Free Deep Dixie by Annie Jones Page B

properly dressed. ”
    Sis let her purse slide down to the floor with such a thud that Dixie had to look up to make sure her aunt hadn ’ t suddenly fainted from the stress of knowing her dog might be wearing the wrong outfit. “ Peachie Too will be fine, I ’ m sure. ”
    Sis heaved a sigh and moved to the window. “ I know you think I ’ m a foolish old woman. ”
    “ I don ’ t think you ’ re all that old . ” Lettie gave Dixie a grin that showed all four of the one-hundred-year-old stinker ’ s missing teeth.
    Dixie laughed.
    Sis sniffed. “ Tease if you will, but I just know the Judge did not put the right thing on my darling doggie. ” Sis laid a hand along her cheek. “ In this weather she really has to have the lamb ’ s wool. Knowing that Smilin ’ Bob Cunningham, he has dressed her in something totally inappropriate. ”
    “ It ’ s a shame she doesn ’ t use the same care dressing herself as she does that rat she calls a toy poodle, ” Lettie grumbled under her breath. She let the rocker bring her closer as she kept her voice low enough that only Dixie could hear her. “ What has she got herself up in today? ”
    Dixie made a quick survey of the layers of sheer fabric over some kind of polyester knit dress. “ It ’ s her own design. She thinks it makes her look like a fairy. ”
    “ You mean a boat? ”
    “ No, not a ferry . ” Dixie glanced at the way the awful creation made her aunt look broad as a barge in some places. “ Well, maybe that is what she meant. ”
    Sis ’ s sigh was full of deep dramatic effect. “ I just know your grandfather has my punkin in that black leather jacket and her red beret. Red! It isn ’ t even her color. ”
    “ That ’ s because she ’ s pink She ’ s a pink dog is what she is. ” Lettie went back to rocking.
    “ The color of her coat is apricot. ” Sis peered out the window and twisted her hankie in her hands. “ And I find it a most appealing hue. ”
    “ You would, dear. ” Lettie kept on rocking while she used one crooked, dark-skinned finger to point to her head, then at Sis.
    Dixie followed the gesture with interest. A sharp gasp escaped her lips, which she quickly covered with her hand pretending to have something caught in her throat.
    She kept her hand over her mouth and shared a silent giggle with Lettie as she realized for the first time that Aunt Sis ’ s latest hair shade was an exact match for her precious apricot toy poodle.
    Sis seemed oblivious. “ A black jacket and a red beret. Think of it. ” Sis lifted her head and paused for a moment as if she were doing that very thing. “ You know, the Judge favors that outfit because he says it looks jaunty. He doesn ’ t care one bit that the whole style is passe or that it totally conflicts with Peachy Too ’ s personality ”
    “ You want to dress that thing for its personality, Miss Sis? Get her something in alligator skin, ” Lettie called out, traces of her old New Orleans accent coming out on a word here and there.
    Sis ignored the fashion advice and kept right on fluttering her hankie. “ Well, now I am going to be distressed until they return. ”
    “ Could you please be distressed on the front porch or at least in Grandpa ’ s office? ” Dixie pointed her pen toward the big French doors off the foyer leading to the converted sitting room where her grandfather kept regular “ office hours. ”
    “ We just got started on Miss Lettie ’ s life story, and I ’ d like to go on with it. ”
    With a wounded sniff, Aunt Sis displayed her agitation at being thrown out in her hour of woe, but she did as she was asked. Dixie was head of the household now, and she was well aware that in this family that carried a great deal of weight. Which only served to bear down on her shoulders at this very moment.
    “ Now, where were we? ” Dixie opened the journal again and lifted her pen.
    “ We were trying to tell my life ’ s story. We just hadn ’ t quite decided on whose