Secrets Gone South (Crimson Romance) (22 page)

Oh, she’d had no idea how hilarious she was.

“Can you send those whistling dwarves over to my house?” Tolly asked. Kirby’s bringing the Crimson Tide offensive line home from school next weekend. I could use some help getting ready for them.”

Arabelle almost offered to send Snow White over to entertain the boys, but stopped herself. Somehow, she did not think Tolly would appreciate such an innuendo in the same breath with her college-age foster son—even with a cartoon character. What was wrong with her, anyway? She was not the type to let such a thought pass through her head in connection with who she thought of as kids, even if they were of age.

She just had sex on the brain—magnificent, wondrous, mind-blowing sex. And it was waiting for her again if this infernal ballgame would ever end.

“I want to show you something.” Will entered the other end of the kitchen with Brantley Kincaid and led him to the cabinet door Avery had scribbled on.

“Oh, that’s too bad, man!” Brantley said. “That fine maple. Can you sand it off or will you have to make another door?”

“No,” Will said. “Look here. Squat down to Avery level. From here, he could see out the window to the grove.”

Brantley did as he asked and then looked up at Will. “What am I seeing?”

“Well, it’s dark now. But he did this in the daytime and he could see the trees from here. Look.” Will pointed at the cabinet door. “I think he was drawing that big oak. See? The trunk and the branches.”

Arabelle bit her lip and she heard some stifled laughter from the women around her.

“Uh … ” Brantley said. “I— yeah. I see what you mean. I’m pretty sure he drew that tree. For sure, he’s got promise.”

“Yeah! That’s what I thought!” Will said. “I’ve still got some of that maple. I thought I’d make another door but we can hang this one on the wall somewhere.”

“Yeah,” Brantley said. “His first artwork.” And Brantley glanced over his shoulder and shrugged in Lucy’s direction before following Will out of the room back to the television.

A quartet of musical laughter floated though the air.

“Toddler with a Sharpie!” Tolly wiped tears from her eyes.

“Artist in the making, for sure!” Lucy said. “But I’ve got to say, that was about the most endearing thing I’ve seen in a long time.”

“What a good daddy,” Lanie said.

“He is,” Missy agreed. “We all know it doesn’t take blood to make a parent. We see it every day. Not just here in this house but in Nathan and Tolly.” She looked from Tolly to Lanie. “And Lanie.”

“True,” Tolly said. “We couldn’t love Kirby more if he was our blood. In spite of the years he’s put on us, we haven’t been mistaken for his parents yet. One more sack on that football field and I’ll look old enough to be his mother for sure.” Her voice went soft. “But so worth it.”

Lanie nodded and got that sloppy maternal look on her face that never quite set well with Arabelle. “Truthfully, sometimes I forget I didn’t give birth to Emma.”

“I’ve always wondered,” Lucy said, “if, when you were pregnant with John Luke, if you were afraid you might love him more. Not that
I
ever thought you would.”

“No.” Lanie shook her head. “If anything, I might have been afraid I wouldn’t love him as much as I love her. I know that’s a common fear for second time mothers but Emma was such a
gift.
”

A gift?
Gifts had to be given and Carrie would have never
given
her child to
anyone
!
Unlike me
. Which proved that Carrie, for all her princess ways, had been a better person than Arabelle would ever be. Carrie had wanted things her way, but she had loved Luke so much and had worshipped her child.

She had loved Arabelle too. And she was gone, Sheridan with her. And Arabelle was here in book club hell, the very heart of female friendship, where they all had what she’d had but would never have again.

And if she didn’t feel bad enough, a little girl voice rang out from the gallery that ran the length of the house.

“Mommy! I see you!” Emma peeped through the bars and waved.

One of the sitters, Stacy Blevins, was hot on her trail. “Sorry, Mrs. Avery!” She captured Emma from behind. “She got away from us!”

“No, Stacy! My mommy misses me when she doesn’t see me!” And Emma blew Lanie a kiss—a kiss that should have been Carrie’s.

Lanie laughed with delight and clapped her hands together. “Go back with Stacy, honey. I’m on my way up to see you right now!” And Lanie ran from the room.

Arabelle knew there was nothing fair about the aggressive mean feeling that tore through her and she worked hard to keep it off her face, but she must have failed because silence settled over the kitchen.

“The guys have eaten all the potato salad and slaw,” Missy said. “I saw some more in the refrigerator.”

Tolly and Lucy snapped to and set about following Missy’s orders like they were good little privates in Four Star General Missy Bragg’s army. Which come to think of it, they were.

After they had gone, Missy turned to Arabelle—or maybe on her. Her expression was pleasant enough but she crossed her arms over her chest and took a ready-for-war stance.

“Look, Arabelle, I am not unsympathetic to whatever is going on with you. Of course, I don’t know what that is because, though we have tried to be your friends, you’re not open to that.”

“We’re friends,” she said because it was easier.

“Whatever. Before you moved here, we all got on well when you came to town. You were willing to join right in with us and we were glad to have you. You’ve had a lot of changes and your cousin died. I get that. It seems to me some of your changes have been bad and some amazingly good. That’s the way of life.”

You have no idea, Missy. None. Don’t pretend you do.
“Forgive me for saying so, Missy, but it looks like life has been pretty kind to you.”

Missy looked at her for a long moment and frowned. “I do forgive you and you need forgiving for saying that. I don’t deny that I’m incredibly blessed. I don’t play tit for tat with the details of my life and I’m not doing it now. But I’m going to tell you something to give you some prospective, if not for your sake, for Lanie’s.”

What? Did you get a bad pedicure once? Maybe your homecoming queen crown was too heavy and you got a headache.

“Before Beau was born, I lost three babies in thirty-eight months. The last one I carried for four months and she lived two weeks. We never got to hold her until she was gone. She had a name, though I never speak it. After that, Harris and I were so crazy, we almost lost our marriage.”

Shame washed over Arabelle. “Missy, I—”

“No, no.” Missy put her hand up. “This isn’t about me. After my baby died, my therapist told me I had to get something else to do. That’s when I learned to cook. That’s why people in this town don’t know what a good cook I am, that I even can cook. I didn’t grow into it and it wasn’t always so. Until then, I quite literally did not know how to scramble an egg. But I threw myself into learning. One week we ate nothing but yeast breads. Another, we had soufflés, a lot of them fallen. I decided I’d be as good a cook as I would have been a mother.” She smiled a little. “And then I got pregnant with Beau. You can’t replace what’s lost but you can embrace what you’re sent. Life will heal you, if you’ll let it.”

If only that were true
.

Just in case she might have felt sorry for Missy then, she switched back to the mean gear. Arabelle got the idea that was on purpose.

“Now, Tolly and I are one thing. We’re pragmatic and practical. If you like us fine, if not that’s okay. Move on. But Lanie and Lucy are another matter entirely. For whatever reason that you don’t deserve, they love you, Lanie especially. And they haven’t even noticed that you don’t love them back.”

She swallowed. “That’s ridiculous. Lanie is my sister-in-law. I came to Lucy’s wedding.”

“Oh, please,” Missy said. “I’ve been to a lot of weddings where the awful lard icing cake was the thing I liked best there. And I’m not going down the in-law trail. It’s too crooked and too long. Lanie and Lucy are
sweet
—unlike Tolly and, most assuredly, unlike me. But they are far from stupid. And eventually, they are going to notice how you treat them.”

“I do not mistreat them,” she said. And it was true.

“Stop playing word games, Arabelle. I know what you’re doing. I can lie and tell the truth at the same time with the best of them, though I seldom bother. But I’m going to give you a little advice. If you don’t correct your attitude, Luke is going to notice and woe be unto you.”

How dare she? “So you know more about my brother than I do?”

Missy nodded. “Yeah, I do. In this regard, I do. Do not test him where his wife is concerned. You will not win.”

“I’m not testing anyone.”

Missy cocked her head to the side and considered that. “You’re right. You’re not. You’re not a game player. You’ve got a real problem of some kind. And you’ve got three strong, amazing women who would love you and carry you through it if you’d let them—plus me.”

Arabelle gave a little laugh. “You are standing there claiming that you would be my friend when you’ve as good as said you don’t like me.”

“No. I didn’t
as good as
say
that. I don’t
as good as say
anything. I say what’s on my mind and I’m saying it now. I
do
like you. I always have. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have said all this to you. I’d just sit back and let you hang yourself. Though you might still. But pack a lunch, because you’ve been schooled. And you’ve got some choices to make. One of those choices can be to be our friend.” She took a sip of her drink. “It would be a shame to lose someone who can make a margarita this good.” She set her glass on the counter. “I’ll be back for that. I’m going up to check on my kids and then I’m going to watch my cousin win the Super Bowl. You do what you have to.”

Arabelle put the blender in the sink. On some level she had to respect what Missy had said. But how can you do what you have to, when you don’t know what that is?

She might have given it some more thought but Will came in, got a Coke out of the refrigerator, and ran his hand over the back of her neck.

“Have we got a date later?” he whispered close to her ear.

It was easier to think about that.

Arabelle removed her lab coat and was reaching for her stethoscope when Kelly stuck her head in the door.

“Dr. Garrett, I know it’s almost closing time but we just had a walk-in. She’s our patient but we haven’t seen her in a couple of years. I told her I’d check but I wasn’t making any promises.” Kelly wore a red heart pin on the lapel of her lab coat in celebration of Valentine’s Day.

Arabelle checked her watch. Almost a quarter to five. Tonight was the Junior League Hearts for Art fundraiser at the Brantley Building, a family affair to raise money for a children’s art program. There would be a spaghetti dinner and a silent art auction of items donated by local artisans, as well as some children’s artwork—including Avery’s defaced kitchen cabinet door and two other pictures Will had coaxed him into drawing. Arabelle suspected that all the children’s art would be bought by their parents, probably for exorbitant prices, but it was for a good cause and a good way to celebrate Valentine’s Day—at least it was a good way for her and Will. She just couldn’t see them holding hands across a table in a fancy restaurant with the reason for their marriage home with a sitter.

So she was thankful for Hearts for Art. Lucy and Tolly were chairing the event and had been working on it for months but they got the idea for the children’s sale the night of the Super Bowl. Arabelle had to admit it was a good plan. There was no way she’d let anyone else buy her baby’s pictures and she suspected Will wouldn’t allow them to go cheap.

She was supposed to meet Will at 5:15 at the daycare apartment where she would change her clothes and put Avery in the red overalls she’d bought him for the event.

Still, she hated to turn away a sick person.

“What’s wrong with her?” Arabelle asked Kelly.

“She has a stuffy head and says she’s been sneezing and coughing,” Kelly said.

Arabelle sighed. “Doesn’t sound too complicated. Do you have time to stay a few minutes?”

“Sure, I can get her vitals.” Kelly said. “We aren’t going over to the Brantley Building until about seven. I’ll put her in room three.”

“Let me know when she’s ready, please.” Arabelle put her lab coat back on and texted Will that she’d be a few minutes late. No answer. Not surprising. He was probably driving and he never looked at his phone when he drove.

After a few minutes, Kelly opened the door and handed her a chart.

“Do I need to stay?” Kelly asked.

“I don’t think so,” Arabelle said, opening the file. Depending on the patient and the nature of the exam, Arabelle sometimes felt better with having Kelly in the examination room but this was a female who would not be removing her clothes.

Then she caught sight of the name of the patient.
Aspen Snow.
She’d heard from more than one source that she’d left town after Will fired her. Odd. Apparently, she was back. She wondered if Will knew it.

“Kelly? On second thought, can you stay? I need you present, I think.” Then she hesitated. Maybe it would be best if she didn’t see her. “Is Doctor Vines still here?”

“No,” Kelly said. “He left after his four o’clock. Said he needed to get a Valentine. Is something wrong?”

Clearly, Kelly did not know the gossip.

“No. No, let’s get this done so we can go eat some spaghetti and buy some art.”

She opened the door. Nothing to do but pretend she didn’t know of Aspen and Will’s connection.

“Hello, Ms. Snow.” She extended her hand. “I’m Dr. Garrett. So you aren’t feeling well today?”

The girl seated on the exam table was very thin with very light blue eyes and long hair that was so blond it was almost transparent. It hadn’t come out of a bottle either. Her chart indicated that she was twenty-six but she looked younger.

Aspen looked her up and down so Arabelle took a moment to do a little assessing of her own. Somehow, when she’d pictured this woman, she’d imagined someone like herself, but they couldn’t have been more different. She wore red leggings covered in white hearts and a matching long white shirt with a big red heart on the front. There were three vertical bows at hip level on either side of the shirt. It was cute in a little girl sort of way. In fact, Emma wore similar outfits. Arabelle couldn’t help but wonder where Aspen had been able to find such a thing in an adult size. When Aspen pushed her hair back, the cupid-shaped earrings she wore swung from her ears.