Where Azaleas Bloom (16 page)

“What on earth?” she muttered when she saw the care he’d taken
to make the evening special. “Donnie, it’s beautiful.”

“I wanted to show you how much I appreciate you,” he said.
“It’s hard to do that when we’re always at your place.”

“Breakfast in bed sends a real good message,” she reminded him,
then smiled. “But this does take it to a whole new level. So, who cooked?”

He chuckled. “I did,” he insisted. “Mostly, anyway. I did ask
Erik for one of those chocolate cakes you love so much for dessert. He sent it
over with some chocolate-dipped strawberries and champagne for later.”

Flo felt her heart start beating a little harder. She had a
dizzy sensation in her head as it dawned on her where this was heading.

“Donnie, no,” she said softly.

“It’s just dinner,” he insisted.

“No, it’s not. I can read the handwriting on the wall as well
as anybody. You have something else up your sleeve.”

“So what if I do?” he asked with a touch of defiance. “It’s not
as if we haven’t been talking about the future for a while now.”

“But you know how I feel. Flowers, candlelight, even that
delicious cake, they’re not going to get me to change my mind,” she said
stubbornly.

“How about we have dinner before we get into this and ruin a
perfectly good meal?” he said.

She could see how much it meant to him, how much effort he’d
put into the evening. “As long as you understand that it’s not going to change
the way I feel,” she said.

He nodded. “Fair enough.”

His response surprised her. “That’s it? You’re giving in that
easily?”

He smiled at her exasperation. “I’ll never give in. I’ve just
decided to take a step back, give you time to settle down. I learned a lot from
those horses I used to ride on my daddy’s farm. Persuasion—and a little
sugar—usually work a whole lot better than trying to muscle things in the
direction I want them to go.”

“You’re comparing me to a nervous horse now?” she asked
indignantly.

He laughed. “Flo, sometimes you make loving you so much harder
than it needs to be.”

The sweet sincerity and hint of frustration behind his words
touched her more than any of his other gestures. Until this instant, she wasn’t
sure she’d truly believed any man could love her as Donnie professed to. Yet he
seemed to see her clearly and loved her anyway.

“Let’s eat,” she said briskly, not ready to concede just yet
that he might have won the battle, if not the whole darn war. “All this
discussion has given me an appetite.”

Clearly amused, he said, “You do know the discussion is just
getting started, right?”

“I do.”

“Okay, then. Let’s eat. We have the whole night to figure out
the rest.”

Flo imagined they’d find some way to put that time to good use,
and, if she had her way, there’d be very little talking involved.

* * *

Lynn had just hung up the phone after speaking to Mitch,
who’d asked to postpone their get-together until tonight, when it rang
again.

“I’m in serious need of a margarita night,” Helen said right
off. “My place tonight, okay?”

The tension in her attorney’s voice alarmed Lynn. “Has
something happened? Have you found out something bad about Ed’s finances?”

“Sorry,” Helen said. “This isn’t about the divorce. I should
have said that right off the bat. It’s about my mother. She called me ten
minutes ago and says she has an announcement.”

“She and Donnie are getting married?” Lynn guessed, trying not
to allow her own delight at the news to creep into her voice. It was obvious
Helen was less than thrilled.

“That would be my guess. She’s taking me to lunch at
Sullivan’s. Since she has never once invited me to have lunch with her, much
less in a fancy restaurant, she must have something huge on her mind.”

“So margarita night is being planned in anticipation of your
having a really bad day, not because it’s already started?” Lynn said, amused.
“Are the Senior Magnolias coming tonight?”

“Not if I can help it,” Helen said grimly. “But if I know my
meddling friend Maddie, they’ll turn up. She’ll think the best way to smooth
things over between me and my mother is by putting us in the same place with a
pitcher of margaritas. Anyway, you can be here, right?”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Lynn said. This dance between Helen and her
mom promised to provide more lively entertainment than she’d had in weeks. It
would mean postponing her conversation with Mitch yet again, but maybe that was
for the best. He didn’t seem any more eager to hash things out than she was.

Thinking about what had happened the night before between Ed
and Mitch, she said, “Before you go, I should tell you about something.” She
described the scene at Rosalina’s. “Ed clearly has a problem with Mitch for some
reason. Mitch has offered to back off, and he’s probably right, but it’s not
what I want. We were going to talk about it tonight.”

“Oh, dear, I didn’t mean to disrupt your plans. Would you
rather spend the evening with Mitch and settle this now?” Helen asked at once.
“It’s okay if you would.”

Lynn considered the offer. “No. I think maybe it’s good that
the Sweet Magnolias are getting together. It’ll give me more time to think this
through. Any advice?”

“How do you feel about Mitch?”

“I like him,” Lynn said, then smiled as she thought of that one
blazing kiss they’d shared. It had been a revelation. It truly had. “A lot.”

“Then the answer’s easy. Don’t let anything get between you,
not even Ed or his misguided possessiveness.”

“But I don’t want him to drag Mitch into the divorce,” Lynn
said.

“Let me worry about that,” Helen said. “Another week or so and
I’ll all but guarantee we can neutralize anything he wants to try.”

Lynn was startled by the conviction she heard in Helen’s voice.
“Is that because you’re already on the trail of something?”

“No, it’s gut instinct and my track record,” Helen said
confidently. “I haven’t let a client down yet. And that is not just my massive
ego talking, by the way. I have testimonials.”

Lynn chuckled. “I don’t doubt it for a minute. Thanks. See you
tonight.”

Now she just had to call Mitch and postpone their talk, making
him believe it was all about showing up for a friend and not about putting off a
tricky, potentially uncomfortable conversation.

* * *

Mitch heard the nervousness in Lynn’s voice when she
canceled their plans for the evening. Though her excuse had seemed genuine, he
couldn’t help wondering if maybe Ed had gotten to her the night before, planting
either doubts or fear in her head.

He was wondering if he shouldn’t go next door and find out when
Carter walked into the new addition, grabbing a hard hat at the last second.

“I figure you’re at loose ends tonight, same as me,” Carter
said. “All the women are going over to Helen’s for some Sweet Magnolias
thing.”

Mitch held up his cell phone. “Just heard about it,” he
confirmed.

“How’d you like to go out with me, Travis, Tom and some of the
other men for a little basketball and a few beers?”

“Seriously? I haven’t been on a basketball court since high
school.”

“That hardly matters. Cal, Tom and Travis are pretty
competitive, but the rest of us just try not to make fools of ourselves or land
in the hospital.”

Mitch chuckled. “How’s that usually work for you?”

“Only one split lip requiring stitches, a sprained ankle and a
few minor cuts and bruises so far. Luckily, J. C. Fullerton plays, so he’s been
patching us up like the big old babies we are. That’s one good thing about
having a pediatrician in the gang.”

Mitch considered the offer. He’d been thinking for a while now
that he needed some real friends in his life. Here was his chance. The prospect
of a few beers at the end of the evening gave him pause, but, as he’d told Lynn,
it wasn’t as if drinking were a serious problem. He’d just been wise enough to
see that it could become one.

“Sure. Count me in,” he told Carter.

“Want me to stop by and pick you up on my way to the park?”

“That’d be great,” he said, already thinking that there
couldn’t possibly be a better designated driver than the police chief.

Carter nodded. “See you in an hour, then.”

Mitch gave him a wave, then went to check on a problem that
Terry had alerted him to before he’d left the site. He smiled at the way his
mood had turned around. He might not be spending the evening with Lynn, as he’d
hoped, but as alternatives went, this could be good. He could work off a little
steam and some of that aggressiveness he’d had to rein in the night before
during his confrontation with Ed. Maybe, just maybe, he’d be able to hold off on
slugging the jerk for a while longer.

16

L
ynn was pretty sure she’d never seen Helen
look as rattled as she did when Lynn arrived at her house for the Sweet
Magnolias get-together.

“You okay?” she asked.

Helen shook her head. “But I can only talk about this once, so
do you mind if we wait until everyone else arrives?”

“Of course not,” Lynn said, though she was dying of curiosity.
She put two pies onto the kitchen counter. “I brought along some dessert. I seem
to have gone into some kind of baking frenzy now that I have groceries in the
house again. The kids are in heaven, but I’ll be big as a blimp if I keep it
up.”

Helen gave her a weary smile. “You have a very long way to go
before you reach blimp status.” She studied Lynn. “Any more thoughts about the
Mitch situation?”

Lynn sighed and shook her head. “No, and it’s making me crazy.
He’s so blasted thoughtful and kind. Did you hear that he created an entire
azalea garden in my backyard? I was telling him how I envisioned landscaping
back there if I ever got the chance and the next thing I knew, he’d had it done
while I was at work. How sweet is that?” she asked.

To her surprise, rather than being impressed, Helen frowned.
“Has Ed seen it?”

Lynn winced. “Oh, sweet heaven,” she murmured. “He’s going to
freak out, isn’t he?”

“If past experience is anything to judge by, more than likely,”
Helen agreed, then squared her shoulders and said forcefully, “But let him.
Lynn, don’t you dare allow me to put a damper on your excitement. It was an
incredibly sweet gesture. You should just enjoy it and let me worry about the
rest. I didn’t mean to spoil it for you.” She managed a halfhearted smile. “It’s
just this mood I’m in. I seem to be seeing the dark side of everything
today.”

“Was lunch with your mom that bad?” Lynn asked worriedly.

“You have no idea.”

Before Helen could explain, the others started arriving, laden
with more food and excited chatter. Lynn noticed that only Flo looked subdued as
she walked in and went straight to a seat between Frances and Liz in the living
room. The three women immediately put their heads together, chatting
animatedly.

Lynn noted the frown on Helen’s face when she spotted them.

“I know they’re in there conspiring to make me feel like an
idiot,” Helen muttered.

Maddie overheard her. “Why would they do that?”

“Because I
am
an idiot, or at least
I’m behaving like one,” Helen admitted, looking faintly chagrined. “I need to
shape up before Erik gets wind of how I’m reacting to this latest turn of
events. He has no patience with me when I get like this, carrying on about my
mother as if I were the parent, with any right at all to disapprove of her
choices.”

Maddie grinned. “I thought Erik must have endless patience just
to live with you.”

Helen scowled at her. “Not even a tiny bit amusing.”

“So when are we going to hear the big news?” Dana Sue inquired,
joining them.

Helen nodded toward her mother. “Ask her. It’s her big
announcement.” She picked up a margarita glass and drained it, then tapped on it
with a knife. “So, Mom, why don’t you tell everyone what’s going on?”

Flo gave her a lingering look that spoke volumes about her own
displeasure. “Sure I will, honey bun,” she said.

She had an unmistakable hint of sarcasm in her voice that made
Lynn grin as she heard it. Mother-daughter dynamics were always complicated, it
seemed. She’d heard that exact same tone in Lexie’s voice a time or two.

“Donnie and I have made an important decision,” Flo began.
“It’s one of which Helen clearly disapproves, but we’re happy about it.” She
gave her daughter a defiant look as she announced, “We’re moving in
together.”

It seemed as if every head in the room swiveled to take in
Helen’s reaction, but she kept her face astonishingly neutral. Only a tic at the
corner of her eye gave away her annoyance.

Frances broke the strained silence. “Good for you,” she
enthused, as Liz gave Flo a heartfelt hug.

There were a few subdued whoops of approval from the other
women, then, but Lynn noticed that Dana Sue and Maddie continued watching Helen
worriedly.

“I don’t know why you couldn’t just give in and marry the man,”
Helen said, obviously unable to keep her opinion to herself another second. “I
know that’s what he wanted. Now you’re going to make a complete spectacle of
yourself. The whole town will be talking. You’ll be a disgrace.”

“Helen Decatur, you should be ashamed of yourself,” Frances
said in a tone that almost every single person in the room could probably
remember hearing at one time or another in her classroom. “This is your mother
you’re talking to. You should respect her decision. I know she’s given it a lot
of thought, and this is clearly what’s right for her.”

Helen looked only momentarily taken aback. “You really approve
of this? I figured you were faking it to try to calm me down.”

“It’s not up to me to approve or disapprove, now is it? You,
either.”

“It’s okay, Frances,” Flo said quietly. “The battle is between
Helen and me. We’ll work it out.”

Frances wasn’t finished, though. Keeping her focus on Helen,
she added, “Life’s short. It’s not meant to be wasted on letting resentments
simmer with the people we love.” She gave Flo a little nudge in Helen’s
direction. “Go and fix this right this minute.”

Flo gave her a resigned look, but she did cross the room. After
a momentary hesitance, Helen finally followed her in the direction of the
kitchen.

“I predict they’ll either come out smiling or one of them will
wind up dead,” Maddie said, only partially in jest.

Dana Sue poked her in the ribs. “Do not say things like that.
Maybe we should propose a toast.”

Maddie frowned. “To what exactly?”

“Flo and Donnie?” Dana Sue suggested.

“Shouldn’t Flo be here when we do that?” Liz asked.

“Of course,” Dana Sue said, looking chagrined. “Let’s just
drink.” She grabbed the pitcher of margaritas off the coffee table. “Who wants
more?”

As Dana Sue served the drinks, Raylene came up beside Lynn.
“Feeling better now that the focus isn’t on you?”

Lynn laughed. “You have no idea. I do feel a little sorry for
Flo and Helen, though. I can see both sides. I know Helen is actually far more
worried about her mom than she is about what people will think.”

Raylene nodded. “I think so, too, but those two apparently have
communications issues that go way back.” She rolled her eyes. “Boy, can I
relate.”

“You and your mom?” Lynn asked.

“We don’t speak at all these days,” Raylene confirmed with a
shrug. “I’m finally reconciled to that.”

Lynn nodded. “Sometimes I wish my mom had lived long enough for
us to work out our differences, but maybe it’s just wishful thinking to imagine
that we would have. She made choices I don’t think I could ever understand.”

Raylene put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze.
“At least we don’t have the same kind of problems with our girls. You and Lexie
get along really well, and my relationship with Carrie and Mandy is amazingly
tranquil despite all the complexities of my being married to their big brother.
Since he’s been their guardian since their parents died, that puts me in the
position of acting like an unofficial mom. It could have been incredibly
awkward, but they’re such great girls, it’s turned out to be one of the best
parts of being married to Carter.” Her grin turned wicked. “Not
the
best part, of course.”

Lynn laughed. “Here’s to well-adjusted teenagers,” she
said.

If she could get Lexie—and Jeremy, for that matter—through this
divorce without them being traumatized, well, what more could she possibly
want?

* * *

“Helen, what exactly upsets you about my living with
Donnie?” Flo asked reasonably when she and her daughter were alone in the
kitchen.

“It’s just not right,” Helen said tightly.

“Is this some kind of lecture on morality?” Flo asked,
wondering if she should point out that Helen was pregnant with Sarah Beth before
she and Erik even considered getting married. In fact, if she’d heard the story
right, even their friendship had been contentious, so the baby
and
the marriage had come as a surprise to a lot of
people.

“Hardly,” Helen said wryly. “Believe me, I know I’m in no
position to make those kind of judgments.”

“Then what is it?” Flo persisted, though she thought she knew.
“Is it because the thought of my having sex makes you a little crazy? I recall
the look on your face when you were driving me back from Florida and I mentioned
those condoms in my nightstand. I thought for a minute you were going to drive
us into a ditch.”

Helen winced. “Mom, really!”

Flo chuckled at the reaction. “So that’s it. I thought so.
Sweetheart, don’t you think if Donnie and I got married, we’d be having
sex?”

“I really don’t want to think about it at all,” Helen said, her
cheeks turning bright pink.

“Then don’t. Won’t it be easier for you to pretend we’re
nothing more than casual roommates if we just move in together? Tell yourself
it’s all about saving money on a mortgage and other expenses. You can even
imagine we’re sleeping in separate rooms, if that would help.”

Helen regarded Flo in silence, then chuckled, her sense of
humor finally kicking in. “Not even my imagination can stretch credulity that
far, though it would be nice if it could. I’d like to go back to thinking about
you as my mother, not as a woman who’s entitled to find a relationship of her
own.”

“This from a woman who’s been standing up in defense of women
for years?” Flo chided.

“Believe me, I get how ridiculous I’m being. If this were
Frances or Liz, I’d say more power to ’em. But it’s you.”

“Donnie makes me happy,” Flo said quietly. “Shouldn’t that
count more than anything?”

Helen sighed heavily, then took Flo in her arms. “It does
count, which is why I will suck it up for your sake and his, wish you both well
and try really, really hard to envision that platonic roommate scenario you
painted.”

Flo laughed. “So no more talk about my disgracing myself or
you?”

“None,” Helen promised. “I really do want you to be happy, and
if being with Donnie is what you want, I’ll get used to it. And, just so you
know, none of this has a thing in the world to do with Donnie Leighton. I’d have
freaked out no matter who the man in your life turned out to be. Donnie’s a good
guy.”

“I know that. He’s the best one to come along since your daddy
died.”

Helen gave her a startled look. “Is that why you never dated
much? Because you couldn’t get over Daddy?”

“I suppose, though goodness knows your daddy had more than his
share of flaws. I never wore rose-colored glasses about that,” Flo said
thoughtfully. “But the truth is, I was so busy trying to keep a roof over our
heads, food on the table and a little money put aside for your education that
dating was the last thing on my mind. I think that’s why I’ve been so concerned
about Lynn. Seemed to me she might be in the same position.”

“She came close,” Helen admitted. “But I think things are more
stable now.”

“And she’s seeing that wonderful Mitch Franklin,” Flo said.
“Other than Elliott Cruz at the spa, I’m not sure there’s another man in
Serenity who looks quite as good in a pair of jeans.”

“Mom!”

“Well, I notice those things,” Flo said, refusing to apologize.
“I might not have had much time to date, but I wasn’t dead. And those faded
Levi’s that Donnie wears when we go to hear a little country music and do some
dancing?” She picked up a napkin and fanned herself. “He’s another one who was
born to wear denim.”

Helen merely shook her head, but there was a twinkle in her
eyes.

Flo tucked her arm through her daughter’s. “Think when we go
back in there you can fake being at least a little bit happy for me?”

Helen turned and caught her in yet another impulsive hug, a
surprise given her caution with overt displays of affection. The gesture was all
the more meaningful because of it.

“I won’t have to fake it, Mom. I swear I won’t,” she assured
Flo.

Tears stung Flo’s eyes. “Okay, then. You do know that even when
I’m living with Donnie, you, Erik and Sarah Beth will still be as important to
me as anything on this earth, right?”

“I know,” Helen said with a sniff.

Flo pulled back and saw the surprising sheen of tears in her
very strong daughter’s eyes. “Don’t you start crying,” she ordered. “I’m already
blubbering enough for both of us. Now we’d best get back in there before
somebody calls Carter to come see if we’ve managed to kill each other.”

“No worries on that score,” Helen said, raising her voice just
a little. “I imagine when we open the door, we’ll find Maddie and Dana Sue
listening on the other side of it.”

Helen gave the door a quick push, and sure enough her best
friends stumbled back. Helen turned to Flo. “Told you so.”

“They love you,” Flo said.

Helen nodded, fresh tears spilling down her cheeks. “Yeah, I
suppose they do.”

“You
know
we do,” Maddie
corrected.

Flo saw the worry in Maddie’s and Dana Sue’s eyes fade, quickly
replaced by affection. Looking at them, she thanked God that the three of them
had had each other’s backs through thick and thin. She hadn’t realized how
valuable those friendships were until she’d formed such a tight bond with
Frances and Liz.

“How about another margarita?” she inquired. “I’m suddenly
feeling a little parched.”

“How about a virgin margarita?” Helen countered, pouring her
what amounted to a glass of frozen limeade. “I thought we’d concluded that one
was your limit.”

“Spoilsport,” Flo grumbled, but she accepted the drink
gratefully, winking at Frances and Liz. “After all, I want to be as sober as can
be when my daughter toasts my new living arrangement.”