Sweet Carolina Morning (12 page)

* * *

Inspired by a dish that the sombrero-wearing Birdie had whipped up in the session of her Fun Frugal Mom's cooking class, Linny smiled proudly as she pulled from the oven the Chick a Boom Boom Chicken Burritos. By eliminating the onions and going light on the spices, she hoped she'd created a mild dinner that even the pickiest eater couldn't object to. Glancing out the window, she smiled. Illuminated by the mercury light of the barn, she saw the platform for the new megatree house in the sprawling pin oak. Neal steadied a ladder and gazed up at Jack, whose long legs dangled from the tree-house flooring. She shook her head at the large, multilevel fort with the deep green metal roof. When she and Kate were kids, their tree house had a beat-up corrugated plastic roof and uneven scrap wood sides they'd scrounged from their daddy's lumber pile. She picked up the walkie-talkie to call them for supper but got no response. Calling again with no answer, she tapped her fingers on the counter, frustrated. She had so much she needed to tell Jack. All day she'd had knots in her stomach about Mama winning big and falling under the spell of the dance instructor, and Ceecee orchestrating an extravaganza prewedding party.

Covering up the burritos with foil, she slipped them back in the warm oven and called them again. Jack picked up. “Hey, Lin.”

She pressed the button. “Supper's ready. You all at a good stopping point?”

The line crackled. “We are. We'll be right up.”

While she waited, Linny flipped through the recipes from her cooking class, trying to sort the winners from the losers. “Fun and frugal moms plan their menus a month at a time,” Birdie had boomed out to her students. Linny slumped. She had trouble planning one night at a time, but better stepmothers were probably that organized.

She glanced at the clock on the stove and frowned. Where were they? Overcooked burritos would taste like cardboard, yet one more reason for them not to pass muster with Neal. Determined not to sound annoyed, she walkie-talkied down to the tree fort again. Jack picked right up, sounding breathless, and said. “Sorry, Lin. We're almost at the house. Found a hitch with the crossbeams we had to fix so the floor wouldn't give out.”

Hard to argue with that. Still, she shook her head as she ferried the meal to the table.

* * *

Later, from under her eyelashes, Linny tried to be surreptitious as she watched Jack and Neal for reactions to the meal. After a few minutes scraping forks and no conversation, Jack grinned at her. “Another winner, Lin. I'm going for seconds.” He pushed his chair away from the table and Linny gave him a grateful smile.

Neal pushed his food around the plate, but Linny noticed he'd eaten three quarters of his burrito. She couldn't resist. “How do you like your supper, Neal?”

He frowned thoughtfully as he took a nibble from the bite on his fork. “It's almost as good as Taco Bell.”

She studied him. Was Taco Bell his gold standard, or was he once again turning his nose up at her cooking? She'd take it as a compliment, no matter how it was meant. “Why, thank you, Neal,” Linny said pleasantly, reminding herself to be grateful that he hadn't compared it to Vera's cooking.

“My mom makes really good burritos, though,” he added.

Linny nodded and looked away. Of course she does.

After supper Jack wiped down the counters and asked Neal, “You all finished with your homework?”

“Almost,” Neal hedged as he finished drying a pan.

“What does almost mean?” Jack asked.

“I can look it over one more time,” Neal muttered, not looking at his father.

“Good plan,” Jack said evenly and gave Linny an exasperated look.

After Neal wandered off to his room to check his homework, Linny pulled Jack down beside her on the sofa, took his hand, and breathed a sigh of relief. Finally. “You won't believe all that's happened. . .” she began, her words tumbling out.

Jack's cell rang. He grimaced and sent her an apologetic look as he picked it up from the end table.

Linny sank back in the cushion, feeling deflated. What did she need to do around here to get some undivided attention? Maybe they needed a take-a-ticket machine like at the deli.

Jack glanced at her and mouthed,
Vera
.

Great. She lay down on the couch, picked up the remote and pretended to scroll through the TV channels as she listened to their conversation.

Jack spoke in the guarded voice he always used with his ex, but Linny also heard the too calm tone he got when he was alarmed. Vera did most of the talking, and Jack said, “Are you sure . . . ? She did . . . ? When . . . ? We'll be there.” When he ended the call, his jaw worked.

Quickly forgetting her pout, Linny pushed herself up. “What's going on?”

Jack glanced at her, his eyes lit with worry. “Vera got a call from Ms. Courtland, Neal's teacher. He's getting Ds in math and is failing science.”

“His two favorite subjects,” she said, trying to take it in.

He nodded, looking grim. “He's always been on the honor roll.”

“Why is he doing poorly?” she asked, searching his face.

He looked away for a moment. “Ms. Courtland thinks he's having
anxiety
about us getting married, or so Vera claims.”

“Vera claims . . .” She cocked her head. “Do you think that's true?”

He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I don't know,” he admitted. “But I'll find out. I'll talk to Neal now, and we have a meeting with his teacher scheduled for Thursday afternoon.”

“We?” she asked and stared at him. “We aren't married yet.”

“If this is about us, I think you should be there,” Jack said evenly. “We need to get to the bottom of this. I'll start by talking with young Mr. Avery.” He rose and strode off to Neal's room.

The discussion started quietly but got louder. Linny heard Jack say something about
smart young man
and
buckling down
. Neal's retorts involved a
not my fault
and
stupid
. As their voices rose, her stomach did backflips. What if Neal got emotionally scarred by their getting married? They could be one of those nongelling, unblendable families Mary Catherine had warned her about. Not wanting to think about that possibility, she hurriedly picked up the remote, found the funny home videos show, and turned up the volume. Staring at the screen, she worried as the man stepped on the rake, the girl rode her bike off a pier, and the toddler launched a football at his father's crotch.

A few minutes later a door shut hard, and Jack slumped onto the sofa beside her.

She muted the TV and, almost afraid to know, asked, “How'd it go?”

He shook his head, looking baffled. “He just didn't do the most important projects.”

“Why?” Linny asked, shaking her head in disbelief. “Neal loved those classes.”

“All I could get out of him was that he thought the assignments were ‘stupid.'” Jack rubbed his eyes with his fingers. “His mom and I try to stay on top of the curriculum, but he hid a few key assignments and due dates from us.” He paused, looking thoughtful. “Something else is bothering him, and it may be us marrying. Hopefully, we'll find out on Thursday.”

Jack draped his arm around her shoulder and changed the channel to one of their favorite shows,
Railroad Alaska
. Tonight Linny was riveted by the program. The train crew faced danger that threatened to derail their beautiful train,
The Spirit of Seward
: ice on the switches, the threat of avalanches and possible deadly collisions. She shivered as the engineer and his crew set off on their perilous journey. Was her marriage to Jack just as fraught with danger? If their marrying was going to cause psychological damage to Neal, how could it work?

Back home, she tossed her keys on the counter and let the dogs out for a run. As she shrugged out of her coat, her shoulders sagged. She was so tired. Picking up the phone, she called Jack. “Back home, safe and sound,” she said, kicking off her shoes and dropping onto the couch. “How's Neal?”

“Asleep or pretending to be asleep,” Jack snorted. “Probably worn out from all that stonewalling and tap dancing he did tonight.”

She tried to find a bright side. “At least we know there's a problem. That's good, right?”

“True,” he said, and the silence spun out. “We didn't get much of a chance to talk. You never told me about the mamas.”

She hadn't. There'd been too much drama with Neal. She didn't feel much like talking now but made herself tell him about Dottie's big win and Ceecee's wedding ideas. When she'd finished and listened to his reassurances, Linny felt flat. She'd really needed him to listen to her in person and hug her and reassure her.

In a small voice, Linny said, “Jack, seems like last week we were staring at each other all hypnotized and having hour-long make-out sessions. Now we're meal planning and going to parent-teacher meetings and worrying about Neal's anxiety about us marrying.” She paused for a moment, feeling wistful. “I know it's part of the deal with a child to consider and marrying at our age, but I don't want us to miss all the lovely courtship stuff.”

“I know,” he said, sounding chagrined. “I'll work on that. Give me a chance and I'll get back to being romantic. A regular Lance Romance,” he assured her.

Linny couldn't help but smile at him, thinking he never was a Lance Romance. She had no complaints, though. His restrained, John Wayne–type of intensity took her breath away more than any poetry-spouting, sensitive Lance Romance could. “I look forward to that,” she said, rubbing her forehead.

“So, you are coming to the meeting?” Jack asked, sounding tentative.

“I am,” she said. “Goody. I get to spend more time with Chaz and Vera.”

He gave a sheepish chuckle and paused for a moment. “Hey, I learned the chords to that Sam Hunt song. It's still rough, but do you want to hear it?”

“I do,” When had he had time to even practice? Flushing with pleasure that he'd taken to the guitar, she shook her head bemusedly as she heard clunking and rustling through the line as he got set up for his telephone serenade. She adjusted the pillow under her head, toed off her shoes, and listened. Though still tentative, Jack had a decent voice: warm, rich, and true. Linny smiled and closed her eyes as the love song spun out. Pretty darned romantic.

T
he next day Linny sipped a cup of coffee and leaned against a wall outside the security area at Raleigh-Durham International, waiting for her mama, Dessie, and Ruby to arrive home after their two-week cruise. Glancing at the flight information board, she saw that their plane from Tampa was at the gate and passengers were disembarking. Taking a creamy sip of coffee, she sighed happily. She'd really missed Mama: her loopy logic, her pithy insights, and the constancy of her love. Linny thought about it. When Buck had died and his creepy business partners had booted her from her own home, she'd hated the idea of moving a quarter mile down the road from her mama and living in her run-down rental property: the aqua trailer. Now, she was cozy in her rehabbed trailer with the heart pine floors and liked being able to run down to Mama's for a cup of coffee or to watch movies with her like
Bringing Up Baby
or
The Thin Man
on Turner Classic Movies. Over the past year, Linny had learned that she and her mama had far more in common than she had ever imagined, including having married men with wandering eyes and coming through that experience even stronger.

Craning her neck to get a better look at the passengers streaming down the escalator, she spied the three women. Waving her arm, she broke into a smile. Unlike some of the other wilted-looking travelers, Dottie and her two best friends looked tanned and bright-eyed as they chuckled over some joke one of them had made. Mama caught Linny's eye and beamed. Grinning, Linny stepped over to her, circled her in a hug, and felt a sense of comfort, of home. A moment later Linny reached over and pulled Dottie's two smiling girlfriends in for a group hug.

After stopping at the Good Golly Miss Molly Sub Shop to pick up sandwiches for the travelers, Linny pulled in the driveway at Mama's brick ranch. After unloading luggage and leaving it under the carport, they all moved into the living room to chat and eat. “I want to hear all about your trip,” Linny said as she pulled sandwiches from the bag and passed them to their owners.

But Mama was too busy with a reunion to talk. She sat in her recliner, barely visible under Curtis, the mountain draped on her lap and across the arms of her chair. The dog groaned with pleasure as she scratched behind his ears. She cooed, “I hear you've been a good boy while I've been gone, pudding. Mama's very proud of you. I missed you every minute of every day.”

Her mother's friends sat on the sofa and munched their sandwiches as they chattered to Linny.

Ruby marveled, “We saw stingrays, toured a rice plantation, went on a glass-bottomed submarine. . . .”

“They had a real circus show with clowns in cars and stilt walkers right on the ship. They were flying through the air on trapezes right outside our room,” Dessie said and popped a potato chip in her mouth.

“They had an Elvis tribute night and the fellows all looked just like the King. So hunky.” Ruby's eyes twinkled. “I twisted the night away. My hips were sore the next day.”

Her mother's arm snaked out from under Curtis, felt around the end table for her iced tea, pulled it under the dog's chest, and took a noisy slurp. In a muffled voice, she added, “They had all you-can-eat shrimp and king crab legs. I had two lobsters on Lobster Night.”

Ruby paused in midbite, looking worried. “Hope it didn't ruin us for the K & W.”

Linny smiled. “I doubt that.” Taking a bite of her turkey sub, she chewed it and tried to sound casual. “I heard there was some romance cooking on this cruise, too.”

“Oh, there was. Captain Sven was a dreamboat and we had a strong chemistry, but it wasn't meant to be.” Ruby heaved a breath dramatically. “His love and his lady are the sea.”

Dessie rolled her eyes at Linny, and Mama harrumphed as she gently shoved Curtis from her lap. The dog sat at her feet, resting his massive head on Dottie's lap. She gazed in his eyes as she stroked him. “You're my sugar booger.”

“How about the junkman?” Linny asked Dessie.

“Perry, and it's officially called a salvage metal business. He's sweet, and a real snappy dresser with all his different fedoras.” Dessie smiled, looking years younger than her age, and thrilled. “He's so good-looking, too. He's older than I am but he looks just like the hunk driving the Mustang convertible in the Cialis commercials.”

Linny took a big bite, nodding. That Cialis guy
was
hot.

Dessie swallowed a bite of sandwich and went on. “We'll see each other again. He lives in South Carolina, so it will be a long-distance deal, but I think we can work it out.”

Ruby fluted, “The heart wants what the heart wants.”

Linny nodded thoughtfully and gazed at her mama. “Now, how about Thurston Howell the Third, aka Mack?”

Dottie smiled serenely. “He's a lovely man. A widower.”

Linny gave a little shiver, remembering the man who'd smothered his eight wives. “Did his wife die in her sleep?”

Her mother brows furrowed. “No, she passed in a tragic bridge accident.”

Cut brake lines? A steering cable that had been monkeyed around with? Linny tried to look doleful as she chewed her barbecue chip but had to ask, “So she drove off a bridge?”

Dottie's brows flew up. “Gracious, no. She was playing bridge and had an aneurysm. Dropped dead, and right in the middle of a good hand. Fell off the chair.” She shifted her weight to one side of the recliner to demonstrate.

“Gosh.” Linny paused to consider that information and doggedly continued. “And he never remarried?”
Like seven more times
, she edited.

“No.” Dottie shot her a reproving look. “It was only two years ago.”

Dessie raised an eyebrow, but Linny had a few more investigative journalist type questions. “So he lives outside of Raleigh?”

“Yes, but he's on the
Ecstasy
,” her mother said blithely.

Linny's iced tea went down the wrong way and she sputtered and coughed. “Ecstasy?”

Dottie gave her a concerned look until Linny's coughing subsided and then went on. “He's got another dance instructor job on another ship,
The Ecstasy of the Sea
. He'll work on that cruise and be home next week.”

“Oh, good,” Linny said, trying to muster up enthusiasm.

Ruby swallowed her last bite of sub and urged Dottie, “Tell her about the big win and how it happened. It was so thrilling!”

“So thrilling!” Dottie agreed, clasping her hands together. “Mack and I put ten dollars apiece into a joint kitty for gambling each night the casino was open. I thought that was too much. You know I don't like to waste money, but the girls said I should live a little.” She looked to her two friends for validation and they nodded encouragingly. “Anyway, it was the last nickel of the night before we went to see the high-diving Chinese acrobats, and I dropped it in and the bells rang and the lights flashed. Turns out we won.” Dottie shook her head. Unwrapping a chocolate chip cookie, she took a too-big bite, and chewed, looking thoughtful. “They don't give you your winnings all in nickels, you know. I always wondered about that. It'd be hard to carry all that silver home.”

“That makes sense,” Linny said, listening hard for her to let slip in an unsavory detail about Mack. “So you two split the winnings?”

“Fifty-fifty. Right down the middle. I have the certified check right here.” She patted the purse she had wedged in beside her on the recliner. “When Mack comes home, we're going to talk about the smartest way to invest it. He's good at that. Even gets
Money
magazine.”

Linny felt her blood pound in her head. Her own late husband had told her he was good at investing, too. She'd been so fatuously trusting when he'd said,
Let me handle the finances. Don't you worry your pretty head
. Never again would she be stupid enough to cede control of her money to a man, ever. Careful to sound neutral, Linny said, “Gosh, two hundred fifty thousand is a tidy windfall for a dance instructor.”

Her mother shot her a reproving look. “Mack's not just a dance instructor. He's retired from . . . something.”

Hopefully, not from flimflamming or wife smothering. “Oh?” Linny said encouragingly.

“I think he worked in a gas station,” she said vaguely. Business never interested Dottie.

Linny tried to backpedal and said too heartily, “He sounds nice.”

Dessie balled up her empty lunch wrapper and rose. “Girls, it's been a heavenly trip, but I need to toddle on home.”

Ruby stretched and stood. “Whew. Long travel day. Linny, thank you, sweetheart, for picking us up.”

Linny stood. “I'll help load your bags into your cars.” Outside, Linny helped the two women wheel their suitcases from the carport and hump them into their cars.

Ruby gave a fluttering wave as she drove off in her Malibu and, as Dessie started to back up the big Lincoln, she lowered her window and beckoned Linny over. “Try not to worry so much about your mama. Mack seems like a straight-arrow type, and between me and Ruby and you and Kate, we'll make sure your mama doesn't do anything foolish.”

Linny shook her head and gave a chagrined smile. So much for her thinking she'd been subtle.

Dessie grinned and gunned it down the driveway.

Back in the house, Dottie had the radio switched to the His Way Christian station and was humming along to hymns as she unpacked. Curtis lay on the floor beside her, his eyes following her around the room like a creepy portrait at a haunted house.

Linny tried to scratch the dog's head, but he ignored her. “I'm the one who fed you the last two weeks,” she reminded him, but his eyes were trained on Dottie. “He doesn't want to let you slip away again.”

“I know.” Her mother dropped a kiss on the top of his head. “Tell me all about how Kate's doing and how your wedding planning is coming,” Dottie said as she separated laundry into piles of lights and darks.

Linny gave her the highlights, and after her mother uh-huhed, tutted, and gasped at the appropriate places, she wound down. Linny fished around in her purse for her car keys. “I'll let you get settled in. I picked you up a few groceries to tide you over. Kate is taking me out to look at wedding dresses this afternoon, and then she and Jerry are going to come by to bring you supper tonight at about six-thirty.”

“Thank you, honey,” Dottie said and gave her a hug. “I had a swell time, but I missed my girls.”

“We missed you, too,” Linny said, meaning it. She felt so much closer to her since Mama had finally told her and Kate about Daddy's long-kept secret: the increasingly frequent absences from their lives that were related to a longtime girlfriend on the side.

* * *

In the small business district of a neighborhood that was edging its way from shabby to upscale, Linny felt bleak as she and Kate stood outside a bridal boutique called The Radiant Bride
.
She just didn't feel that radiant. If the shop had been called The Wary Bride, or The Seasoned Bride, she'd have felt more comfortable. Plus, she was still gun shy from her Wiccan/Girls! Girls! Girls! wedding venue search. As if reading her mind, Kate patted her arm encouragingly and steered her toward the door. Linny stood up straighter, trying to improve her attitude. The good news was that the store was owned by an old college chum of her sister's named Aria, a good egg, according to Kate.

The door tinkled when they walked into the yellow and white shop, and Linny glanced over at the tall, streaky blond-haired woman adjusting the train on a bride mannequin's dress. She resembled one of those supermodels with names like Gisele or Bar who Linny read about in the tabloids Mary Catherine passed on to her. The woman wore a winter white pantsuit and pointy, sky-high heels that looked like they were made out of snakeskin. She was so exotically beautiful that Linny couldn't help it. She just stared, slack-jawed.

“Aria!” Kate called, and the woman peered at them, gave a happy shriek, and strode toward them.

This woman was an alabaster-skinned beauty, not a good egg. A good egg was an ex-field hockey player with freckles and an overbite. Linny's palms grew clammy, and she was acutely aware of her own clunky-looking, comfortable shoes and drawstring pants. She felt like a brown robin standing next to a bird of paradise. Coming here had been a huge mistake.

But Aria pulled Kate into an extravagant hug and burbled questions. “How's the pregnancy coming along? Have you stopped upchucking? Are you thrilled to pieces?”

Kate beamed. “All is well. The pregnancy's going great and we
are
thrilled to pieces.” She tilted her head at Aria and asked in a teasing tone, “Changed your mind about having babies of your own?”

Putting her fingers to her throat, Aria shuddered delicately. “Heavens no. Children are dirty.”

Kate giggled and said to Linny, “She means it, too. She's happy for her friends who have babies but not in the least bit interested.”

Aria nodded in agreement, turned her indigo eyes to Linny, and stuck out her hand. “I'm so happy to meet you. I adore your sister, so I'm sure I'll adore you.”

Linny smiled at her and shook her hand, feeling her doubts start to melt away.

“Oooh, you're so chilly.” Aria chafed her icy hands with her warm, smooth ones. “Will this winter never end? Let me get you two settled in and we can talk more about your perfect dress. Would you like some hot tea?”

“That sounds lovely,” Linny said, and Kate nodded her assent.

Aria ushered them into a cozy adjoining room where a yellow velvet sofa and club chairs were arranged in a conversational area.