***NOTE*** This story is part of my Trouble Texas Style series that includes Night Walker's Woman (complete), Tight Fittin' Jeans, Goodbye Earl, and Ready to Run. It will be appreciated more when reading in context with those.
This chapter is like that review session the teacher gave right before the exam. I am bringing them all together and doing just that - looking at what we do know, or think we know.
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Laura leaned on Ryan's arm as they had made their way to the dining room for breakfast. It was frustratingly slow for her. The only solace was how adorable he looked wearing a sleeping Chloe on that chest. Overall, she felt surprisingly good. He had left her to sleep a couple more hours, then helped her to nurse the baby, and get dressed. Oh, and pee, she could not forget that, with a smile at their unique team-building exercise.
"Okay, what has you smiling, sweetheart?" he teased.
"Team-building exercises, counselor."
His laughter was deep and rich like it came not just form his belly but his soul. He had chuckled, and teased, and perhaps laughed once or twice, but not like this. He was devastatingly handsome when he did. The way those tiny lines around his eyes crinkled was adorable. Laura knew that it was sound she wanted to hear over and over again.
But when they stepped into the dining room with its rough-hewn table and benches that had almost certainly been handcrafted, Laura was completed bowled over. Not only was there a mountain of delicious smelling food, especially that massive platter of crisp bacon that had her name on it, biscuits, gravy, and was that grits?
What astounded and reassured her most was the whiteboard that leaned on an easel with an array of colored pens. Laura felt like she had stepped back into a board room after almost a year, and damn did that feel good.
Rex brought in a platter of scrambled eggs, "Good morning. Hope you slept well? And sorry, but Jaycee insisted I bring that in from her office. She says it's how she thinks best," he nodded towards the board.
"No apologies necessary. I love it," Laura smiled at the man.
His wife appeared from the kitchen, "See, I told you." The other woman smiled at her. Laura had never had many women friends, other than her sisters, not since high school anyway.
She might have never survived her first year had it not been for Miss Esther's English class and an older girl. Cassie Monroe had been a senior, and despite coming from the most influential family in town, she had been just as poor and outcast as the Reynolds. Thanks to the acrimonious divorce of her parents, and her deadbeat dad, who rarely paid child support, even though the held himself out as a pillar of the community, coaching tiny league sports and running for the school board.
Cassie had been the one who planted the seed in her mind that the law was her ticket out of Sebida and poverty. The girl had gone even further than she had. Though she had not heard from her in a couple of years, what could you expect from a woman living her LA dream as a partner in a prestigious firm?
This woman reminded her of Cassie. And herself. Perhaps given time, and if they were stuck here, there should be plenty of that, they could become friends. Especially since her husband was Ryan's cousin.
Jack drug himself down the hall. He looked a bit rough, like he had not slept well, or was hungover. But the sight of food worked its magic on him, just as it always had when he was a little boy. He reached for one of the biscuits and bit into it with a loud moan.
"My sons, it has been too long since we were together like this," the old man and little girl joined them around the table.
Laura reached for the bacon, but Ryan shook his head as Grandfather lifted his arthritic hands. "We thank the Great Spirit for the resources that made this food possible. We thank the Earth Mother for producing it, and we thank all those who labored to bring it to us. May the wholesomeness of the food before us, bring out the wholeness of the Spirit within us."
Praying for anything was a foreign concept to her. Her only experience with prayer or religions of any kind was the couple of times she and her sisters had gone to vacation bible school at the Baptist church. But they had gone for the free lunch and fun crafts, not some god that obviously didn't give a damn about them. But whatever.
She reached for the bacon again as Jaycee filled her daughter's plate, and the three men seemed to fight over each dish. Whatever it was about him, the way the old man sat smiling at the head of the table brought some odd sense of calm to the whole thing.
Once plates were piled high, and the men were busy devouring a very good Southern breakfast, Jaycee turned to her, "I thought we could use the whiteboard to map out the things we know...and what we don't. If you're okay with it, my office number can manage conference calls. Or we could try one of the apps on our mobiles if you have them?"
Laura nodded her head as she finished chewing the last bite of bacon, "Your office line should be fine." It seemed strange allowing this woman that she barely knew to take control of something so critical to her. But perhaps that was the point; she was too close to the situation. Maybe even Ryan was.
"Let me just take Angel and get her set up on the computer with her schoolwork. Here's the number, why don't you text everyone with it? Have them call in about ten minutes?" The woman reached over and squeezed her hand.
"Angel, if you're finished, let's start on your schoolwork?" Jaycee addressed her daughter.
But Grandfather shook his head, "No, my daughter, let the child stay. Her gifts grow more every day. Perhaps they can be of some use."
"With all respect, I don't think that the things were going to be discussing are appropriate for a seven-year-old, Grandfather."
The man laughed, "Jaycee, in most of this world, Angel would be caring for her siblings, cleaning, working in the fields, or carrying water for miles. That may seem harsh. But let me challenge you. Does our distinctly privileged Western illusion of a perfect childhood truly serve them well? Does it prepare the next generation for the realities of this life?"
The man's words struck a deep chord in Laura. When she had decided to have a baby, she had all those dreams of how much better and easier a life she would provide than the one she had had. But wasn't this man, right? Hadn't the very responsibility and work ethic that their poverty had forced on her given her a distinct advantage over most of her peers for whom the whole adulting thing was relatively new?
Well, other than the likes of Stephen McBride and Stewart, who had been born to wealth and privilege, for whom everything was just given and taken for granted. But then too was that also part of this mess? Had that privilege impaired the man's decision-making process?
The old man looked at her and smiled, "All very valid observations, my daughter. I hope that you will reflect upon them."
She threw up her hands, "Okay, that shit is just freaky. Doesn't it bother any of the rest of you?"
Everyone laughed, and it broke the tension. Jaycee spoke again, "You will get used to it. But yes, it freaked me out at first, too. I would offer to teach you some mental blocking exercises, except I often wonder if they work with Grandfather."
The man picked up his cup of coffee with a smile, neither confirming nor denying her words. The woman sighed and met his gaze, "Alright. For now. But if I think things are too... Rex will take her from the room."
He nodded his head, "Then let us fill your board with truths, my daughter."
Laura sent a group text to Merry J. Austen, Marmee Wilder, and Mary March with the number as the men began to clear the table of mostly empty dishes. It was a bit after eight, so she could only hope that they were all awake.
The phone rang, and Jaycee answered, "J. Ranger, Esquire, how may I help you?"
There was silence for a moment, "Who is this? My sister sent me this number."
Laura smiled and answered for the woman, "Elena, it's me. It's a long story..."
But before she could continue, the phone rang again, "Hold on a moment. Let me answer. We're hoping to have a conference call with everyone." Jaycee did not wait for a response before answering the other line on the third ring.
"Baby girl, is everything alright? Whose number is this?" Her Mama did not even allow Jaycee to say anything before jumping in.
"Everything is fine, Mama. I'll explain in a minute. We're trying to get everyone together on a conference call," Laura explained.
