The Strawberry Hearts Diner(76)

A soft knock sounded on the door, and then Vicky pushed it open. “You okay, Jancy?”

“I was just reading a letter from Mama,” she said as she put it back into the envelope. “She had letters from my grandmother, and they were a comfort to her. I don’t know that she had a premonition about her life, but she wrote me a stack of letters and left birthday cards for me. When things get tough, I get them out and read them, and she’s right—they are a comfort.”

“Oh, Jancy.” Vicky sat down beside her on the bed and wrapped her up in her arms. “I’m so glad that you are here. What you did for Emily was . . . There are no words.”

“Couldn’t have her in jail because she killed that trash.” Jancy smiled. “Ouch!”

“It’s goin’ to hurt worse tomorrow. Let’s go get some ice to put on it.”

“Guess I destroyed any idea that I was doing my best to be a good person, didn’t I? Brawlin’ in the church parking lot like that.” Jancy groaned.

“You are you, Jancy. What anyone thinks of you isn’t as important as what you think of yourself. Would you tie into that girl again?”

Without hesitation she said, “Yes, I would. She shouldn’t have pushed me.”

“Then your conscience is clear. I’m glad that you know how to take up for yourself, but then, I should have known that . . .” The sentence hung in the air like a big white elephant.

“That I’ve lived a tough life,” Jancy finished for her.

“I was going to say that you didn’t have anyone to do it for you, but I really liked Elaine and didn’t want . . .”

Jancy hugged her. “It’s okay, Vicky. I understand. Now about that ice?”

Vicky led the way to the kitchen. “I wish my mother would have written me letters. There were so many times I wanted to hear her voice.”

“Hey, are you all right?” Emily handed Jancy a bag of frozen peas. “We don’t have a steak, but maybe this will help.”

“Thanks.” The cold felt good against Jancy’s eye and cheek.

“How do you know about steak and peas?” Vicky filled four glasses with ice and poured sweet tea into them.

Emily slung an arm around Vicky. “I lived in a dorm, Mama. Some of those girls had pretty wicked tempers.”

“Vicky thought that a dorm was all popcorn and giggles?” Jancy grinned.

“If you’re all right with it, I’m going over to Shane’s to forgive Ryder. This wasn’t his fault, and I overreacted. If I’d gotten out of the church two minutes later, he would have peeled that woman off his body,” Emily said.

“I’m fine. Go take care of this. Never go to sleep on an argument. Either get it settled and make up or fight all night,” Jancy said.

Emily smiled. “Who said that?”

“An eighty-year-old woman who was still cookin’ in a little café where I worked,” Jancy answered. “Put these peas back in the fridge. I’ll go with you. Shane and I need to talk, too.”

“Take them with you,” Vicky said. “So the wedding is still on?”

Emily hugged Vicky. “It couldn’t have been easy to take up for Ryder—I appreciate it. I love Ryder and I’m going to marry him even if I have to plow through dozens of his old booty calls. And I’m sure glad that our wedding bands are those wide ones you can see a mile off.”

“Amen!” Jancy said. “Let’s walk over there. It’ll give us a little while longer to get our makeup speeches ready.”

“Great idea,” Emily said.





CHAPTER TWENTY


Ryder and Shane were sitting in the rocking chairs, each with a can of beer and both looking miserable when Jancy and Emily rounded the end of the house. Ryder stood up immediately, met them in the middle of the backyard, and opened his arms.

Emily picked up her pace and walked right into them. “Are we okay?”

“I am so sorry, darlin’, and we are definitely okay.”

“Let’s go to our home and talk,” she said.

They disappeared into the darkness. Jancy wasn’t sure at that point whether to knock on the porch post to ask permission to enter or to turn around and go back home. Shane hadn’t met her with open arms. He hadn’t moved an inch from his rocking chair, and his head was hanging like he couldn’t even look at her.

She’d been so afraid that she’d ruined everything with her past, but it was the present that had shot holes in their relationship. He could deal with her spotty relationships, but making a spectacle out of herself in front of all his friends—well, that was a different matter. She might as well face it and get the breakup over with now as worry about it all night. She marched up on the porch and sat down in the empty rocking chair.

“Some shiner,” he finally said.

“I hope it’s gone by the wedding.”

“I’ve never been in any kind of relationship that lasted long enough to have a fight. M-mostly it was only for one night, a w-weekend at the m-most. Are w-we breaking up?”

She tossed the bag of peas on the porch and moved from the chair to his lap. “Do you want to break up? You’ve got good reason. I embarrassed you in front of the whole church.”