Last Chance Beauty Queen (33 page)

She handed the gavel back to Bob, then strode down the aisle and out the door and into the hot, humid day.

Haley and the little old ladies were on a mission to save the day and the town. Haley knew this because Miriam had told everyone that’s what they were doing.

Haley wasn’t sure exactly how the ladies intended to save the day and the town, but they had brought her here to the big government building on Palmetto Avenue just in time to see Daddy punch someone.

Haley didn’t like that one bit, on account of the fact that the man Daddy punched hadn’t been doing anything mean or nasty. He’d been talking about something.

And boy, the Sorrowful Angel wasn’t happy with Daddy either. She was madder than a wet hen.

Just as soon as Daddy finished punching that man, the angel kind of moved over to stand next to Aunt Rocky. And then Aunt Rocky got mad and started talking about a bunch of stuff Haley didn’t understand.

When Aunt Rocky stopped talking and everyone got real quiet, the Sorrowful Angel smiled.

Haley had never seen the angel smile before. It changed the angel’s face. She looked way more like an angel when she smiled like that.

And then the angel’s smile faded and Aunt Rocky got a funny look on her face. Aunt Rocky hightailed it out of the room and the angel followed her.

Dash Randall started talking, but Haley was way more interested in what the angel was up to. So was Miz Petal, because the old lady put out her hand toward Haley and said, “Shall we go, love. I think Aeval and your spirit friend want us to help.” She winked.

Haley had no idea who Aeval was, but Miz Petal was really smart about angels. Haley put her hand in Miz Petal’s and let the old lady lead her out of the building.

Hugh’s chest ached with more than the blow Stone Rhodes had delivered.

Rocky thought he was kind. She believed in him. She thought he could make a success of himself.

No one had ever had faith in him before.

He was not about to let Rocky go. Not after that speech she’d just given. He couldn’t imagine trying to find happiness with Victoria when he could be himself with Rocky.

He rushed down the aisle and out onto the small lawn in front of City Hall. He found Rocky there, standing with her back to the door, her hands balled up. She seemed to be about to scream or to cry. He wasn’t sure.

Aunt Petal and the little girl were there. He glanced in his aunt’s direction. Her smile was gentle and kind.

If he had learned kindness, then Petal had taught it to him. And perhaps that was why Granddad had been so hard on him all those years. Granddad had been ashamed of his daughter. Petal had never been exactly right in her mind.

But she had been the best aunt a boy could ever want.

She winked. It was as if she expected something of him. And it didn’t have a thing to do with Lady Ashton.

Caroline turned and strode toward the sidewalk, her body strung tight and shaking with emotions Hugh could only guess at. When she reached the curb, she pulled off her high heels. She stood on bare feet, breathing hard. Then she said an extremely filthy curse word that sounded remarkably sexy coming out of her adorable mouth, before she heaved both shoes into the middle of the gutter. Then she took off her little gray suit jacket and tossed it into the street as well.

She stood there looking at her conservative shoes and that colorless jacket as if she had come to a serious
decision about things. At just that moment a passing Ford pickup hit the shoes with an audible crunch.

“Good riddance,” he said as he strolled toward her.

She turned, frowning. “You’re supposed to be inside listening to Dash.”

“I didn’t want to listen to Dash. I’m so glad you got rid of that gray jacket and those shoes. Why did you throw them in the gutter?”

“I don’t know. The jacket and shoes felt like they were strangling me somehow.” She took a couple of deep breaths. “Jeez, I really lost my temper in there.”

She frowned up at him. “I’m really really sorry for blowing up at you last night, too. After I thought about it, I realized you weren’t the kind of man who would cheat Daddy out of his land.”

“You owe me nothing. Am I really the kindest man you’ve ever met?” His voice came out husky with emotions he was trying to hold in check.

A little twinkle lit up her pixie green eyes. “You are. You suck at business, but you’re a really nice guy.” She paused a moment. “I know I don’t exactly meet Miriam’s forecast for you, but think I’ve fallen in love with you anyway,” she said in a little husky voice.

“I think I’ve fallen in love with you, too.”

The light in her eyes grew a little brighter and more intense. “I fixed it so you don’t have to go marry Lady Whatshername. You can build your factory here.”

“I can?”

She nodded. “Yeah, that’s what Dash is in there talking about. He’s got land out the wazoo that he’ll lease to you for practically nothing. And if you treat him nice, he might even invest in the factory.”

He laughed out loud. “Oh, my goodness, Senator Warren was right about you. You just managed a miracle.”

She shook her head. “No. It wasn’t a miracle. It took a lot of persuading. Dash is not nearly as sure of himself as he might appear. He doesn’t realize that he’s now, officially, the richest man in town, or how much good he could do. But I’ve got this feeling you’ll help him learn. Also, I’m really sorry but I’m afraid you’re going to have to do some fence mending with Cissy. I really got carried away with what I said to her. And I know better than that, really I do.”

“I’m sure I can charm Cissy. Besides, she’s going to want my looms. They’re better than anyone else’s. I’m not at all worried about her.”

“You’re not?”

“No. But there is one important thing I do need to say.”

“Okay.”

Her gaze met his. “Darling, will you marry me?”

A series of catcalls and hoots rose up from the steps of City Hall.

Rocky tore her gaze away from Hugh’s serious brown eyes.

Holy smokes, the entire town was standing over there. Rocky flashed on that night twelve years ago when Bubba had pulled this same stunt. Everyone had hooted and hollered and catcalled that time, too.

She turned back toward Hugh. “You really want to marry me? Even though you’re supposed to marry an heiress?”

“Poppy feathers,” Miz Miriam said from the front row of the peanut gallery. “I didn’t tell him to go looking
for an heiress. I told him to go look for the woman who would find him a fortune.”

“Yeah, and she failed to mention that the fortune belongs to me,” Dash said.

Hugh grinned. “Darling, I do recall that you said something a moment ago about my being a regular sort of guy. I believe that fits the bill. We’d be idiotic not to let ourselves get caught up in Miriam’s magic. In fact”—he turned and gazed at the little gray-haired lady holding Haley’s hand—“I believe Aunt Petal came all this way to help me see the truth. I’ve changed my mind about fortune-tellers, spirit guides, and even angels.”

Emotion clogged her throat. She stood there looking at him wanting to simply fall into his arms and let him carry her away. But really, she hardly knew him. And besides, Sharon had set a very high standard.

Could she live without him? Rocky was pretty sure she could survive. She loved him, of course. But running off with him? That was a whole different kettle of fish.

“Aunt Rocky,” Haley said. “You’re making the angel really unhappy.”

Rocky turned to look at Haley. “The angel is here?”

“Oh, yes, quite,” Petal said.

Hugh stared at his aunt. “You can see the angel, too?”

“Oh, it’s not an angel, Huey. It’s a spirit of some kind. I think it’s a ghost. Maybe someone Rocky knew in her past. She’s quite agitated. Whatever you’re thinking, my dear, the ghost knows, and she’s quite displeased.”

“What were you thinking?” Haley asked.

“I was thinking about your mother.”

“Oh, good,” Haley said. “Momma ran off with Daddy.
You should run off with Mr. Hugh. I think the angel wants you to.”

Rocky turned back to Hugh. “Your aunt is kind of odd.”

“So’s your niece.”

He smiled.

She smiled back.

She didn’t give it another moment’s thought. She just did what seemed like the logical thing to do at a moment like this. She threw caution to the wind, took a deep leap of genuine faith, and wrapped her arms around Hugh deBracy, Baron Woolham.

And Hugh, understanding his role in this fantasy as well as anyone there, did the expected. He picked her up and carried her off down Palmetto Avenue toward his silver Mustang convertible.

R
ocky stared at herself in the mirror. It told the truth, as always. She looked radiant today, as any bride should. She was glad Hugh had convinced her not to elope with him. A wedding was so much more fun.

“Knock, knock. You wanted to talk to me?”

She turned. Stone had cracked the door to the little anteroom near the vestibule of Christ Church. She smoothed down the yards of tulle in her skirt. “Yes, I did. You can come in. I’m decent.”

Stone strolled through the door. He looked incredibly handsome today, dressed in a gray suit and a dark tie and a pink rose in his lapel. He wasn’t young. A few gray hairs had started to sprout at his temples. But he exuded a kind of raw masculine energy that made women turn and watch him.

He was a real hero. A war hero. A cop. And she loved him with all her heart, and she feared she had hurt him. Not only by telling her secret about Sharon, but by her choices on this day of days.

He took two steps and stopped. The look in his eyes made something hitch in Rocky’s throat. “I wanted to give you warning before I marched down the aisle,” she said.

He pressed his lips together and nodded. “Thanks.” The tears that almost filled his eyes were gone in an instant. He straightened his shoulders and went back to being iron man. It was almost sad, really, that even after six years, he’d never really allowed himself to grieve.

Sharon wouldn’t have approved of this. Rocky knew that, deep down in her soul. And even though she knew it was completely irrational, she couldn’t help but feel that somehow Sharon had been with her that day when she’d lost her temper and told the town both how much she loved them and how much they annoyed her.

Thankfully the town had forgiven her—mostly because she’d given them another myth.

“You look beautiful,” he said. He continued into the room and then leaned down and gave her a brotherly kiss on the cheek.

“Stone, I wanted to explain about the dress.”

He shook his head. “There isn’t any need.” He turned around without another word and left the room, abridging all the things she wanted to say to him. All the sisterly advice about moving on and not being sad because of what she had chosen to wear today. But he wasn’t ready to listen. He might never be.

She turned back to the mirror. Well, that was his problem, not hers. She wasn’t going to let Stone’s sadness ruin the happiest day of her life.

Haley came skipping in. She was dressed all in green and pink, and she looked like a little imp with flowers
in her hair and carrying a wicker basket filled with pink rose petals. “We’re all ready. And I promise I’ll make my petals last until you get all the way to the altar.”

Rocky leaned down and gave Haley a kiss. “Just like we practiced last night.”

“I got it, Aunt Rocky. I won’t mess up. The angel is happy today. Did you know that? She likes your dress.”

“I’m glad. I like my dress, too.”

Daddy entered the room then, dressed in a rented suit and looking pretty dapper, despite his earring and long braid. Rocky took his arm and let him give her away. He’d been sentenced to some community service because Lillian refused to back down. He’d helped her rebuild her garden.

Doc Cooper said all his tests came back negative, and as near as anyone could tell, Daddy was the same as he’d always been. But Caroline wondered. She’d had a strange, fuzzy moment, and so had Daddy.

Maybe they’d been touched by an angel. Or maybe they both had lost their tempers beyond all reason.

Either explanation worked.

Daddy took her arm and led her down the aisle to her groom. She loved the moment when she took that first step, and everyone in the congregation stood up in shocked silence. They had all expected her to wear white. They had expected something like the pageantry of William and Kate’s wedding.

But this was Last Chance, South Carolina, not merry old England.

So she’d worn the dress that defined her. Pink and green with yards and yards of tulle. They said she had been the prettiest Watermelon Queen who had ever
reigned. And it just seemed appropriate that she should wear it, along with her rhinestone tiara, especially since she was marrying an English lord.

And by the look in everyone’s eyes that morning, especially Hugh’s, Rocky knew she’d made the right choice.

She said her vows. Hugh spoke his.

And they sealed the union of the Watermelon Queen and the English baron with a kiss that the old church ladies of Last Chance would probably gossip about for the next twenty years.

1. Rocky’s character has been shaped by the fact that Bubba Lockheart humiliated her when she was eighteen. What are some of the ways Rocky deals with that humiliation? Which ones are positive and help her to grow as a person? Which ones are destructive? Have you ever suffered a public humiliation? How did you handle it? How did it affect you?
   
2. In the scene where Rocky and Hugh are sitting together in church, the minister is giving a sermon based on Mark 12: 38–41, the story where Jesus tells his disciples to beware of the scribes who go in long clothing and make a pretense of prayer. The minister’s message in this sermon is that God can see through the pretense that we sometimes hide behind. How does this sermon affect Rocky’s view of herself? How do you think Hugh was affected by this sermon?
   Talk about how this passage relates to the love story between Rocky and Hugh.
   
3. Hugh worries that he can’t be a success because he’s too kindhearted. Do you think that kindhearted people are doomed to business failure? Can you think of a kindhearted person who has managed to be successful in his business dealings?
   
4. Rocky loves her town, but she’s afraid to admit just how much. Discuss how Rocky’s assignment to assist Hugh with his factory helps her to more fully appreciate the town where she grew up.
   
5. As a young woman, Rocky found a mentor in Sharon Rhodes, her sister-in-law. Discuss how Sharon’s advice was helpful to Rocky. Discuss how Sharon’s advice was potentially hurtful. Have you had a mentor? How did he or she change your life?
   
6. The book discusses how small communities make up myths. Besides the myth of Stone and Sharon, what other myths have the people of Last Chance developed through the retelling of community stories? How do these myths and stories form a collective culture for Last Chance? Why do you think it’s so hard for people to live up to these expectations? Is this tendency for communities to make myths a good thing or a bad thing? Do you think this is limited to small towns?
   
7. Haley faces a serious dilemma with her angel. The Sorrowful Angel is misbehaving, and Haley is being
   blamed for her actions. In Haley’s mind, she’s innocent. The rest of the world sees it a different way. Have you ever been out of step with the rest of the world? How does it feel? How did you cope? Did you feel crazy?
   
8. Have you ever been blamed for something you didn’t do, as Haley is? Have you ever had to confess to something you didn’t do in order to avoid punishment or in order to protect someone from being punished? Do you think it’s okay to lie in a situation like that? Or should you always be honest, even if you’ll be blamed for something you didn’t do?
   
9. How are Rocky’s shoes a metaphor for the things that hold her back from being the person she really is and the person that Hugh will come to love. Contrast Rocky’s lost, broken, and discarded shoes with Cinderella’s lost slipper. How are Cinderella and Rocky the same? How are they different? Hugh prefers Rocky barefoot. How does that make him different from Prince Charming, who goes on a quest to find someone to fit an impossibly small shoe?