The Strawberry Hearts Diner(70)

“I understand.” It was Jancy’s turn to interrupt.

The only regret she had about the amazing night before was that she couldn’t slam the back door. “Where’s your car?”

“Parked at home. We cross the street, stay on the path through the vacant forty acres, come up behind the house, and go in the back door,” Emily said. “It is what it is, but my sneaking days are over in a couple of weeks. What are you going to do about yours?”

“I don’t know.” Jancy was double stepping to keep up with Emily’s long-legged stride.

“First thing you have to do is set an alarm.” Emily giggled. “And then you have to make yourself get out of that bed and go home. The second part is the hardest. I can’t wait until I can stay in bed with Ryder right up until it’s time to get ready to go to the diner.”

“Aren’t you going to miss walking from the house with Nettie and Vicky?”

“You give up something for every benefit,” Emily said. “Shhh . . . gettin’ to the bedroom without wakin’ up Mama is the hardest part.”

Jancy held her breath all the way from the kitchen to her bedroom and let it out in a whoosh when she eased the door shut. She hurriedly threw off her clothing and jerked on a nightshirt, then turned on her bedside lamp. Pulling the stack of letters from the nightstand, she picked out the one near the top of the already-read stack.

Dear Jancy,

We’ve had the sex talk, and you know about the consequences of playing big-people games with no protection. So when the time comes that you want to do those things, promise me that you won’t until you’ve gone to the clinic and gotten birth control. Babies are wonderful, but even more so if they are planned. I’ve always felt as if I trapped your father into a relationship that he’d rather not have had.

I want you to find a true Prince Charming. That’s what I want for you more than anything. To find happiness, love, and stability. Be sure that when you make your choice, you like the man you’ll be sharing life with as much as you love him—enjoy talking to him, spending time with him, like the way that he makes you feel. Sometimes love blinds a person to like, and although love is important, like is just as much so. There have been many times over the years when I have not liked your father, though I still loved him. Friendship with love is a precious thing. If you find it, hold on to it and never let it go . . .

She finished the letter and tucked it back into the envelope before putting it back into the stack. “I wish you were here, Mama. I don’t know that I could tell you how I feel in person without turning crimson. I slept with Shane last night, and it was amazing. Thank God I’m on the pill. I never quite understood your letter until now. I like Shane. He’s my friend as well as . . . I’m not sure if I should call him my boyfriend. He sure wants things to go that way. After all of this, I think I’m fine with that, even if it’s here in Pick. I never wanted to leave that bedroom.”





CHAPTER EIGHTEEN


Why don’t you just move in with Shane? We could walk to work together every single morning,” Emily whispered as they checked the front of the diner for stray crickets that Friday morning.

“For the same reason you don’t move in with Ryder. You want your daughter to hear that you lived with him before you were married?”

Emily sighed. “The folks here live by a different set of rules. It’s okay if I’m pregnant, but I’d better not move in until after the wedding.”

Jancy shrugged. “You got that right. Besides, what makes you think Shane is ready to ask me to move in with him? He’s only really known me a few weeks. That is a big, big step,” Jancy said.

“He won’t ask you,” Emily said. “He’s too afraid that you’ll say no. When the time comes, you’ll probably have to propose to him. ‘Will you marry me’ has two Ms and a W in the four words.”

Jancy hip bumped Emily. “Don’t make fun of my feller.”

“Just statin’ facts, ma’am.” Emily giggled.

“Facts about what?” Vicky came from the back room, tucking her dark ponytail through a hole in the back of a cap.

“About whether she should put a few white roses in her bouquet or use all red,” Jancy said.

Hey, it had to be all right to protect both of her friends. She’d gotten Vicky out of a difficult and emotional spot the night before. It was only fair to give Emily the same consideration.

“All red roses,” Vicky said. “What do you think, Nettie?”

“Maybe a few sprigs of white baby’s breath,” she called out. “How many tarts do you think we need for that day? I’m going to make the shells ahead of time and freeze them.”

“Eight million,” Jancy said.

“Give or take a dozen,” Emily laughed. “I can’t give you a number, Nettie. Make however many you can or want to and they will be eaten.”

“Shane’s job will be to be sure no one walks out the front door with more than two hidden in their pockets,” Jancy said.

“One hundred,” Nettie said. “That’s what I’m going to make. When are we going to Andy’s to pick out a cake?”

“Tonight after work,” Emily said. “I called him last evening after y’all left and he offered to open up for us. Thank you, Mama.”