Honeysuckle Summer (The Sweet Magnolias #7)(53)

“How about the ribs? If Erik would teach me how to make the sauce, I could probably master those. We’d have to buy a big grill, though, one of those fancy gas grills.”

She frowned at him. “What is this? Are you on food patrol all of a sudden?”

“I was just asking,” he said. “I hate to think you missed out on all the fabulous food that everyone worked so hard preparing. You must have at least tried the apple pie.”

“Desserts aren’t my thing,” she said, already backing out of the room. “I need to go up and get dressed.”

She practically ran out of the kitchen. A moment later, Mandy came in. She immediately filled a bowl with cereal, then doused it with milk. Carter was relieved to see that there was nothing wrong with her appetite.

He hesitated, then asked, “Did your sister eat anything yesterday?” He knew he was asking her to breach some kind of sisterly oath of silence, but this was too important.

Mandy shrugged. “I’m not her keeper.”

“But you are observant, Amanda. This is important. Did she eat?”

Mandy frowned at his sharp tone. “Not when I was around,” she admitted. “What’s going on?”

“I’m just concerned that her dieting is getting out of hand.”

Mandy obviously grasped immediately what he was suggesting. Her eyes widened. “You mean like anorexia or something? We learned about that in health class. It can be really dangerous.”

“Exactly.”

Mandy set down her spoon and met his gaze. “Are you really worried, Carter?”

He nodded.

“I thought maybe she was just going through a phase or something,” she said, her own expression now filled with alarm. “What should we do?”

He patted her hand. “You don’t have to do anything, except keep your eyes open and let me know if she’s eating or not. I’ll handle this. And don’t worry. We’re going to make sure she’s okay.”

A couple of hours later, though, he realized he might have made things worse. He came out of his room wearing his uniform to hear Mandy and Carrie in the middle of a shouting match in the kitchen.

“Hey, what’s going on in here?” he demanded, joining them.

“Squirt here is trying to tell me what to do,” Carrie said, her cheeks flushed with indignation.

“I just fixed her a sandwich and told her to eat it,” Mandy said.

“I don’t want a sandwich,” Carrie snapped.

“Well, if you don’t eat, you’re going to die,” Mandy snapped right back, then burst into tears and ran from the room.

Carrie stared after her, a shocked expression on her face. “Why would she think I’m going to die?”

Carter sighed. “Because I told her I was worried about you not eating.”

“Gee, thanks,” she said. “I’m watching my weight, that’s all. She might want to give some thought to the way she eats, because if she’s not careful she’ll be big as a house by the time she’s my age.”

Carter frowned at her. “Don’t you dare suggest to Mandy that she needs to go on a diet. She’s perfectly fine.”

“But I’m not?” Despite her indignant tone, she looked genuinely hurt.

“You’re beautiful,” he said honestly. “But if you lose any more weight, you’ll be gaunt, rather than fashionably thin. If you don’t see how beautiful you are when you look in the mirror, then maybe that’s something we need to deal with.”

“Now you’re saying I’m crazy?”

Carter was so far out of his league, he didn’t even begin to know the rules. “You’re not crazy. But you may need to talk to someone to figure all this out.”

“What? Does Raylene get a two-for-one special if she drags me along to her shrink?”

Carter merely stared at her until she flushed.

“Sorry,” she murmured.

“I think we had this conversation before, but in case you’ve forgotten, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with asking for help,” Carter told her. “Raylene is very brave to be trying to face her problems. I admire her. I’d feel the same way about anyone who does whatever it takes to get better.”

“But there’s nothing wrong with me!” Carrie all but shouted at him, than ran from the room, up the stairs and into her bedroom, slamming doors in her wake.

Carter sighed. Well, he’d certainly made a mess of things so far. He could just imagine how well it would go over if he suddenly suggested having dinner at Raylene’s. That little experiment was going to have to remain on hold, at least until things calmed down. He just hoped by then, it wouldn’t be too late. Maybe he was the one who should see Dr. McDaniels to figure out how he’d managed to let things spin so far out of control.



Raylene called first thing in the morning and left a voice-mail message for Dr. McDaniels canceling her appointment. She was therefore stunned when she answered the door that afternoon and found the psychologist on the stoop.

“I canceled today’s appointment,” Raylene said testily. “Didn’t you get the message?”

“I did, but the good part about having you stuck here in the house is that I knew where to find you.”

Raylene scowled. “Was that supposed to be funny?”