She glanced up at the bright, yellow kitchen, hoping to hear Hannah's voice. When she didn't, she felt a little worry bubble up. Ruby's trademark loud guffaw was followed by Hedy's deep chuckles. Temple took the three steps upward and she followed right behind him.

"Hey," she called. "Is anybody besides Temple ready for barbeque?"

"Be still my heart." Ruby pointed toward the white with gold swirls laminate countertop. "Set it right there where I can have at it." Ruby wore jeans, a red top, and black cowgirl boots. She'd styled her dark-brown hair in a simple, efficient blunt cut at her shoulders.

Hedy sat in her wheelchair at one end of Ruby's 1940s enamel, tin-top pie table with its wooden Art Deco-design base painted in yellow and orange.

Lauren gave her aunt a quick kiss on her cheek and then set the sacks of barbeque on the counter. "Where's Hannah?"

"That little apple of your eye is upstairs taking a nap. She got all tuckered out from baking a batch of chocolate chip cookies."

"I'm anxious to meet her." Hedy gave Lauren a big grin. "I'm hoping she's a chip off the old block."

"If she's anything like you, Hedy, we're all in trouble." Ruby guffawed again.

Lauren joined their laughter. She was so glad to be with these country Texas women with their humorous talk and down-home ribbing. She might meet a few like them in Houston, but here in the countryside, most of the women were like Ruby and Hedy. Straight talkers. Hard workers. Salt of the Earth. They had a generosity of spirit that never turned anyone hungry away from the table. Lauren knew she and Hannah couldn't be in better hands.

"We'd best feed Temple first, or we'll all be in trouble." Lauren pointed down at him.

"So true," Hedy agreed, reaching to stroke Temple's short, thick fur.

"And with those sacks you plopped down in my kitchen, we've now got a war on our hands." Ruby glanced at Lauren with a twinkle in her eyes.

"What do you mean?" Lauren asked as she pulled out a st.u.r.dy wooden chair with a yellow cushion and sat down beside her aunt.

"The smell of barbeque is in compet.i.tion with the scent of fresh-baked cookies," Ruby replied with a dry tone in her understated Texas way.

"If you think that's bad," Lauren said as she absentmindedly adjusted a stack of white paper napkins on the tabletop, "there's going to be an even bigger battle when I pull out the pie Slade baked and sent home for us."

"Yum!" Hedy looked at the sacks from the Chuckwagon Cafe. "What flavor?"

"Rhubarb-blackberry," Lauren said. "I think he's using us as guinea pigs for the new recipes he's trying out."

"I've been helping him out as his pie-taster." Hedy glanced around the kitchen, smiling mischievously. "Something about pies just suits me of late."

"I'm glad something does," Ruby said. "You've been eating like a bird."

Hedy just shrugged in response.

Lauren caught Ruby's gaze and received a nod of understanding in return. Maybe tonight, between pie, cookies, and barbeque, they could get Hedy to eat well for a change.

Temple yowled in an impatient tone.

"I'd best get that boy a plate before he decides to leap up on the counter and dig in all on his lonesome." Ruby reached into a sack, pulled out a plastic container, opened the top, and selected a slice of beef. She broke the meat into bite-size pieces and set them in a blue china bowl the exact color of Temple's eyes.

"Is that for me or the cat?" Hedy chuckled as she pointed at Ruby's preparations.

"What do you think?" Ruby laughed as she set the plate under the wide bar that extended to the sink and around one side of the kitchen.

"I figure in this town humans eat on paper plates while cats get the best china." Hedy continued to chuckle as she pointed at Temple, who delicately sniffed the meat, then chomped a piece between his teeth.

Lauren joined their laughter, knowing Hedy's words weren't far from the truth. Folks had always loved and valued their cats in Wildcat Bluff. Thinking about love, she wanted to get upstairs to see her own little girl, but she didn't want to wake her just yet.

Suddenly she felt her child nearby, in the way mothers so often do, and glanced up at the short staircase that led to the top floor.

Hannah stood with her hand on the railing, looking like a sleepy blond-haired angel with big, brown eyes. She wore her favorite pink, long-sleeve T-shirt with rhinestones in the outline of a horse and matching leggings. She held up a too-big red cowgirl hat with one small hand so she could see out from under it.

"Mommy, I made cookies today!"

And Lauren felt her heart go out to the love of her life.

Chapter 11.

"Sweetie, I can't wait to try them." Lauren pulled out the chair beside her and patted the cushion. "Why don't you join us?"

Hannah took a step downward, then stopped and sat on a carpeted stair. She shyly peeked out from under the brim of the large hat, brown eyes wide as she looked back and forth between Lauren and Hedy.

"I want you to meet someone special." Lauren kept her voice soft so as to rea.s.sure her daughter, since Hannah had become reticent around strangers.

"Aunt Ruby's special," Hannah said in a soft, sweet voice.

"Thank you." Ruby gave her an encouraging smile. "You're mighty special, too."

Hannah shyly ducked her head to study her bare toes. "You make good cookies. And you're a cowgirl."

"Not lately." Ruby chuckled as she set food containers on the countertop. "But I still know my way around a horse. Fact of the matter, lots of folks who hail from Wildcat Bluff won championships in their time."

"That's so true." Lauren gestured toward her aunt. "Hannah, I want you to meet your great-aunt Hedy. She's a former rodeo star, too." Lauren wished her daughter was as outgoing and trusting as she had been before the loss of her father. Somehow she was going to find a way to get her daughter back to that positive place.

Hannah stood up, took another step downward, and stopped again. She c.o.c.ked her head to the side and grabbed her hat as it slid off her head. She held the big hat against her small chest. "How do you get to be a great-aunt?"

Lauren smiled, feeling intense love. "She's your grandmother's sister, so she's your great-aunt and my aunt."

"Ruby's my aunt, too."

"I'm a friend-aunt," Ruby quickly explained. "Hedy's your family-aunt."

"I like aunts." Hannah took the rest of the stairs down and stopped beside the table. She looked at Hedy's wheelchair. "Mommy fixes folks. Maybe she can fix you so you can ride a horse again."

Lauren inhaled sharply, wishing she'd explained about Hedy's wheelchair before Hannah had seen it. And just like an innocent child, she went straight to the heart of the matter.

Hedy chuckled, shaking her head. "Wish that were possible, but I'm not fixable. Anyway, I've got something better than legs." She demonstrated a few quick moves with her power wheelchair.

Hannah's eyes grew wide. "Bet you can go fast as a horse."

"Almost," Hedy agreed. "I hear you've got your heart set on being a cowgirl."

Hannah nodded as she held up one finger. "One, I need a pony." She held up two fingers. "Two, I need a hat and boots."

"Those are doable." Hedy leaned forward, hands resting on the arms of her wheelchair.

Hannah glanced at Lauren. "Mommy says first things first.' What's first?"

"I'll be happy to teach you," Hedy said with a twinkle in her brown eyes so much like Hannah's own. "Now that you're in Wildcat Bluff, all sorts of folks will be happy to help you become a cowgirl."

Hannah set the cowgirl hat on top of the bar. "That's Aunt Ruby's hat. Maybe one in my size is better." She looked hopefully from Hedy to Ruby to Lauren.

"Sounds like there's a trip to Old Town and Gene's Boot Hospital in our future," Ruby said. "We might all need a new hat or some other fancy thing just for the fun of it."

"True enough." Hedy grinned, perking up. "A gal's got to keep up appearances, doesn't she?"

Hannah nodded as she gave a big sigh. "I like aunts-and mommies." She clasped her middle with both arms and twisted back and forth. "I like daddies a lot, but sometimes they go away."

"Oh, sweetie." Lauren felt concerned, as she always did nowadays, at her daughter's sadness.

"That's why," Hannah continued in a stronger voice, "it's good we've got aunties and great-aunties and mommies."

"And plenty of them," Hedy quickly agreed.

Hannah flipped back a strand of long blond hair as she looked at Hedy. "I always give Granny a bear hug. She says it heals most anything. Do you want a hug?"

Hedy grinned as she held out her arms. "I can always use a hug, particularly one from my very own great-niece."

Lauren sniffed, holding back the tears that were filling her eyes. She couldn't be prouder of her daughter for being so generous with a stranger. Maybe love was what was missing from her aunt's life. If so, she and Hannah had plenty to give. And it wasn't a one-way street. They needed love, too.

Time seemed to stand still as she watched her daughter and aunt hug each other. She could've sworn it was only yesterday that Hedy had enclosed her in strong arms and helped make everything right in her younger years. Now it was Lauren's turn to help her aunt get her through to the other side of whatever was adversely affecting her life.

Hannah patted Hedy's face with her small hand, then stepped back and clapped her hands. "I know! Cookies first. Barbeque second." She glanced from one surprised face to another.

Ruby broke out in laughter and the others quickly followed her lead. "You've got a good point." She picked up a large cookie jar in the shape of a white cat and set it in the center of the table.

Hannah peeked under the counter at Temple. "Cookie?"

"I think he's biding his time for more beef," Ruby said. "Most likely he's napping between courses."

Hannah nodded sagely, then sat down at the table and reached for the cookie jar. But her arm wasn't long enough.

"Here, let me help." Lauren took off the lid and the delicious aroma of chocolate chip cookies wafted into the air. She picked up the cookie jar and held it out to Hedy first.

"Yum!" Hedy picked up a napkin, selected a cookie, took a big bite, and rolled her eyes in delight.

Ruby took the next cookie and made happy noises as she chewed her sweet treat.

Next Lauren offered the jar to Hannah, expecting her to grab a cookie or even two.

"Mommy, you're next." And then Hannah appeared confused by her own words. "Is that right, like you taught me?"

"Yes, sweetie, that's socially very polite." Lauren selected a cookie and waited for Hannah to pick one before she set down the jar.

Hannah held her cookie in two hands as she watched Lauren. "Go ahead, Mommy. It's good."

Lauren took a big bite and moaned in delight. As soon as she swallowed, she smiled at her daughter. "That's a delicious cookie. I'm proud of you."

Hannah shyly glanced down, then looked over at Ruby. "I had help."

"You did the hard work," Ruby said. "And I'll expect your help from now on out."

With a big grin on her face, Hannah took a bite of her own cookie. "Sweets first!"

"This time, yes," Lauren said. "Our special day deserves a special treat."

"You bet," Hedy agreed, finishing her cookie with gusto.

Lauren was glad to see her aunt enjoy the food. Maybe Hannah's presence in Hedy's life would make a positive difference. Still, she needed to have a heart-to-heart talk with her aunt and hopefully Hedy would open up to her.

"Okay, folks, looks like we're all set to go." Ruby dusted her hands over the sink and then lifted the last Chuckwagon Cafe container out of a sack. She rose up on tiptoe, reached into a cabinet, and pulled out a stack of plates that she set on the breakfast bar. "We're using Mom's Plainsman prairie green plates tonight in honor of the occasion." She reached into the cabinet again and selected matching green gla.s.ses that she set on the table.

"Are you sure about the Frankoma pottery?" Lauren asked. "I wouldn't want anything to happen to it, being vintage and special and all."

"Mom always said to use it all because saving it for a better day might never come." Ruby set Slade's delicious-looking pie with the browned-to-perfection crust on one of the plates. She pulled flatware from a drawer and set it beside the stack of plates. "And we're using Grandma's d.u.c.h.ess silver. It's about a hundred years old now and better than ever."

"Gladys always was a wise one," Hedy agreed, smiling as she looked at the pottery.

"So true." Ruby opened the refrigerator door and put her hand against a prairie green pitcher of sweet tea. "Cold enough. Now all we need is our man of the hour."

"What's that?" Hannah asked as she crumpled a napkin in her hands.

"That would be Kent Duval," Ruby explained.

"He and your mom used to-" Hedy said.

Lauren quickly cleared her throat to interrupt her aunt. "He's one of the local kids I grew up with."

"Oh." Hannah looked disappointed. "I hoped that was the name of a horse."

When everyone burst out laughing, Lauren looked at her daughter in amazement. Sometimes Hannah was just too cute for words, and other times she revealed wisdom beyond her years.

"Man of the hour better get here quick or I'm raiding the cookie jar." Hannah gave them a mischievous grin.

Temple yowled from under the counter, voicing his displeasure that supper was being held up.