Don't Make Me Choose Between You and My Shoes (4 page)

Finally, Granny Dee smiled at Dewey, then Celina. “No, sweetheart. The only thing I have left from there are memories, and they're better off resting. This is my home now.”

Celina felt her nervousness return and for an instant she wondered if she should make the trip.

Granny Dee's hand covered hers. “But angel, you're going to need a better wardrobe than jeans and T-shirts for New York City.”

T
hank you, Mr. Scurlock…. Yes. Yes, I understand…. Nope, no questions. I think you've told me everything I need to know. See you in two weeks.”

Debbie Sue returned the receiver to its cradle and spun around in her chair. “That's it. We're going to New York City. Am I the only one who finds it funny that Scurlock rhymes with Sherlock?”

“Yes,” Edwina answered, “apparently you are.”

“As in Sherlock Holmes, Ed. He was a detective.”

Edwina returned a “humph.”

Ignoring her friend's sarcasm, Debbie Sue forged ahead. “I still can't believe Buddy and Vic were so sweet about us going out of town together. Vic didn't put up a fight at all, huh?”

Edwina was adding another layer of hair spray to Lloydena
Blanton's helmet hairdo. “It wasn't exactly a fight. He did say something like ‘I might as well be pissin' in the wind.' But no, no fight.”

Stepping back and fanning the hair spray fog with her hand, Edwina grinned. “I'm just kidding. He's tickled to death. You forget, he's been all over the world and seen everything. He wants me to see things, too. Before we got married, I'd never been anywhere but Vegas, you know.”

“Listen, girls,” Lloydena said through the veil of lacquer, “if y'all are serious about going up there, y'all be real careful. That's the meanest place on the face o' the earth. Carry your purses real close to your body. Don't be looking around like some damn-fool out-of-towner. Try to blend in.”

She looked from Edwina to Debbie Sue, as if she wanted to make sure she had their attention before continuing. “Don't get on one o' them subways, whatever you do. And never, I mean
never
, make eye contact with anybody. Keep your head down, eyes on the ground. There's rapists, murderers, robbers and terrorists everywhere.”

Debbie Sue and Edwina exchanged looks and burst into laughter.

“Hell, Lloydena, you just described my last family reunion,” Edwina said.

“And my high-school reunion,” Debbie Sue added. “Lloydena, when were you ever in New York City? Where did you get this information?”

“Well, I've never actually
been
there. But I watch the news and something terrible's always happening in that place.” She gave a knowing single nod.

“You're not confusing the evening news with
Law and Order
again, are you?” Edwina asked, winking in Debbie Sue's direction. “Remember
24
? We almost never convinced you that Kiefer Sutherland wasn't really a serial killer.”

“I might be confused, but what if I am? Just where do you think those writers get their ideas? They get 'em from things that happen there.” Lloydena began pawing through her purse.

“Actually,” Debbie Sue said with a contemplative frown, “Dallas and Houston, statistically speaking, have higher crime rates than New York City. I heard that on TV news.”

“Nooo,” Lloydena said, wide-eyed. “Why, I don't believe that.”

“It's a fact. I also read it in some of the stuff Buddy brought home.”

“Humph. That's because that Yankee riffraff keeps moving down here and bringing their criminal ways with them,” Lloydena said with smug finality. “I thought a long time ago they should have built a fence without a gate clear from Texarkana to New Mexico. As for me, myself, I wouldn't go to New York. Not for all the tea in China. But if y'all decide to, just remember what I said.”

She hefted her bulk out of the chair, waddled over to the payout counter and laid out two twenty-dollar bills. “Now, I'm fixin' to get some supper on the table and make some time for my sweetie. He and I are having playtime tonight, if you know what I mean.” She wiggled her eyebrows and grinned. She sent a glance over her shoulder as she left through the front door. “Y'all be careful, now, you hear?”

Edwina waited until Lloydena was out the door. “I'd rather hand out ice water and free fans in hell than spend an evening with her sweetie. I might be in danger of losing my life in New York City, but I guaran-dam-tee you, somebody would be dead if I had to put up with Butch Blanton. And it wouldn't be me.”

Debbie Sue laughed. “There's proof right there that God made someone for everyone. It's the Noah's Ark theory. Everything comes in twos.”

“Well, I'm here to tell you that I'd come in two if ol' Butch even acted like he was gonna touch me. It's not so much his looks. It's his fear of soap and water that puts me off.”

“You're a hard woman to please, Edwina Martin. Now, let's talk about what we're taking to New York. We might need to find time for some shopping.”

“Shopping? For what? I've got a closet full of clothes.”

Debbie Sue fidgeted in her chair. Clothing—the sort of, or lack of—was never an easy subject to broach with Ed. The woman had her own idea of fashion. Unconventional, unapologetic and unlike anything most people had ever seen. “I'm just saying, Ed, we've got to be sure we look professional. Sharp. We want to show those folks in New York that we're not small-town hicks.”

Edwina removed a shoulder-length earring and tugged on her left earlobe. “But we
are
small-town hicks.”

“But we don't have to look like it,” Debbie Sue said. “We should go to the mall in Midland and let Allison Freeman fix us up.”

“I don't see anything wrong with the way we look.”

Debbie Sue slowly looked her friend up, down and up again. Edwina's leggy five-foot-ten frame was made even taller by the three-inch stacked heels on her mustard-yellow cowboy boots. Today she had on skin-tight turquoise jeans, a white T-shirt decorated with a rhinestone eagle and a bright yellow sash tied just below her waistline.

“Hell, I'm not talking about the way I'm dressed now,” she said, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. “Don't you think I've got any sense at all? I'd never wear these boots if I had to do a lot of walking. They're made for looking, not walking.”

 

Celina pushed away from her computer and rubbed her eyes while she waited for the printer to spit out more pages. She'd been to every Internet site that offered discounted travel fares and hotel rates. Everything was out of her budget, that is, if she actually had a budget. The only things skimpier than her budget were her viable choices.

The conference was being held at one of the newer hotels in Manhattan, the Anson, with an address that made her pulse quicken—1500 Broadway. The block of rooms set aside for attendees was booked to the max and the undiscounted cost of a room for five days was unthinkable.

She had to spend as little as possible because she had so little to work with. She wouldn't even consider asking her grandmother for a loan, though she knew Granny Dee wouldn't hesitate in handing it over.

Granny Dee would move heaven and earth to help, Celina knew, but she still hadn't regained her footing from the
loss of her job. She had only a small pension from the bank and an even smaller Social Security check each month. The insurance money she had received after the passing of her husband sat in the bank untouched, gathering interest and waiting for an unexpected emergency. Her cowboy hero had done his best to take care of her, even after his death.

When Granny Dee had mentioned the money, Celina gently reminded her that this was not an emergency. She would pay for the trip herself. Celina knew this was something she needed to do on her own. It was a matter of pride.

Her data printed, she rolled back to the keyboard and minimized the Excel spreadsheet she had built so she could scan her choices with one sweep of the eye.

The numbers glaring back at her made her sigh. It was amazing, the cost of pride these days.

Her preference was to fly nonstop from Houston to La Guardia. The fare would have fallen within the boundaries of her funds had she known about the conference weeks earlier. But purchasing a round-trip ticket for use in less than two weeks meant paying through the nose. And the pocketbook.

Traveling by train sounded romantic and full of intrigue, but it was no cheaper than flying and took days instead of hours.

Her choices dwindled to two: Driving her VW, which would ultimately put her to hitchhiking, or taking the bus. She was weighing the likelihood of her VW making the trip when common sense tapped her on the shoulder and whispered that the bus was the only way.

She looked again at the information in the “Bus” column. One day, eighteen hours and five minutes, one way. She covered her face with her hands and moaned.

She had never traveled by bus, but she had heard horror stories from those who had.
Forty-two hours and five minutes
. Dear God, she would just have to find the bright side of the situation.

She decided to look at the bus ride as an adventure. The bus route would take her through parts of the country she had never seen. She would wipe the dust from her camera lens and snap a picture or two. She would also lug a sack full of snack food, carry her crossword-puzzle book and the newest Nancy Martin mystery she had been saving for a rainy weekend.

On an online search engine she found other hotels in the New York area. Unfortunately, there was only one available during that particular week, but at least it was one she could afford—the YWCA. It was five miles from the conference site and cost only twenty dollars a night.

Arriving on the bus, staying at the Y. Yee-haw. How much more country mouse could she get? The only thing that would make it more evident would be if she showed up with her hair in pigtails, lugging a suitcase held together by a rope and cradling a squealing pig in one arm.

She was concentrating to returning her breathing to normal when she spotted Dewey watching her.

“How'd it go?” Dewey said from behind the counter. He had been unloading sacks of chicken feed all day and
had paid little attention to her. “Did you find what you needed?”

Celina beamed. “Sure did, Dew. In two weeks I'll be in New York City. Isn't that incredible?”

“Yup. You must be danged excited.”

“Excited, scared, anxious, you name it. I'm all of that.” She laughed. “I've had my credit card since college and have barely used it. It's a wonder they don't call to check on who's making these charges.”

Dewey began to count the money in the till, closing the register for the day. “What airline you flying on?”

“I'm not. It costs too much. I'm taking Greyhound. But I don't mind,” she added quickly. “I'll see lots of scenery. I'll catch up on some reading and things.”

“That sounds like a real fine trip, Miss Celina. An adventure you can tell your kids about.” His voice was soft and soothing. The reassurance made her feel like a child waking from a nightmare, as if he were trying to convince her that everything would be all right.

“You want me to keep an eye on your books and stuff while you're gone? I won't be able to answer questions for folks like you do or operate the computer, but I sure don't mind helping out.”

“Thanks, but that won't be necessary. Granny Dee and I talked about it last night. She's going to work here while I'm gone.”

That bit of news startled him so, he dropped the loose change in his hands. Coins hit the floor and rolled in every direction.

“Oh, no! Let me help you.” Celina dropped to her knees and began gathering the coins that had scattered.

“My goodness,” Dewey said, kneeling to help her. “What made me do that? Tell you what, whatever you find, you keep.”

Celina grinned. Super. Her money woes were over. There was a solution to every problem if you just looked in the right place.

D
ebbie Sue rolled over and plumped her pillow for the umpteenth time. The Worthington Hotel in downtown Fort Worth might be a nice place to bunk, but she didn't like sleeping with strange pillows, in strange beds, in strange cities. Even Buddy lying next to her, breathing in rhythmic slumber, didn't lessen her anxiety.

She, Buddy, Edwina and Vic had driven earlier in the day to Fort Worth. All flights from Midland to New York started with the first leg on a small plane routed to DFW Airport, between Fort Worth and Dallas. Edwina had made it clear that she would not fly anywhere in a “souped-up maxi pad.” The drive from Salt Lick to the city was less trouble
than Edwina would have been if she had been forced to fly on a small plane from Midland to Dallas.

They'd had a wonderful dinner, then walked to la Madeleine's for dessert before retiring to their rooms. She and Buddy had shared a long bath in the hotel bathroom's oversize tub. Of course, they had ended up making love. Normally, she would have slept like a baby following all of that, but not tonight.

She reached out, turned the clock radio toward her and groaned. The illuminated display screen glowed in vivid red numbers in the pitch-black room: 2:15. She had to be up in four hours and she hadn't been asleep at all. Pushing the clock back to its original position on the bedside table, she accidentally touched the button on the side panel. Suddenly loud Tejano music erupted from the radio and vibrated her eardrums.

Buddy's upper body sprang straight up. “What the fuck…?”

Debbie Sue began frantically punching buttons in the dark. The music stopped, replaced by an enthusiastic announcer's loud voice. “
Saludo y oyen la música fantástica de pequeno Joe!
”

Trumpets and accordions blared in a loud and frenzied musical blend.

Cussing a blue streak, Debbie Sue leaped from the bed, switched on the bedside lamp and grabbed the radio's electrical cord with both hands. She yanked and the music abruptly stopped again.

“The music of Little Joe?” Buddy growled. “Who the hell is that? What the hell's going on, Flash?”

Debbie Sue dropped to the edge of the mattress, her heart pounding. “Oh, my God. I was just trying to find out what time it is. I couldn't sleep.”

Buddy scowled. “And you thought a Tejano band would improve your chances?”

“No. I accidentally turned it on.” She stifled a giggle. “I'm so sorry I woke you up.”

The words were no sooner out of her mouth than the phone rang.

“Oh, that's okay,” Buddy grumbled. “I needed to answer the phone anyway.” He picked up the receiver. “Overstreet,” he snapped.

Debbie Sue could hear a voice broadcasting through the handset. Edwina. “What the hell's going on over there? You two having a party?”

“Debbie Sue couldn't sleep,” Buddy said. “Here, I'll let you talk to her.” He passed the receiver to Debbie Sue, flopped back onto the mattress and covered his head with the pillow. Debbie Sue pressed the phone to her ear. “Hey, Ed.”

“I can't sleep, either. Been awake all damn night. Case of the nerves, I guess. Did Buddy go back to sleep?”

“He's fixin' to. I'll see you in the morning, Ed.”

“Don't hang up. Listen, I've been laying here thinking about the plane getting hijacked.”

“Good Lord, Ed, why would you worry about something like that?”

“Same damn reason I worry about anything. In case it happens, I want to be prepared.”

“You mean like getting yourself right with God?”

“Hell, no. I always stay on His good side. There's just some folks you don't want to piss off…. I'm talking about the guys that try to take over the plane. Let's agree to fight like hell. Nothing's off limits. Eyes, balls and dicks go first.”

“Eyes, balls and dicks?” Debbie Sue repeated. “In that order?”

“Promise me, Debbie Sue.”

“Okay, I promise. Eyes, balls and dicks. Now, let's hang up and get some sleep.”

“Okay, shug. I feel better with that out of the way. 'Night.”

Debbie Sue shook her head and replaced the receiver in its cradle.

“Eyes, balls and dicks?” Buddy muttered into his pillow. “What was that all about?”

“Don't ask. But the whole world can rest easier now.”

 

Morning came. Following a gourmet breakfast in the hotel dining room, the foursome started for the airport. With the skill of a local cab driver, Buddy maneuvered their crew-cab pickup from the downtown Fort Worth hotel through the snarl of rush hour traffic and multistory overpasses.

Debbie Sue sat in awe of the crush of cars and people and the bustling activity. “Every time we come here, they've built a bunch of new freeways and a bunch of new buildings.”

Half an hour later they reached the airport entrance. Not having been to DFW Airport in several years, she had forgotten that it looked more like a small city than an air terminal. She might have thought she had reached another one of those
bedroom communities that lay between Fort Worth and Dallas if another snarl of traffic hadn't given the airport entrance away. “How in God's name do people drive in this friggin' nightmare every day? I'd lose my ever-lovin' mind.”

“You'd get used to it after a while,” Buddy said.

“That's what they said about leprosy,” Vic added with a laugh from the backseat.

Debbie Sue turned to join in on the joke, but stopped short. “What's wrong with Ed?”

Edwina's head lay against the back of the seat, her mouth loosely hanging open.

Vic reached over and gently swept her bangs from her forehead. “She didn't sleep worth a damn last night. Not to mention she took medication to keep her from being airsick.”

“Good Lord, how much did she take?” Debbie Sue asked.

“I'll wake her up.” Vic gently shook her shoulder. “Mama Doll. Baby, wake up.”

Edwina raised her head and blinked. “I'm fine. I'm fine. I was just catching a little beauty sleep. I'm okay, really. Are we taking off yet?”

Debbie Sue eyed her anxiously, the hand of dread closing around her stomach. She hadn't forgotten Edwina telling her how the airsickness medication affected her. “We're just now getting to the airport, Ed. We should be at our gate soon. Buddy, are you going to park close to the terminal?”

“There's no point in me parking at all. Vic and I aren't allowed to go to the gate. We'll let you off at the curbside check-in.”

“What? Drop us off? You can't come to the gate and wait with us? Why?”

“Because, darlin',” Buddy said. “After nine-eleven, the airport stopped letting all but passengers past the security check-in.”

“Tell them you're a state trooper, practically a Texas Ranger,” Debbie Sue begged. “They'll let you in. I don't want to tell you good-bye at the curb.”

“I'm not going to ask them to break their security protocol,” Buddy said. “Besides, by the time they cleared my credentials, it would be time for you to board.”

“Dammit to hell,” Edwina said as she removed the top from a small plastic bottle. She bumped two pills into the palm of her hand and tossed them into her mouth. “Damn terrorists. They've screwed up everything.”

“Now, Mama Doll,” Vic said, “promise me you won't make any wisecracks or do and say anything that isn't PC.”

“PC. Humph. That's all BS as far as I'm concerned. They can all FO, if you want my opinion.”

Dear God
, Debbie Sue prayed silently,
please don't let us end up on the ten-o'clock news, or worse yet, in Guantanamo Bay.

Buddy took an exit, made a left turn and parked at the curb. Turning halfway around in his seat, he pulled Debbie Sue closer to him. “I'll call you on your cell. We'll talk until boarding time. It'll be just like I'm there.”

“Not exactly,” she said, nuzzling his neck. “I love you, Buddy. Will you miss me?”

“Only every other minute. I love you, too, Flash.” They kissed tenderly, and for a fleeting moment, Debbie Sue
thought of staying home. How could she survive for nearly a whole week without Buddy, even in New York City?

Buddy climbed out of the Silverado, reached into the bed of the pickup and heaved pieces of luggage to the ground.

Vic opened his door in the rear compartment of the extended-cab vehicle and took Edwina's hand. She scooted from the leather seat, missed the side step and fell to the ground in a heap.

Vic and Buddy rushed to her aide, but she waved them away.

Ignoring her protest, Vic lifted her to her feet and dusted off her bottom.

“I'm fine. I'm fine,” Edwina said. “I just missed the step. It's these damned shoes.” She bent over and started collecting the contents of her purse, which were scattered about her.

“Mama Doll, promise me you won't take any more of those pills,” Vic said in a low voice.

“What pills?” Edwina asked, swaying slightly.

“The motion-sickness stuff.”

“Oh, hell, my motion-sickness pills. I need to take them now if they're going to work.” She stuck her hand into her cavernous purse opening.

“Shit. Edwina, listen to me.” Vic's deep voice of authority would have gotten anyone's attention, but to Debbie Sue's horror, it had no effect on Edwina. She leaned into him and smiled seductively.

“Hey, sailor. You finished brushing dirt off my ass? Or do you want to give it another go-round?”

Debbie Sue eyed her dubiously. “Vic, is she going to be all right?”

“She'll be fine once she gets on the plane. She just needs to sit down and she'll go to sleep.” Vic took her by the elbow and walked her to the baggage check-in stand. Debbie Sue and Buddy followed.

The skycap was a rotund black man with a broad smile that lit up as the foursome approached. “Good morning, folks. Please have your tickets and picture ID where I can see them. It's a wonderful day for a trip. Yessir, wonderful.”

His smile was contagious and Debbie Sue couldn't help but feel bolstered. She stepped forward and handed over her driver's license and ticket.

“Miss Debbie Sue from Salt Lick,” he said looking at her ID. “You flying with us this morning all the way to New York City? You got any luggage you want to check?”

Before she could answer Edwina stepped forward. “Eyes, balls and dicks!” Her voice echoed through the underground area.

Everyone within hearing distance froze. Debbie Sue's left eye began to twitch. She managed a halfhearted smile.

“What'd she say?” the skycap asked, his smile now gone.

“Please. Don't mind her,” Debbie Sue said quickly. “She gets airsick and she's taken maybe one or two too many pills. She's fine really.” Buddy shoved her suitcases forward. “Here, I have two pieces of luggage.”

“Why'd you look at me like that?” Edwina said, glaring at her. “You promised me. You promised me last night that if there was any trouble—”

“Miss,” the skycap said, “may I see your ticket and some ID?”

“You bet.” She leaned forward and put her mouth close to his ear. “But don't look at my picture,” she whispered loud enough for all to hear. “I hate that picture. I don't photograph well. Not well at all.” She laid both items on the counter in front of him. Tilting her head in Debbie Sue's direction, she said, “My friend here's afraid I'm going to embarrass her or say something wrong. I haven't done anything wrong, have I, officer?”

“No, ma'am. You're doing just fine, but I'm not an officer.”

She gave him a frown and a glare. “Then why'd you pull me over?”

Vic quickly stepped forward, gently nudging Edwina aside. “She has two pieces of luggage and a carry-on.”

The skycap grinned as he stamped the ticket, placed it and the boarding pass into a folded envelope and handed it back to Vic.

“You ladies will be boarding in one hour from gate Twenty-seven C. Right through those doors, up the escalator. Once through security, that is
if
you get through security, it's two gates to your right. Have a nice trip.”

Debbie Sue clutched Buddy's arm. “Oh, my God. What if she's not okay?”

Buddy patted her hand. “She's all right. If she wasn't, Vic would take charge.”

Debbie Sue chewed on her bottom lip as Edwina tottered back to the skycap and leaned across his narrow counter. “You've been a perfect gennelman. We all 'preciate what
you boys are doing in the war.” Giving him a salute that fell three inches below her eye, she joined Debbie Sue.

Debbie Sue looked up at Buddy. “Go on, now,” he said. “It's gonna be all right.”

As she took Edwina's arm, Debbie Sue glanced nervously at Vic. The look on his face didn't reassure her at all.

Debbie Sue guided Edwina to the escalator and turned to look back at Buddy one last time. He and Vic stood shoulder to shoulder on the sidewalk wearing grim expressions on their faces. Before Debbie Sue could fall into an even deeper pit of worry, the sudden movement beneath their feet caught Edwina off balance and she pitched forward. Debbie Sue grabbed her and propped her back on her feet as the moving staircase took them away from Buddy and Vic. Edwina declared loudly to no one in particular, “I'm fine. I'm fine. It's these damned shoes.”

To Debbie Sue's great relief the dismount from the escalator went without challenge. But the next hurdle loomed directly in front of them. Security. She stopped and moved in front of Edwina, grasping her shoulders with both hands. “Ed, I want you to listen to me like you've never listened before. We're about to go through airport security. These people take their job real serious. They won't put up with any bullshit. Do exactly as they say. Do you understand?”

“You sound like Vic.” Her voice took on a tremor. “God, I miss him.”

“Fuck, Ed. We just walked away from him. Did you hear what I just said?”