Honeysuckle Summer (The Sweet Magnolias #7)(75)

“What?” he asked defensively.

“You in here all alone when you know you’d rather be on a date with Rory Sue.” Before he could reply, she went on. “I’m not a big fan of hers, but even I can see the sparks between you two. Why aren’t you doing anything about it?”

He gave her an odd look. “It feels really weird to be discussing my love life, or lack thereof, with my ex-wife.”

“Oh, get over yourself. We used to be friends, too, when you weren’t so busy being hateful to me.”

He smiled at her newfound ability to call things as she saw them. “You’ve changed.”

“I certainly hope so. Now, tell me why you’re here all alone instead of with her.”

“Because of you, to be honest.”

She looked taken aback by the claim. “Come on. We’ve been over for a very long time.”

He grinned. “But our marriage left a lasting impression,” he said. “I blew it big-time with you. I’ve been sort of hoping not to do that again.”

She looked confused. “So your plan is to, what? Avoid all women?”

“Heaven forbid,” he said. “No, I’m just trying not to rush into anything the way I did with you. I fell head over heels the day we met and never looked back.”

“It went both ways, you know.”

He nodded. “And look how that turned out.”

She gave his hand a sympathetic squeeze. “The problem isn’t that we fell in love, Walter. It’s that we didn’t try hard enough to make it last. Honestly, it’s sort of sweet the way you give your heart so easily, instead of running scared the way a lot of men do. Now you just have to learn to work through the rough patches.” She grinned, then added, “And maybe avoid your parents.”

He laughed. “I’m thinking that last one is the critical point.”

“So, give Rory Sue a call. Just because you get involved with her doesn’t mean you have to rush straight into marriage. Take your time.”

“Why do you sound as if there’s some urgency to this?”

“Because if I know one thing about Rory Sue, it’s that she’s not a patient woman. If you keep her at arm’s length for too long, she’ll find some other man who won’t.”

“Then it wasn’t meant to be, was it?”

She sighed at his obstinance. “Is that what you’re doing, testing her? Because if it is, you’re going to lose, Walter. And it won’t be because she doesn’t care for you. It’ll be because she believes you don’t love her. Playing games is a waste of time. Only immature fools do it.” She met his gaze. “Except when it came to me, you’re no fool.”

She walked away to rejoin Travis across the room, leaving him with plenty to think about. But, instead of thinking, he grabbed his cell phone and dialed.

“Hey, Rory Sue,” he said, brightening at the welcome he heard in her voice. “You interested in meeting me at Rosalina’s? I’ll have the pizza and beer waiting.”

“I have a better idea,” she said at once. “Why don’t you bring it over here. My folks are out of town with the baby. We’ll have the whole house to ourselves.”

His head wanted to refuse, but this time, with Sarah’s words echoing, he went with his heart. “I’ll be right there.”

He just prayed he wouldn’t regret it in the morning.





17




In an effort to keep busy, Raylene tackled the job she most hated in the kitchen, cleaning out the refrigerator. Too many leftovers got ignored until they turned into something unidentifiable. Wrinkling her nose, she was tossing the contents of yet another disposable container when there was a tentative knock on the kitchen door. When she opened it, she found Mandy outside, her face streaked with tears.

“Can I come in?” she asked, her voice hoarse from crying.

At Raylene’s nod, she all but threw herself into Raylene’s arms.

“Carrie won’t even speak to me,” she said between great, gulping sobs. “We promised to stick together and now she thinks I’ve betrayed her. I’m her sister and she hates me!”

“She doesn’t hate you,” Raylene soothed, urging her into a chair. She pulled her own chair close and held on tightly to Mandy’s hands as she looked into her eyes. “Right now she’s mad at the world. She doesn’t want to admit she has an eating disorder, so she’s blaming everyone else because she has to see a psychologist. You do know this is the very best thing for her, right?”

“I guess,” Mandy said with a sniff. “It’s just that we’ve always been a team, just the two of us, even before Mom and Dad died. Carter was gone, but we had each other’s backs, you know?”

“I never had a sister or brother, so I don’t know firsthand, but I always had Sarah and Annie. It was a little bit like that with the three of us. We stuck up for each other. And when I was in trouble, even though it had been a long time since we’d been in touch, they were still the ones I turned to. I knew I could count on them.”

“So you get it,” Mandy said. “Why doesn’t Carrie see she can count on me? Instead, it’s like I don’t even exist for her anymore.”