Honeysuckle Summer (The Sweet Magnolias #7)(44)

“Who says?” Raylene countered. “If going back helps, you need to do it as often as you can. Columbia’s not that far.”

“The problem is that it’s usually worse for her afterward,” he said. “She’s happy for a couple of days talking about who she saw and everything we did, but then she crashes right back down again. Even though she tries to hide it most of the time, I can see how angry she is about being here. This is the first time, though, that she’s opened up to me. I have a feeling I have you to thank for that.”

“I didn’t do anything other than encourage her to tell you what was on her mind.”

“I appreciate that. She needs to know we’re in this together, that we’re all making adjustments.”

Raylene hesitated, then once again asked, “If you aren’t here now because of Carrie or Mandy, what did bring you by?”

Her question, though an obvious one, seemed to unnerve him. He waved it off.

“This isn’t the best time to get into it. It can wait.”

“Tell me,” she insisted.

He continued to hesitate.

“Carter, you’re making me nervous. Is there a problem?” A thought suddenly struck her. “Did you come by to tell me it’s best if we don’t go on seeing each other?”

“Absolutely not,” he said with such heartfelt emotion she couldn’t possibly doubt him. “I’ve already told you that I’m drawn to you, that I want to be with you.”

Since him dumping her before they’d really had half a chance to get to know each other was just about the worst thing she could think of, anything else was bound to pale by comparison. “What then?” she pressed.

“It’s about your ex-husband.”

She regarded him blankly. “Paul? What about him?”

“There’s something you need to know.”

At his dire tone, a sense of dread settled in her stomach. “What?”

“He’s due to get out of prison sometime in August. I thought you should be prepared.”

Raylene’s world, which had barely steadied itself on its axis after her unfortunate excursion outside, began spinning again. “No,” she whispered. “That can’t be.”

“I’m afraid it’s true. I checked it out myself after you told me about him. I wanted to see if you were likely to be in danger anytime soon.”

She started to tremble and couldn’t seem to stop. “No,” she whispered again. “No, no, no.”

Carter moved to her side, then paused. “Is it okay?” he asked tentatively.

Raylene nodded, and he pulled her into his arms. She tried to relax, to let herself feel the comfort and reassurance he was offering, but the fear was more powerful. She couldn’t stop shaking.

“It’s going to be okay,” Carter promised. “He won’t get near you, not if I have to convince the sheriff to put twenty-four-hour security around this house.”

“No,” she said fiercely, pulling away. “I can’t rely on other people. This isn’t your problem. And the sheriff doesn’t have that kind of manpower.” She groaned as another thought struck her. “I can’t put Sarah and the kids in danger. I’ll need to move out.”

“Raylene, don’t get ahead of yourself.”

“But you said he’s getting out in August. I have to make plans. I have to handle Paul on my own, and I need to be able to protect myself.”

Carter regarded her with dismay. “What are you suggesting?”

Her mind made up, she looked at him with a steady gaze. “I want you to teach me how to use a gun.”

“Absolutely not,” Carter said at once, his expression grim.

“Carter, I have to do this my way.”

He raked his hand through his hair. “Come on, Raylene. Have you ever even fired a gun before?”

“No, but that’s why you’ll teach me.”

“How?” he asked reasonably. “It’s not as if I can take you to the gun range.”

Raylene faltered at that. “I have to learn,” she insisted. “It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“Do you honestly think you could shoot a man?” he asked.

She thought of the way Paul had mistreated her, the night that he’d in essence killed their baby. “Any man?” she said softly. “No.” Then she met his gaze evenly. “But I could shoot Paul Hammond,” she said with conviction.

Despite her fierce certainty, Carter shook his head. “You might be able to pull the trigger,” he told her. “But you’d never be able to live with the consequences. I know you, sweetheart. Even after everything that man did to you, it would destroy you to take his life. That kind of violence or revenge just isn’t in you.”

“What about justice?” she asked, her voice pleading. “That’s what it would be, you know. My life is the way it is because of him. Maybe if he was gone once and for all, I’d finally be able to live in peace. The court system obviously didn’t care about that when they gave him such a light sentence.”

Carter touched her cheek. “I know you want to believe that killing him would let you live a normal life again, and maybe it’s even true, but there are better ways to handle this. Let me go and see him. I’ll find out what his plans are, what his frame of mind is. For all we know, he’s going to relocate to Alaska.”