Honeysuckle Summer (The Sweet Magnolias #7)(80)

“I’m leaving it ajar,” she confirmed. “Just a crack.”

He gave a nod of satisfaction. “That’ll do for now.” He pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. “I’ll be by again first chance I get.”

“I’m sure I’ll be here,” she said wryly.

After he’d gone, she leaned against the door and sighed. The fact that he’d come over, even braved dealing with a houseful of Sweet Magnolias to try to make things right, told her just how deep his commitment to her ran.

Now, as Helen had guessed, Raylene needed to determine if hers was strong enough to withstand all the odds against them or if she’d been the one who’d been looking for an easy way out of a relationship she wanted, but was too scared to fight for.





18




It was nearly a week before Carter found time in his schedule to plan a visit to Raylene. He called every chance he got, relieved to find that their conversations, though brief, were as friendly as they’d always been. Whatever had been going on with her the other day seemed to have passed, or she was getting better at disguising her feelings.

On Friday, he was working an early shift, which meant he got off midafternoon. Carrie was working at Wharton’s, which she’d opted to do after her falling-out with Raylene. Mandy had gone swimming at a friend’s house. He had at least a couple of hours to himself before he needed to be home to supervise dinner.

He took time to shower and put on jeans and a freshly ironed shirt before going to see Raylene. He even used a bit of the aftershave Mandy had given him for his birthday, then rolled his eyes at his own behavior. He was acting like a kid going on his first date, trying to make a good impression. Surely he and Raylene were past that stage. He was pretty sure the issue at this point wasn’t whether they cared, but whether it was enough to overcome all the obstacles each of them were facing.

As proof that his efforts had been a bit over the top, Raylene sniffed the air when he walked into the kitchen, then smiled knowingly.

“Are you trying to impress someone?” she asked.

“You, as a matter of fact.”

“Well, consider my socks knocked off,” she said lightly. “Can I get you something to drink?”

He glanced at her bare feet with the very sexy red toenails and grinned. “Boy, I must be good.”

“As if you didn’t know that,” she said. “A drink? Did you want something?”

“Sweet tea will do,” he said.

She poured two glasses. “Shall we sit in here or in the living room?” She took a deep breath, then said, “Or we could sit on the patio. Thanks to Mandy’s company I’ve been out there every day recently.”

Carter regarded her with surprise. “She didn’t say a word.”

“I think she’s become very protective of me and she understands from Dr. McDaniels that pressure doesn’t help. You counting on my improvement would add pressure.”

“Would you rather stay in, then?”

“I actually think I’d like to show off. Let’s go outside.”

“Can I sit next to you on the glider?” he asked hopefully.

“If you want to,” she said, then arched a brow. “Are you hoping to take advantage of me, Carter?”

He studied her expression, startled by her teasing. “You’re in a very odd mood this afternoon. Did your session with Dr. McDaniels go especially well today?”

She shook her head. “About the same.”

“Was there some other news?”

“Nope. I just woke up feeling particularly cheerful, and nothing’s happened so far to ruin my mood.”

He grinned. “I sense a warning in there.”

“Not at all.”

She stepped confidently outside and took a seat on the glider. Carter hesitated, then sat down right beside her. “Okay?”

“Sure.”

He considered just going with this unexpected mood of hers and seeing where the afternoon took them, but he wasn’t the kind of man who liked putting off confrontations when they were inevitable. “I thought we should talk about what happened the other day,” he said eventually.

“We probably should,” she agreed, then met his gaze. “I’m really sorry if it seemed that I was dumping you just to get even with you. I really did understand why you needed to pull back so you’d have more time for Carrie. The truth is, I thought I needed some space for myself to focus on my own recovery without the pressure of wanting to be normal for you.”

Carter had suspected—maybe even hoped—it was something like that. “I can understand why you might have been feeling rushed, but I swear I never meant to put pressure on you.”

“You haven’t,” she said candidly. “I’ve been putting it on myself, partly because I worry that you’re too good to be true.”

“Me? In what way?”

“You’ve been incredibly patient. Most men aren’t. I worry that you’ll get tired of it.”

“Never.”

“There’s more,” she told him. “I think I magnify every failure because it means I’m no closer to the goal of being the kind of woman who’s right for you.”

“But you are right for me,” he protested.