Promises Under the Peach Tree

by Joanne Rock

  Defensiveness straightened her spine.

  “Is that so?” Her skin started itching and it was all she could do not to scratch.

  “You just always seem so...I don’t know. Perfect, I guess. Like the kind of girl who wouldn’t get into trouble.” Ethan took a step down the ladder and then another until they stood on even ground.

  Where he was still so much taller than her.

  “You’re wrong, Ethan Brady.” She felt shaky all over, but in a good kind of way. He’d never been this close to her. “I wouldn’t be getting into trouble. I’d be leaving it behind.”

  What could her parents do once she turned eighteen anyhow? Besides, Ethan was the one good thing in her life and if he left this town, she didn’t want to be in it.

  He shook his head as if he didn’t quite believe her. That easygoing smile she’d always loved returned to his face.

  “I don’t know about you, Ally,” he teased, picking up a lock of her brown hair and rubbing it between his thumb and forefinger.

  Her heart stopped.

  Then started again at a jackrabbit pace.

  “Maybe you ought to change that,” she challenged him, hoping it sounded as flirty as she wanted it to.

  His smile widened.

  Ally drew a deep breath and took a gamble.

  “So...you want to come with me?”

  * * *

  Where were you today?

  Wiping the flour off her hands onto one of Gram’s old aprons, Nina read the text from an unknown number with a Tennessee area code. She’d been baking for hours and the kitchen currently smelled like hazelnut from the batch of Linzer torte cupcakes she’d made. Gram’s old oven was bigger than modern models, and it worked as well as Nina recalled, but she still couldn’t make nearly as many at a time as she could with professional-grade equipment.

  She was just starting to reply Who is this? when another text popped up on her screen.

  I thought you were coming to the Harvest Fest meeting?

  “How does Mack have my cell-phone number?” She glanced at her grandmother who sat at the kitchen table stirring sugar into her cup of tea.

  The spoon clinked against the side a few times before Gram looked up from the newspaper.

  “He messaged me about an hour ago to ask for it,” Gram admitted, shifting her raised knee on the pillows Nina had stacked on a hassock for her. “He said you were supposed to be at a meeting, I think?”

  Mischief sparkled in her blue eyes as she peered over the frames of her reading glasses.

  Nina sighed. “I suppose you have the number for half of Heartache in that phone.”

  Gram dragged her cell closer, the purple-and-pink floral case brighter than most teenagers would carry. “Can I help it that I like technology?”

  “No. But you could warn me when you give people my number,” Nina grumbled as she plunked out a message for Mack into her sleek phone, the high-tech model a “business” expense purchased by her now ex-partner. The silicone case was black with the white-and-red Cupcake Romance logo.

  You said you’d give me the notes.

  “I’ve missed having Mack around.” Gram took her glasses off and slid the chain off them so that it dangled freely. Then, she dragged it across Taz’s head, inciting the cat to go into full-on hunter mode to chase the chain. “Even after you left, Nina, he still came by sometimes to say hello and ask if I needed anything.”

  Taz practically did a backflip trying to catch the chain, and Nina smiled to see Gram having fun with her pet. No doubt it got lonely for her here.

  “He likes taking care of people,” Nina admitted, setting down her phone when the timer buzzed for her latest batch of cupcakes.

  In fact, Mack had liked taking care of people so much that he’d forgotten about his love for Nina when his best friend’s girlfriend had needed comforting. Not that she was bitter about it anymore. But it had hurt at the time.

  “It’s more than that, and you know it. He’s a good man.” Gram laughed when Taz managed to yank the chain away completely and fought it with all his feline-might. “Did he talk you into helping out with the festival?”

  “How did you guess?” Nina slid the last two trays of cupcakes into the oven and set the timer again.

  “He’s a smart man with a lot of new responsibilities. You just rolled into town with a barn full of baking equipment and too many hours on your hands.” Gram shrugged. “Wild guess?”

  “You’re right and I’m happy to help, Gram, but I can’t attend a bunch of meetings where people spend hours arguing about whether to use a pumpkin or a cornucopia in the festival ads. Things like that make me crazy.” When she’d started Cupcake Romance with Olivia, they’d divvied up duties according to their strengths, with Nina doing most of the work in the kitchen and Olivia being the face of the business and keeping the books.

  Then again, in that instance, avoiding boring meetings hadn’t worked out so well for Nina.

  “You always did prefer to keep busy,” Gram observed, retrieving the eyeglass chain from Taz and securing it back onto her glasses. “Just like your mom and dad. It was as if a whirlwind was blowing through this house when you all came to visit.”

  Nina wanted to argue that she wasn’t anything like her parents, but her phone distracted her.

  Notes are on their way. We volunteered you for all the jobs no one else wanted since you weren’t there to say no.

  “Seriously?” Nina started typing a protest, but she punched the keys so hard with her finger that she typed more errors than anything.

  Gram tugged aside the sheer curtains at the window near the table. “Were you expecting someone, love? There’s a car coming up the driveway.”

  “Really? Why would he text me if he was stopping by anyhow?” Nina’s hand went automatically to the apron ties around her waist and undid them. Then, catching herself, she refastened the tie. Damn it, what did she care what she looked like?

  Just because they were going to try to forgive each other for the past didn’t mean he wanted any more from her than that. She’d been wrong to flirt with him out by the barn earlier. It was as if she’d fallen into some autopilot mode, which was weird since she’d never exhibited a flirtatious side with anyone else she’d ever met.

  “It’s not a he,” Gram clarified. “I believe it’s Scott Finley’s wife.”

  Bethany? Too surprised by the unannounced visit to be embarrassed at jumping to conclusions about Mack, Nina brushed the extra flour off the apron and moved toward the door.

  She opened it wide to let in the fall sunshine and fresh air. Bethany Finley hopped out of a small, extended-cab pickup with a custom paint job that read Finley Building Supply. Scott’s wife still had the thick, wavy hair that Nina remembered—a distinctive feature that she’d passed on to Ally. But she was thinner now to the point of appearing unhealthy—as if eating hadn’t occurred to her for quite a while. Bethany carried an arm full of binders, her sleeveless white blouse showing how angular she looked. Spotting Nina, Bethany quickened her pace, her red flip-flops slapping the pavement as she walked.

  “Welcome home, Nina.” She held out one arm and enveloped her in a quick hug. “It’s so good to see you.”

  “Thank you.” Nina stepped back. “I hoped to catch you yesterday when I stopped at your mother-in-law’s house, but you must have been working.”

  “Always.” She gave a tight smile as she came in the house and set the stack of binders on the kitchen table. “Hello, Mrs. Spencer.” She gave Gram a hug, too. “You haven’t spoken to Ally today, have you? I thought she was going to text me an update of her plans before supper, but I haven’t heard from her since she left the house early this morning.”

  Nina’s timer went off for the cupcakes and she pulled them out of the oven while Gram explained she hadn’t seen Ally
since she’d driven her home from her hair appointment the day before. Nina shut down the baking operation, putting the last trays on cooling racks. She could frost everything later.

  “I don’t mean to get in your way if you’re working, but I’d volunteered to bring you some of the notes on the festival.” She pointed toward the binders, her cell phone vibrating in her hand. She glanced at the screen but ignored the call. “Mack said you might be able to help out with the food?”

  “Yes.” Guilt pinched that she’d blown off the meeting. “Sorry I wasn’t there today.”

  “Have a seat, honey,” Gram gestured to Bethany to sit down. “You want some tea?”

  “No, thank you. I can’t stay. The store is really busy this time of year and I spent a couple of hours away for the festival meeting. Scott got Mack to sub for him, but unfortunately, I don’t have a sibling to come to my rescue.” She laughed, but there was an edge to it. Aware of what she was going through with Scott, Nina wasn’t sure how to respond.

  “Did you set a date for the next meeting?” Nina eyed the binders, wondering if she’d gotten in over her head.

  “Next Friday at three, but if you want to go over any of the notes with me before then, just give me a shout at the store. It would be great to have some company for a while.”

  There was a lonely desperation in her eyes and Nina promised herself she would visit soon.

  “I’d like that, too.” She pointed toward the cupcakes everywhere. “I’ll bring some treats for you and the staff once I get them frosted. Want me to fix you one to take home?”

  She tried not to eye Bethany’s thin arms while she willed her to accept the gift.

  “They smell fantastic, but I just ate.” Bethany stepped toward the door. “I’m sure the staff at the store would turn cartwheels to try them, though. And in the meantime, if you see Ally, will you remind her to call me? I know Ethan Brady works over here occasionally, and where Ethan goes, Ally is soon to follow.”

  “He’s a dear boy,” Gram reminded her. “Nice to see you, Bethany.”

  “I’ll walk you to your car,” Nina offered, holding the screen door for her. “Thanks again for coming out here.”

  As the door swung closed behind them, Bethany lowered her voice. “I volunteered because I wanted to make sure you knew that I’m really glad you’re staying in town for a couple of weeks. I was so distracted with my own family and the business after the accident, I didn’t say goodbye or wish you well when you left for college.”

  “Oh. No worries. That was a long time ago.” Nina hadn’t guessed Bethany would feel any regret about that. She’d always been kind to her. “Things were so awkward afterward, I thought it best to just...leave.”

  “But I should have written. I meant to after you’d been so good to Ally.” Bethany’s phone kept buzzing, making Nina think business must be going pretty well at the building-supply store.

  “I know things were hard for Mack, too.” She remembered the handful of phone conversations they’d had when they’d still been speaking that summer. Mack had been truly devastated to lose Vince and had gone over that night a million times in his head—and aloud to her—about what they could have done differently.

  But hadn’t it come down to what she should have done differently? That’s what had hurt most. Mack kept wondering why she’d had to be so hotheaded and come down so hard on Vince. As if she wouldn’t already be haunted for the rest of her life knowing that her last words to that boy had been thoughtless and harsh. That he’d been so hurt he’d...

  “Mack had his whole family.” Bethany laid a hand on Nina’s forearm. Squeezed gently. “And with the Finleys, that’s a formidable amount of support. I should have reached out to you.”

  Nina glanced down to where Bethany touched her and noticed her fingernails were chewed down to the quick, the polish chipped and faded at the tips. Bethany pulled her hand away.

  “Mack and I are going to try and put it behind us,” Nina assured her. “We agreed we needed to move on.”

  “I’m glad.” She smiled, but there was something strained about her expression, as if she hadn’t really smiled for a while. But then it faded and she leaned closer. “Nina? Did Mack tell you about Scott and me?”

  “He said he came to town to help out so Scott and you could have some time—”

  “We’re separating. He hasn’t really looked at or listened to me for years, so he probably hasn’t gotten the message.” The sadness in her voice was unmistakable as she spun her wedding ring around and around her finger with her thumb, almost like she couldn’t wait to get it off. “I’m trying to wait it out until Ally graduates, but things are so bad now, I’m not sure we’ll make it that long.”

  “I’m so sorry.” Her heart went out to this woman, remembering how happy Mack’s brother and sister-in-law used to be. Did Mack know they’d already decided to call it quits? “You two were the perfect couple.”

  “I used to think so, too.” She blinked fast and then folded her arms across her chest. “But I figured you should be aware because it will have repercussions in the family, and if you and Mack—”

  “There’s no ‘me and Mack.’” She wanted to make that clear right away. “It was by accident that we ended up in town at the same time. We’ll be lucky if we can salvage some kind of friendship. We’re definitely not—” She shook her head even as she remembered how she’d flirted with Mack earlier that same day. “Too much water under the bridge.”

  “Yeah?” Bethany tipped her head to one side, as if deciding whether or not she believed that. “There was a time when a lot of people thought you two were the perfect couple.”

  That dream had died in a car on Washburn Creek Bridge, right beside Vince McClean. But then, that hadn’t been the only dream riding shotgun that night.

  Nina cleared her throat. “If there’s anything I can do for your family while you are going through this—”

  “Actually, there is.” Bethany stuffed her hands in her pockets. “Ally could use a friend right now. She’s completely shut down at home. Her grades have dropped. She’s angry with both Scott and me. It’s tearing me apart to see what this is doing to her.”

  Nina remembered how confusing it had been when her own parents had split. She’d been younger than Ally, but she hadn’t understood what went wrong any better at seventeen than at ten years old. It didn’t help that neither of her parents had ever bothered explaining what had happened.

  “I’ll bring Gram to her next hair appointment and try to catch Ally then. I don’t know if she’ll have much to say to me, but I can certainly offer an ear if you think it will help.”

  Bethany bit her lip. “She would never want me to interfere in her life. But I just thought...if you happen to be talking to her...”

  “Of course.”

  “I meant what I said about being glad to have you back in town, Nina.” Bethany’s smile was crooked, but didn’t look quite so pained this time. “Will you consider staying? Mack said you moved some of your baking equipment into the barn.”

  Nina smiled at how fast news traveled in a small town.

  “I’m keeping my apartment in New York for now. I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do.” Her stomach clenched whenever she thought about it. She didn’t want to leave Gram on her own. But how could she ever stay in this small town that had suffocated her and then—after that accident—looked at her as the woman whose words had driven Vince to his death? At least, that’s how she’d felt on the weekends she came home during college. When she’d tried asking one of her closest friends about it, she’d confided that most people had “sided with Jenny,” agreeing that Nina had let her temper get the better of her when she lashed out at Vince the night of his death.

  That had hurt. Still did.

  “New York.” Bethany backed up a step toward her pickup truck, considerin
g. “Maybe I’ll go with you, then. The city sounds like the perfect place to start over.”

  Had she started over, though? Or had she just run away?

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “MACK FINLEY, you’re a sight for sore eyes.” The waitress at Lucky’s Back Porch sized him up as she chewed on the end of her pencil in a not-so-subtle attempt to flirt. “A fine, fine sight.”

  On weekend nights, Lucky’s Grocery turned into an outdoor rib joint with live music and picnic tables dragged over from the town gazebo. The town council had debated the permit for over a year before approving it, arguing that the family atmosphere of the town square would be compromised. But having live music and dancing outside brought out people in droves. All the vendors on the town square stayed open later and did more business because of it. Mack had dropped by to check out the place, always interested to see a successful bar business in action. Plus, tonight’s band had a growing following for their country-bluegrass blend of music.

  At sunset, the place was already rocking with a supper crowd feasting on barbecue chicken and ribs. Kids played on the playground near the gazebo while moms clutched their after-dinner coffee mugs and followed them around, the dads sharing beers on the “back porch”—an extended platform deck that was added on to the existing patio for the weekends. A bunch of white lights hung from low tree branches and a couple of patio heaters flanked the porch, but since the evening was mild enough, they hadn’t been switched on.

  Mack stared up at the waitress and tried to remember how he knew her.

  “Nice to see you, too—” he peeked at her name badge, half hidden under a blond ponytail that rested on the front of her shoulder “—Shirley.”

  “Sherry.” She rolled her eyes and took her pencil out of her mouth. “Thanks, Mack. I was only your lab partner in biology for a whole year.”