Hell, Yeah by Carolyn Brown Read Free Book Online

Marie Lavaux if she owned the joint,” Merle said.
    “Who’s that? Where does she live?” Travis asked.
    Jezzy swallowed quickly to keep from spewing tea. “You ain’t never heard of Marie Lavaux?”
    Travis shook his head. “She from around here?”
    “It’s the woman in an old Bobby Bare song. She’s a witch. It’s on the old jukebox. Don’t you listen to country music?” Cathy asked.
    “Of course I listen to the old country music. I’d forgotten about that song. Why was Billy Bob in love with the Honky Tonk?” Travis asked.
    “He’s always wanted a beer joint. Since he was a kid, it’d been his dream,” Cathy answered.
    “Then why didn’t he just build one?” Travis’s curiosity was piqued and he wanted to know more about this Billy Bob character who loved Cathy for all the wrong reasons.
    “Because there’s already two others in Mingus. The Trio Club and the Boar’s Nest. But owning a beer joint was only half his dream. The other half was marrying a barmaid.”
    Travis gave her his undivided attention. “Did he finally marry one?”
    “No, he married a Sunday school teacher. All goes to show that sometimes love don’t take you where you want to go,” Cathy said.
    He carefully let out his breath. Heaven help him if Angel heard a whoosh of air that said he’d been holding a lungful of air. “Ain’t that the truth. My sister Rose wouldn’t even date someone outside the law department in college and she wound up married to a hospital administrator.”
    “So your sister is a lawyer?” Cathy asked.
    “Rose and Grace are lawyers at Henry Law Offices in Fort Smith with my dad. Gwen is a pediatric doctor. Emma is a kindergarten teacher. All in Fort Smith. I’m the wandering child.”
    “How about you, Angel? You got brothers and sisters?” Cathy asked.
    “One of each. Gabriella is ten years older than me. We call her Gabby. She teaches on the college level at the University of Tulsa. Nathanael is eight years older than me and he’s a business executive with my father’s import/export business. We call him Nate. Momma loves angels. That’s where they got their names. When I was born Daddy told her to forget all the research into finding what angel to name me after and to just name me Angel, so she did. Of course, she tempered it with Merlene. That’s to keep one foot on the ground when my head is floating in the clouds.”
    “After Merle?” Cathy asked.
    Angel handed Travis the platter of ham to send around the table again. “That’s right, but I think it backfired because Aunt Merle don’t keep her feet grounded all the time either.”
    “Here, here, don’t be airin’ dirty laundry at Jezzy’s New Year’s dinner party.” Merle laughed.
    Travis passed it on without taking a second helping. Suddenly his stomach was filled with quivering knots. He hoped he wasn’t getting sick.
    Cathy elbowed him and was glad everyone else was teasing Merle about her wild days and didn’t see all the blazes dancing around the table. “Thought you were going to embarrass Angel. You didn’t even take a second helping. It’d take at least three helpings to embarrass Angel, wouldn’t it? She was yellin’ ‘hell yeah’ with the best of the redneck women last night.”
    Angel nodded. “Two helpings is his normal meal. Three would be embarrassing. I think he’s showing out for you or Sally today. He never just eats one plate of homemade food.”
    “I’m saving room for extra cake,” he declared.
    Cathy touched the warm spot on her elbow. With Travis wearing a flannel shirt and her in a thick sweater, surely vibes couldn’t have shot through that much cotton. Her appetite disappeared and she could have strangled Travis. No man was worth losing her taste for ham and black-eyed peas. If she couldn’t eat her portion of the cake, Travis Henry might really find himself on the business end of Granny Green’s old blunderbuss. It could easily be his last day upon the earth, so he’d better