After Tex by Sherryl Woods Read Free Book Online Page B

spoke volumes about the way Megan had cut not only Whispering Wind, but everyone in it out of her life. There’d been no cards, no letters, not even a quick, occasional phone call to Peggy.
    â€œI’m sorry,” Megan said sincerely. “I never meant for so much time to go by. Can you stay for a bit? We can make up for lost time.”
    Even as she said the words, she realized just how much she had missed having a real confidante, someone who knew her inside out and never judged. She had hundreds of acquaintances now, but few good friends and absolutely no one who shared a lifelong history with her. Seeing Peggy and remembering middle-of-the-night confidences, shared dreams and irrepressible giggles made her feel the absence in a way she never had before.
    â€œAre you sure?” Peggy asked. “I know you must have a million and one things to do. We’re all real sorry about Tex. If there’s anything you need, you just have to ask. Wilma at the funeral home said you’d been in to arrange for the services. Everyone’ll be there, of course. Tex touched a lot of lives around here. I never realized how many till I was grown and on my own. Kids never do, I guess.” She paused and grinned. “I guess you can tell I still go on and on. Just hush me up whenever you’re tired of hearing my voice. Johnny says I could talk a man to death. He believes that’s how I get my way so often.”
    Megan searched her memory. The image of a freckle-faced blond boy with an untamable cowlick and a shy smile came to mind. “You married Johnny Barkley?”
    â€œWho else?” Peggy said. “I mooned over him long enough. I guess I just wore him down. We have three children, two boys and a girl, which explains how I’ve managed to put on twenty pounds I don’t need and turned most of my hair gray, though you can’t tell it because of the blond rinse I’ve been using. I’ll be darned if I’m going to look old before my time the way my mama did. Of course, she looks terrific now that she’s down in Arizona. She had herself a facelift last year. I swear she looks almost as young as me.”
    â€œWell, you certainly look wonderful,” Megan said with total sincerity. Despite the extra weight, Peggy looked healthy and happy—contented in a way thatMegan found herself envying without knowing why. Her green eyes sparkled with merriment, just as they had when she and Megan were children.
    â€œGo on into the living room and have a seat,” Megan urged. “I’ll have Mrs. Gomez fix us some tea. Or would you rather have coffee?”
    â€œI’ll have a soda if she has one. Any kind will do.”
    â€œA Dr Pepper,” Megan said, suddenly remembering. They had gone through cases of the stuff. “I’ll bet there are some in the fridge.”
    In the kitchen, she found the housekeeper trying to stuff the already overloaded refrigerator with yet another casserole that had just been delivered to the back door by a neighbor who hadn’t wanted to bother Megan.
    â€œIt’s a good thing the funeral’s tomorrow or all this food would go bad,” she said. “Not much of a loss, if you ask me. There’s not an enchilada in the lot of them.”
    â€œMaybe folks figure your spicy cooking is what put Tex in his grave and they’re not taking any chances,” Megan teased, then regretted it when she saw the sheen of tears in the housekeeper’s eyes. Megan wrapped her arms around her. “Don’t you dare cry. If you do, you’ll have me weeping.”
    â€œCrying might do you some good. Better to let your emotions out than keep them all bottled up the way Tex made you do,” the housekeeper said with undisguised disapproval. “You remember when that boy—Bobby Temple, Sí? He shoved you down in the mud in your brand-new winter coat. You were crying and carrying on. Tex gave you one of those