Dogwood Hill

by Sherryl Woods

  She smiled. “I never said they weren’t good kisses,” she reminded him.

  “Just that we couldn’t repeat them.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Like I said, you were wrong.”

  “I think I was referring to the wisdom of repeating them, not to your ability to sneak one in.”

  He stood back with an expression of mock indignation. “There was nothing sneaky about that kiss. We’re out on a terrace all alone in the moonlight. We’re drinking champagne.”

  “I had one sip, hardly enough to cloud my judgment.”

  He chuckled. “So you went into that kiss with no excuses,” he taunted. “That’s even better.”

  She tilted her head and studied him. “You have an argument for everything, don’t you?”

  “When I need one,” he said. “My point is that all the signs were pointing to a romantic encounter.”

  Amusement sparkled in her eyes. “So, if I didn’t want you to kiss me, I should have made a dash for it when you first appeared with that champagne.”

  “A wise woman who truly didn’t want to be kissed would have,” he agreed.

  “This theory of yours works out rather conveniently for you,” she noted. “All of the responsibility falls on me.”

  He grinned unrepentantly. “Amazing how that works out, isn’t it?”

  To his surprise, she chuckled and moved closer to rest her head against his chest. “I honestly don’t know why I keep fighting this so hard,” she said. “In my mind, pushing you away makes all the sense in the world, but when you’re this close, getting even closer is the only thing that makes sense.”

  Though her words were music to his ears, there was a note of regret in her voice he couldn’t ignore. He hated that what felt so right to him still filled her with so much conflict. How could they possibly move past that?

  “Liz, tell me what you really want. If it’s not me, I can walk away.”

  “You didn’t before,” she reminded him.

  He smiled. “I wasn’t convinced then. Convince me.”

  She looked into his eyes. “I don’t know how.”

  “Because it’s not true?” he suggested quietly.

  Her sigh was heavy and heartfelt. “Because it’s not true,” she acknowledged in a whisper.

  “As long as I know that, we can figure out all the rest,” he told her.

  “I wish I could believe that.”

  He ran his fingers through her hair again, then caressed her cheek lightly. “Believe it, sweetheart. I do.”

  He wasn’t entirely sure why or how he had so much faith with so many things left unsaid between them, but he did.

  * * *

  Liz woke up on Sunday morning to find the foyer filled with suitcases. She found her mother and sisters already in the kitchen, filling a Thermos with coffee. She eyed them warily, poured herself a cup and sat down, looking from LeeAnn and Danielle, both of whom deliberately avoided her gaze, to her mother.

  “I gather you all are anxious to get on the road,” she said carefully. “I didn’t think you’d be leaving this early.”

  “Mom’s idea,” LeeAnn said, casting a hard look toward their mother.

  Liz sighed. Of course it was. She’d lain awake the night before trying to figure out why her mother hadn’t said a word on the ride home from the party. Now she knew. She’d seen or heard something that had sent Liz’s disapproval rating into the stratosphere. That’s what all the whispers she’d heard coming from the bedrooms had been about.

  “Whatever’s on your mind, Mom, why don’t you just say it to my face?” Liz suggested. “You’ve obviously already filled in Danielle and LeeAnn.”

  Her mother’s back stiffened. When she finally turned around, there were tears in her eyes. “I am so disappointed in you,” she said. “You’re just not the woman I raised you to be.”

  Nothing she might have said would have cut through Liz more. She’d told herself over the years to ignore her mother’s nonstop guilt-inducing remarks, but how could any daughter live with knowing what a constant source of disappointment she was? She sometimes thought the one thing she’d done right in her mother’s eyes was marrying Josh March. Quite possibly that was why she’d never wanted her to know the truth about their marriage, a truth she herself had discovered way too late.

  “What is it I’ve done now?” she asked, though the answer was obvious. It had something to do with Aidan.

  LeeAnn regarded her sympathetically. “Don’t listen to her, Liz. There is nothing wrong with moving on with your life. And Danielle and I both like Aidan. We really do.”

  “A man like that?” their mother snapped. “One who’d take advantage of a grieving widow?”

  Liz stared at her mother in shock. “Nobody is taking advantage of anybody, Mother. And I am not a grieving widow. I’m sorry Josh is dead, but our marriage would have been over anyway.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” her mother said. “That man adored you and you never showed him the respect he deserved.”

  Liz knew she was at least partly responsible for her family’s misguided view of her marriage. She’d never wanted them to know the truth. She wasn’t sure if she’d been protecting their illusions about Josh or whether she’d feared just this, that somehow she’d be the one in the wrong for the failure of the marriage. That once again, she wouldn’t have measured up to her mom’s impossibly high standards. Ironically, they only seemed to apply to Liz. LeeAnn and Danielle had always gotten away with everything with little more than a scolding and a chuckle.

  “Maybe I did make mistakes,” Liz said defensively, tired of hiding the truth. “In fact, I’m sure of it, but the worst might have been trusting my husband.”

  Her mother looked shocked. “How could you say a thing like that? Josh March was a fine, decent man.”

  Exhausted by the long-running charade, she said quietly, “I say it because it is true. Josh was cheating on me, Mom. He had been for months. At least with the woman I found out about. Maybe he’d been at it even longer.”

  The bitter words hung in the air. Liz noted the shock and disbelief on her mother’s face, but LeeAnn and Danielle exchanged a telling look, proving that they’d somehow suspected not everything had been perfect in Liz’s world.

  “I don’t believe you,” her mother said, her voice icy.

  “The night Josh died—our anniversary, by the way—I was talking about having a baby and he told me he wanted a divorce, that there’d been somebody else in his life for a long time. Does that give you some idea of what a great guy he was?” she asked, bitterness rising to the surface and spilling out.

  LeeAnn gasped. She stood up and enveloped Liz in a fierce hug. “That son of a...” She glanced at their mother and edited herself. “That stupid son of a gun.”

  Liz almost smiled. Even at a moment like this, they were still fighting for their mother’s often-withheld approval.

  “I am so sorry, Liz,” Danielle said, looking genuinely shaken. “You should have told us.”

  “Really? When? At the funeral home when everyone was extolling his virtues? Maybe at the cemetery, when I thought for sure his mother was going to throw herself into the grave? Or back at the house when everyone was speaking in low, reverent whispers?”

  Danielle flushed with guilt. “No, not then, of course, but after that, or when we were alone together, just the three of us, you, me and LeeAnn. We’re your sisters. We could have listened and given you the kind of support you really needed.”

  Liz sighed. “I’m sorry. I guess on some level I was trying to protect Josh’s memory for the people who loved him. Just because I was disillusioned, I didn’t think everyone else needed to be. Besides, I didn’t really have time to come to grips with any of it. Everything happened so fast. He made his big announcement, I tossed him ou
t of the house, and then he died, all within a couple of hours. I was in shock on way too many levels.”

  She turned to her mother then to see what her reaction to all of this was. Doris was sitting at the table clutching a cup of coffee with a white-knuckled grip, her complexion pale.

  “I knew,” she said, her voice shaking.

  Liz stared at her blankly. “Knew what?”

  “About Josh seeing someone else. I saw them, more than once. I didn’t want to believe it. Your father was so sure I was imagining things. He had a dozen perfectly reasonable explanations for what I’d seen.” She drew in a deep breath. “Since you seemed so content, I told myself I had to be wrong, that I didn’t have enough proof of anything to risk stirring up trouble for you.”

  “You were protecting Josh, not me,” Liz said, her tone flat.

  “Absolutely not. I kept quiet because I didn’t have proof. I did it for the sake of your marriage. I was sure if there were problems you’d work them out. You never said a word about any trouble, so I blindly let myself believe there wasn’t any that you couldn’t overcome.”

  “If you thought he might be cheating, how could you go on acting as if he were such a saint?” Liz demanded.

  “Because I wanted so badly to believe I’d been wrong. I know it doesn’t make sense but I wanted to believe you were truly happy. That’s how you were acting.”

  “Then be happy for me now,” Liz pleaded. “Aidan could be the one who can help me to move on. I don’t know that for sure, and you’d better believe I’m going to take my time until I do know, but I want you to give him a chance, too.” She gave her mother a hard look. “I think we can agree that you owe me that much.”

  Her mother sighed. “You’re probably right. I will try. We certainly heard nothing but good things about him at the party last night.” She smiled. “Your friends had quite a lot to say about what a fine man he is. Mick O’Brien certainly sang his praises.”

  Liz could just imagine. “Will you stay a little longer, then? Maybe go to Sally’s for breakfast? Aidan’s usually around. So are a few of the other people you met last night.” Then she added the lure most likely to appeal to them. “There are waffles and French toast on the menu with genuine Vermont maple syrup.”

  “Count me in,” Danielle said eagerly.

  LeeAnn regarded her with amusement. “So much for dieting.”

  “Oh, to heck with it,” Danielle said. “I had a baby. My husband needs to get over it.”

  Liz looked around at her sisters and her mom, all of them suddenly sporting new attitudes.

  “Wow, it’s a whole new day for the Benson women!” she said.

  A surprising spirit of camaraderie filled the room. Even her mom seemed to have been infected.

  “Power to us!” her mom said with real spirit.

  Liz stood up and pulled her into a hug. “I love you, Mom.”

  Danielle and LeeAnn joined them. “Us, too,” LeeAnn said.

  Once again, her mom blinked back tears. “You know you were telling us about the magic that seems to happen in Chesapeake Shores. I have to admit I thought you were crazy, but I’m starting to believe you. I haven’t felt this close to you girls in years.”

  Liz shrugged. “What can I say? This town is all about family. Apparently that affects even those who aren’t O’Briens.”

  17

  Aidan was just coming back from his run with Archie on Sunday morning when the dog spotted Liz and her family crossing the town green. Though he held tightly to the dog’s leash, he was no match for Archie’s determination to break free.

  As the Aussie shot off in their direction, all he could do was shout a warning. “Archie, get back here,” he commanded, then added, “Liz, watch out!”

  She was already laughing when the dog jumped up and began exuberantly licking her face as if he hadn’t seen her in weeks. Her mom and sisters took several careful steps back and watched the scene warily.

  “It seems as if you’re awfully well acquainted with Aidan’s dog,” LeeAnn said, already reaching out to scratch Archie’s head. He abandoned Liz in favor of making a fresh conquest.

  Aidan loped over to join them, nabbing the leash Archie had yanked from his hand. “Sorry,” he apologized, then shook his head as the dog unabashedly moved on to seek attention from both Danielle and Mrs. Benson. “Apparently he has a real thing for the women in your family.”

  “He’s fickle,” Liz said. “No question about it. Cordelia would be mortified. She thought she’d trained him better than that before she turned him over to me.”

  Her mother regarded her with surprise. “He was yours?”

  “Just a houseguest,” Liz explained. “Then he adopted Aidan.”

  Her mother’s lips quirked. “I imagine you had no say in the matter?” she asked Aidan.

  “Not much,” he agreed. “Between Archie and your daughter, I was pretty much doomed. They were very persuasive.”

  Her mother smiled. “Liz was the same way with every stray that came to the door back home. We’d have been overrun with them if she hadn’t had a way of persuading all the neighbors to take them in. I doubt there was a home in the area that didn’t have a pet she’d talked the owners into adopting.”

  “So it’s not a recent development,” he concluded.

  “Heavens, no. Though I wasn’t happy that she gave up teaching, it’s little surprise to me that she’s doing something related to animals.”

  Aidan noted that Liz seemed as surprised as he was by the accepting tone of her mother’s comments. He also noted that she seemed uncomfortable with the sudden shift.

  To change the subject, he asked her, “Are you on your way to breakfast? I noticed when I left for my run that Sally’s is filling up fast.”

  Liz nodded. “I persuaded them not to take off at the crack of dawn and stay for breakfast. It didn’t require much persuasion once I told them about Sally’s waffles and French toast.”

  “Outrageously delicious,” he assured them.

  To his shock, it was Liz’s mother who said, “Would you care to join us? I’d like to make amends for treating you so badly.”

  Aidan regarded her with shock. “You never mistreated me,” he said. Oh, she’d made her displeasure with his presence in Liz’s life clear, but she’d never been outright rude to him. Good Southern manners—or Liz’s immediate defense of him—had kept her from crossing that line.

  “Maybe not overtly, but my behavior was deplorable and you didn’t deserve my suspicions,” she said. “If it’s not too late, I’d like to get to know you better. Mick O’Brien said some very nice things about you last night. So did everyone else I met.”

  Still startled by the attitude adjustment, he turned to Liz, who merely shrugged. LeeAnn and Danielle were clearly amused.

  “Then I’d be happy to join you,” he said. “Just let me take Archie upstairs and change out of my running clothes. I’ve tried leaving the dog outside Sally’s, but he looks so sad when he watches me through the glass that everybody thinks I’m heartless.”

  “Well, it’s obvious to me that he adores you,” Mrs. Benson said, that rare note of approval still in her voice.

  “I won’t be long, but go ahead and order without me,” he suggested.

  “We don’t mind waiting,” Mrs. Benson said, clearly determined to be cheerful and accommodating. “Take your time.”

  As Aidan headed upstairs, he couldn’t help wondering what the heck had gone on among these women after he’d said good-night at the party. The atmosphere had gone from frosty to warm overnight. Maybe it didn’t really matter. Whatever had changed finally seemed to be working in his favor.

  * * *

  “Boy, when you decide to be more open-minded, you throw yourself right into it, don’t you, Mom?” Liz said, regarding her mother with
astonishment.

  “Well, there’s not much time left, and Aidan seems to be important to you, so I figured I’d better not waste a minute.”

  “And we’re always happy for a little eye candy,” LeeAnn chimed in.

  “Amen to that,” Danielle added.

  Liz laughed when their mother regarded them with disapproval.

  “Girls! Behave yourselves,” she scolded. “You’re grown women with husbands and children.”

  Danielle, for once, didn’t look even slightly intimidated. “Are you seriously trying to tell me that you haven’t noticed what a hunk Aidan is?”

  A guilty flush stained their mother’s cheeks. “Whether I have or I haven’t, I’m not so indiscreet that I’d blab about it.”

  “She’s noticed,” LeeAnn said triumphantly. “I mean, Dad’s a good-looking guy for his age, but Aidan is swoon-worthy, right, Mom?”

  Their mother shook her head. “I sometimes think you must have been raised by a pack of wolves. Daughters of mine would never say such inappropriate things about their own parents.”

  LeeAnn nudged her with an elbow. “Just admit it, Mom. You finally see what we see in Aidan, don’t you?”

  “He’s an attractive man,” she conceded grudgingly. “But it’s character that really counts.”

  “Amen to that,” Liz said in heartfelt agreement as she led the way into Sally’s and claimed the last available booth in the crowded café.

  Fortunately they were several tables away from the various O’Briens, who were already eating, though no place would be far enough away from their prying eyes and smirking gazes once Aidan arrived.

  When he walked in the door, she noticed him looking around for an extra chair, but there were none to be had. Her mother obviously noticed that, too. She waved him over.

  “Just squeeze right in beside Liz and LeeAnn. They don’t take up much space.”

  Grinning, he glanced at Liz. “Is that okay with you?”

  Before she could reply, LeeAnn was already sliding over toward the wall.

  “Come on, big sis. Make room for the man.” A huge grin spread across her face. “Or you could let him sit in the middle. That would be cozy.”