Honeysuckle Summer (The Sweet Magnolias #7)(103)

Carrie groaned and exchanged an exasperated look with her sister. “I should have known,” she muttered. “Grown-ups are idiots.” She turned to Mandy. “Come on. Let’s go home and fix this.”

Raylene stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Sweetie, I really appreciate that you want to make things right between us, but it’s not up to you.”

“Well, somebody has to fix it, and it’s obviously not going to be the two adults involved,” Carrie retorted with disgust.

And then she and Mandy were gone, though not before Mandy had grabbed a fistful of cookies to tide her over on the walk home. As they walked down the sidewalk, she handed one to Carrie, who accepted it without comment and took a bite.

Raylene smiled at the sight, though she felt oddly wistful. A part of her had hoped to have a place in their lives. Carter had even offered her that. Was she the idiot Carrie had called her for saying no? Or did she owe it to Carter, and mostly to herself, to make sure there wasn’t something else she wanted more, a life she couldn’t possibly have envisioned just a few short weeks ago?





23




Walter had grown up as his parents’ golden boy. Right up until he’d finally developed a spine, moved away from home and settled in Serenity, he’d done exactly what was expected—except, of course, when he’d married Sarah.

Even then, however, he’d let his folks influence him and get in the middle of his marriage until the divorce had been inevitable. There were days when he could still hear their voices in his head, complaining about this or scolding him about that.

From the day he’d met Rory Sue, he’d tried to imagine his parents’ reaction to her unpredictability and untamed exuberance. Tonight, though, as he looked at her sprawled across his bed, her hair like silk on the pillow, her cheeks flushed, a smile on her lips, he realized that his opinion was the only one that mattered. He knew exactly what he wanted, had known it for a while now, but caution had kept him silent.

“Marry me,” he blurted before he could analyze it to death.

Rory Sue shot up, dragging a sheet with her, and stared at him. “Excuse me?”

He grinned at her stunned expression. “I asked you to marry me,” he repeated quietly. “I love you, Rory Sue. I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my life, but I know you’re not one of them. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Instead of flinging herself into his arms as he’d half expected, she studied him warily. “Why now?”

“Why not now?”

“Maybe you’re just feeling left out because Sarah and Travis have set their wedding date for next month and Raylene’s getting her life under control and doesn’t need you to look out for her anymore.”

“Believe me, this has nothing to do with my ex-wife or my friend,” he insisted. “I just realized that you and I balance each other perfectly. When I get stuffy and traditional, you yank me right out of that and get me to do something I never dreamed I’d do. I think maybe you need me for the flip side of that. I’ll keep you from doing something so crazy you’ll wind up in a hospital or in jail.”

“Like when you talked me out of going bungee-jumping?” she asked, a twinkle in her eyes.

“That’s one example,” he said. “And when you talked me into going skinny-dipping in your parents’ pool while they were home.” That had been at the same time the most terrifying and the most liberating risk he’d ever taken.

She laughed. “I told you they’d never catch us, but you should have seen your face when that light in the house came on. It was priceless.”

“I thought for sure Sonny was going to be out there with a shotgun two minutes later,” he admitted.

Rory Sue knelt beside him. “You have to admit, it was pretty exhilarating.”

“That’s one word for it.” He looked into her eyes. “I want a lifetime of that, Rory Sue. I want us to do the unexpected for the rest of our days.”

“What about all the normal stuff, like having kids?” she asked. “I don’t think I’m anywhere near ready for that. You understand that, right?”

Walter swallowed his disappointment. He’d known for a while now that Rory Sue would probably never be tamed to the point of being a traditional wife and mother. “As much as I would love to have a baby with you, I have Tommy and Libby. It may take me a whole lifetime just to figure out how to be a good dad to the two of them. If those are the only children I have, it’s okay. You’ll be an amazing stepmother.”

She studied him worriedly. “Are you sure you can live with us not having kids of our own?”

“Very sure,” he said solemnly. He waited a minute, then asked, “So, what do you think? Want to get married? We could do it skydiving over the Grand Canyon if you want.”

She blinked at the suggestion, then started laughing. “You surprise me, Walter Price! If I thought you were serious about that, I’d book us flights to Vegas tomorrow.”

He reached into a bedside table and pulled out two plane tickets he’d booked the week before. “Already done.”

She looked at the two tickets, then at the confirmation for the skydiving excursion. “Well, I’ll be darned.”

“So, what’s it going to be, Rory Sue?”