by Various
They were meandering over to the umbrella-topped tables when she noticed Brooks heading toward them from the parking lot. “Perfect timing,” she tried to call out, but was grabbed around her upper arm and pulled to an abrupt halt by Annabelle. When Duncan and Vance were out of earshot, Annabelle looked at Lolly and apologized.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I love you like a sister, but I will never have this opportunity again. I promise I will make it up to you, so please just go with it.” She started walking forward before Lolly had a chance to object.
“Wait. What?”
“You have no idea what havoc Brooks and Vance wreaked on me last New Year’s Eve during my first date with Duncan,” she whispered as they headed toward the table. “It is payback time. Brooks!” she cooed, greeting him with a big hug and kiss. “What a surprise. What brings you to the Club this afternoon?”
Brooks came up short, shooting a glance at Lolly. He tried to move toward her but Annabelle stepped into his way time and time again. “I thought I’d join y’all for lunch,” he finally said. “Figured it would be a good chance to catch up.”
“Well,” Annabelle sighed, turning away from him and strolling toward the table, “as long as you don’t mind being a fifth wheel.” She took hold of Lolly’s arm, vigorously pulling her toward the table and the chair next to Vance. “Sit,” she whispered in her ear as she pushed Lolly down. Annabelle took the chair next to Lolly’s. “Come sit by me, Brooks. We have so much to chat about. Duncan, sweetheart, if you wouldn’t mind walking over to the pool bar, Lolly and I are dying for a Mojito and it will be so much faster if you get them.”
Duncan, who was sitting next to Vance, looked between Annabelle and the waiter who had just arrived to take their drink orders. Lolly noticed that one raised brow was all it took from Miss Devine to have her significant other doing her bidding without question or complaint. Wow, what would it be like to possess that kind of power?
“Thanks, sugar,” she said as he moved off. Then Annabelle turned her full attention to Vance and Lolly.
“You two really make quite a couple. So good looking, the both of you. And your ability to partner each other so well in tennis—it’s just a match made in heaven. Who would have thought it would take young Lolly DuVal to make Vance Evans fall in love.”
Vance, who had been downing a tall glass of water, choked and spewed water down his chin.
Brooks tapped Annabelle gently on the arm to get her attention. Before Annabelle turned, she winked at Lolly.
“When I heard they were playing tennis together,” Annabelle said to Brooks, “I thought how nice that there are no hard feelings between you and Vance.”
“Annabelle—”
“I mean, after all, you were the one smart enough to invite her to the engagement party. And frankly, I thought the two of you made a rather nice couple. But now, after seeing them hugging in the parking lot this morning, with their dark heads together and their tanned and athletic bodies all cuddled up into one another, well, I guess it was meant to be.”
“What the hell happened in the parking lot?” Brooks looked around Annabelle to Vance.
“Nothing!” Vance said, but his nervous laughter and playboy smile indicated differently.
“Oh, Brooks! I didn’t realize. I’m so sorry I brought it up,” Annabelle said with a level of sincerity only found in Oscar-winning actresses.
“Are you?” Brooks eyed her suspiciously.
“Of course. Why would I want to create any animosity between you and Vance?”
“Why indeed?” he scoffed. “Lolly. What the hell is going on?”
Annabelle interceded, continuing to block Lolly from his view. “They really do make quite a stunning couple, don’t you think?” With her mega-watt smile at full tilt, she nodded between Vance and Brooks.
“Duncan James!” Brooks hollered as he stood, turning to look behind him. Halfway back from the pool bar with a Mojito in each hand, Duncan stepped a bit quicker. Brooks reached behind Annabelle and held his hand out to Lolly.
“May I have a word with you?” he said quietly.
Annabelle started to object as Duncan arrived at the table. “What’s going on? You’re not leaving, are you?” Duncan asked.
“No. But get your woman under control by the time we get back,” he said, pulling Lolly out of her seat to trot behind him.
“Be brave, Lolly,” she heard Annabelle yell behind her.
“Brooks,” she said, stumbling behind him as he dragged her into the clubhouse and down the long corridor. “Annabelle was just giving you a hard time.” He looked in the window of a door or two as they passed and finally pulled her into the small gym outfitted with treadmills, ellipticals, and weight machines. They were alone. “Something about New Year’s Eve.”
“I know,” Brooks said as he drew her into the corner of the room and then dragged her into his arms. “I know,” he said against her lips. Then he gently bit her bottom lip and ran his tongue along the inside of it. The thrill of it jolted her body into awareness. She pressed up against his chest, wrapping her arms around his neck and angling her head so her tongue could wrestle with his. He deepened the kiss and then brought it to a conclusion just as her mind was starting to go blank.
Stepping back, he looked her over, taking assessment. “Are you okay?” he asked. “You look great, by the way,” he threw in before going on. “Are we okay? After last night?”
Lolly felt her heart do a little flip. She nodded. “We’re good.” She smiled. “We’re real good,” she added, surprising herself with the words. She watched as no small amount of relief unwound his shoulders and torso.
“Good. ’Cause I didn’t sleep much. And I wanted to…bring you flowers, but I didn’t want to do it, you know, here. With the Keeper of the Debutantes and her social committee out there. Didn’t want to…I don’t know…draw too much attention.”
Lolly could only nod her head up and down. He wanted to bring her flowers. After last night. Finally, she found her voice.
“I was up all night too.”
“Really?” He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her in a loose circle.
He was so broad and so tall that she had to look way up to see his face. She also had to stifle the urge to lick her lips as she surveyed the expanse of his chest. Why didn’t she have her hands all over him last night when she had the chance?
“I freaked you out, didn’t I? I got caught up in the night and you and––” he apologized, but when Lolly put her hands on his chest and started to rub, he stopped. “What?”
“I may have been a little freaked out,” she admitted. “But after careful review, I’m sort of looking forward to the next time you want to freak me out.”
“Fucking A,” he whispered before kissing her hard. “I love when you talk dirty.” He grinned. “We better go. We don’t want Princess Annabelle to come looking for us.”
“You know she was just kidding, right?” Lolly said as she followed him out the door and down the hall.
“Hmm. Why was Vance kissing you in the parking lot today? Or were you pissed off at him again? Seriously, I’m going to start trying to piss you off if that’s the way you like to get retribution.”
“No! There was no kissing.” She grabbed his hand and dragged him to a stop so he would turn and look at her. “My mother is dating his father!”
“Oh. Yeah. How did you find out?”
“They told me. Why aren’t you surprised?”
“As we were hightailing it away from the house last night, I saw a blue Maserati come down the street and pull into your driveway. There’s only one guy in town who owns a car like that.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Lolly. Your mother begged me to get you out of there. It was her news to tell, not mine. I was just glad I could assure you he wasn’t a married man.”
“Okay, but that was big information you withheld from me. Information that could have helped me get to sleep a little quicker.�
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Brooks cocked an eyebrow. “Your mom dating Vance’s dad was information that was going to help you sleep?”
“No. You’re right. That has me freaked out too. Thus the parking lot incident this morning.” They started walking back to the table hand in hand. “I was introduced to Hale Evans and did not connect him with Vance until he gave me his car keys and I wandered out to the Corvette. The Corvette Vance picked me up in for our second date. To put it mildly, I was still stunned and dazed when Vance found me sitting in his father’s car in the parking lot. He was as sweet as he could be about it. Thus the hug.” She turned to Brooks and eyed him seriously. “There’s nothing going on between Vance and me.”
Brooks eyed her back. “Don’t kid yourself. There’s plenty going on between Vance and you.”
“Well,” she sputtered. “Nothing you need to worry about.”
“So you both keep telling me,” he said under his breath. “Look. Vance wants you to come out and play pool with us one night. The kind of thing I’ve accused him of hating to do with women. He thought maybe you’d have a friend who wouldn’t mind rounding out a foursome. He said he’d be on his best behavior.”
Lolly’s mouth opened and then closed. Finally she said, “I’m going to have to think about that.”
Brooks pulled up straight and folded his arms over his chest, scrutinizing Lolly. “Either you want to keep Vance all to yourself, or you are concerned about throwing one of your friends to the big bad wolf.”
“When you’re right, you’re right,” she said, turning and walking toward the table.
“Well, which is it?”
Lolly just threw him an over-the-shoulder smirk.
Reaching the table, Brooks demanded, “Annabelle, move that pretty hide of yours one seat over. You think Vance is so good looking—you sit next to him.”
“Payback’s a bitch,” she said, moving as directed.
“Your words, not mine,” Brooks commented.
“Ah! Did you just call me a bitch?” Annabelle feigned insult.
“If the shoe fits—”
“All right!” Duncan intervened. “That’s enough. Can we please order now? After being defeated by a cocky bastard and a girl fresh out of high school, I would like to console myself with a big cheeseburger. Who’s with me?”
The waiter came over and took their orders. The food came and the conversation flowed. All seemed forgiven as the four friends who surrounded Lolly laughed, teased, and joked with each other. She sat there just a little envious. She missed Darcy and the rest of her friends. So many had moved away and came back only for holidays and brief visits. Henderson wasn’t the same after college. People got jobs elsewhere and moved away.
Sweet Annabelle must have noticed her mood because she pulled Lolly into the conversation by asking about her tennis dress, which Lolly had designed and created, and then about the dress she’d worn to Darcy’s engagement party, which Lolly had also designed and created. Annabelle pursed her lips saying, “You and I should have a chat. I may have an idea.”
Lolly began to inquire but was interrupted.
“Dad!” Vance called and waved. Lolly and the rest of the table turned to see her mother and Vance’s father walking toward them, hands linked. While Lolly gaped, feeling shell-shocked all over again, the boys immediately stood in greeting. Vance began mooching chairs from other tables so the two could join them.
Her mother took the seat to Vance’s right, and Mr. Evans sat next to her mother. Annabelle, being the perfect hostess in any awkward situation, opened the conversation beautifully. “We were all just saying how wonderful it is that the two of you have found each other.”
Hale reached over and took her mother’s hand, looking into her eyes before responding. “Annabelle, we appreciate the support. I’m afraid I’ve been keeping this pretty lady all to myself for a while now, and I guess it’s time we made it known around here that we are…dating.”
The table erupted into light applause.
“We thought we’d come up to see how Lolly was doing.” Hale nodded in her direction and she gave him a nervous smile. She was terribly embarrassed about all that she’d divulged in his presence, but if he was willing to overlook it, so could she…. She hoped. Brooks reached for her hand under the table and gave it a squeeze. Her heart flipped again, and her thoughts started down a slippery slope of remembering the best parts of last night. But Hale’s words drew her back.
“And we also hoped to invite all of you to join us on the Fourth of July, here at the Club. I’m going to reserve a table. It may be somewhat of a spectacle with the widow DuVal on my arm. And until I’m able to mend some neglected friendships, it would be a bit awkward for the two of us to be seated alone.”
“We’d also like to invite Darcy and Lewis,” Genevra added. “If they are planning to be back in town.”
“They are,” Brooks said.
“My parents are going to be thrilled with this news. I’ll make sure the Devine table is located next to yours,” Annabelle said. “More support. Though I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the reaction Henderson will have to the two of you.”
“It’s Jeb, JB, and Jimmy he’s worried about,” Vance said quietly.
“Momma. Tell them ahead of time. They are bound to be happy for you,” Lolly insisted.
Genevra, Vance, and Brooks all did the exact same thing. The three of them cast their eyes down and shook their heads in the negative.
Duncan asked the question Lolly wanted answered. “Why not?”
Everyone at the table looked to Brooks.
What the…? Lolly thought. The Golden Boy of the ’hood is going to be the one to answer? About her uncles? About her own father?
“Jake DuVal is a living legend around here,” Brooks said. “Right or wrong…and excuse me if I’m talking out of turn, Mrs. DuVal, but from all I’ve heard as I’ve come of age, wrong seems more like it.” Lolly’s eyes went wide as her mother nodded her agreement. “The DuVal clan has enjoyed keeping the legend alive by taking care of their brother’s wife and daughter, among other things. While Mrs. DuVal remains unmarried, she’s helping to keep Jake’s memory alive.”
“They’ve been wonderful to us,” Genevra said to the table at large as she rubbed Hale’s hand. “They built my home. They’ve watched over Lolly. They stepped in whenever she needed a father figure for a dance or an event at school. I’m grateful for a lot of what they’ve done for me in their brother’s name.”
“For a lot of what they’ve done?” Lolly spoke the words back to her mother. “Sounds like there are things you haven’t appreciated.”
Hale stole a glance at Vance and Brooks. Brooks tapped Duncan on the shoulder and said, “How ’bout we get the ladies two more Mojitos at the bar?” Lolly noticed it only took Duncan a second to move after Hale, Vance, and Brooks started to stand.
“We’ll be at the bar by the pool when you ladies are done,” Hale said. He leaned down and kissed Genevra on the cheek and then followed the younger men away.
Lolly’s heartbeat sped up so it pounded in her ears. She watched Brooks and Vance leave the table, her mouth gaping open. Then she looked at her mother and crossed her arms over her chest. “Why do I get the feeling that shit is about to hit the fan?”
Chapter Eighteen
Annabelle started to rise, but Lolly flung her hand out to grip her arm. “You are not leaving me too,” she insisted. “You are staying here and facing whatever I have to face. And then you are going to…to tell me how to keep my head from exploding!” Annabelle slowly took her seat and gripped Lolly’s hand.
Across from them, Genevra clasped her hands on top of the table.
“Lolly. There is some information that may come out now that Hale and I are…dating. To be completely honest, I never had any intention of telling you any of this.” She ducked her head as she said the words. “But what I have with Hale is serious enough—and you are old enough—to know the truth. I want you to hear it from me.”
Lolly glanced around, noticing that previously occupied tables were now abandoned. They were essentially alone, and Lolly counted on Annabelle to send one of her stealthy, super-secret hand signals to the waitstaff so they were not interrupted.
“Momma,” Lolly said, “I figured out I was conceived out of wedlock a long time ago. You had me when you were twenty, for God’s sake. If that’s what all this is about, well, whatever. You certainly weren’t the first Henderson couple who had to get married.”
“You’re right,” her mother conceded. “I wasn’t the first Henderson bride who had to get married. But I am the first and only one whose groom got drunk enough to admit to his groomsmen that he didn’t want to marry me.”
Lolly’s heart stopped. Dead. “What? He loved you. That’s what everyone says. That’s what they tell me all the time.”
“Of course they do. What else would they say? That’s what they wanted me to believe. Of course, when I found out the accident happened sixty miles in the opposite direction from the church where I stood waiting to take my vows, it became a little hard to cover up.”
“What do you mean?” Lolly asked. “Sixty miles from the church where you…? He died on your wedding day?”
Genevra bit her lip and nodded. It was plain that she couldn’t speak.
“Oh, Momma!” Lolly said. “I’m so sorry.”
“Oh!” Genevra broke down a little. “Lolly, Sweetsie. I’m fine. Now. It’s you who I’m worried about.”
“Well, what’s it got to do with…?” The dawning came slowly. Arriving in bits and pieces. “You were never married.” Lolly watched her mother nod. “You and my father were never married. And…yet, everyone calls you Mrs. DuVal.”
“Oh. My. God,” Annabelle chimed in before clasping a hand over her mouth.
“It’s all right, Annabelle. It is rather shocking what I allowed them to do to me.” She looked at Lolly then. “Sweetsie, your uncles adore you. This changes nothing about your relationship with them, your aunts, or your cousins, many of whom will be shocked if they ever hear about this. Everyone simply followed your grandmother’s orders, trying to make a good outcome out of a horrible situation.”
