avoid it. No. Not today. My schedule was too full to risk even the slightest delay. I’d be smart and take surface streets. At this rate I’d easily make it to Phoenix by nine o’clock, have a couple of hours to complete my ‘to-do’ list from Ginger, meet my friend Fritzy for lunch and still make it to the airport in plenty of time to pick up my parents and younger brother, Sean. Things were finally going my way and I was determined that, for once, everything would go according to plan.
My pulse ramped up again at the thought of actually seeing my family in the flesh, instead of merely Internet FaceTime. What would they think of my new home? I could hardly wait to show off the majestic beauty of Arizona’s deserts, mountains and red-rock canyons. But, best of all would be having them and all my newfound friends gathered to celebrate my engagement to Tally. Or, as Ginger constantly reminded me, ‘Dumplin’ you’ve nabbed yourself the finest lookin’ stud in the whole dang state!’ And she was right. Envisioning Tally’s sharply-chiseled features, serious brown eyes and the impressive picture he presented sitting tall and lean in the saddle as he galloped across the countryside on one of his prize Appaloosa horses, sparked a pleasurable tingle. But there was a flip side to my euphoria. What would my family think of this steadfast, pragmatic rancher who, at times, seemed to personify my polar opposite? I felt sure Tally and my dad would hit it off famously, but doubted my mother’s reaction would be as enthusiastic. From day one she’d been critical of my choice to remain in Arizona and marry, as she often derisively remarked, ‘a backwoods middle-aged cowboy.’ Never mind that he owned the Starfire Ranch, one of the largest cattle and horse ranches in the state. No, she still had her heart set on me returning to cosmopolitan Philadelphia to reconcile with my former boss, mentor and fiancé, Grant Jamerson, who also happened to be the son of her new best friend, Phyllis. To my mother’s credit, she had devoted a significant amount of time and energy planning a grand wedding for us only to see her dreams go down the tubes. I felt confident that once she’d met Tally, he would win her over, but my stomach shrank when I visualized my family’s first encounter with his aggravating mother. Oh boy. What would they think of Ruth Talverson, a ditsy, pill-popping, chain-smoking emotional and mental basket case if there ever was one? Not wishing to add fuel to the fires of my mother’s long list of objections to Tally, I had not shared with them just how off-the-wall she could be sometimes, but in retrospect, perhaps I should have. With luck, maybe she’d be in a mellow frame of mind while they were here. One could only hope.
My cell and car phone rang simultaneously and I glanced at the screen on the dashboard. Curious. Why would Ginger be calling me at the crack of dawn? I pressed the TALK button on the steering wheel. “Yes, ma’am, what can I do for you?”
“That you, Sugar?”
“Yep.”
“Yep? I swear, the longer you hang around Tally, the more you’re gittin’ to sound like him.”
Tally was known as a man of few words, unlike me, and most certainly a galaxy removed from Ginger’s ultra-chatterbox persona. “What’s up, girlfriend?”
“Oh, I just wanted to add one or two things to the list.” Odd. Her voice sounded lackluster, totally devoid of its usual vitality.
“What are you doing at the office so early?” I asked, banking into a series of gentle hairpin turns.
“Gittin’ a jump on the day.” She exhaled a long, vocal yawn. “Mercy me, I’m as tired as an ol’ yeller dog on a hot summer day.”
I loved her colorful Texas idioms. “How come? It’s pretty early for that.”
“Couldn’t sleep. Finally gave up tryin’ and figured I might as well get my butt in here and catch up on some of this here filing I been putting off for the past couple of months.”
More like a year, I thought, considering the sizeable tower of folders piled on the credenza behind her desk. I slowed and splashed through a mud puddle spanning the dip in the road. A lot of good it had done to wash the Jeep. “So, why couldn’t you sleep?”
“Because Aunt Marcelene phoned me kinda late last night and I...”
I cut in, “Speaking of your lovely and generous aunt, I owe