Son of a Preacher Man (14 page)

“Just cool your jets there, son. Nadya and her mama took care of Taylor. I don’t know what Miss Tala said, but Taylor never came near either one of them again.”

“Just because they handled it doesn’t make me want to hurt him less. She was a kid for Chr—crying out loud,” he amended his words at the last second, checking to make sure Mary Ellen was out of earshot.

“That’s not why I told you about it. I just wanted you to know not to push Nadya too hard to make friends. Most of those girls did everything they could to make her life a living hell. Opal and Jemma aren’t bad. They’re friendly with Mary Ellen, so they won’t give Nadya a hard time. But those other ones
…
” He shook his head. “They’re stuck in high school still. And seeing how pretty Nadya turned out, well, that’s just going to piss ’em off more.”

“She was always the prettiest girl in town.”

“Yeah, but she was poor and an outcast. Now she’s back in her fancy car with her fancy clothes and they’re still here. Sure, they’ll tell you they want it that way, but you can’t tell me they don’t wish they’d had a chance to get the hell out of this town at some point.”

J.T. looked at Bill. “Do you? You could have joined the Marines with me, seen the world.”

“My world is right here.” He gestured to Little Billy and Mary Ellen who was holding Hunter. “I have a job I love, the woman I’ve always loved and two beautiful kids with another on its way. That’s all I ever wanted.”

J.T. felt a twinge of jealousy. Bill seemed so solid and settled, a feat J.T. had never managed no matter where he lived. “You’re a lucky son-of-a-bitch. You’ve got your whole little world right here.”

“I sure am. I only hope my little world doesn’t change too much when Nadya sells off to the developer.”

“Hold on. What developer? What are you talking about?” Jesus, he couldn’t keep up with the change in conversation.

“Hornblower dropped off an offer from that bastard at Nokas this afternoon. They’re offering close to a million dollars for the property her daddy left her in his will.”

“That’s a lot of money.”

“No shi—kidding.”

“And she said she’s going to sell?” J.T. asked.

“No, but wouldn’t you? That’s a boat load of money to turn down.”

“But that development would destroy her home.”

“The home she was chased out of. Think about it—what better way to get payback for all the crap she took growing up? If that development gets built, Dale will turn into a strip mall if it doesn’t get knocked down to make room for a new highway into Atlanta.”

“You don’t know that. Nokas has said they’ll use local labor, and that can only help Dale.”

“In the short term. Once the houses are built, there go the jobs.”

J.T. wanted to ask more questions about what else he didn’t know about the developer and how the citizens of Dale had treated Nadya when she was growing up, but his radio squawked.

“Duty calls. I’ll catch up with you later.” He waved to the boys on the seesaw and detoured to where Mary Ellen was talking with Nadya, Opal and Jemma.

“I have to go. If I get off shift at a decent time, I’ll swing by Mary Ellen’s,” he said to Nadya.

“Sure.”

And as if it was the most natural thing in the world, he leaned in and kissed her in front of God and everybody. A collective gasp rang out around the playground as he strode back to his patrol car.

If anyone planned on making Nadya’s life difficult now, they’d have to deal with him.

Chapter Ten

Nadya felt a flush creep up her cheeks as every woman on the playground stared at her. There was absolute silence, and she had no idea how to fill it.

“
Lordy
, I wouldn’t mind a bit if he used those handcuffs on me,” Opal said.

“Opal Miller, you’re a married woman!” Mary Ellen replied.

“But she’s not dead,” Jemma said. “I don’t know how you’re sitting there cool as a cucumber, Nadya. When he swooped in and planted one on you, it got my panties wet all the way over here. It’s been years since Rob kissed me like that. I may have to remind him tonight how it’s done.”

She was so embarrassed she wanted to crawl in a hole and die. Next thing you know, they’d start calling her gypsy whore.

“I can’t believe he just did that in front of everyone.” She put her face in her hands.

“Honey, that man just claimed you as his in front of three of the worst gossips in Dale.” Mary Ellen gestured to where Lydia and her friends stood in a cluster, their mouths practically hanging open. “He might as well have hung a sign on your neck that said
Property of J.T. McBride
. He was trying to protect you, not embarrass you.”

“He can protect me any time,” Jemma said with a hoot of laughter.

Nadya couldn’t believe it. This definitely wasn’t the reaction she’d been expecting. Had she been so blinded by what happened with the Campbells that last day in Dale that she’d let it paint all the people of Dale negatively? Was she really that narrow minded?

“Is his body as good as it seems under that uniform? I was passing by the bathroom at work one day—you know, I’m the department secretary, at least part-time secretary, right?” Opal paused while Nadya shook her head. “Anyway, I had to bring something to the chief and was going right by the men’s washroom when someone walked out. J.T. was changing his shirt, and I caught a two-second glimpse of his chest. Made me glad to be a woman so I could appreciate it.”

Nadya thought about the way his muscles had rippled as he drove into her last night, the feel of his iron-hard body under her hands as she held on to him, and couldn’t control the shiver of delight that tingled over her. She closed her eyes as a bolt of heat shot straight to her core.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Opal said, fanning herself. “I think Junior’s getting lucky tonight.”

“I can’t believe I’m sitting at a park with kids all around talking about sex. Shouldn’t you be discussing, I don’t know, parenting strategies or something?” Nadya asked.

Mary Ellen snorted. “Sure. And when we’re not talking about nap time, we’re discussing the bake sale and how to get stains out of our husbands’ shirts. Get real. This is the twenty-first century, not the 1950s. Opal even had a sex-toy party a while back.”

“What?” Nadya couldn’t stop the image of an orgy slash barbeque from popping into her head.

“Not using them, buying them. There’s a catalogue that has everything from porn to vibrators to lubricants in it. I got me some of that tingling lube. It was hot,” Mary Ellen said with a wink.

“Please stop. I really don’t want to think about you and Bill having sex.”

Peals of laughter rang out, and Nadya found herself joining in. Jemma got up to stop her boy Luke from eating sand, and Mary Ellen gave Hunter a sippy cup of water. It was all so normal and yet not at all what she’d expected.

When they’d first gotten to the park and the other women had moved away, Nadya had been pissed, but it was what she’d expected. Then J.T. had come and forced her to confront them. Instead of being met with universal scorn, she’d been welcomed by at least some of the women. Sure, Lydia and her group had gone off and ignored her, but so what? Lydia and Pansy were best friends, so her behavior wasn’t unusual for their ilk.

Had Dale changed that much, or had she just remembered only the bad things?

“Mama, can we get ice cream now?” Billy asked.

Mary Ellen looked at her watch. “Sure, honey. Then we better head home so I can start dinner. I didn’t realize how long we’d been here.”

Opal and Jemma gathered their kids as well. “How long are you in town for, Nadya?” Jemma asked.

“I’m not sure. I’m still trying to finalize some details.”

“If you’re still around on Wednesday, a bunch of us are going to Canton to the petting zoo and then out for lunch. I know it’s not exactly entertainment like you’re used to, but it’s a day out and we usually have fun.”

Nadya’s heart melted. “Thanks. If I’m around, I’d love to come. The only animals I see in the city are pigeons and squirrels.”

“Great. Maybe we’ll see you then.”

Billy tugged at Nadya’s hand and pulled her toward the Tasty Treat. “I like chocolate the best. Hunter only gets vanilla. What do you like?”

She thought about it for a minute. When was the last time she had an ice cream cone? “I like chocolate-vanilla swirl. That way I get the best of both worlds.”

Billy appeared to think about it for a minute. “I’m gonna get swirl too.”

Nadya smiled and knew she was a goner. Billy’s face was smudged with dirt, his knobby knees were skinned and there was a rip in his shorts, but he was the cutest thing she’d ever seen. Regardless of what happened with the property, she vowed to never let so much time go by without visiting Dale again.

Things got a little crazy at work around the holidays, but she’d definitely try to make it back down for Christmas. It might be fun to celebrate it with Mary Ellen and her whole family. The baby would be here by then, and it would be great to see the boys opening their presents by the tree. Growing up, it had only ever been Nadya and her mama exchanging gifts. Now that her mama was gone, she’d be alone.

A cloud of sadness darkened her mood. When she went back to the city, there’d be no more days in the park or ice cream cones.

“Come on, Auntie Nad, if we hurry we can be first in line.” Billy tugged her along. Nadya let herself be pulled to the window of the Tasty Treat.

It looked the same as she remembered, including a harried-looking teenager manning the cash register. Only this teen had his nose pierced and a hole in his earlobe big enough to fit a dime. Okay, so maybe some things had changed.

Nadya treated the entire Michaels clan to ice cream and tried to ignore the stares cast their way. Many of the people sitting at the picnic benches were way too young to have been around when she made her departure from Dale, so she assumed they were staring because she was a stranger. Still, the back of her neck prickled, and she wasn’t too upset when Mary Ellen hurried them all back to the van.

Hands sticky from rapidly melting ice cream, Nadya sat in the back seat between Billy and Hunter. Christmas was five months away. The boys would change so much by then. Would they even remember her? Billy would, but Hunter was so little, he’d forget all about her. Some of the joy was taken out of Nadya’s day at the thought.

Maybe she’d be able to take some time off around Halloween and come back down. She could help Mary Ellen out with the new baby and spend some time with the boys.

It struck her then that she was looking for ways to come back to Dale. After twelve years of avoiding the place, she was now making excuses for coming back in three months’ time. What the hell?

When she’d been forced to come down to Dale by Hornblower, part of her had resented having to spend her first real vacation in her former home town. Part of her had wanted to flaunt her success to the people of Dale, but more of her had wanted to avoid the place that contained so many painful memories.

The longer she stayed though, the more good things she remembered. Not everyone had hated her and her mother. There had been kindness here too. And friendship. As they drove back to Mary Ellen’s house, familiar memories assailed her from every corner. The high school parking lot reminded her of when Mr. Farley had taught her how to drive. The librarian, old Mrs. Quinlain, had taught her about research and helped her apply for scholarships. The elementary school was where she’d met Mary Ellen on the first day of kindergarten, and they’d been best friends from that day forward.

Of course, there were good reasons for her negative memories too. Not for love nor money would she go into the hardware store or the church. She had no desire whatsoever to run into Pansy or Orleane Campbell, and she hadn’t shed a tear when she’d heard Matt Woodrow had died in a drunk driving accident. And the way the good people of Dale had treated her mother was shameful.

But was Dale the mouth of hell like she’d built it up in her mind? Probably not.

“It’s awfully quiet back there,” Mary Ellen called from the front seat.

“I think we’re all in a sugar coma. I’ve had more fat and carbs this last week than I’ve had in the past five years. I’m going to have to let out all my suits so I don’t split a seam on the subway.”

“Life without ice cream isn’t worth living.”

“I’m starting to see that.”

“What the—?” Bill stopped the van before pulling into the driveway.

Nadya craned her neck to see what had caused him to slam on the brakes.

All four tires on her car had been slashed, the windshield was shattered and her taillights had been smashed.

“Oh my goodness. Bill, call 9-1-1. Who would do something like this?” Mary Ellen’s hands fluttered around her face.

“Let me out. I need to see what happened.” Nadya struggled to keep her voice even. A lump formed in her throat and tears threatened. She’d had the car less than a month. Sure, it wasn’t new, but it was hers.

Which was why someone had trashed it.

“Don’t touch anything,” Bill directed. “The police will want to check it for evidence.”

“Keep the boys in the van. I don’t want them to see this,” Nadya answered.