Sweet Tea at Sunrise

by Sherryl Woods

  “You’re going to break up with Mom, then set her up on a date?” Travis asked, astonished. Was it any wonder he had a jaded view of relationships?

  “Son, I broke up with her years ago. This will just reinforce the message. As for setting her up, she’ll never know I’m behind those men calling at an opportune moment. Despite what she thinks, I do care about her. I know I’ve done my part to make her life miserable, but she’s wallowed in that misery for long enough now. Worse, she’s used you as her sounding board to keep it alive. That ends today.”

  Travis didn’t honestly believe his father could make good on that promise, but when the day passed without a call from his mother, he began to think that maybe Greg’s strategy had worked. When another day went by with no frantic calls, he was sure of it. For the first time in years, he could focus exclusively on his own life and stop worrying about this endless game his mother and father had been playing with him serving as referee.

  Mary Vaughn had finally cajoled her doctor into letting her go to The Corner Spa for a facial, a manicure and a pedicure. She took Rory Sue along as a thank-you for her hard work lately, showing real estate to prospective buyers. Rory Sue had made her first official sale on Sunday. Though she still didn’t share Mary Vaughn’s excitement for the business, the thought of splitting the commission with her mom had stepped up her interest.

  “How’ve you been feeling?” Jeanette asked as she massaged a soothing lotion onto Mary Vaughn’s face.

  “Frustrated,” Mary Vaughn replied. “How about you? You look amazing.” She surveyed Jeanette in the mirror, then added with a note of wistfulness in her voice, “You’re actually glowing.”

  She had more of a baby bump than Mary Vaughn did, too. She was already wearing stylish maternity tops that clung to her rounded tummy.

  “Where’d you find that top?” Mary Vaughn wanted to know. “I’ll have to send Rory Sue shopping for me, since there’s no way I can go. I had to plead my case just to come here for a couple of hours. I told the doctor how relaxing it would be.”

  Jeanette regarded her with concern. “Next time you’re feeling in need of some pampering, you don’t have to come in here. I’ll come to the house, and I can send over the manicurist, too.”

  Mary Vaughn regarded her gratefully. “You’d do that?”

  “Of course, I would. You’re a valued customer, aren’t you? To say nothing of being my friend. Honestly, I hadn’t thought about what it must be like for you to be shut away at home. Why don’t I grab some chick flicks from the video store and bring them over one night? We can eat a half-gallon of ice cream and cry off the calories.”

  “You name the night,” Mary Vaughn said eagerly. “I’ll make sure Sonny has other plans.”

  “So, what have you been doing to keep yourself busy?”

  “I’m napping too darn much, for one thing. And I’m keeping up with my real estate business as best I can. Rory Sue handles the appointments, but I put the deals together.” She grinned. “And you’ll never believe this, but Liz and a couple of her friends have been coming over to play cards. Flo Decatur’s been by with her twice now.”

  “Helen’s mother?” Jeanette asked incredulously.

  “Yep, me and the seniors,” Mary Vaughn said jokingly, then sobered. “But you know what? It’s been a lot of fun. They’re so thoughtful to do it, and I swear I learn something new about this town’s history from Liz every single time she stops by. I think she’s trying to prepare me to take over for her as an activist, but she’s so remarkable, I doubt anyone will ever be able to replace her.”

  “Travis just adores her,” Jeanette said. “He says letting her stay on in the guest house was the best decision he’s ever made. He won’t admit it, but I think it’s because she spoils him rotten by cooking all his favorite dishes and bringing them over to him.”

  “He’s picked her up at the house a couple of times, and it’s wonderful to see how he dotes on her,” Mary Vaughn said. She glanced up in the mirror to make sure Rory Sue wasn’t close by, then added in a low tone, “I wish my own daughter showed that much appreciation for her elders.”

  “Come on now,” Jeanette chided. “She came home to help out, didn’t she?”

  “And complains bitterly about it whenever things don’t suit her. I’d hoped maybe she’d meet someone or at least build a friendship with Sarah, Annie and Raylene, but it hasn’t happened. She’s too much like me, I think. She won’t appreciate the value of friends until later in life. It certainly took me long enough to realize what I was missing by not having the kind of friendships you found with Maddie, Helen and Dana Sue.”

  “And you,” Jeanette told her.

  Mary Vaughn felt her eyes sting with tears at Jeanette’s declaration. “Come on now. Don’t say stuff like that. I’m weepy enough these days. My hormones are on a perpetual roller coaster.”

  Jeanette gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Tell me about it. Just imagine the kind of sobbing we can do on movie night. It’ll be a relief to Tom that for once he won’t have to cope with me going all weepy out of the blue.”

  Mary Vaughn met her gaze in the mirror. “I usually hate messing up my makeup, but it’s going to be worth it to cry my eyes out without poor Sonny thinking I’m having a breakdown.”

  “Amen to that,” Jeanette said knowingly. “Tom watches me as if I’m so fragile that one wrong word will unhinge me. Worse, he’s right.”

  “I’ll check Sonny’s schedule and call you with a date,” Mary Vaughn promised. “Hopefully one night next week.”

  When she left the spa with Rory Sue an hour later, not only did she feel pampered, but making plans with Jeanette had been just the boost her spirits needed. Maybe she’d try one more time to get Rory Sue together with Sarah and the others. Her daughter needed to discover that girlfriends were every bit as important as having the right man in her life.

  Though it had been years since she’d actually dated, Sarah recognized that dinner with Travis at his place on a Saturday night was a real milestone. She’d even made arrangements for the kids to spend the night with their dad, so she had all night long for this date. There could be no pretense that she and Travis were getting together tonight strictly for business. Even if he hadn’t made his intentions perfectly clear, the sparks these days were all but impossible to ignore.

  And if her own impressions weren’t enough, half the town seemed to be fully aware of what was going on between them. Expectations were high, especially at Wharton’s, where she suspected Grace actually had some kind of pool going. Sarah was scared to ask what the bet was.

  She stood at the front door, trying to make herself leave the house. Raylene looked up from the book she’d been pretending to read and feigned shock that she was still there.

  “I thought you’d left,” she said.

  “I can’t seem to open the door,” Sarah admitted.

  “Well, speaking as someone who faces that fear all the time and loses, I’d suggest you just do it fast, or you’ll wind up shut away here with me.”

  “Not amusing,” Sarah said. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

  “You have cold feet,” Raylene said readily. “You know if you go over to Travis’s tonight, it’s not just about dinner. And once the two of you do the wild thing, there will be no turning back. You’ll have to face the fact that it’s serious.”

  “For me, at least,” she conceded. “I fell for him even though I tried so hard not to. He makes me feel…” She searched for the right word and came up with one that was both simple and meaningful. “He makes me feel special.”

  “Because you are.”

  “I can’t stop thinking about his past, though. And about his father. Do men like that ever really change, or are they just masters at making whoever they’re with at the time feel special?”

  Raylene put down her book and regarded her seriously. “Sweetie, you know as well as I do that life doesn’t come with guarantees. Neither does love. You just have to lead with your hea
rt.”

  “That’s the part that’s terrifying,” Sarah admitted.

  “Tell me about it,” Raylene empathized. “But you know the good news? You got your heart broken once before and here you are, stronger than ever. You survived and found out just how fabulous you are, and now you have a man who appreciates that. What’s not to love about that? I’d say the odds are all in your favor.”

  Sarah ran across the room and gave her friend a fierce hug. “What would I do without you? You always put things into perspective for me.”

  “Right back at you,” Raylene said. “Now get out of here and have a wonderful evening. Try not to think everything to death.”

  Sarah grinned. “If Travis has his way, it’s much more likely that I won’t think at all.”

  Travis was more nervous than he’d been in years. Liz finally looked at him in disgust.

  “You’d think you’d never been on a date before,” she chided. “What is wrong with you?”

  “I just want this to go well. A lot’s riding on it.”

  “Relationships don’t come apart just because one date doesn’t go exactly right. Stop putting so much pressure on yourself. The beef Stroganoff will knock her socks off. The asparagus is perfect. The dessert is outstanding, if I do say so myself. I haven’t fixed a chocolate decadence cake like that in a while, but people still remember the last one.”

  “Okay, thanks to you, the food’s covered,” he said. “I get that, but what about me? There’s no guarantee that Sarah’s finally going to stop looking at me as if I’m bound to let her down.”

  “Only time will prove that to her. You’re just going to have to give her however much time she needs. There’s no magic bullet to get you there faster. Now I’m going to get out of here before she catches me and decides I’m meddling.”

  “Or invites you to join us,” Travis said.

  “You could have worse company,” Liz teased. “At least I could coach you through these nerves.”

  “Just how pitiful would that make me look?” he asked, then held up his hand. “Never mind. I already know.”

  Liz gave his hand a squeeze. “Just remember what a catch you are in anybody’s book. You’re not going to be the only lucky one tonight. Sarah’s darn lucky to have found you.”

  “Maybe I should have you write a testimonial and leave it for her.”

  “She already knows,” Liz assured him. “I see it in her eyes whenever she looks at you. It’s time the two of you took a leap of faith.”

  When Liz had gone, Travis walked through the house one last time. His furniture had come, there were carpets on the floor and curtains at the windows, but there was something missing. The house still didn’t feel like a home. He wasn’t sure what he’d forgotten.

  Then Sarah walked in and, as if the room had suddenly been transformed, somehow it all felt right. She was what the place needed—what he needed—and he intended to do everything necessary to make sure she became a permanent part of his life.

  The meal, for all the combined effort Travis and Liz had put into it, could have been sawdust for all the attention Sarah paid to it. She studied Travis across the fancy new dining room table and realized he was equally distracted. Unable to ignore her nerves for one more second, she set down her fork.

  “This isn’t working,” she announced.

  “Is something wrong with the food?” he asked, immediately looking alarmed.

  “The food’s great, but I’m a wreck and so are you. Admit it.”

  “Why would you say that?” he asked, his expression wary.

  “We both know what this date is about and, to be honest, I can’t seem to focus on anything else.”

  “You think I’m going to try to seduce you,” he surmised.

  “Aren’t you?”

  A smile tugged at his lips. “It crossed my mind to try. I was thinking I’d at least wait until after dessert, though. I understand that Liz’s chocolate decadence cake is quite seductive in its own right.”

  “Save it,” she said decisively, and stood up. “Let’s get this over with.”

  Travis chuckled, but didn’t budge. “Now those are words every man dreams of hearing from a woman he’s hoping will make love with him.”

  Sarah studied him with a narrowed gaze. “Are you backing out?”

  “Nope, just trying to figure out how to get the romance back into this before it spins out of control into some kind of booty call I’ll hear about forever.”

  “I’m too scared to worry much about romance,” she confessed. “Believe it or not, I’ve never slept with anyone besides Walter, and if you don’t make a move soon, I’m probably going to pass out right here.”

  Finally, Travis was on his feet. “Well, we definitely can’t have that,” he said, scooping her into his arms and cradling her against his chest. He stood there looking down into her eyes. “We don’t have to do this, you know. We could agree to table it for another time, enjoy the rest of the meal, then maybe make out on the sofa all night long. Then we can sit on the patio drinking sweet tea at sunrise before you go home.”

  “As lovely as that sounds, no. I may never work up this courage again,” she said, terrified that he might back down and she’d have to go through this stomach-knotting tension all over again.

  “I just wish you didn’t look and sound as if this were some kind of chore you need to get out of the way,” he told her.

  She hesitated, her hand in midair, then rested it against his cheek, her expression softening. “I don’t mean to. If you could feel the way my heart is racing, you’d know how much I want this, how much I want you. I just don’t want to get it wrong.”

  “You couldn’t possibly get it wrong,” he assured her. “There’s no way.”

  “Don’t be so sure,” she said dryly. “Walter—”

  He cut her off. “Walter is not going into this bedroom with us,” he said heatedly. “Is that clear? Neither is anyone I’ve ever been with. Tonight is all about you and me and our first time together.” His eyes held hers. “Can you focus on that?”

  Right at that moment, in his arms, with unmistakable desire shining in his eyes, Sarah was pretty sure she’d think of nothing else for the rest of the night…and maybe for days to come.

  23

  Though she’d resolved to live totally in the moment, Sarah grew increasingly self-conscious as Travis removed her clothes. Despite working out for months at The Corner Spa, despite the weight she’d lost, she was still the mother of two, not some slim supermodel. What would he see when he looked at her?

  To her regret, instead of making short work of stripping off her clothes, he took his own sweet time about it. Shivering as his fingers skimmed over bare flesh, she kept her gaze pinned on his face, waiting for any hint that he was repulsed by what he saw. Toward the end of their marriage, Walter had insisted on making love in the dark. Sarah had assumed it was because he couldn’t bear to look at her overweight body. He’d never said or done anything to dispel that notion, either.

  Now, though, as her bra and panties disappeared, leaving her completely vulnerable, and Travis’s gaze seemed to be taking her in with a kind of reverence, the last of her nerves evaporated right along with those final scraps of lace.

  In that instant her doubts fled. She forgot about months of being conditioned to expect rejection or criticism. She felt unimaginably beautiful, and for that she would always love Travis. In just a few heartbeats, with a few passionate glances and intimate caresses, he’d restored her body image, right along with the missing piece of her self-esteem. She felt whole again, the way she had before Walter and his family had chipped away at her confidence.

  After that, she let herself go in Travis’s arms, let herself feel…everything. Travis took her on the ride of her life, showed her a side of passion she’d only read about in books. He was a thoughtful, generous lover. He turned parts of her she’d never imagined being sensitive into newly discovered erogenous zones.

  Even as she lay there, w
eak and trembling, he looked into her eyes and began to move again, coaxing her to come with him, teaching her that new heights were possible, making her his.

  When sensations washed over her like a tidal wave, tears filled her eyes. “I never…” she whispered, her voice catching with the wonder of what she’d experienced.

  He touched the dampness on her cheeks, his gaze filled with concern. “Never what?”

  “Knew it could be like this. Isn’t that amazing, that I could have been married for all that time, and never had any idea sex could be magical?”

  He smiled at that. “Sarah Price, you do the most amazing things for my ego,” he said.

  “Don’t get too sure of yourself,” she retorted. “It only counts if you can do it again.”

  Travis laughed at that, which was yet another shock. She’d never known it was okay to laugh in bed, to make fun of yourself or your partner. Walter had never wanted to talk at all. He’d always focused on the end result, not the journey.

  “I’ll do it again and again, for as long as it takes to convince you,” Travis offered.

  “Now you’re just bragging,” she teased, relishing the freedom this night had taught her.

  Travis’s expression sobered. “Care to test me?”

  She cupped his face in her hands and looked into his eyes. “You know, I think I would,” she said, then drew his head down until their mouths met.

  It was hours before they said another word, but this time the silence was especially sweet.

  After confirming one more time with Sarah that she thought she could work with her ex-husband, Travis called Walter back into the station to offer him the sales job. Though his personal distaste for Walter ran deep, he was wise enough to recognize that he was the right man for the job. And if Sarah could put the past behind her for the sake of their kids, Travis certainly ought to be able to.

  When Walter showed up for the Monday afternoon meeting, Travis gestured to a chair. He studied the man who’d made such a mess of his marriage to Sarah with something that felt surprisingly like pity.