Honeysuckle Summer (The Sweet Magnolias #7)(47)

“Typical,” Ronnie said grimly. “Men like that rarely believe they’ve done anything wrong. I ran across a few when I was working construction. They’d get a few beers in them, lose their tempers and take it out on their wives or girlfriends just because they were handy. What I never got was why the women put up with it.”

“For one reason or another, they don’t think they have a choice,” Carter said, citing some of the things he’d been told during his police academy training. “Usually there’s a lot of psychological abuse that goes along with the physical abuse. The women are isolated, convinced somehow it’s their fault, that if only they were more perfect, their men wouldn’t resort to hitting them.”

Walter seemed to be squirming uncomfortably as Carter talked. Carter turned to him. “Everything okay?”

“I’m just thinking how close I came to being one of those men,” he said very quietly. He turned to Ronnie. “You know what I was like when Sarah first left me. I never laid a hand on her and I’d like to believe I never would have, but I was filled with all this rage. And Lord knows I’d made her feel like she was to blame for all the misery in my life. Thank goodness, she was smart enough to leave when she did. I finally got a grip and faced the fact that most of the problems in my life were my own. I never want to be that domineering, controlling kind of man again.”

“Well, you certainly won’t get away with it with Rory Sue,” Ronnie said, lightening the moment. “If that girl is anything at all like her mama, you’ll dance to her tune, or not at all.”

Walter chuckled. “I’ve noticed that. We seem to be at odds most of the time over who’s in charge. Doesn’t matter if we’re talking pizza or sex.”

“Now, those are the kind of discussions that can liven up a marriage,” Ronnie said. “Dana Sue and I have had our share.”

As the laughter died down, Carter said, “Let’s get back to Paul Hammond. I’ll be notified the minute he walks through the gates at the prison. I’ll make sure there’s an active restraining order in place and that he knows about it. Not that it’ll be worth the paper it’s written on, if he wants to get his revenge. I keep hoping he’ll come to his senses and see that being free is more important than getting even, but I’m not counting on it.”

Carter sighed just thinking about how many women were injured, even killed, despite having a restraining order on file. He was convinced it would be useless in this situation, too. If Paul was determined to make Raylene pay for what he perceived as her deliberate betrayal, he’d just do it.

“Beyond the restraining order, we need to do everything we can to be sure Raylene’s never in that house alone and that somebody’s always nearby keeping an eye on things,” he added.

“I’m in,” Cal said at once.

“Me, too,” Ronnie said.

“I’m already over there several times a week,” Walter added. “No reason for that to change. I’ll just hang out a little longer, make sure things are quiet.”

Tom McDonald’s expression had turned thoughtful. “As you well know, Carter, we don’t have our own police force in place yet, but we do have a public-works crew. Let me see if I can coordinate with them and anyone else I can think of from the utility companies in the area to see if we can’t find a lot of work that needs to be done on that street. At least I might be able to add some extra eyes and ears for a couple of weeks when the time comes. We’ve got enough advance notice that I may be able to get this in place.”

Carter was astonished by the show of support.

“You all are amazing,” he said. “Thank you. You’re going above and beyond.”

“Hey, we look out for our own around here,” Cal told him. “And, believe me, in one way or another the Sweet Magnolias require a lot of looking after.”

Ronnie smirked. “Please tell me you have not ever said that to them. These women of ours think they can take perfectly good care of themselves.”

“And they can,” Cal said hurriedly. “Doesn’t mean they don’t wander into trouble they can’t handle from time to time. I think they appreciate that they always have backup.”

Erik shook his head ruefully. “Well, I for one have never heard Helen admit they need it. Remember her stalker? She thought she could take him down single-handedly. Almost got herself killed trying to prove it.”

Carter shuddered. “Please tell her not to give Raylene any ideas.”

“You really don’t want me telling Helen anything,” Erik said. “She’ll do exactly the opposite.”

“That’s true,” Ronnie confirmed. “Helen’s a stubborn one.”

Carter sat back and listened as these men talked with clear-eyed vision about the strong, ornery women in their lives. He’d never run across a group of men more obviously devoted to their spouses, flaws and all. For the first time in his life, he was envious of the solid marriages they had. With responsibility for Mandy and Carrie still very fresh, he thought it would be a while before he could risk having that kind of relationship with anyone. And yet here he was, already involved enough with Raylene that he felt this overwhelming need to make sure she was safe.

“You know,” he said eventually, “when I first heard people talk about the Sweet Magnolias and how deep their friendship ran, I was skeptical. Seemed to me there’s always some fussing and feuding when a bunch of women get together.”