“Congratulations.”
“Thanks.” He shifted in his chair and his arm bumped hers.
Meg could have sworn he did it on purpose.
“If you need help moving, I could round up some of the men from church.” Seth forked some chicken into his mouth.
“Thank you, but that’s not necessary. I’ve hired movers.”
Rose Lawton dabbed her mouth with her napkin. “Tell us about yourself, Mr. Baldwin.”
“Please. It’s Kent.”
Rose nodded. Like her daughter, she had nut brown hair and a sweet disposition. “All right then, Kent. What’s your background?”
“Well, let’s see—where do I start?”
Meg fought the urge to roll her eyes as Kent began what sounded like his life’s story. He was born and raised outside of Minneapolis. His father owned a large, successful manufacturing company. Kent attended prestigious private schools, he did fairly well academically, and he excelled in sports.
Meg watched Leah as he spoke and suddenly figured out Kent’s secret to getting her to eat. He talked so much about himself that she forgot all about her nerves and, instead, enjoyed her dinner.
The next moment, Meg chided herself for being so cynical about him.
“How come you and your wife divorced?” Seth’s forehead creased with concern.
“I take full responsibility. It was my fault my marriage failed.” Kent wiped his mouth with a paper napkin. “I made some very unwise choices.”
“That can happen to anyone.” Rose sent him a sympathetic nod.
“Well, I s’pose all that matters is that you’re on the right path now.”
“I think so.” Kent flashed a smile.
“But it just seems to me that people these days have no sense of right and wrong.” Seth cleared his throat. “Nothing personal, Kent. I was more thinking of this marine fella that’s been corresponding with Leah over the Internet. For all we know about him, he’s got a wife and family somewheres.”
“No offense taken.”
“Daddy, we’ve been through all this.”
Meg had to grin at the way Leah, like most Southern females, no matter how old, still referred to her father as “daddy.”
“Dave has no reason to lie to me.”
“How can you know for sure?”
“Know any cops in Stanford?” Kent put a forkful of salad into his mouth.
“I do.” Seth narrowed his brown-eyed gaze at his guest. “In fact, I personally know Mayor Miracle.” His gaze slid to his daughter. “The mayor’s single. Why can’t you get to know a nice, upstanding man like him?”
“Oh, Daddy.” Frustration pinched Leah’s features.
“Look, why not have him or one of the policemen you know run a background check on Dave? If the police have the time, it’d be a simple thing to do.”
“Great thinking, Kent.” Seth’s wide face split into a grin.
Leah practically threw down her fork. “Daddy, I forbid it. That’s like—snooping or something.”
“Actually, Leah, it’s a good idea.” Meg wondered why she didn’t think of it herself. “Most employers run background checks. It’s very common. And it wouldn’t hurt to make sure Dave doesn’t have a violent or criminal past.”
A pained expression shadowed Leah’s face. “I guess it’d be a good thing to do, it’s just that—oh, I don’t know. It seems so underhanded.”
Kent draped one thick arm around Leah’s shoulders. “You’ve got to protect yourself in this day and age.”
She looked up into his face and conceded with a slight nod.
Meg sat back, surprised and impressed by Kent’s benevolence. She honestly didn’t think he had the capability to think beyond himself. And the fact that he was sitting here, dining with Leah’s parents when he was hardly the typical family man, was equally amazing.
Maybe Grams and Leah were right when they guessed that deep inside, Kent was a lonely guy.
Meg decided to work on altering her opinion of him.
After dinner and a delicious dessert of baked apples and coffee, they moved to the living room and chatted some more.
Finally, Kent announced that it was time for him to leave. Glancing at her wristwatch, Meg realized it was after nine o’clock and she hadn’t heard from Vance. She wondered if she should stop by on her way home.
“Let me grab my purse, Meg.” Leah stood to exit the living room. “I’ll drive you back to school so you can fetch your car.”
“Thanks.” Meg rose from the sofa and stretched. She’d ridden home with Leah, mainly so they wouldn’t have to end the conversation about Dave that they’d been engrossed in when they walked out of school. It had been one of those impulsive, girly decisions that wound up ending in inconvenience. But, what’s done was done. “Excellent dinner, Rose.”
“You’re always welcome here, Meg. Anytime.” Leah’s mother turned to Kent. “You are, too. I hope you’ll come back sometime soon.”
“Thank you.” He added a gracious bow to his reply and Rose actually blushed.
“And, Leah. Don’t worry about driving Meg back to school. I’m happy to do it. I’m going that way anyhow. Makes no sense for you to go out of your way.”
“Oh.” Leah’s gaze bounced between him and Meg. “Yeah, that’d work out. What do you think, Meg?”
“Sure.” It made sense.
Shaking off an instinctive feeling of uneasiness, she said her thank yous and good-byes, then followed Kent outside to his Corvette convertible. He’d pulled the top back earlier, and the night air was mild, the sky clear.
“Beautiful night.” He opened the passenger side door for Meg.
Except he didn’t stand completely out of her way, so that she unintentionally brushed by him as she climbed inside.
Warning bells clamored, but she ignored them, telling herself to give him the benefit of the doubt.
He climbed in behind the wheel, closed the car door, and started the engine.
“I need to get right home.” She hoped he’d understand that she wasn’t interested in taking any detours back to school.
“Sure.”
He backed out of the Lawtons’ driveway, and soon they were zooming down the two-lane highway.
“Ever ride in a 1972 Corvette before?” He was shouting above the rushing sound of the warm Kentucky wind.
“No, never.”
“What do you think?”
She thought about it and had to admit it felt recklessly exhilarating.
“Relax, Meg, I’m not going to bite.”
She pushed out a smile, wondering if she really appeared as uptight as she felt.
“I get the feeling you’re afraid of me. How’d that happen?”
“I don’t know.” Meg couldn’t really say.
“I’m harmless.”
“We’ll see.” She emphasized each word, then grinned.
He laughed.
Minutes later he pulled into Fairview’s parking lot and halted with an impressive squeal of his tires beside her car.
“You know? That was fun.”
Kent turned sideways, facing her. He placed his arm around the back of her leather seat. “Let’s be friends, all right? Seriously. I could use some camaraderie. My ex-wife is slaughtering me emotionally and financially.”
Meg grimaced, imagining the ugliness.
“She’s keeping the kids away from me. It’s eating me up inside. I might have been a lousy husband, but I was always a good father.”
She heard him swallow hard and felt her heart constrict with sympathy. “I’m sorry you’re going through such a difficult time. It’s got to be painful.”
“It is.” He moved his right arm, touched her cheek briefly, then held out his hand. “Friends?”
She considered the offer, then looked into his face. She couldn’t fully make out his expression with the darkness around them, but she took him at his word.
“Okay. Friends.” She slipped her palm into his.
In one, s
mooth move, he brought her fingertips to his lips.
Meg pulled her hand away. “And if you try that again, I’m going to pop you one—friend.”
Kent laughed, sounding genuinely amused. “Meg, you are one refreshing female.”
She felt mildly complimented as she got out of the car and walked around to the drivers’ side of her Civic.
“Arrivederci.” Kent revved his engine.
She laughed, suddenly finding him humorous instead of dangerous. Talk about macho!
Meg sent him a wry grin. “G’night, Kent.”
Chapter Twenty-two
The winding, narrow road leading to Miracle wasn’t a favorite drive for Meg in the dark, especially the section that spanned the steep ravine, so she ditched the idea of stopping by Vance’s house and went straight home. She had hoped to hear from him, but the phone never rang. She wondered how he was passing the time, and then it occurred to her that she’d never dated anyone with kids. And although Cammy was hardly helpless, she did require more attention than most children. Vance had his hands full. Little wonder he had any social life at all. At least he had his priorities in order, and that was one of the things she admired about him. He was a family-oriented guy. And of course, Cammy’s grandparents were still in town.
Meg pondered the situation after correcting her student’s math quizzes. She wondered what she could do to meet Vance halfway in the future—or even help him out. Suddenly, she stuffed the graded quizzes into the large black bag she lugged to and from school and made her way downstairs.
“Grams, I’ve got an idea and I want to bounce it off of you.” She entered the living room, where her grandmother sat and stitched a piece of quilting.
“Bounce away, hon.”
“I’m thinking of making a casserole or something that I can take over to the Bayers’ for supper tomorrow evening. I want to invite myself over for dinner.” She couldn’t suppress a sheepish grin. “But I’ll at least supply the food so Vance won’t have to go to any trouble. What do you think?”
Grams set down her sewing and peered at Meg from over her glasses. “Why, I think that’s a thoughtful thing to do. But I’m happy to cook for y’all if you want me to. I’ll fry up some pork chops and make some dirty rice, turn it over into a glass baking dish that you can stick into Vance’s oven and warm up.” She thought it over for a couple of seconds. “What’s more, I’ll drop it off at Fairview tomorrow on the way to my missionary convention planning meeting at church.”
“Really? That would be awesome.” Meg took a seat on the old plaid sofa. “But I really don’t want to take advantage of your generosity.”
“What else do I have to do around here if you don’t take advantage of my generosity?”
Meg saw the teasing glint in Grams’ blue eyes.
“My sons never call me. Neither do my grandsons.”
Meg stifled a giggle. She’d witnessed this good-natured rant in the past.
“Just wait until Christmastime when I forget to buy presents.”
“Grams, you’re going to get another clock from Dad and my uncles if you’re not careful.”
“Are you planning on tattling on me?”
“Heck, no.”
“Then how’re they ever going to find out that I fuss about them not calling me?”
“Guess you’ve got a point there.” Meg kept smiling.
Grams stood. “Well, now, I’d better take those pork chops out of the freezer so they’re thawed by tomorrow.”
Meg followed her out of the living room. “Will you show me how to make dirty rice?”
“Course I will.”
Grams pulled out a worn and stained cookbook. Its pages were yellowed and some of the print had been rubbed away.
“We can make up a batch tonight. It’s really better the second day.”
Meg rubbed her palms together. “Let’s go for it.”
The next day when Vance dropped off Cammy at school, he was apologetic for not calling.
“It got late and with my in-laws leaving today—”
“Not to worry, Vance. I understand.” Meg smiled at Cammy, who, as usual, was staring up at her with an adoring expression on her impish face.
“Meg, um—”
She turned back to Vance and caught the incline of his head. He wanted to speak to her in private.
“We’ll be right back, punkin.”
“Okay, Daddy.”
Meg followed him to the coatroom.
“I’m sorry. I thought about giving you a call at least a dozen times and then got distracted by one thing or another.”
“I really do understand, Vance.”
“Some women don’t.” He searched her face, her eyes, as if gauging her reaction.
“Our relationship is still new, but you’ll learn soon enough that I’m not like ‘some women.’”
“I know that already.”
His scrutiny made her feel like she might melt like an ice cube right there on the edge of the classroom.
“Maybe I can get my neighbor to sit with Cammy for a while tonight.”
“I have a better idea. I’ll bring dinner over for you, Cammy, and me.”
“No, Meg, I don’t want you going out of your way and buying dinner—”
“I don’t intend to.” She smiled. “Grams offered to make pork chops and dirty rice for us. She’s dropping it off later.”
Vance looked touched. “Awfully nice of her.”
“Remember, Grams loves to feed people.”
He laughed. “Yes, that’s right. She does.”
Some children ran into the classroom by way of the coatroom and called greetings to Meg.
“Listen, I’d better let you go. I need to get to work anyhow, but the dinner plan sounds good to me. I know Cammy will be thrilled you’re coming over tonight.”
“Good. I’ll look forward to it.”
“Me, too.”
Meg felt the affectionate squeeze Vance gave her elbow as they made their way back into the main part of the classroom. Then he kissed the top of Cammy’s head. “Have a good day, punkin.”
“I will, Daddy.”
“Meg.” He inclined his head in that reserved manner that she found so charming.
“Have a good day, Vance.”
He gave her a quick wink as he walked out the door, and Meg’s heart felt light, her energy level high, as she faced her busy day.
“Dude, if the talk is true, you sure know how to pick ’em.”
Vance slid a glance in Boz’s direction and scowled. “It’s not true.” Sitting at the picnic table on the side of Hank’s Small Engine Repair, he took a bite of the bologna sandwich he’d thrown together this morning.
“Well, Jeff said he saw her last night in the school parking lot. He and some of the guys were shooting hoops. He saw her with that musclehead gym teacher, kissing in his Corvette.”
“I think Jeff just wants your fifty bucks,” Vance said, recalling some of the guys’ stupid bet they made on Labor Day.
“What do you plan on doing about it?” Boz guzzled his cola.
“Nothing.” Vance eyed his red-headed friend. “Look, I learned a lot about Meg this weekend, and she’s even coming over for dinner tonight.”
“And maybe she’s playing the field. But, if she is, you should know. Right?”
“If she is, she has a right to. We’re not committed to each other at this point.”
Boz fell silent long enough for Vance to finish eating his sandwich.
“My mama was friends with Meg’s mother back in the day. They were in high school. Mama said she was a nice girl until after Meg was born, and then it seemed she went crazy or something. She started going to bars and getting drunk, and things escalated from there. She had lots of men, Vance. What if Meg’s the same way?”
“She’s not.” Vance’s confident reply belied the nugget of doubt lodged in his throat. Then the words he told his own daughter last night boomeranged around and hit him square between the eyes. You’
ll always have a little piece of your mama in you. But Vance had meant it in a positive way, and surely Meg’s mother had some redeeming qualities. Perhaps those were what Meg inherited, because she certainly wasn’t some sort of hussy. She’d made her share of mistakes, but she admitted it and seemed determined not to repeat the past.
“Look, man, I don’t want you to get hurt or anything.”
“I appreciate it, Boz.”
“I mean, Nicole’s a piece of work. The last thing you need is another loony female in your life.”
“Meg’s not that; she’s not altar-bound like Nicole.” Vance still couldn’t believe he’d been a victim of such deceitful feminine wiles, whether they were consciously or unconsciously executed. And, as far as he knew, Nicole was still dating that college professor of hers—even though it was just a month ago that she cornered Vance and said she loved him.
He raked a hand through his hair. Loony, all right. A guy couldn’t keep up with a woman like Nicole. He wished the professor lots of luck.
“I agree with you about Meg.” Boz rolled his soda can between his palms. “Tara and I like her. I actually didn’t want to say anything negative, but Jeff told me what he saw, and, well, I’m your best friend.”
“I know.”
The hearsay hung over Vance for the rest of the afternoon like a suspicious dark cloud over a picnic. He figured the only way to alleviate it was to confront it head on.
So, later the night, after Cammy was snug in bed, Vance decided to bring up the subject while he and Meg sat together on the covered porch that stretched along the front of his house.
“There’s a rumor flying around that you Kent Baldwin were—” He cleared his throat, deciding there was no other way to say it, but to spit it out. “Making out in his car in the school parking lot last night.”
“What?” She sat forward and twisted around to face him. The double wicker rocker creaked in agony. “That’s a lie.” She paused and her insistent expression waned. “Well, I was in his car, but only because he gave me a ride back to the school parking lot after we had dinner at Leah’s house. Honestly, Vance, there was no ‘making out.’ Nothing of the sort.”
“I believe you.” He did, too. “But, you know, Meg, you’re a free agent. You can see whomever you want.” As much as it ran contrary to his feelings, the thought had crossed his mind more than several times this afternoon. After all, she’d only been here a couple of months.
Love Finds You in Miracle, Kentucky Page 21
