“No, it is not! You slow that wagon down, girl. You know very well that you don’t belong with a man who’s earthbound,” Marva Jo warned.

Liz sucked in a lungful of air and got ready for the age-old argument. “You fell in love with and married a man who wasn’t a carnie. So, what’s to say if I fall in love with one that—”

Aunt Tressa butted into the conversation. “Marva Jo has this phone on speaker, and I’m right here with her. Don’t argue with your mama, and learn from her mistakes. She married an earthbound man and it did not work. I don’t care if you grow potatoes and marry a dirt farmer, but you will be nice to your mama. She misses you and wants you to come back where you belong. And Haskell might have mentioned that his niece has a nice big bank account, so be sure that guy isn’t angling for more than twenty acres of tumbleweeds and chiggers before you start choosing him over family.”

“And Raylen isn’t that kind of man. If he loved a woman he wouldn’t care if she had a dime or a million dollars,” Liz protested. “I’m hanging up now and getting my shopping finished. Love you both. I can’t wait to see everyone next month. I’m putting up the Christmas tree early so you can see it.”

Chapter 4

Liz unloaded several sacks, including three bags of Christmas ornaments for her tree when she got one back to her place. She laid them on the kitchen table and admired each one of the bright shiny bells and balls. She’d looked at a six-foot tree but couldn’t make up her mind whether to get a tall skinny one or one of those huge, fat ones. Once everything was put away, she stood in the middle of the living room and eyed the room. If she scooted the sofa back, there would be plenty of room for a big, round tree with lots and lots of ornaments and a star on top.

She envisioned a real cedar tree in the spot.

No, as long as I plan to leave my tree up, a real one would get all dried out. She sat down on the sofa and was thinking about how many lights it would take to go all around the top of the roof when the phone rang. Thinking it was her mother and Tressa again, she ignored it, but when it started again after less than a minute, she fished it out of her purse.

“Hello,” she said without looking at the caller ID.

“Hey, kid. Thought I’d check on Hooter and Blister,” Haskell said. “I forgot to tell you that their vet papers are in the drawer beside the refrigerator. Hooter will need his shots in February and Blister gets hers in March.”

“I’ll put those dates on my calendar so I don’t forget. I bought ornaments for a Christmas tree today and there’s plenty of room for me to store them, so do you have a fake tree hiding somewhere or did you cut a real one every year and—”