Honeysuckle Summer (The Sweet Magnolias #7)(46)

“It’s not a group decision,” Raylene retorted. “It’s mine, and I’ve made it.”

“Well, you’re not moving out tomorrow, no matter what, so put that paper down and let’s fix dinner. I always think better on a full stomach.”

Raylene recognized a stalling tactic when she saw one, but she folded the newspaper and put it aside.

“Is everything all set for the picnic on the Fourth?” Sarah asked, deliberately changing the topic.

With everything that had happened that afternoon, Raylene had pushed the barbecue completely out of her head. “I think so. Dana Sue insisted on bringing the fried chicken and ribs. I’m making the salads. Erik’s doing the burgers and the pies. Maddie said she’d find red, white and blue paper plates and napkins. Ronnie’s in charge of getting sparklers for the kids and making sure they don’t set themselves on fire.”

“And Annie?”

“To be honest, I think she’s having a little trouble juggling work and dealing with Trevor and a new baby on her own with Ty on the road. I didn’t give her an assignment.”

“She’ll be furious if she thinks you let her off the hook because she can’t cope,” Sarah said. She closed her eyes and sighed. “I remember what it was like for me when I had Tommy and Libby so close together. I know exactly what she’s going through, but every time I offer to pitch in, she bites my head off.”

“I’ll have her pick up some soda or something. And I’ll make sure she knows her most important assignment is to pay attention to what’s going on with Carrie,” Raylene said.

“Have you heard from Carrie since she dropped by?”

“Not a word. Maybe she had a lot of studying to do for finals, but school’s been out for a week now, and she hasn’t been by again. She may be embarrassed about having revealed so much. I’m glad this picnic’s coming up so soon. I don’t want to take too long to figure out if she really is in trouble. At least Carter told me that she’s been talking to him about how miserable she’s been here. That’s a start.”

She hesitated, then met Sarah’s gaze. “There’s something else you should know.”

“Yes?”

“I tried to make myself go onto the patio earlier today. Carter found me out there. I was a total basket case.”

Sarah’s eyes lit up with excitement. “But you were on the patio? That’s fantastic.”

“Did you miss the part about me being a basket case?”

“I don’t care. A basket case who’s actually outside completely on her own after all these months is still fantastic!”

“You’re way too easily impressed,” Raylene said.

“Wait till you tell Dr. McDaniels. I’ll bet she’s impressed, too.”

Raylene studied her. “You really think it was that great, even though Carter found me pretty much unglued?”

“I think it was amazing, and so should you. You should be proud, Raylene. You left this house without me or Dr. McDaniels! Whoo-hoo!”

Raylene grinned at her enthusiasm. “I guess it was kind of cool.”

“Better than cool. Awesome!”

“Okay, you can settle down now,” Raylene said dryly. “I didn’t walk on water.”

“No, but you walked on bricks,” Sarah replied. “In my book that’s, what, half a dozen steps in the right direction.”

Raylene tried to view it through Sarah’s eyes. Maybe it had been a little bit of a triumph after all. The all-important questions, though, were whether she could make herself do it again and how long it would take before being outside started to seem like second nature, especially now that she knew Paul could be a more immediate threat.





11




Carter was surprised to find Walter Price among those at Travis’s place when he arrived that night. He hadn’t realized that Sarah’s ex-husband would be tight with her current fiancé. He supposed in a small town it would be hard for the two men to avoid each other.

“I spend a lot of time at the house with the kids,” Walter explained when they were officially introduced. “Raylene’s been a good friend to me. When Travis told me what was going on, I wanted to help.”

Carter nodded. “We can use all the help we can get.”

Cal Maddox, Ronnie Sullivan and Tom McDonald nodded agreement. “Whatever you need,” Ronnie said, his expression grim. “That man will not get anywhere near Raylene on our watch.”

“Amen,” Erik added, walking in the door in time to overhear Ronnie’s comment.

“We should speak to Elliott Cruz, too,” Cal said. “Maddie says he was at The Corner Spa the day Raylene turned up all battered and bruised. He really took it to heart. He didn’t even know Raylene at the time, but he was ready to charge off and beat the guy to a pulp. Plus, he’s a solid block of muscle. I imagine any man encountering him would think twice about doing anything when he’s around.”

Carter was relieved to know there were so many men he could count on. “We should definitely include him, then.”

Travis handed out beers all around, then looked at Carter. “Did you go to the prison?”

Immediately sobering, Carter nodded. “We’re dealing with one angry man. He blames Raylene for all of it. He says he’d never have wound up in prison if she hadn’t lied about everything that happened. He still claims she took a tumble down the steps at their house to get all those bruises. He says that’s probably why she lost the baby, too, that it had nothing to do with him.”