Where Azaleas Bloom (4 page)

“How flattering.”

He winced. “Sorry. I’m not up on polite chitchat. If I want to
know something, I figure the best way to find out is to ask. The kids are
okay?”

She smiled at his determined attempt to try to pry information
out of her. “They’ll be home from school any minute. I’m sure you’ll see Lexie
next door and can determine for yourself how she’s doing.”

He looked vaguely chagrined. “Okay. Message received. I didn’t
mean to pry. Sorry if I struck a nerve.”

“I’m the one who’s sorry, Mitch. It’s just been a tough day,”
she said. “You were right. I am stressed out.”

“Take a break and put your feet up,” he advised. “I’ll be over
in the morning.”

“See you then.”

He started to leave, then turned back. “Hey, I don’t suppose
you could convince Lexie that it would be politically correct to play the local
country station at full volume, rather than that crazy stuff she and Mandy
like?”

“I haven’t had any luck around here,” she said. “That would be
my preference, too. The country music Travis and Sarah play on the radio station
here in town is much more my taste.”

“Mine, too. I think I’ve lived a lot of those lyrics.”

“Haven’t we all?” she agreed. Lately, she had a hunch her
experiences could provide lyrics for an entire CD of love-gone-wrong songs.
Maybe
that
should be her new calling.

Mitch stood there awkwardly for a moment longer, then shrugged.
“I’d better get back over there. If I’m gone too long, my crew’s liable to put
up a wall where no wall was intended to be.”

She laughed. “Something tells me you have them trained better
than that. It looks amazing from over here. I can’t wait to see how it turns
out.”

“You’ll have to let me give you a tour one of these days.
Raylene has a hard hat she can loan you, assuming she can find the thing. Near
as I can tell she enjoys making my heart stop by coming into the addition
without it.”

“I’d like that,” Lynn said. “We always talked about building an
addition to this place, but we never got around to it. Now it will never
happen.”

She waved off the revealing comment as soon as it was out of
her mouth. “Spilt milk,” she muttered. “Thanks, again, for helping out with the
plumbing crisis, Mitch. You’re a lifesaver.”

“Anytime. I told you that.”

She watched him walk away, fascinated yet again by the way his
faded, well-worn jeans curved quite nicely over an incredibly sexy posterior. As
soon as the outrageous, totally inappropriate thought crossed her mind, she
slapped her hand over her mouth as if she’d said it aloud.

What had gotten into her today? She was completely flipping out
over finances, she’d stolen money from her husband’s office and she was still
thinking about how appealing Mitch looked in a pair of jeans? Crazy. The last
thing she needed in her life these days was another complication. And Mitch
Franklin, sweet and sexy as he might be, would most definitely be a
complication.

Starting tomorrow morning she was going to have to be on full
alert to make sure she kept these wayward thoughts of hers in check or working
for the man was going to be incredibly awkward. Even as she reminded herself of
that, she wondered if just maybe that was why he’d hesitated before offering her
the job. Was he as aware of her as she suddenly was of him? Or had he just
noticed that she’d developed this insane appreciation for his backside?

Either way, she reminded herself sternly, tomorrow morning
needed to be all about business. She would keep her eyes on the computer screen
and far, far away from Mitch or any particularly intriguing part of his
anatomy.

* * *

When Mitch got back to Raylene’s, his crew had gone for
the day and she immediately gave him a speculative look. “You were gone a long
time. Problems making the repair?”

He frowned, bothered by what he thought was a hint of censure
in her voice. “You don’t mind that I went over there, do you?”

She immediately looked chagrined. “Of course not. I actually
meant to tease you. I thought maybe fixing the sink or whatever was broken was
the least of what was going on.”

Mitch regarded her with a narrowed gaze. “Don’t you start! I
get enough meddling from Grace.”

“So, Grace has seen you with Lynn, too?”

“I am not having this conversation with you,” he said
flatly.

“Not even if I tell you that we’re having roasted chicken for
dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy?” she taunted. “I made it just for
you.”

“Bring me a plate while I work,” he said firmly. “I need to
catch up on a few things before I leave.”

Raylene shook her head, a glint of amusement in her eyes. “You
eat at the table like a civilized person or you don’t eat. That’s what I tell
the girls and it applies to you, too.”

“I could just leave now,” he retorted. “I’m not on the
clock.”

“You could, but I know roasted chicken is your favorite. Would
you deny yourself that just to avoid a few innocent questions?”

“There is absolutely nothing innocent about any of your
questions, Raylene. You could give those
60 Minutes
reporters a run for their money.”

“Then you must know it won’t do any good for you to try to
dodge me,” she said cheerfully. “See you at the table in a half hour.”

For a man who’d been bemoaning the loss of the most important
woman in his life and the ensuing loneliness, he suddenly had a surplus of
bossy, know-it-all women around him. Once he was back home tonight, he was going
to have to think about exactly how he felt about that.

* * *

“I may have some idea about what’s been happening to
that money Ed’s supposed to be paying,” Helen told Lynn when she stopped by with
a check.

As soon as the words left her mouth, she glanced around
guiltily. “Are the kids here?”

Lynn shook her head. “Lexie’s next door and Jeremy’s down the
street playing with friends in the park.”

“Good. I wouldn’t want them to overhear this.”

“What’s happening?”

“Jimmy Bob is supposed to be taking care of those payments,
right?”

Lynn nodded. “That’s what Ed told me.”

“Well, Jimmy Bob’s nowhere to be found at the moment.”

Lynn regarded her with surprise. “You mean he’s vanished?”

“Vanished, gone on vacation, who knows? All I know is the
office was closed up tight when I stopped by, and there was a sign on the door
that said the law practice was closed indefinitely. I called my investigator and
asked him to see what he could find out.”

“I know you’re not crazy about the way Jimmy Bob practices law,
but isn’t this odd, even for him?” Lynn asked.

Helen nodded. “He’s pulled quite a few stunts over the years,
but I’ve never known him to disappear in the middle of a case. We have another
court date next week. Unless he gets a postponement, which so far I’ve had no
indication that he’s asked for, the judge is going to expect him to appear. Ed,
too.”

“Maybe they’ve both run off on this fun-filled golf trip I hear
Ed is on.”

Helen shrugged. “Could be, but that doesn’t feel right, either.
His secretary should be there fielding calls at least. He doesn’t even have an
answering machine turned on.”

“Maybe he just figured if he was on vacation, she might as well
be, too,” Lynn speculated. “That happens, doesn’t it? Small offices just shut
down and everyone goes on vacation at the same time?”

“Not in my profession, with court dates always changing and
emergencies cropping up with clients,” Helen insisted. “Of course, Jimmy Bob
doesn’t always operate the way a real professional should.”

She waved off the discussion. “There’s no point in trying to
figure out what Jimmy Bob is up to. We’ll know soon enough. In the meantime, the
check should tide you over, and I’ve scheduled an appointment with the bank
manager tomorrow. I’ll let you know what sort of temporary terms I’m able to
negotiate. I don’t think they’ll be unreasonable until we get this mess
straightened out.”

“Thank you, Helen. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without
you. I think I knew when we were still in high school that you were going to be
this mega-successful attorney for the underdog. Remember when you defended Jane
Thompson before the student court for cheating? Nobody thought you stood a
chance of getting her off.”

“She was innocent,” Helen said, smiling.

“Really?” Lynn said skeptically. “She wasn’t caught red-handed
passing a note in the middle of an exam?”

“She was caught red-handed with a note,” Helen admitted. “But,
in fact, it was Jimmy Bob West who’d shoved it into her hand when he saw the
teacher heading their way. He was scum even back then.”

“Didn’t he try to convince you to go into practice with him a
few years ago?” Lynn asked. “I’d like to have been there when you gave him an
answer.”

Helen chuckled. “I just told him that, regretfully, I’d rather
eat dirt than work with him, or words to that effect.”

“I suspect they were a lot more colorful,” Lynn said.

“A lot more,” Helen conceded. “But Jimmy Bob, being the man he
is, didn’t take the slightest offense. He still asks from time to time.”

She gave Lynn a hug. “Hang in there, okay? And call me
immediately the next time there’s a problem. Meantime, I’ll be in touch about
that court date and whatever we find out about Jimmy Bob’s whereabouts.”

“Have a good evening,” Lynn told her. She waved the check in
the air. “I’m going to relax for the first time in days.”

At the very least, she was going to be able to sleep
tonight.

4

F
lo Decatur was sitting on the sofa reading
a book to her granddaughter, Sarah Beth, when Helen came in from work looking
beat.

“Mommy!” Sarah Beth cried joyfully, running to throw her arms
around Helen. “Gramma’s reading my favorite story.”

“Of course she is,” Helen said. “You have Gramma wound around
your little finger.”

Sarah Beth’s face puckered up with a frown. “What does that
mean?”

“It means I love you,” Flo interpreted. “Even more than
chocolate ice cream with hot fudge on top.”

Her granddaughter’s eyes widened. “More than gooey chocolate
cake like Daddy makes?”

“Even more than that,” Flo confirmed.

Sarah Beth turned to her mother. “Can we have ice cream and
cake for dinner?”

Helen laughed, then gave Flo a feigned frown. “Thanks a lot.
Now peas and carrots won’t cut it.”

“Peas and carrots never cut it with you, either,” Flo said
realistically, then followed her into the kitchen. “Why don’t you go take a
shower and change into something comfortable, while I put whatever Erik sent
home from Sullivan’s on the table? I’ll see that Sarah Beth’s fed, too. You look
as if you could use a few minutes to relax and unwind.”

She was surprised when Helen gave her an impulsive hug. “You
have no idea how wonderful that sounds.” Helen gave her pint-size imp of a
daughter a pointed look. “And try to keep Miss Sarah Beth here out of the cake
until after she’s eaten dinner.”

“I’ve got it covered,” Flo assured her, then winked at Sarah
Beth.

Flo had come to treasure these regular dinners with her
daughter and granddaughter. Though she was happily settled into her own
apartment now and had an active social life, she missed the time she’d spent in
this house while she’d been recovering from a broken hip. She was capturing so
many new family memories, the kind that had been few and far between when she’d
been struggling to make ends meet as a single mom back when Helen had been Sarah
Beth’s age. She liked to think that she and Helen were actually friends now, and
not just mother and daughter with a contentious relationship.

She also enjoyed the meals her son-in-law sent home from
Sullivan’s. That restaurant of Dana Sue’s where he was the sous-chef had better
food than anything Flo had ever put on her table at home, and she’d at one time
been considered the best when it came to her church’s potluck suppers.

Tonight Erik had sent home two fried catfish dinners for her
and Helen, some chicken tenders and mashed potatoes for Sarah Beth, along with
some of that gooey molten chocolate cake that was Sarah Beth’s favorite. Flo’s,
too, for that matter.

Flo poured a glass of milk for her granddaughter, then made
cocktails for herself and Helen. She sat with Sarah Beth while she ate, then
sent her off to her room to play before bedtime. “But give Mommy some peace and
quiet, okay?”

“Uh-huh,” Sarah Beth said, then scampered off, dragging a
tattered stuffed tiger with her.

By then, Helen was back, looking refreshed, though worry was
still etched on her forehead.

“Bad day?” Flo asked, always interested in the legal cases her
daughter was involved in. They’d realized a while back that Helen’s interest in
law probably went back to all the TV shows like
Divorce
Court
and
The People’s Court
that Flo
used to keep on while she did the baskets of ironing that brought in a few extra
dollars each week.

“You have no idea,” Helen said, taking a sip of her drink, then
closing her eyes with a sigh of satisfaction. “I needed this.”

“One of these days I’ll make you a batch of margaritas,” Flo
said, grinning. “I know they’re a personal favorite of yours. You must have
gotten that from me. Made a batch for the first time in years not long ago.”

Helen regarded her with amusement. “Do you really want to
remind me of the Senior Magnolias fiasco at Liz’s?”

Flo chuckled. “Yep, that was the night and I refuse to
apologize for it. Frances needed a distraction from the diagnosis the doctor had
given her.”

“Even so, I hope you learned a lesson when the neighbors called
the police,” Helen said with mock sternness.

Her mother just grinned. “Afraid not. Best time we’ve had in
years, at least as best we can remember.”

Helen sobered. “How’s Frances really doing these days? She
seemed pretty sharp at the bullying rally a couple of weeks ago.”

“She’s fighting this cognitive impairment thing or whatever it
is with the same determination she’s faced everything else in her life. I think
stirring up a ruckus that day was good for her.” She winked. “So were the
margaritas. You should know firsthand the healing effect one of those and a
night with friends can have.”

“The operative word being
one,
”
Helen chided, but she was smiling.

“Yes, well, we might have gone a little overboard,” Flo
conceded. “We’re old. Allowances should be made.”

Her daughter laughed at that. “I imagine people have been
making allowances for the three of you for years. I’ll bet you all created chaos
in this town back in the day,” Helen said, regarding her mom with something Flo
thought might have been a hint of approval.

“Well, I can’t speak for Frances and Liz, since they have a
good ten years or more on me, but I certainly did,” Flo said. “I imagine we have
a few more commotions left in us.”

But even as she spoke, she frowned. “Despite what I just said
about Frances giving this her best fight, I’m not at all sure she’ll be able to
live alone much longer. Maybe it’s not Alzheimer’s yet, maybe it won’t be, but
there’s been a worrisome change in her. Liz and I have been nudging her to face
that, but she’s not ready to deal with going into assisted living just yet. It’s
a hard thing for anyone to think about being dependent on other people, but
especially for someone like Frances, who’s always been the one to help
others.”

“I’m sorry.”

Flo sighed. “So am I. One thing I hate about getting older is
seeing so many of my friends lose their vitality. It seems once we start on that
downhill slide, there’s no turning back. That’s why I intend to live every
second I’m able to the absolute fullest.”

“Other than your broken hip, you’ve been lucky,” Helen reminded
her. “The doctor says you have the heart of a healthy woman twenty years
younger.”

“I’ve been blessed, no question about it,” Flo agreed. “And I’m
so grateful to be back here in Serenity where I get to spend time with you and
Sarah Beth. Florida was nice and I’ll always be grateful to you for setting me
up in that nice condo down there, but home is better.”

“I’m glad you’re here, too,” Helen said.

Flo gave her a knowing look. “You didn’t feel that way when I
said I wanted to move back from Boca Raton.”

“No,” Helen agreed. “I thought it was a mistake, but I was
wrong.”

Flo chuckled at the pained expression on her daughter’s face.
“Hurts spitting out an admission like that, doesn’t it?”

“You have no idea,” Helen said, grinning. “Fortunately, thanks
to Erik calling me on every single mistake I make, I’m learning to accept that
I’m as human as everyone else.”

“You do know your husband is one in a million, don’t you?”

“I do, and I thank God for him every day,” Helen said.

Flo nodded in satisfaction. “That’s good, then. Now, why don’t
you tell me what went wrong with your day?”

“Just one of those nasty divorce cases that makes me question
why it’s illegal to chase down some of these deadbeat men with a shotgun.”

Flo hesitated. “I know you can’t give me details about your
cases, but this wouldn’t have anything to do with Ed and Lynn Morrow, would
it?”

Helen regarded her with surprise. “Why would you ask that?” she
said in a way that to Flo’s ears was answer enough.

“I know you took her case. I also know that Sarah and Travis
are worried sick about Lynn. They used to live next door, you know, in Sarah’s
parents’ house. Raylene’s there now, and she mentioned a few things to Sarah. I
guess Raylene gave Lynn a part-time job, and she’s been trying to have Lynn and
the kids over for dinner a couple of times a week, but they all seem to think
things are pretty bad.”

“How did all this information get from Raylene and Sarah to
you?” Helen asked curiously.

“Liz, of course. Living in the guest cottage behind Sarah and
Travis, she sees them all the time. They’ve become like family. Sarah confides
in her.”

“And Liz naturally mentioned it to you,” Helen concluded. “The
Serenity grapevine at its best.”

“It’s not always a bad thing,” Flo reminded her. “I know it can
hurt being the talk of the town, but sometimes it lets people know when folks
need help. I can’t abide idle gossip, but this is different. At least, that’s
how it seems to me.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

She regarded her daughter intently. “So, just how bad are
things? Is there anything I can do? I’ve been in that position, a single mom
with nowhere to turn. If I can help, I’d like to. Liz feels the same way, but
we’re at a loss about what we could do without offending Lynn’s pride.”

Helen looked at Flo with amazement.

“Is that incredulous look on your face about your not believing
I have a compassionate bone in my body or because you’re stunned by my insight?”
Flo asked wryly.

“I guess I’m just surprised that you’d want to get involved
when neither of you knows Lynn that well. It’s very thoughtful of both of you,
but you’re right. I don’t think Lynn’s open to a lot of outside help right now.
Admitting there are problems, even to me, is hard for her.”

“Are you going to be able to fix this for her?”

“I hope so,” Helen said. “I’m just afraid it’s going to take
longer than I anticipated.”

“Well, if you need backup, you can count on Liz and me.
Frances, too, more than likely, if she’s feeling up to it.” Flo regarded her
daughter with a grin. “At our ages, we don’t mind stirring up a little trouble,
if need be. Might be fun to land myself in jail for a worthy cause.”

Helen looked vaguely alarmed. “What sort of trouble are you
contemplating?”

“Picketing outside of Ed’s office came to mind,” Flo said
eagerly. “Folks expect their insurance people to behave responsibly. A little
public humiliation might go a long way toward making him shape up and do the
right thing by his family.”

Helen’s expression lit up momentarily, but then she shook her
head. “Much as I love that idea, I think we’ll stick to a legal approach for
now, Mom. But believe me, if I can’t get him to change his ways in a big fat
hurry, the three of you are welcome to take him on.”

Flo nodded. “Just say the word. I’m pretty good at making up
protest signs, if I do say so myself. They turned out real good for that
antibullying rally, and the ones Liz dreamed up in support of Laura Reed at the
school were downright inspired. All those civil rights demonstrations Liz
carried out years ago taught her a thing or two about effective protests.”

“I can’t deny that the three of you played a big part in
rallying public sentiment,” Helen said. “Let’s see how this plays out in court
next week before we take the next step, okay?”

“Whatever you want,” Flo said, then stood up. “I hate to leave
you with the dishes, but I need to run.”

Helen regarded her with a startled expression. “It’s still
early. Don’t you want to stay and help me tuck in Sarah Beth?”

Flo took a deep breath, then blurted, “Actually I have a date.”
She held her breath, waiting for Helen’s reaction. It was pretty much what she’d
expected—her daughter looked as if Flo had spoken in a foreign language.

“A date? Since when? Who?”

“Oh, I’ll tell you all about him next time I’m over,” Flo said
breezily. “I don’t want to keep him waiting. We’re going over to Columbia
dancing.”

“At this hour?”

“You just said yourself that it’s still early. And I’m a night
owl.”

Helen frowned. “Since when? You didn’t used to be.”

“Because I had to be up and out the door for work at the crack
of dawn,” Flo explained patiently. “Now I can stay up as late as I like.” She
pressed a kiss to her daughter’s cheek. “Love you. Tell Sarah Beth good-night
for me.”

She grabbed her purse and hurried out before Helen could gather
enough of her wits to do the kind of cross-examination that Flo knew was coming
sooner or later. To Flo’s way of thinking, later was better.

For all her open-mindedness about most things, when it came to
her mother’s social life, Helen was downright stuffy. She had been ever since
Flo had carelessly mentioned leaving a box of condoms in the nightstand beside
her bed as they were driving away from Boca Raton. The poor girl had nearly had
a heart attack right there on I-95! Flo hoped to avoid causing that reaction a
second time.

* * *

Lynn dressed with extra care in the morning. She told
herself it was simply because she always tried to look nice when she was working
for Raylene in her upscale boutique. She knew, though, that the pink blush on
her cheeks and the mascara she was applying had more to do with Mitch stopping
by than it did with impressing Raylene’s customers.

She was in the kitchen with a pot of coffee brewed when Mitch
tapped on the back door.

“Come in. It’s open,” she called out.

He walked into the kitchen, frowning. “Do you leave that door
unlocked all the time?”

“Only when I’m expecting someone to pop in from right next
door,” she said.

“Well, it’s a bad idea,” he grumbled, clearly not placated.

“Duly noted,” she said, amused by just how far his
protectiveness seemed to go.

His gaze narrowed suspiciously. “You’re not really paying a bit
of attention to me, are you?” he asked.

“Honestly? Not so much.”

“I’m beginning to think you and Raylene are going to be the
death of me. She refuses to wear a hard hat in a construction zone. You leave
the door open for anyone to just walk in. I was taught to look out for
women.”