and looked at Jason. In fact, Robert was looking at him too. Jason sighed. “My brothers only arrived this morning. I haven’t filled them in yet, and to tell you the truth, I probably know less than any of you ladies.”

“Wait, wait, wait, now. Our father and their mother–” Joey began.

“Didn’t you get the last name, Joe? Brand. Their mother is
Vidalia
Brand,” Jason said.

“
Holeee
smokes.” That was Robert. He was looking at one of the glossy flyers with her likeness on it. An open box of them still sat on the bar, the few left that Jason and his dad hadn’t plastered all over town already.

The women were frowning from one to the other. Kara said, “You know our mother?”

“Know
of
her,” Joey said. “Dad’s...mentioned her.”

“Might as well be honest, Joe. Dad’s kind of obsessed with her.”

“Robert–” Jason’s voice had a warning tone.

“C’mon, Jay, these girls are clearly concerned about whatever is going on here. They have a right to know the truth, don’t they?”

“
You
don’t even know the truth,” his older brother muttered.

Maya was still standing. She moved behind the bar to help Joey put out cups and saucers, found the creamer in the mini-fridge down low, while he grabbed a box of sugar packets and set it out.

“None of us know the whole truth,” she said. “Our mother’s been keeping secrets, and that’s not like her.” Then she sighed. “This can’t be easy for you to discuss. I’m sure your loyalty lies with your mother–”

“Our parents’ divorce was the best thing for both of them. They were both happier afterward, which meant we were as well. And Mom’s happily married to a guy who’s crazy about her now,” Robert said.

Jason took the carafe and filled a mug, passed it to Maya, then filled another and offered it to Selene.

“There’s always been another woman on Dad’s mind,” Joey mused softly. “The one that got away. The one he never got over. The most stunning beauty west of the Mississippi. Sweet Vidalia Brand.” He gave the words dramatic flair with a hand on his chest and a faraway look in his eyes.

“What’s your mother’s...situation?” Robert asked.

“What do you mean,
situation
?” Melusine returned. Jason knew which one she was, because he’d seen her photograph online when he’d been checking into this family. She and her husband Alex were high priced P.I.s.

Robert lifted his brows. “Relationship-wise.”

Maya said, “My father-in-law’s half in love with her.”

“So’s my brother in law,” said the youngest, which made Jason lift his eyebrows in surprise.

“And don’t forget Reverend Jackson,” Kara put in.

Mel shrugged. “But Mama hasn’t shown much interest in any of them.”

“Still, nothing could possibly have ever happened between them in the past,” Kara said. “Mom was still married to Daddy when she knew Bobby Joe. Right?” She blinked from one of her sisters to another.

Selene shrugged. “Don’t ask me. It was before I was born.”

“She was married,” Maya stated it flatly.

Mel shook her head. “She thought she was married. But it was never legal. Our father already had a wife when he married our mother. We’re all bastards, if you want to know the truth of it.”