Turnabout's Fair Play (37 page)

From:
Jamie O’Connor

To:
Chae Seung

Subject:
Dinner Guest

Chae, thank you for being so honest with me. I understand where you’re coming from, and I respect that. I promise you (for whatever that’s worth) that I will do my best to make sure I’m always there for Danny and that I never again will do anything to hurt him—or you. But I can only prove it to you by showing you. And I promise to do so
.

The name of the guest I’m bringing to dinner is Flannery McNeill. Yes, Flannery as in Flannery O’Connor. So please don’t say anything about her name when you meet her. She’s a little touchy about it
.

See you next week
.

From:
Jamie O’Connor

To:
Flannery McNeill

Subject:
Dinner next week?

Flan—

My friend Danny and his wife, Chae, have invited us
to dinner next week. It’ll be a traditional Korean meal, with Danny’s and Chae’s mothers and grandmothers helping cook it. It’s next Tuesday night. I hope you’ll go with me. Danny and Chae really want to meet you, and I want you to meet them
.

About the whole heart surgery thing. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. But that’s one of those awkward things to work into conversation. “Oh, by the way, I had open-heart surgery when I was eighteen years old to correct a hole in my heart that might have killed me if they hadn’t fixed it.” I guess I could have worked it in around talking about Gawain and Ragnelle or your dirtbag of a high school boyfriend. Or maybe in one of the e-mails about our favorite TV shows from childhood or bands from the ‘80s. But there’s never seemed to be a spot in any of our conversations so far that invited talk about it. (And for the record, MacGyver was absolutely the best show.)

Seriously, my doctors give me a clean bill of health. And though right now I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to afford to pay for health insurance, I want to assure you that I will continue going for my annual checkups. You can go with me to my next one in August, if you really want to. Okay?

Please let me know about dinner next week as soon as you can
.

—j

BTW—I won’t be at church Sunday. I’m going up to Louisville this weekend to help man the Lindsley House booth at a book fair
.

From:
TennesseeGawain

To:
LadyNelle

Subject:
I’m sorry

Just in case I didn’t make it clear in my other e-mail, I’m sorry. Hope to see you next week
.

From:
Chae Seung

To:
Jamie O’Connor

Subject:
RE: Dinner Guest

Thanks for understanding, Jamie. And I’ll hold you to those promises
.

Also, thanks for letting me know about your dinner guest. But who’s Flannery O’Connor? Is that a relative of yours?

From:
Danny Seung

To:
Jamie O’Connor

Subject:
RE: Pulled the Trigger

Congrats on being accepted and getting registered for your first semester! The first semester or two are going to be hard, getting in all those science classes you didn’t take the first go-round in college. Take as many placement tests as they offer so that you can get out of as many of the math and other basic classes as you can. That way you can get to the clinical classes sooner—and you’ll need total focus for those. And don’t forget, if you need help with anything or need a study partner…well, let’s just say I’m glad all that is behind me.:–) (You know you can always count on me.)

Chae told me Flannery is coming to dinner with you next week. Way to go, dude! Who knew that you could go from insulting her with Dracula to bonding over her secrets (which I still want to know) in just a few weeks? You’re even smoother than you were in college
.

From:
Kirby McNeill

To:
Maureen O’Connor

Subject:
When you come tomorrow

Dearest Maureen
,

You’ve only been gone fifteen minutes, and I already miss you
.
Being locked up inside this place is enough to make me loony, and your presence has helped make it a little less oppressive. Thankfully, Flannery showed me how to do e-mail on my phone when she was here earlier, so I can spend time this evening contacting friends and family to stop them from worrying about me
.

If you have a chance tonight, can you get my Bible and journal from the bedside table at Jamie’s house? If they’re going to keep me another full day, as they’re hinting, I would very much like to have those
.

I miss you
.

All my heart (which you may or may not want at this point)
,

Kirby

From:
Flannery McNeill

To:
Jamie O’Connor

Subject:
RE: Dinner next week?

Jamie
,

I’m sorry I freaked out on you at the hospital earlier today. I hope you’ll forgive me
.

Dinner with your friends next week sounds great. I’ve never had Korean food, but I’ve liked every other Asian cuisine I’ve ever tried, so I’m sure I’ll love it—especially since it’ll be homemade
.

They’re keeping Big Daddy in the hospital at least one more day. But your grandmother is going to be there with him, since I have to go back to work. I’ve already got a stockpile of work to do and can’t afford to be away another day. Plus, Big Daddy pretty much ran me out of the room when I went back up there tonight. (He can be such a grouch when he doesn’t get his way!) I may not make it to church this weekend either—I’ll probably be at the office trying to get caught up on projects
.

I think I told you in another e-mail that Caylor and Dylan are getting married the last week of the month. They’d like for us—you and me—to go out with them and Zarah and Bobby next weekend (week from Saturday) so we can all spend some time together, since you’re going to be my date for the wedding. I know you and Bobby know each other pretty well, but the girls would like to get to know you better. I’ll probably know when and where by the time I see you on Tuesday
.

—f

PS—Should I plan on meeting you at your house Tuesday after I get off work so we can go to your friends’ house together?

PPS—Simon and Simon was so much better than MacGyver!

From:
Jamie O’Connor

To:
Flannery McNeill

Subject:
RE: RE: Dinner next week?

Who said I’ll be your date to Caylor’s wedding? You’re assuming an awful lot there, girl
.

—j

From:
LadyNelle

To:
TennesseeGawain

Subject:
RE: I’m sorry

I’m sorry, too
.

From:
Maureen O’Connor

To:
Kirby McNeill

Subject:
RE: When you come tomorrow

My darling Kirby
,

I have your Bible and journal. And Jamie and I had a good, long talk tonight. He and Flannery have already exchanged a couple of e-mails, and it seems everything there is on the mend
.

I’ll bring the paperwork I downloaded and printed when I come tomorrow, too
.

I also talked to your nephew as you requested. He seems only too happy to take care of everything on the farm for you for as long as you need him to. In fact, I think he may be calling you tomorrow to talk about what’s going to happen to the farm going forward. I think your idea of selling it to him instead of to the developers is a grand one, even though you won’t make nearly as much money. I imagine that’s what Bea would have wanted—to keep the land in the family and make sure it stays a farm
.

Love,
Maureen

From:
Flannery McNeill

To:
Jamie O’Connor

Subject:
Caylor’s Wedding

If you don’t want to go to the wedding with me, I guess I can always call that guy I met during Zarah’s bachelorette party and ask him to go. He was very tall and gorgeous…and gainfully employed
.

—f

From:
Jamie O’Connor

To:
Flannery McNeill

Subject:
RE: Caylor’s Wedding

Ouch. Suddenly I’m feeling like I’m in a Shakespeare play
.

—j

From:
Flannery McNeill

To:
Jamie O’Connor

Subject:
RE: RE: Caylor’s Wedding

Are you comparing me to Katherina Minola of Padua?

—f

From:
Jamie O’Connor

To:
Flannery McNeill

Subject:
RE: RE: RE: Caylor’s Wedding

If the shrew fits …

—f

From:
Flannery McNeill

To:
Jamie O’Connor

Subject:
RE: RE: RE: RE: Caylor’s Wedding

You’re a dork
.

—f

From:
Jamie O’Connor

To:
Flannery McNeill

Subject:
RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: Caylor’s Wedding

But I’m an irresistibly charming and handsome dork. However, if you really want to start calling names, we can go there, Fanny
.

—j

From:
Flannery McNeill

To:
Jamie O’Connor

Subject:
Name Calling

Okay, I give. (But you really need some new material—Fanny? Really? That’s so last season—well, three seasons ago, since it started last fall.)

From:
Jamie O’Connor

To:
Flannery McNeill

Subject:
RE: Name Calling

And, Princess Flannery, that’s one of the things I love about you so much…the way you can just forget and move on
.

And yes, I realize I used the word “love” in the sentence above. And I used it because I meant it. Love, love, love, love, love, love
.

Great, now that Nat King Cole song is stuck in my head. You know, the anachronism song
.

—j

BTW—Jamie loves Flannery
.

From:
Flannery McNeill

To:
Jamie O’Connor

Subject:
RE: RE: Name Calling

You know, I’ve heard that speaking of oneself in the third person is a sign of extreme narcissism. And you’re starting to ramble—given that it’s after 2:00 a.m., I guess that’s understandable
.

And I will take this opportunity to reiterate that you’re a dork—it’s an acrostic not an anachronism
.

Good night.
—f

PS—Flannery loves Jamie, too
.

Chapter 26

M
aureen climbed out of the car into the oppressive mid-July heat and humidity for all that it was at ten o’clock in the morning. She could have wished for better weather but not a more perfect day.

“Are you certain you want to do this here, today, like this?” Lindy shut the front door of the big Cadillac.

Maureen turned to help Trina and Sassy out from the backseat. Perty got out on the other side.

“I’m certain. If we wait—no. There would be too many complications.” With her four dearest friends in the world, Maureen crossed the courtyard and entered the red-brick church. Beyond the worship center and the new education wing, they entered the old portion of the building.

“Let me go in and make sure everything is ready.” Perty pushed through the door at the end of a short corridor and disappeared.

Trina fluffed Maureen’s hair, and Lindy turned Maureen’s pearl necklace so the clasp was in the back again. Sassy stood back watching—but unable to see well enough to help with the fine details.

“They’re ready.” Perty was a bit breathless.

With Trina and Lindy to her right and Sassy and Perty to her left—in a slightly wedge-shaped formation—Maureen processed down the aisle toward the altar in the century-old chapel. Kirby stood at the front with Victor Breitinger and Greeley Patterson. Gerald Bradley stood in the center of the platform in his black judge’s robes, holding a small white book.

“Too bad none of us plays the piano,” Perty whispered.

“I could have sung,” Trina offered.

“I probably could have figured out how to hook my MP3 player into the sound system.”

They all looked at Sassy, who just grinned at them.