Honeysuckle Summer (The Sweet Magnolias #7)(79)

“I thought I was letting him go so he could do what he needed to do to support Carrie. I thought it was a generous gesture.”

“A generous gesture would be supporting him, standing by him, listening to him when he needs to vent,” Sarah retorted. “Who’s he supposed to count on now?”

Raylene winced. “When you put it that way, I feel like an idiot.”

“Then apologize the first chance you get,” Sarah advised. “In the meantime, I’m calling Annie and the others. I want reinforcements in case you get cold feet and start thinking about not making that call.”



An hour later the house was filled with Sweet Magnolias, strong opinions and even stronger margaritas.

To Raylene’s dismay all of them agreed with Sarah that she’d made an impulsive decision she was going to regret.

“If I were you, I’d call him first thing in the morning and tell him you’re sorry, that you didn’t mean it,” Annie said.

As Annie spoke, she cradled baby Meg in her arms. Even though Meg was nearly six months old, Annie had refused to leave her at home with Trevor and the sitter. Jeanette had brought along her baby boy as well. All these babies were reminding Raylene of yet another thing she’d lost. Now, according to every one of these women, she was on the verge of losing Carter as well.

Listening to them, she’d grown defensive all over again. She turned to Annie. “You walked away from Ty when you found out about Dee-Dee and the baby,” Raylene reminded her.

Annie regarded her incredulously. “Surely you’re not comparing the two situations. Ty betrayed me. I didn’t leave so he could focus on his new little family. I left because I was spitting mad that he’d been cheating on me. All Carter wanted was a little time to help his sister. For that, you dumped him.”

Raylene sighed. “He’s the one who shut me out. I offered to help.”

“He chose his words poorly,” Annie scoffed. “He didn’t mean he didn’t want your help.”

Raylene looked around at the others. “You all really think I blew it?”

“I certainly do,” Sarah said emphatically.

“Me, too,” Annie said.

Raylene turned to Maddie, Helen, Dana Sue and Jeanette. All were older and, perhaps, a bit wiser. “Any help from the rest of you?”

“Sorry, sweetie, but no,” Dana Sue said. “It’s not that I think you were being selfish. I don’t think that was your intention at all. I think you were a little overly sensitive when he made that comment and that you really thought you were giving Carter an out he needed.”

“But it was kind of presumptuous,” Jeanette chimed in. “He didn’t ask for an out. He’s a grown man. If he’d wanted to call it quits, he’d have done that, instead of just asking for a little leeway during a difficult time.”

“Exactly,” Maddie said.

Only Helen, so far, had remained silent. Raylene focused on her. “Any thoughts?”

“I think maybe we’ve all been concentrating so hard on how Carter will take this and how unfair it is to him, we’ve missed the point,” Helen said.

Maddie groaned. “Here it comes. We’re going to get the totally rational, analytical interpretation now.”

Helen scowled at Maddie over the rim of her margarita glass. “Go suck an egg,” she said cheerfully. “As I was saying, maybe we’ve all been missing the fact that Raylene did this because it’s what’s best for her.”

She turned her intense gaze on Raylene. “Is it? Is there some reason, besides what we’ve been discussing, that you want to end the relationship? Did this just happen to give you the perfect excuse?”

Raylene sat back, stunned by the question. Could Helen be right? Had the whole idea of a relationship with Carter gotten to be too much? Had she started feeling the pressure of trying to get back to a normal life for his sake? Maybe so.

When she remained silent, Helen gave her a sympathetic look. “I thought so,” she said, no trace of triumph in her voice. “You obviously need time just as badly as he does, though for different reasons.”

All six women in the room started talking at once, arguing the validity of Helen’s analysis. The noise was giving Raylene a headache. Since they were so busy debating with each other, she slipped from the room, retreating to the kitchen.

No sooner had she flipped on the light than there was a tap on the door that scared her half to death. She saw Carter standing there. Even with only the glow of moonlight illuminating him, she could see how exhausted he looked. Right this second, despite everything that had happened earlier, she was surprisingly glad to see him.

“I saw you had company, so I came around back, hoping to catch you alone for a second,” he said. “I won’t stay.”

“It’s okay. They’re in there debating just how insane I was for breaking up with you,” she admitted, her expression rueful.

He looked startled at first, then amused. “Any consensus?”

She met his gaze. “My opinion’s the only one that counts.”

“And?”

“I still think it was the right decision, but I don’t think I was entirely honest with you. Could we talk about it some more, when you have some time?”

“Then you’re not closing the door on us, after all?” he asked hopefully.