The Debra Dilemma (The Lone Stars Book 4) (25 page)

“A conservatory? Isn’t that a snooty sunroom?” Sweet Louise shook her head. “When did the world become so snooty-Mcpooty? One minute it’s a drainage ditch and the next it’s a ‘wet weather creek.’ What is the world coming to when we can’t call a thing what it actually is?”

“That’s what she said.” Patty pointed to Debra.

Sweet Louise looked Patty up and down and nodded. “I like you. We can be friends.”

“A word to the wise, don’t even think of turning down her friendship. She’s ruthless and relentless when it comes to friendship. ‘No’ isn’t in her vocabulary.” Debra grinned. “I tried to turn her down.” She threw up her arms. “And she’s still here.”

Sweet Louise blew Debra a kiss. “I love you too.”

“Why would I turn down a new friend?” It was Patty’s turn to size up Sweet Louise in her bubble-gum pink jumpsuit and gold and rhinestone heels. “I’m pretty sure that I want to be you when I grow up.”

“I get that a lot.” Sweet Louise put her hand on Patty’s shoulder. “Now, I’m guessing that baby will be here any minute. I’m going to start putting some casseroles and the like in your freezer, and we really need to work out your baby’s schedule.”

“Baby schedule?” Patty glanced down at her huge belly. “I don’t understand.”

“As honorary grandmother, I’m going to need some serious alone time with your baby. To start, I’d like two-ish days a week and at least one evening.” Sweet Louise touched Patty’s belly. “Spoiling a kid rotten takes time, I have to start early.” She pointed to Patty’s other children, who were playing with Cart, HW, and Julia on the front porch. “They’re almost too old now. I’ve got a lot of time to make up for.”

“You’re going to make me cry.” Patty’s lower lip wobbled. “My parents are dead and Dave grew up in the foster care system. He doesn’t even know who his birth parents are. My kids could use a grandmother.”

Sweet Louise waved her hands in front of her face, trying not to cry. “Oh God, now I’m going to cry and then Summer and Grace will, too. Thank God Laney had to work tonight or she’d make fun of us all.”

Debra raised her hand. “I’m still here. I can make fun of you. Everyone has a gift, and mine is making fun of other people.”

“Good for you…finding your talent.” Sweet Louise grinned at her. “Self-awareness is a beautiful thing.”

Debra realized that these women loved her…no matter what. There was nothing she could do that would make them stop loving her because what they felt for her was unconditional. Oh for Heaven’s sake, now
she
was going to cry.

“Are you having a boy or a girl? Not that it really matters either way, I just need to know whether to make pink baby clothes or blue ones.” Sweet Louise looked like she was talking out loud while making a mental list.

“It’s a girl.” Patty stroked her huge belly. “When we found out her sex, we decided to name her Debra Anise. Now that you’re back in our lives, it makes even more sense.”

Debra’s mouth dropped open. “I’m honored.” No one had ever given her such a precious gift. “I don’t know what to say; thank you doesn’t seem like enough.”

Debra hugged Patty.

“No thanks are necessary. We can only hope that she grows up to be half the wonderful person you are.” Patty hugged her back.

They thought she was wonderful?

“I’ll get baking. We really need to fill your freezer before the baby comes so that you don’t have to worry about cooking.” Summer looked around to see who was watching them and then whispered, “I’ll make some cinnamon rolls—”

“Cinnamon rolls?” Clint, Summer’s husband, yelled from the driveway where he was playing catch with Dave. He must have had Superman-caliber hearing because he was all of the way on the other side of the front yard. “Did I hear the words cinnamon rolls? Guys, Summer’s making cinnamon rolls.”

“Damn.” Summer rolled her eyes. “Now I’ll have to quadruple the recipe just to make up for the two pans my husband eats. He never gains an ounce. How is that fair? I eat one and my ass grows a full size.”

“Cinnamon rolls…ahhh.” Prometheus Martin, aka Precious, turned around from the conversation he was having with the man who lived next door. Debra had been introduced, but she couldn’t remember his name. Rod or Rob or Rodney?

“Would you make me a whole pan? My mama said I can have them on my carb cheat days.” Precious Martin reached up to like he was going to touch Summer’s shoulder but lost his nerve. For a man who had to be six and a half feet tall and weighed in at well over three hundred pounds, he was the gentlest and mildest mannered person Debra had ever met. The fact that his job was to kill the other team’s offensive line did little to detract from his shy sweetness. He was just well…precious. She’d never dated Precious back in her floozy days, because even then she wasn’t black-hearted enough to hit on him.

Summer grinned up at him and whispered. “Just for you, Precious, I’ll make you two whole pans.” Her gaze found Precious’s mother LaDonna, who was filling her plate at the buffet table, and Summer leaned in close to Precious. “I’ll keep the other pan in my freezer at school so when you come talk to my class, I can sneak you one when it’s not carb cheat day.”

A watermelon slice smile cut across his face. “Miss Summer, I love you.”

Summer leaned up on her tippy toes and kissed his cheek. “Back atcha, big man.”

“Martin, are you hitting on my wife again?” Clint came over and put a possessive arm around Summer. It wasn’t that he really thought she would run away with Precious, it was more like he loved her so much that he wanted the world to know that she was his. It was pride in his wife over ego.

Precious nodded and grinned. “Yep.”

“Stop it.” He pulled Summer in closer. “Or I’ll tell your mother about that crate of Girl Scout cookies you keep in your locker at work.”

Precious’s brown eyes went huge and he stepped back. “That’s just mean.”

Clint shrugged. “You gotta play dirty to win at love.” He glanced over his right shoulder and dropped the arm he had around Summer. “Wait, Greg, your feet are in the wrong place.”

Clint headed in the direction of another neighbor who was about to toss the football.

Patty fanned herself. “I’m happily married, but I don’t mind telling you that Mr. Grayson…um, Clint, is very pretty to look at.”

Summer rolled her eyes. “For the love of God don’t tell him that or he’ll be extra hard to live with.”

“I heard that.” Clint threw her a wink as he fixed the incorrect foot placement.

“Then why can’t you hear me when I ask you to take out the trash?” Summer sighed deep and long, like her burden was great.

Clint put his hand to his ear like he was trying to hear her. “What? Did you say something?”

Summer threw her hands up. “It’s like raising two children.”

“Sweet Louise, would you mind giving me your potato salad recipe?” Patty turned to Sweet Louise. “It’s so good.” Her stomach rumbled as if the baby was sending up an order for more potato salad.

“Of course. I’ll email it to you.” Sweet Louise took Patty by the arm. “Now, what do you need for the house you’re about to give away?”

Patty shook her head. “There’s so much that needs to be done. I’m grateful for any help. The painting isn’t finished, the landscaping hasn’t even been started, and none of the ceiling fans have been installed. And then there’s the gutters. I can’t seem to find anyone who can install them before Christmas.”

“Don’t worry about a thing. I’ll take care of it.” She dropped Patty’s arm and yelled over her left shoulder, “DonTray, does your ex-wife’s brother-in-law still work for Austin Gutterman?”

“Yes, ma’am.” DonTray Williams, stepped out of a crowd of men and walked over to Sweet Louise. “You need some gutter work?”

“Patty and her husband are redoing a house to give away and the house needs gutters. Can you call him and make that happen like tomorrow?” Sweet Louise smiled up at him and batted her eyelashes. “Pretty please.”

“Ahhh, Ms. Sweet Louise, it would be my pleasure.” DonTray pulled his phone out of his back jeans pocket. “I’ll have him here tomorrow.” Keeping his eyes on Sweet Louise, he backed up for a little privacy to make his call and backed right into the trunk of a live oak tree.

“Yep, I definitely want to be you when I grow up.” Patty watched DonTray with amusement.

“When we go out for girls’ night, we never pay for our own drinks.” Grace stepped beside Sweet Louise.

“Honey, I haven’t paid for my own drinks since before I grew these.” Sweet Louise pointed to her breasts. “There always seems to be a man hanging around who’s more than willing.”

“Grace and I should be able to handle the painting, provided it’s interior.” Summer nodded. “Do you have the paint or do we need to pick it up?”

“Yes, it’s interior and yes we have the paint, but I can’t ask you to do that.” Patty seemed overwhelmed by all of the generosity.

“Nonsense. We volunteered.” Grace took a drink of her Shiner Bock. “I’ll ask CoCo to watch the kids. We could start tomorrow. You’re out of school for Christmas vacation, right?” She turned to Summer.

“Yes, thank you Jesus.” Summer threw her hands Heavenward. “I love every single one of my students, but some are harder to love than others.”

“I’ll do the landscaping.” Sweet Louise raised her hand. “I love working in the yard.”

Debra raised her hand. “I can help as long as you tell me where to plant things. I’ve always wanted a green thumb but have never given gardening a try.”

Maybe Sweet Louise could help her with the landscaping for her house. She’d always thought that it was too formal. More flowers and less topiaries would be nice.

“Thank you all. I don’t know what to say. Two hours ago I was fussing over a lasagna and now I have the best new friends in the world.” Patty pulled them all in for a group hug. “Wait, you
are
all my friends now, right? Otherwise, I just feel so stupid.”

“Of course we’re your friends.” Debra leaned back to catch Patty’s eye. “Think we’d go to so much trouble if we weren’t?”

“Thanks.” Patty dropped her arms.

“What’s this about a lasagna?” Sweet Louise stepped back.

“So sorry. Dave dropped it on the kitchen floor. He’s such a klutz.” She shrugged and shook her head in a “what can you do” gesture. “Somehow, he managed to not only drop it, but turn it over and pour it out of the pan. Weirdest thing.”

Debra glanced at Dave who caught her eye and bowed in a “your welcome” kind of way. She needed to clue Sweet Louise into the fact that Patty wasn’t known for her cooking. Knowing the older woman, she’d have Patty trained up before she even knew she was in training.

Debra was in her element. She threw back her head and laughed at something Patty had just whispered in her ear. Warren smiled to himself. He couldn’t help himself…no matter where he was, his eyes were drawn to Debra.

Tonight she was getting a heavy dose of humility—the good kind—not the learn a lesson kind. She was finally seeing that she’d made a difference, is still making a difference. She needed to know how special and wonderful she was.

“You’re grinning like a fool.” Sweet Louise leaned into him. “I like it.”

“Can’t help it.” He stopped short at telling her he was in love. It wasn’t like she didn’t already know.

“If you hurt her, I’ll kill you slowly.” Sweet Louise raised one eyebrow. “There will be lots of pain.”

“If I hurt her again, you have my permission to kill me slowly.” It was hard to remember a time in his life when he wasn’t in love with Debra.

“I knew you were my favorite adopted son for a reason.” Sweet Louise patted his shoulder. “As long as you worship and adore her forever, we’re good.”

“I’m going to do my best.” He sucked on his bottom lip. “My very best.”

“When are you planning on popping the question?” Sweet Louise never beat around the bush, she just mowed it right down and kept on going.

“Don’t you think that’s kind of personal?” He hadn’t quite started working out the details. Even though Debra had told him that she was going to say “yes,” he still wanted the proposal to be special and for some reason he was nervous.

“Are you kidding me? If I wanted personal information, I’d ask you why the two of you haven’t had sex yet.” Sweet Louise looked him up and down. “Why is that?”

“How did you know?” His voice went up an octave. He cleared his throat. “What did she tell you?”

“She didn’t tell me anything. I guessed. It wasn’t hard. You’re lusting after her like a tomcat sniffing after his new lady love.” Sweet Louise looked down her nose at him. “Is there something I should know about?”

He narrowed his eyes. “No.”

“So everything is in working order…you know…downstairs?” She nodded to the front of his pants.

“Oh my God, stop talking.” He put his hands over his ears. “I don’t ever want to hear you saying anything like that again.”

“What? I’m just trying to make sure that there isn’t some issue that could cause some bigger issues later.” She put a motherly hand on his shoulder. “Stop being so prudish, its just sex.”

“Mom, stop harassing my boss.” Devon turned around from the conversation he was having with a group of men from the neighborhood. “He doesn’t know that you’re kidding.”

“What makes you think I’m kidding?” She eyed her son. “Laney and I’ve talked at length about whether you satisfy her.”

“Mom…stop!” It was Devon’s turn to put his hands over his ears. He lowered his hands. “Wait, what did she say about me?”

“What happened to the ‘mom stop’?” She folded her arms.

“Seriously, what did she say about me? Was it good?” Devon watched his mother’s face for some sign. “Bad?”

She didn’t so much as twitch. Warren vowed to never play poker with her because her bluff was so good that even her own son couldn’t tell whether she was bluffing.

“Oh God, it was bad…very bad. Right?” Devon tunneled his finger through his hair as his face turned the color of oatmeal. “What am I going to do?”

“Stop.” Sweet Louise hugged her son. “She told me that you’re magnificent.”

Devon took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Thank God.”

“Now, if you can just get your friend here to make his move, everything will be peachy-keen, jellybean.” Sweet Louise pointed to Warren. “I’ve already asked if all of the equipment is in working order.”