Disclaimer: I do not own Hart of Dixie. The words in the chorus of the song are those of Sharon Vaughn, who wrote 'My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys', first performed by Waylon Jennings.
Bluebell Alabama, April 2044
Jackie Kinsella walked out of the Rammer Jammer, locked the door, and hung up a hand lettered sign which said 'Closed for the funeral, y'all come back at 3'. She turned and eased her way slowly to the town square, where they were holding outdoor services at the gazebo since no one thought the church would hold everyone.
It was a beautiful April morning, the sun was shining, the breeze off the Gulf was light, the humidity, for once, was low, temperatures in the mid 70s. The calm after the storm. Jackie was exhausted and in shock. The Rammer Jammer had been open round the clock for three days, making meals, serving coffee to emergency personnel, and being a general clearinghouse for information. After the first round of tornados tore through the region, the grid had gone down, and the Rammer Jammer, being the only building with a generator for miles around, had become ground zero for recovery efforts. Jackie smiled when she thought about Daddy's ingenuity in putting that system together. He often said it could withstand anything short of a tsunami, and he wanted people to know the Rammer Jammer would be there for them, good times or bad. Jackie glanced skyward and sighed deeply, thinking 'you were right again Daddy'.
When Jackie got to town square, it looked as if the whole town had turned out, plus a few others, and there were more streaming in. As Jackie made her way slowly to the front, she stopped frequently to clasp hands briefly with friends and neighbors, murmuring words of grief and consolation. She finally made it to the front where she slid into a seat next to her brother. He had been slumped in his chair holding his bulletin when she arrived, and he glanced up and gave her a wan smile.
"Seen Jimmy Earl yet?" he asked.
Jackie shook her head. "He called me from Atlanta this morning, said he was on his way."
"When was that?"
"Jeezus, Harley, it was still dark, I don't know what time it was, I've been up for three days for Chrissake, why do you always have to cross examine me? He'll be here."
"OK," he held up his hands in surrender, "sorry, just a habit, you're right, I didn't mean it like that."
Jackie nodded. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you, it's just this…" she waved her arm around the square, indicating the swelling crowd.
Harley smiled and patted her arm. "Yeah." He turned and looked at the crowd, then suddenly stiffened. "Oh my Lord it's that Galecki woman. She has been such a pain in my rump you wouldn't believe!"
Jackie followed his gaze. "Oh, you can't be serious, I think she's sweet!"
"Sweet," he scoffed, "that was the first account George gave me when I moved back to Bluebell, told me she could be a little demanding occasionally but that she would grow on me! Like a fungus, that is. She handles her financial affairs like a full time job by herself; I don't even know why she wants me around except to have someone do her bidding…well hello Mrs. Galecki, thank you so much for coming," Harley rose hurriedly at this last utterance and smiled to the tall woman who had just stopped by their chairs. She gave Harley her million watt smile and extended her hand as if she expected him to kiss it.
"Please, Harley, I've told you before, call me Lemon."
Harley took her hand and shook it somewhat limply. "Since our relationship is attorney-client, I'd feel more comfortable with 'Mrs. Galecki'."
"As you wish," she shrugged and stepped across in front of him to give Jackie a hug. "How are you sweetie?"
Jackie had stood up and suddenly felt a welling of emotion so she pulled the older woman into a tight squeeze. Lemon squeezed back and they clung to each other like survivors of a shipwreck.
"Oh, God, Aunt Lemon, I don't know what I feel, I'm so numb and confused and tired."
"I know, sweetie, I know," Lemon said, stroking the younger girl's long blonde hair. "It is so very, very difficult losing family." She gave Jackie another squeeze. "Listen, I have to go grab a seat before they are all gone, but we'll talk later, at the Rammer Jammer, I promise." Lemon took both of the younger girl's hands in hers before she turned and left.
Jackie wiped her eyes and sat back down. She had grown close to the older woman ever since she had moved back to town a few months ago-
Jackie had been working the bar that afternoon when Lemon walked in. Daddy was at the end of the bar reading the newspaper when this tall, white-haired woman walked into the Rammer Jammer, spotted him, and sashayed up to him before putting her hands over his eyes from behind.
"Guess who?" she trilled.
Jackie remembered Daddy sat up straight up in mock-alarm. "Meatball! What've you done to your hands?"
The woman laughed gaily, took her hands away, and slapped him lightly on the shoulder. "Still the old charmer!"
By this time Jackie had walked down the bar, interested in who would be treating Daddy so familiarly. The woman saw her coming and gasped, grabbing Daddy's shoulders from behind.
"My God, she looks so much like you! Only pretty, of course! Hi," she extended her hand with a million watt smile, "I'm Lemon Galecki, your Daddy and I grew up here together."
Jackie had a half grin on her face as she stuck out her hand. "Jackie Kinsella."
Lemon leaned in and half-whispered conspiratorially, "We used to own this place together, a long time ago. We first started out, I couldn't stand him, but I grew to love him. Woulda married him myself if your Momma hadn't snatched him up so quick," she said with a twinkle her eye.
"Oh, now Lemon, don't go givin' the girl ideas," Daddy said as he eased his way off the barstool, grabbed his cane, and hobbled around the end of the bar to face his old friend-
Jackie was jolted out of her reverie by Jimmy Earl, who slid into the seat next to her, tie a little askew, face flushed.
"It's not even noon and it's already this hot?" he complained as he took out a handkerchief and mopped his face. Harley leaned forward, looked across Jackie and waved his bulletin at Jimmy Earl in a short greeting. Jackie leaned forward and gave him a peck on the cheek.
"Hey, Momma's Boy," she said softly.
"Hey, Daddy's Girl," he said back with a sad smile on his face. Not only did the two share looks with the parent of opposite gender, they often shared personality traits. Jimmy Earl was like Momma, short, for a man, at five-six, and dark hair, but he was studious and quiet, kind and thoughtful. Jackie was like Daddy, tall, sandy blonde, athletic, outgoing, and, truth be told, somewhat of a heartbreaker. She wasn't above having a little fun, but no one had captured her heart. And no one could call her Daddy's Girl except for Jimmy Earl, and vice versa. Jamie Tucker's broken nose in the sixth grade could attest to that.
"Say," Jimmy Earl turned to his big sister, "Who's that woman in the back sitting with the governor? She looks so much like Momma."
Jackie turned to see. The governor was sitting at the back of the row of chairs, flanked by the first lady on his right and a woman on his left who, without your glasses and from across the room, could indeed have been Momma.
Jackie turned back. "I don't know. She must be a Wilkes, all the Kinsellas are gone…except for you and me." She waved her hand vaguely between the two of them.
Jimmy Earl nodded slowly. "I brought my guitar."
Jackie knew immediately what for, but she was surprised. "You really gonna sing that song?"
Jimmy Earl nodded. "I think Daddy would like it."
Jackie smiled, but it never made it to her eyes. "You're gonna make me cry, Jimmy Earl." He shrugged, and she patted his arm as if to say 'it's ok.'
Jackie began to think about the Kinsellas, the grandfather she never knew, Uncle Jesse who she only met a few times and who died in that diving accident. We even almost lost Daddy, she remembered, before I was born, before even he and Momma got together, although Momma always used to say that's what brought them together. Which reminds me, thought Jackie, I've got to ask Aunt Lemon about that, there's a story about her and Daddy…
The music started, and they all stood up to sing one of Momma's favorite hymns. Daddy didn't go to church, but Momma always said she found a lot of comfort there and Jackie didn't ever remember them arguing about it. In fact, she didn't ever remember them arguing about much. She did remember them arguing about Jackie going to college, Momma saying if she didn't want to go she didn't have to, and Daddy insisting if she was going to grow up to run the Rammer Jammer like she wanted she needed a business degree. Daddy won that argument, although it was hard to call it an argument, sometimes they just discussed things with passion. There was another argument, though, that Jackie was sure had been settled but had gone on for years nevertheless, every once in a while flaring up and Daddy would storm out of the house. Once, when Jackie was a teenager, he stayed at the Rammer Jammer overnight, just before Christmas, rather than come home, but Momma and Daddy always worked it out. Jackie knew without a doubt that Momma and Daddy loved each other very much, and she just assumed that all marriages, even those which on the surface were picture-perfect, had undercurrents that no one knew about. As Jackie grew older, she thought the only reason they could have fought like that was another woman, but she knew in her bones Daddy would never be unfaithful, so she dismissed the idea. Could it have had something to do with Aunt Lemon? It didn't seem likely. The story was that Aunt Lemon had taken Daddy to the hospital after the accident and claimed to be his wife, but Momma had always laughed that off, and when Aunt Lemon moved back to Bluebell last fall Momma had seemed genuinely happy to see her.
The hymn ended, the gathering, now perhaps two hundred or more people, re-seated themselves either in the folding chairs arrayed around the gazebo, lawn chairs they had brought with them from home and set up around the perimeter, or on the ground in the shade under the trees. The governor stood up and went to the microphone, his security team discretely placed around him in the crowd. He began to speak.
"As you can imagine, I have attended many funerals these last few days, but none has hit so close to home as this one." He stopped, lowered his head for a moment to collect himself, then looked up at the crowd. "I have the privilege of saying that I was Wade Kinsella's friend since we were both boys. After his momma passed, he'd come by for dinner sometimes, and my momma made sure he had something to eat. We used to play football in my back yard, 'course, since I was so much bigger…" The governor smiled…"anyway I always wanted him on my team, he played hard, he played clean, and he was loyal. I know something about teammates, and Wade was the best. I think most of you knew Wade and Vivian, or at least knew about them. Wade had the biggest heart of any man I know, and he was always there for his community, whether they knew it or not. When the town needed the new little league ball field, it was Wade who organized all-volunteer construction crews from the town, fronted the money for the supplies, and worked day and night to make it into a showcase for the town. When the high school needed a new scoreboard, Wade and Vivian were there. I could go on and on, but I think most of you know the story. They died doing what they loved, helping their neighbors. They loved this town, and I'm glad to see this town loves them back." The governor quietly gathered up his notes and walked back to his seat, between his wife and that other woman, who put her arm through his and lowered her head.
It was time for another hymn, the tune was only somewhat familiar to Jackie, but she knew Momma liked it. They remained seated. She took after Daddy, she thought, in her lack of dedication to the church, but Jimmy Earl had given serious thought to becoming a preacher when he was in his teens, for about six months. He eventually decided he didn't have the calling, but it was important enough in his life to keep, so he tried to attend church whenever his schedule at the hospital permitted. Jackie never acquired the habit.
She awoke from her daydream to the realization that Jimmy Earl was no longer beside her, but up on the podium before the microphone. He had his guitar slung around his neck. He cleared his throat and smiled nervously.
"This the first song my Daddy ever taught me on the guitar," Jimmy Earl said as he began to strum some low chords, then began to sing in a mellow baritone a song Jackie knew by heart. She remembered Momma and Daddy arguing about this song, for a little bit anyway.
-Wade, why are you teaching that boy that song? It's got… words… in it.
-World's full of heartbreak, hon, the boy has to know that. And in a quieter voice, whispered to Jimmy Earl alone, although Jackie overheard him…the ladies will love this.
-He's only ten, Wade, give him a chance to be a kid.
Somehow they had gotten to the last chorus of the song, and Jackie hadn't even noticed until she heard the crowd quietly humming along to the words
My heroes have always been cowboys,
And they still are it seems,
Sadly in search of, and one step in back of
Themselves, and their slow moving dreams.
As they got to the end of the song (Jackie noted to herself wryly that Jimmy Earl had gotten all of Daddy's musical talent) she heaved a sigh of relief, knowing she had made it through the song without crying.
A few more people said a few more nice things about Wade and Vivian, but Jackie was in kind of a daze again, and after a while the crowd made its way back to the Rammer Jammer, where Jackie opened up. She had instructed the staff to take no money, everything was on the house today, but contributions to a memorial fund would be accepted. It was a subdued, polite, orderly crowd that filled the place as they patiently awaited their drinks. A selection of cold meats, cheeses, salads and fruits had been laid out at one end of the dining room, a line was formed, and the room began eventually to hum with the sounds of people eating, drinking, reminiscing, and even occasionally laughing. Jackie found her way to the end of the bar where she poured herself a small bourbon and sat down heavily. After several people had stopped by to wish Jackie all their best wishes and prayers, which she gratefully acknowledged, Lemon appeared and gave her a big hug.
"What're you drinking?" Jackie asked.
"What's that?" Lemon pointed at Jackie's glass.
"Jim Beam."
"Sounds good." Jackie poured her a double, neat, and freshened her own drink. They raised glasses and clinked. They drank.
"This town loved your Daddy," Lemon said, "which, by the way, is no slight on your Momma, such a lovely woman and a beautiful match for your Daddy, but he was, after all, Bluebell. It's funny, you know," Lemon looked down pensively at her drink, "he spent half his life trying to prove he didn't give a damn when that's really all he did, give a damn. Took a long time for people to see it."
Jackie sighed deeply and took a small sip of whiskey. She had too much to do to get drunk, but that's what she longed to do with Lemon, get drunk and cry and remember and try to forget. She had only known the older woman for a few months, but she felt such a connection from the very first that she had somehow become her new best friend. Jackie took a deep breath and plunged ahead.
"There's something I just remembered that I've been wanting to ask you about," Jackie began shyly.
Lemon nodded with a big smile on her face. "The accident, right?"
Jackie lowered her eyes and shrugged. "Yeah."
"Well," Lemon said, "I don't know what you've heard, but some of it is probably true." She sat back and settled herself on the barstool, back erect. "I will need more to drink." Jackie nodded solemnly, waved over the bartender, pointed to the bottle of Jim Beam on the shelf, and indicated he should hand it over, which he did. She freshened both their drinks.
"I saw him fall, you know," Lemon began after knocking back half her drink. "I was in the market for a new car, and I don't know what possessed me, I never would have bought the car, but I was test driving one of those SUVs when I pulled up in front of the Rammer Jammer. I wanted your Daddy to see it, although I figured he'd probably laugh at me, which he did…anyway he was on the roof, and he turned and it seemed like his foot caught, he lost his balance…it was horrible, you cannot believe…I panicked and bundled him into the SUV and drove to Mobile like a crazy woman. Called the Sheriff, got a police escort. I know I shouldn't have moved him, but I just felt someone had to do something or we were going to lose him."
Jackie nodded, eyeing Lemon closely. She took a drink. "Is it true you claimed to be his wife?"
Lemon smiled and her eyes drifted off Jackie and into the past. "Yes, I'm afraid that is true. I panicked." Lemon shrugged and smiled again, wistfully. "I believed, as I sometimes still do, that I can control the uncontrollable by force of sheer will. I wanted everyone to know that I had the authority to boss them around until your Daddy's life was saved, and 'wife' sounded so much better than 'former business partner and life-long friend'."
"Did you love Daddy?" Jackie asked bluntly.
"Oh, yes, child, I most certainly did," Lemon laughed gaily, "but before you get all upset, there are some things you need to know. There are all kinds of love. You can love your country, you can love your dog, you can even say you love walking in the rain or chocolate ice cream. Or," Lemon held up a finger, "you can love a man mind, body, and soul. That makes a good marriage. Your Momma and Daddy had that."
"And you?" Jackie asked.
"I got two out of three with your Daddy. Got three out of three with my husband."
Jackie smiled.
"Were you worried, sugar?" Lemon asked, touching the younger woman's arm.
Jackie waved her hands in front of her face as if shooing something away. "No, no, it's nothing."
Lemon drained her drink and shook the empty glass back and forth lightly in front of Jackie, who smiled and slid the bottle toward the older woman. Lemon poured out two fingers, neat, set the bottle down, and threw back one of those fingers. She set her glass down gently, closed her eyes, and swallowed.
"That's the day I told your Daddy I loved him, the day he fell, because I was so afraid he was going to die and I wanted him to know. Know what he said?" Lemon asked with a mischievous glint in her eye.
Jackie's eyes got big and she sat up straighter. "No."
"'That's sweet'. He was pretty drugged up on the painkillers then, after I said it I immediately wanted to un-say it because I was pretty sure he was going to make fun of me, and I hoped that maybe he was too drugged up to know what I said, but when he said 'that's sweet' I knew he knew, but he never made fun and never told anyone. Good thing too because that was quite a day for love and Wade Kinsella."
"Really?" Jackie said with a grin. She took a small sip.
"Yep, your Momma told your Daddy she loved him that day too. She didn't even get any words, though," Lemon chuckled, "the way she tells it he was so doped up all he could do was attempt an air kiss. She says the same thing I did, getting that close to losing him made us appreciate him all the more."
"Wow," Jackie said, "two women say they love you on the same day! That's gotta be a first."
"Three, actually," Lemon said, then blushed as if she shouldn't have said anything.
Jackie looked at Lemon askance.
"That is, I don't actually know that…" Lemon began, looking down and fidgeting with her drink.
"You can't just say that and let it lie there," Jackie said as she freshened their drinks. Lemon threw both fingers back with no problem. The buzz of the room had disappeared for both women.
"There was another," Lemon said, "who came to visit your Daddy that day while he was recovering, a New York City doctor who had part of my Daddy's practice. We had never gotten along, and something just snapped when I saw her and I told her, I remember these words so clearly, I told her 'Wade needs people around him now who love him. You don't qualify.' My God, you should have seen her face! Or better yet, you should have seen the face of her fancy New York boyfriend she brought with her just to punish your Daddy! They took off and I never saw them again, he left the next day and she left a few days after that. Your Daddy told me, though, she came back that night after visiting hours, sneaking in as a doctor. He would only say he got his 'George Tucker moment'."
Jackie shook her head. "George? What? What does George Tucker have to do with this?"
Lemon shrugged. "George and I were engaged, but this doctor wouldn't leave it alone until George called off the wedding, but by then she had taken up with someone else and threw him aside, so he found someone else, and she came back and told him she had made a big mistake and he was the one for her.
Jackie's eyes got big and her mouth hung open. She took a drink.
"'Course alls well that ends well, here you are and there she was sittin' in the back with the governor to protect her, probably slinkin' off to New York to her fame and her four ex-husbands by now," Lemon said dismissively.
"She was here? Today? Who is she? What's her name?"
"I don't remember her name, sugar, she's not important, what is important is your Momma and Daddy, they had it all."
"You don't remember her name?" Jackie said, tilting her head at Lemon and giving her what her Daddy used to call 'kitten-eyes', eyes that pleaded with you to give Jackie whatever she wanted because she was so cute. It worked on Daddy all the time.
"If you want to know that bad, I'm sure you can Google her, but it's not even worth that minimal effort, trust me." It seemed Aunt Lemon was immune.
They both sat in silence for a while. The noise around them grew, somebody started the juke box, a relic from the old days that now fronted for a digital sound system that would play almost every song ever recorded, and someone punched up one of Daddy's old play lists, a happy one with lots of dancing songs. Neither woman heard any of
it; they were lost in their own reminiscences. Finally Jackie looked up.
"There are all kinds of love, huh? Is that your wisdom from the lofty perch you have attained?" Jackie said with a smile.
"I'm glad you're smiling," Lemon grinned back, "yes, there are all kinds of love; people, pets, and things, even abstractions. But people are special."
At that moment, some townsfolk stopped by to offer condolences, shake Jackie's hand, the older women kissing it and patting it as if now Jackie had joined some secret club she as yet knew nothing about. Somehow Lemon slipped away.
The rest of the day was kind of a blur. She managed to make it back to the house she had grown up in, and most recently shared with her parents, by late afternoon. She knew she still had a ton of things to do, including closing the Rammer Jammer, although the staff had told her they would take care of that, but she felt so physically and emotionally exhausted all she could do was go inside, get the bourbon, fill a wine bucket with ice, grab a glass and go outside to put her feet up on the porch. She poured two fingers of whiskey, scooted the wicker chair a little closer to the railing, put her feet up and watched sky grow dark. Daddy used to sit here in the dark waiting for me to come home, she thought to herself, and she remembered that it was on this very porch that Daddy first talked to her about love…
It had been a night very much like this one, maybe a little warmer or later in the year, a prom night, when Jackie had come home distraught. Daddy had been sitting on the porch on the wicker couch, in the dark, so Jackie flounced over and sat down heavily next to him, then kind of curled up and lay her head on his good leg..
"Whatsamatter, punkanoodle?" Daddy had said, brushing the hair away from her eyes.
Jackie sighed deeply, tragically. "My social life is over."
"That sounds serious," Daddy said.
Jackie sat up and, looking at Daddy, wrinkled her nose. "I may have told a boy…about my feelings for him…and I'm pretty sure he doesn't feel the same way."
"Well, that could be serious, but fortunately not fatal," Daddy had smiled. "What did you say to him?"
"I may have told him…I love him."
"Well," said Daddy gently, "did you or didn't you?"
Jackie just nodded her head. Daddy nodded his.
"Do you love him?" Daddy asked quietly.
Jackie gave a nod and a shrug at the same time.
"And what did he say?"
"He said 'wow'."
"Just 'wow'?"
"Yep."
Daddy sat silent for the longest time. He finally spoke.
"Lord knows I don't know much about love, almost everything I do know begins and ends with your Momma. But I can tell you the same thing I told someone long ago – just because someone says they love you doesn't mean you have to love them back."
"Well, that sucks," Jackie said.
"It does," Daddy said, nodding his head in agreement.
"So what do you do about it?" Jackie asked, despairing of an answer to her pain.
"Keep breathing."
Jackie just sat in stunned silence. Finally, "That's it?"
"Pretty much," Daddy said, "because one day, as long as you keep breathing, when you tell someone 'I love you' they'll say 'I love you too', and then it's all worth it."
"Like you and Momma?"
"Like me and Momma."
Still, Jackie remembered overhearing what sounded a little like arguments over this last Christmas, when Momma got that exasperated tone in her voice…
Jackie had come into the kitchen for something when she overheard Momma and Daddy in the dining room.
"It's not you I'm worried about," Momma stage-whispered, "I know you love us and I trust you. I know that because you're here, and when you are here you are really here, not pretending to be here while you daydream about being somewhere else."
"Viv…" Daddy started.
"I get it, Wade, I really do, you were once close, there will always be an echo of her somewhere in your heart, but we have grown kids, for crying out loud. You're mine now. Every year it's the same. I don't want her calling anymore!"
No, definitely not Aunt Lemon, Jackie thought, it was that woman who looked like Momma.
The screen door banged shut and Harley strolled out on the porch. He turned and saw Jackie, so he walked over.
"May I join you?" he said formally, bowing slightly. What a guy, thought Jackie, even when he was trying to be funny he was courtly. She smiled, nodded, and gestured toward the wicker chair next to her. He sank into it slowly, careful not to spill his drink.
"You have ice?" he asked.
"I do," Jackie said.
"You have whiskey?" Harley asked as he took a sip of his drink.
"I do," Jackie said.
"What kind?" Harley asked.
"Bourbon. The good stuff." Jackie said.
Harley held out his glass, and Jackie poured. They sat and drank in the cool of the early evening for a few minutes.
Finally Harley broke the silence. "Gonna keep the house?"
Jackie didn't have to think long. "Yes. I love it here."
"Not too many memories?"
"Good memories, Harley."
"Rent me a room?" Harley asked with a grin.
"Hell, no," Jackie laughed, "I am DONE living with you, and besides, living with my brother would be hell on my rep."
"You have a rep?" Harley laughed.
"It's a small town, I must," Jackie said, "although folks keep it to themselves mostly."
The screen door banged again and Jimmy Earl stepped out on the porch, put his arms over his head and stretched his back. As Jackie watched him, she noticed he stretched his back just like Daddy, although he was a smaller version. The laws of genetics, our parents are in all of us, she thought, and then she wondered how many whiskeys had produced that? Jimmy Earl saw them and ambled over, carrying a couple of books.
"I don't think you need those to sit closer to the table out here," Harley said with a chuckle. Jimmy Earl set down the books on the wicker end table and began searching his pockets. He found the memorial service bulletin in his coat pocket, pulled it out, rolled it up, and swatted Harley on the side of the head. Harley just smiled and closed his eyes. Jimmy Earl sat down, leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees.
"I found these in the den," Jimmy Earl said, gesturing toward the books. "I thought it was interesting because Daddy never struck me as a reader, not for fun, anyway."
"What are they?" Harley asked, taking a sip of his drink and leaning back in the chair.
"First editions of the first and second books that that writer did, the one who won the Nobel last year, Joel Stephens. The first book is signed, it looks like it was read a lot, the second book looks almost unopened, and the spine is still stiff."
"And I care about this because…?" Harley said sarcastically.
"Christ, Harley, you have no soul!" Jimmy Earl raised his arms in frustration and Jackie laughed out loud. "It's just weird, is all, I've read some of Joel Stephens and while I like it, it didn't seem like Daddy's cup of tea, and then I find an autographed first edition in Daddy's office. Here," Jimmy Earl leaned over and picked up the book, flipping over the hard cover, pointing at the writing on the inside – to Wade, the best man, Joel.
Both Jackie and Harley leaned over to read it in the dim light.
"What do you think it means?" Harley asked. Neither Jackie nor Jimmy Earl had an answer. They all sat back and watched the light fade from the sky and the stars come out. After a while Jimmy Earl broke the silence.
"So you used to small town life yet Harley?"
"Not quite, but I'm getting there," Harley chuckled.
"Need to get you a soul," Jimmy Earl said sagely.
"He's learnin'," Jackie said in defense of her older brother. They sat quiet for a while, then Jackie piped up.
"What do you mean, not Daddy's cup of tea?"
"A lot of Stephens books tend toward the Southern Gothic; mildew-y mansions in the swamp, moss covered live oaks, that sort of thing. Operatic characters, failed romances, doomed lovers, rich scheming families scheming to get richer."
"Ah," Jackie and Harley said in unison.
"What I think brought him to the attention of the Nobel committee was his most recent work comparing the Southern myth to the Norse and ancient Germanic myths…"
"Thanks, Jimmy Earl," said Jackie, "I'm sure what you're about to say is fascinating but just keep to yourself for now, OK?"
"K," Jimmy Earl shrugged. He was used to being shushed by his sister.
"Your plan is still to come back here and do family practice?" Harley asked.
Jimmy Earl nodded. "Old Doc Breeland says he can finally retire if there's a Kinsella in the practice."
Jackie snorted and took a drink. "Brick said that when Jonah joined the practice 20 years ago. He'll be carried out of there feet first."
"How much longer?" Harley asked.
"'Bout two years," Jimmy Earl said.
Jackie stared at the books for a moment. "Is the other one signed, too?"
"No," Jimmy Earl said, "nothing."
Jackie picked up the book and opened it. She could feel, and hear, the spine crack. First page, In the Land of Ghosts by Joel Stephens. Second and third pages blank, fourth page dedication, To Zoe. She turned to the back flyleaf, found a picture of a man who looked like a starving owl. Nothing remarkable here, although there was something about that face that was familiar from somewhere. It made her wonder how Daddy knew Joel, and he must have known him well to be his best man, or maybe that other inscription meant something else. She shook her head and put the book back down.
"So, it won't be long," said Harley as he took another sip of his drink, "and this family will have cornered the legal, medical, and hospitality markets of Bluebell."
"Yeah," laughed Jackie, "a regular dynasty."
"You make it sound so sinister, Harley. I'm serious about getting you a soul," Jimmy Earl said. Harley just shook his head and waved him away.
The day had cooled to night, the crickets and the peepers were out in force, creating a country din. The three siblings sat in the dark on the porch, taking what comfort they could from the night and the presence of each other. Finally Jimmy Earl broke the spell.
"Think of it this way, Jackie," he said, "you are no longer a bartender with a degree, you are a bar owner with a degree."
"There is that," she said.
After a while the boys drifted off into the house, looking for something to eat, and Jackie remained on the porch, trying to decide between another drink, a sandwich, or bed. A sandwich sounded like too much trouble, so she grabbed the bottle and headed upstairs. As Jackie passed the pictures on the wall of the landing on the stairs, she realized where she had seen that face on the flyleaf before. There was a picture of Momma and Daddy, sitting in the Rammer Jammer with one of Momma's cousins and the starving owl guy. Jackie stepped a little closer. This picture must have been taken before she was born, Jackie thought, Momma and Daddy look so young. And that woman, someone said once she was Momma's cousin, she was the same one at the funeral earlier today, Jackie was sure of it, only much younger, young as Momma. Had she left an echo in Daddy's heart, or was it just an echo in her own? As she trudged off to bed, Jackie struggled to make a mental note to remind herself to ask Aunt Winnie who this woman was, but that would have to be tomorrow.