Waking Up in Charleston (18 page)

“Maxwell stubbornness,” Amanda said succinctly. For the first time she was beginning to understand the
value of it. Without that inherited gene from her father, she might have withered and died in the face of so much adversity.

She’d have to remember to thank her father the next time she ventured out here.

Mary Louise turned Willie Ron down the first dozen times he tried to convince her to go with him to get something to eat. Parnell’s ugliness and Cord’s warnings had scared her, but she hadn’t had the heart to tell Willie Ron about what had happened. Now she could see that her unexplained refusals were hurting the man who’d been nothing but kind to her these past few weeks.

“You need to get some food into you,” Willie Ron said earnestly. “I’m not asking you on a date, for goodness’ sake. Skinny little white girls who are four months pregnant ain’t my type.”

Mary Louise sighed. “I know that. Look, there’s something I should probably tell you.”

His gaze narrowed at her somber tone. “What’s that?”

“Parnell Hutchins was in here a while back,” she began.

Willie Ron shook his head. “That boy’s nothing but trouble. Did he shoplift something? He’s always trying to sneak beer out the door.”

“Oh, he tried that this time, too, but Cord Beaufort came in and stopped him. That wasn’t the problem.”

“Then what was?”

“He was saying some stuff, you know, trash talk about you and me,” Mary Louise said.

Willie Ron’s face went perfectly still. “What kind of trash talk?”

She felt sleazy just mentioning it. “You know, that the baby might be yours, that kind of thing. I didn’t pay a bit of attention to him,” she said. “No one with any sense would, but Cord said I should watch out for him, and you should, too. That’s why it might not be a good idea for you and me to go anywhere together.” She looked into his eyes. “It’s not me, Willie Ron. I swear it. You’re my friend and I don’t care who knows it.”

A pulse in Willie Ron’s forehead jumped. “I know that,” he said.

“Let’s just go,” Mary Louise said, regretting that she’d even mentioned the incident. “I mean it’s Parnell, right? He’s a coward. He won’t do anything except talk.”

Willie Ron shook his head. “I don’t think we can count on that, especially when he finds somebody to sell him some beer. He’s mean enough when he’s sober. He gets some booze in him and, well, he might do anything. And there are plenty of fools around who’d go right along with him. I’m not going to put you in danger.”

Mary Louise regarded him worriedly. “You’re not going to go after him, are you? Just leave him be, okay? Promise me. This will blow over eventually and he’ll find someone else to bother.”

“I’m not an idiot,” Willie Ron said, dismissing her fears. “I never go looking for trouble, especially with a two-bit punk like Parnell. But I will keep my guard up.”

As he spoke, Danny walked in and overheard him. “Why would you need to do that, Willie Ron? What’s going on?”

Willie Ron looked at Mary Louise. “Up to you,” he said with a shrug. “I’ve got work to do in the back.”

Danny’s gaze followed Willie Ron as he left them alone, then he faced Mary Louise. “Tell me.”

“It’s no big deal, really,” she said. “How are you? You look great.”

“Stop stalling and tell me.”

She sighed. “I just had a run-in with Parnell Hutchins the other night. I was telling Willie Ron about it.”

Danny’s gaze narrowed. “Why would you and Parnell have a run-in?”

“Because he likes to stir up trouble. You know that, Danny,” she said earnestly. “You know exactly how he is. Remember when he told everybody that Mitzi Lewis had some sexually transmitted disease, just because she wouldn’t sleep with him? He’s mean, that’s all.”

If anything, Danny looked even more tense. “What was the run-in about, Mary Louise? And why didn’t you tell me about it before this?”

“I didn’t see any point in you worrying about it,” she said reasonably. “You had exams going on. When did you get home, by the way?”

“Yesterday,” he said. “And stop trying to change the subject. What was Parnell going on about?”

Mary Louise gave up trying to keep it from him. “Willie Ron, if you must know.” She explained what the bully had said and how Cord had come in just in time to kick him out the door.

Alarm creased Danny’s face. “You have to quit this job,” he said urgently. “It’s too dangerous for you to work here anymore. You just said it yourself, Mary Louise. You know how Parnell is, especially after Cord
humiliated him in front of his friends. He’ll be back. He’ll want you or Willie Ron to pay.”

“I’m not quitting this job,” she said fiercely. “I need it. And I’m not abandoning Willie Ron. He didn’t do anything wrong. If anything, this is my fault.”

“You’re willing to put our baby at risk just to prove something to that scumbag Parnell?” he asked indignantly. “Use some sense, Mary Louise. It’s not worth it.”

Mary Louise flinched at his tone, but she held her ground. “I need the job,” she repeated.

“Dammit, Mary Louise, I’ll quit college and go to work for Cord Beaufort full-time before I’ll have you or our baby endangered,” Danny said. “Give your notice before you leave here tonight. I mean it. If you don’t, I’ll call your boss myself.”

She frowned at his commanding tone. “Excuse me. When did you get the right to make any decisions for me?”

“When you stopped making smart ones for yourself,” he retorted.

She was so angry, her stomach started doing back-flips. “Danny Marshall, you don’t have the right to tell me to do anything. You lost that right the day you admitted you weren’t interested in marrying me.”

“But I love you!” he shouted.

“And I love you!” she shouted right back. “But I’m on my own here and I’m doing the best I can, so you’ll just have to trust me to take care of our baby the only way I know how.”

Danny looked as if he might explode. Mary Louise dared to reach out and touch his cheek.

“It’s going to be okay,” she said quietly. “I can han
dle Parnell. And you are not going to quit college over this, Danny. That’s ridiculous.”

He frowned at her, but his temper seemed to cool. “When did you get to be so stubborn?” he asked.

She shrugged. “When I figured out that this baby and I are on our own.”

“You don’t have to be,” Danny said, looking wounded. “I want to help.”

“Then support my decisions.”

“Even when they’re crazy?”

“Even then,” she said. “You don’t have the right to tell me what to do.”

He studied her curiously. “Would I have that right if I’d married you?”

Mary Louise managed a wobbly grin. “Nope.”

Danny sighed. “I didn’t think so.”

For the first time since she’d given Danny his freedom, Mary Louise felt a real sense of triumph. Not because she’d bested him in an argument, but because she was finally figuring out who she was. It turned out she was a lot stronger than she’d ever imagined. She loved Danny Marshall with all her heart, but she didn’t need him to survive. How about that? she thought with amazement. She couldn’t seem to stop grinning.

“What?” Danny demanded.

“Nothing,” she said, smart enough not to tell him what she’d just discovered. Even
she
understood the male ego was a fragile thing. “I guess I was just thinking about how much things have changed the last couple of months.”

Danny studied her skeptically. “In a good way?”

She gave the question some thought, then nodded. “Yeah, I think so. I really do.” She stood on tiptoe and
kissed his cheek. “Merry Christmas, Danny! I’m glad you’re home.”

He looked for a second as if he might argue some more, but then he sighed and wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on top of her head. “Merry Christmas.”

W
hen Caleb turned up on Amanda’s doorstep on a Friday night in mid-January just as she arrived home from work, she scowled. She was bone tired and in no mood for company, not even Caleb’s. “Did I forget you were coming by?” she asked irritably.

“Nope. I never told you. It’s a surprise,” he said, evidently not the least bit daunted by her inhospitable attitude. “And I’m not staying.”

“Is that part of the surprise?”

“I was hoping it would be a disappointment,” he said dryly. “I’m just here to get the boys.”

She regarded him with confusion. “The boys, as in Larry and Jimmy, my sons?”

He grinned. “Those would be the ones.”

“And why would I let them go somewhere with you when you didn’t ask in advance or tell me where you’re taking them?” she inquired testily. Ever since their poker game at Willow Bend before Christmas, the man had started to take way too much for granted. He was a lot like her father that way. She should probably point out that emulating Max in
any
way would not endear him to her.

“Because you’re a wonderful mother and you wouldn’t want to disappoint them just because you’re annoyed with me,” he said. “And because you won’t want them underfoot during girls’ night.”

Amanda regarded him blankly. “Girls’ night? I don’t know anything at all about girls’ night. Between the holiday rush and the post-holiday sales at work, then taking down Christmas decorations here, I’m too exhausted to even consider a girls’ night.”

The words were barely out of her mouth when Nadine strolled up the walkway, quickly followed by Dinah, Maggie and Mary Louise, who looked as if she couldn’t quite believe she was being included.

“I hope you don’t mind that Dinah asked me to tag along,” the girl said, her expression hopeful.

“Of course not,” Amanda said automatically, then scowled at Dinah. “It might have been nice, though, if someone had mentioned any of this to me.”

“If we’d given you any advance warning, you would have come up with an excuse to say no,” Maggie said confidently. “You did last week when I wanted to have it at my house and the week before that when Dinah was willing to host it. We decided sneakier tactics were called for. It was Caleb’s idea to take the boys with him, Josh and Cord. And Nadine’s idea to bring the party to you.”

Amanda’s head was reeling. She wasn’t sure how she felt about so many decisions being taken out of her hands. Truthfully, she could use another one of those laugh-filled evenings she’d had with these women before, but she’d felt guilty about taking the time away from her kids. She’d had so little of it with all the overtime work Joanna had given her during the
holidays. She’d barely had any celebration at all. It had been just the excuse she needed to avoid spending the holidays with her father. She wasn’t ready for that yet.

However, since Larry and Jimmy were going to be over the moon about being included with the men tonight, she hardly had any reason to fight this unexpected plan. Still, she couldn’t give in too quickly or they’d be sneaking around her every chance they got. She had to put on a small show of defiance. They expected it. Heck, they
deserved
it.

“And what about Susie?” she asked, dredging up another problem they apparently hadn’t considered. “Is she to be banished to her room? Or is someone coming to swoop her off, too?”

“Susie’s staying with us,” Nadine said. “I’m going to teach her to use nail polish.”

“Over my dead body,” Amanda snapped.

“She’ll love it,” Nadine said, not impressed with her vehement objection.

“I’m sure she will,” Amanda said. “She’s five. She loves chocolate and ice cream, too, but she doesn’t get to have those just because she wants them.”

Dinah draped an arm over Amanda’s shoulder. “We’ll do your nails, too,” she cajoled. “You’re just jealous because Max never let you go to sleepovers and do silly things when you were five.”

“I am very sorry I told you all that.” Amanda scowled at her, then relented. “Okay, you have a point.”

Caleb had listened to the exchange with undisguised amusement, but now he focused his attention on Amanda. “Does this mean the boys are going with me?”

“Of course,” she said with a sigh. “That was a foregone conclusion from the minute you showed up here.”

He dropped a kiss on her cheek. “I’ll find them and tell them. There’s too much estrogen floating around here for me. I need to go before I find myself getting too in touch with my feminine side.”

As soon as he’d left the room, Maggie dramatically waved a napkin in front of Amanda’s face. “Is that man half as sexy as he seems to me?”

Mary Louise regarded Maggie with widened eyes. “Can you say stuff like that about a preacher?”

“When he’s as gorgeous as Caleb, it’s an obligation,” Dinah confirmed. “A preacher would insist on us being honest.”

Amanda rolled her eyes. “Ladies, please watch the lessons you’re imparting to this sweet young girl. She’s innocent.”

“I’m almost five months pregnant,” Mary Louise replied tartly. “I’m not
that
innocent.”

Amanda chuckled, delighted that Mary Louise hadn’t lost her sense of humor despite all the difficulties she was about to face as a single mom. “Okay, but still, we need to preserve at least the illusion of respect for the clergy around here.”

“I’ll bet you’ve respected him all the way to your bedroom by now,” Maggie taunted.

“Magnolia!” Dinah said, looking downright scandalized, then turning to Amanda with evident fascination. “Is Maggie right? Have you and the reverend done the deed?”

“I am not talking about this,” Amanda said. “Since Mary Louise’s presence wasn’t enough to tame you, I’m
going to get my five-year-old daughter. Maybe then you all will curb your tongues.”

Maggie grinned unrepentantly. “You are without a doubt the most optimistic woman I’ve ever known. No wonder Caleb’s so smitten.”

“Not hearing this,” Amanda declared as she went in search of Susie.

These women delighted her, shocked her and gave her the first taste she’d ever had of real friendship, but she had a hunch if she didn’t set some limits right now, they’d spend the rest of the evening dissecting her relationship—or lack thereof—with Caleb. She wasn’t sure she was anywhere near ready to hear their opinions on that, not until she’d figured out a few more things for herself.

Mary Louise couldn’t get over the fact that all these women had included her in their girls’ night. She hadn’t said two whole sentences all evening because she was so busy taking in every word they said. And the conversation had gotten a whole lot more interesting since Susie had been sent off to bed, her tiny fingernails now a bright red.

Mary Louise knew she could never be a TV reporter like Dinah, but she’d love to own a little shop someday the way Maggie did. Or even work in one like Amanda. Anything would be better than spending the rest of her life working for minimum wage in a convenience store and putting up with jerks like Parnell.

She must have sighed or something, because all of a sudden they were all staring at her as if they’d just realized she was there. “What?” she asked, bewildered by the sudden attention.

“What’s the scoop with you and Danny?” Amanda asked. “Has anything changed?”

Mary Louise flushed. “I guess I should have let you know what we decided, after you talked to me and everything. I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t owe me an explanation,” Amanda responded. “I’m just asking because you’ve been so quiet all night. I figured you should have a turn to grumble about your man, too.”

“Danny’s not my man,” Mary Louise said regretfully. “Not the way Cord is Dinah’s or Josh is Maggie’s, anyway.”

Amanda regarded her with sympathy. “Then you decided against getting married?”

Mary Louise nodded and suddenly she couldn’t seem to stop the tears that welled up in her eyes. She brushed at them impatiently and then Nadine handed her a tissue.

“I’m trying so hard to be sensible and do what’s best, but it hurts, you know,” she said, swiping at the tears. “I never thought I’d be having my first baby all by myself.”

“You are not by yourself,” Dinah said fiercely. “You have all of us and your folks.”

“I don’t think my folks are gonna be much help,” Mary Louise said candidly. “They’ve been great about not getting on my case and everything, but I can tell they’re real disappointed in me. They kind of pretend this isn’t happening. My dad barely looks me in the eye anymore, much less at anything else. It’s like if he doesn’t see my stomach getting bigger, it won’t be real or something.”

“Oh, honey, once they see their first grandbaby, I guarantee you they’ll forget all about how the baby came to be and just love it to pieces,” Nadine said, giving her hand a squeeze. “And if you need a surrogate grandma around, you let me know. I wasn’t the most doting mama in the world when Josh was a baby, so I can’t wait to make up for that.” She gave Maggie a pointed look as she spoke.

“I know. I get it,” Maggie responded. “I’ll hurry up, or I would if Josh were in town for more than fifteen minutes at a time.” She frowned at Dinah. “Tell your husband I need my husband back here more often. It’s virtually impossible to get pregnant long distance. Or is that the way you’re making sure I won’t catch up with you?”

“I think we’ve already established that this is one race you cannot win,” Dinah retorted. “As for Josh being gone, the man has a perfectly good motel room in Atlanta. You ever thought about driving over there? I’m pretty sure I conceived on one of my surprise visits to Cord.”

Maggie’s expression instantly brightened. “Is that so? I’ll have to remember that for next week. Something tells me by the time he and the guys wind up their boys’ night tonight, he’ll crash and it’ll be more than even I can do to wake him up.” She grinned. “Even though I do have a very sexy red camisole I’ve been wanting to show off.”

“If that won’t keep him awake, you’re doing something wrong,” Dinah told her.

Mary Louise giggled. “You all are so funny. I wish I had friends like you.”

“But you do!” Dinah declared. “You have us.”

Mary Louise regarded her with wonder. “You really mean it? You guys will be my friends? I’m just a kid and you all are kinda…”

Dinah frowned. “Surely you were not going to say
old?
”

Mary Louise giggled. “How about more mature?”

“Shall we kill her now?” Maggie asked.

“Stop teasing, you guys,” Nadine ordered, then turned to wrap Mary Louise in a hug. “Sweetie, we are your friends. We all think you’re brave and mature and wonderful. If you need one single thing, you just ask one of us.”

“And if you want Josh to have a few words with Danny, you let me know,” Maggie said.

Mary Louise immediately shook her head. “No. I made the decision to have this baby on my own,” she said, feeling more confident than she had in weeks. “I can do it. And it’s not like Danny won’t be around some of the time. He even went to one of my doctor appointments with me the other day. I thought he was gonna pass out when he saw the baby for the first time.”

“That’s great,” Dinah said. “But if he can’t be here, then I expect you to take birthing classes with me and Cord.”

“And I’ll be your coach,” Amanda offered.

“I could do that,” Maggie said.

Amanda frowned at Maggie. “How many babies have you had?”

“Yes, Magnolia,” Dinah taunted. “Maybe you ought to concentrate on the getting-pregnant part.”

Maggie held up her hands. “Okay, okay, I defer to the mother of three.”

“Thank you,” Amanda said, grinning at Mary Louise. “Is this okay with you?”

“Sure,” Mary Louise said eagerly. “I was wondering what I’d do. I don’t think Danny’s going to want any part of the delivery. Willie Ron would probably do it as a favor to me, but that’s probably a really bad idea, especially with the way Parnell Hutchins has been spreading talk about us.”

Maggie held up her hand. “Whoa! What kind of talk? I know Parnell. He’s a low-class troublemaker. And Willie Ron’s a doll. He’s been a real blessing to his mama. There should be more men in the world who take on that kind of responsibility without giving it a second thought.”

“Amen to that,” Dinah said. “Now, tell the rest of them about Parnell. Cord’s already filled me in.”

Mary Louise realized she’d just opened up a real can of worms. “It was nothing,” she said halfheartedly.

Dinah regarded her with sympathy. “It wasn’t nothing,” she said quietly, then told the others what Parnell had said. “Cord’s afraid he’ll stir up some of those low-life characters he hangs out with and something will happen to Willie Ron or to Mary Louise. Cord tried to convince her to quit, but she refuses.”

“Danny’s tried, too, but I can’t quit,” Mary Louise protested. “I have to work to save money for the baby.”

“I can understand that,” Amanda said. “But what if there was another job out there? There’s an opening for a sales clerk at the boutique.”

Mary Louise could hardly believe her luck. “Really? Do you think they’d hire me?”

“We can certainly check into it,” Amanda said.

“Or you could work for me,” Maggie chimed in. “One of my clerks just had an amazing show at the gallery and wants to start concentrating on her art full-time.”

Mary Louise stared from one woman to the other and burst into tears.

Nadine was right there, this time with a whole box of tissues. “What on earth?” she asked. “Why are you crying, sweetie?”

“Because everyone’s being so nice,” Mary Louise said, blotting at the tears she couldn’t seem to stop. “And I would absolutely love working at either of those places, but I don’t think I should leave my job. It would be like letting Parnell win.”

“No, it would be protecting yourself, your baby and Willie Ron,” Dinah contradicted. “Be smart about this, Mary Louise. This is one fight it would be best to avoid.”

The others nodded.

“You really think so?” she asked, her gaze on Nadine, who gave her an encouraging nod.

“That’s settled, then,” Dinah concluded. “Which place would you rather work? The boutique or the gallery?”

“The gallery’s a sure bet,” Maggie reminded her. “I’m the boss and the job’s yours if you want it.”