LITMIR.BIZ

      AT ABOUT the same time that Ruth Holden and Tyler McKinney were enjoying coffee and doughnuts at the Longhorn, jealously watched by Jodie Hiltz, another coffee break was under way in the big kitchen of the Double C ranch house.

      “Gawd,” Lettie Mae Reese sighed, sinking heavily into a chair and smiling across the table at Virginia Parks. “What a day.”

      Virginia nodded agreement, then gazed into the distance with a worried frown. “Lettie Mae, did somebody think to clear all those paint cans and newspapers out of the front closet? I forgot to check if—”

      “They’re gone,” the cook said comfortably, stirring cream into her coffee with weary satisfaction. “Just relax, girl. We got it all done as best we could, and not a minute too soon, I’d say.”

      “You impertinent child,” Virginia said comfortably. “Almost ten years younger than I am, and you’re still calling me ‘girl.’ Show some respect.”

      Lettie Mae grinned and shoved a plate of sliced fruitcake across the table toward the housekeeper. “Seven years younger,” she said. “And I’ll call you anything I like, missy. Especially when you got paint smudges on your nose.”

      Virginia gave her friend a rueful grin and rubbed at her small shapely nose. She was an attractive woman of sixty, pleasantly plump, with vivid blue eyes in a sweet gentle face and shining gray hair that she wore in a casual pageboy.

      With her fair prettiness, Virginia presented a sharp contrast to thin energetic Lettie Mae. The ranch cook was an arresting woman with a lean alert face, rich brown skin and graying black hair that sprang from her head with the same kind of electric vitality that characterized everything she did.

      “Lordy,” the cook muttered, munching on a piece of cake and taking a thirsty gulp of coffee, “I never saw such a hullabaloo in all my days. What was J.T. thinking of, inviting the girl to visit in the middle of all this mess? Miss C.’s just having fits.”

      Virginia gave the other woman a brief grin. “Not too long ago you’d have been loving the idea of giving her fits, Lettie Mae.”

      Lettie Mae’s vivid face clouded slightly. “I know,” she confessed. “I was awful to her. We all were, Ginny. Funny how things change, isn’t it? When the lady first came, I’d have enjoyed seeing her all worried and flustered like this. Now it just seems to tear at my heart a little bit.”

      Virginia nodded and looked wistfully at the rich sliced cake. “I know I shouldn’t,” she said, her face puckered with guilt, “but…”

      “But you always do, so stop being silly,” Lettie Mae said cheerfully. “You worked hard today, hauling all those wallpaper rolls around and keeping the tray filled up.”

      “The dining room looks nice, though, doesn’t it?” Virginia said. “I really didn’t like that paper at all when Miss C. first showed it to us, but I have to admit it’s perfect with the new furniture.”

      “She’s one classy lady, that one,” Lettie Mae said. “She knows what she wants, and she’s got a real good feel for things like that. This old house is going to be a sight for sore eyes when she gets done.”

      Virginia’s pretty face clouded and she sipped moodily at her black coffee. “But it won’t even be the same house, Lettie Mae. It’ll be so different in a month or so that Miss Pauline wouldn’t recognize it if she came back.”

      “Ginny, Miss Pauline is never coming back,” Lettie Mae said gently. “And life is moving on, and we should move on with it.”

      Virginia was silent, munching on her cake.

      Lettie Mae stared out the window, her dark face suddenly moody. “But I surely do hate all this ruckus,” she said abruptly. “It’s real bad for Miss C. right now.”