So at 6:40 I was ready and waiting, wearing a maroon dress that looked conservative except for its plunging neckline. It only added to my list of worries, but in the scheme of things, when anyone could perform a simple Internet search and see the whole goods, wasn’t a plunging neckline a moot point? I had to admit the color looked good with my skin tone, so if Detective Holden decided to pull the trigger and arrest me tonight, at least I’d look good in my mug shot. I wondered if TMZ would cover it on their website.
But I was still a basket case of nerves.
Not surprisingly, Belinda was punctual. She pulled up to Momma’s house at promptly 6:45. She was wearing the same clothes she’d had on earlier—a pencil skirt and a cardigan—making me happy with my wardrobe choice.
Belinda walked in, took one look at me, and squealed in delight. “Oh, my word, Magnolia! You look just like a movie star.”
I was ready for my mother’s eye roll. She hated any kind of reference to my theatre life, even if Belinda had gotten the venue wrong.
“I’ll have her back before midnight,” Belinda said with a giggle, then grabbed my arm and dragged me out the door.
I wasn’t surprised to see she drove a BMW, and a newer model at that. I climbed into the passenger side, then prepared myself to deal with the overly excited woman next to me. Belinda didn’t disappoint.
“I can’t believe you’re actually back! I’ve been dying to meet you ever since I found out you were the real Magnolia Steele! I’ve looked at your profile on the Broadway website so many times, and I even saw you in the chorus in Matilda.”
“Really? That was two years ago. How long have you and Roy been together?”
Belinda must have picked up on my hurt feelings, because she turned and gave me an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry we didn’t invite you to the ceremony. It all happened so quickly, and Roy insisted you wouldn’t be able to get away. He said you needed at least a month’s notice to take time off, so there wasn’t any point in inviting you and making you feel guilty for not coming.”
She seemed genuinely upset, so I gave her a warm smile. “He’s right. I usually need several weeks’ notice.”
“Besides,” she said with a sigh of relief, “it was a small wedding. Nothing extravagant.”
Belinda looked like a girl who would want a big fairytale wedding.
“Why?” I asked without thinking.
For the first time I saw her smile waver. “Roy didn’t want one.” The corners of her mouth quickly tipped back up. “Good thing for me, I have plenty of weddings to live vicariously through.”
My stupid brother. He’d always been a self-centered twat, but I would have hoped he’d rein that in for his wife. “Belinda, I’m so sorry.”
“Oh, don’t be.” She waved her hand as though to wave my sympathy away. “It was much more practical. We used the money we would have put into a wedding for a house.”
While it seemed reasonable and logical, it was easy to figure out that Belinda had wanted the white dress and the flowers and the fancy reception.
“Well, I’d love to see the photos sometime. I saw one on Momma’s photo wall in the stairway. You were a beautiful bride.” No need for her to know about my Facebook stalking.
“You’re so sweet to say so.” Her smile twitched. I realized this conversation was making her uncomfortable.
The last thing I wanted to do was hurt her, so I changed the topic. “Tell me what to expect tonight.” I had a good idea, but I hoped I was wrong.
Her shoulders relaxed. “You’ve really never played Bunco?”
“Yep. I’m a Bunco virgin.”
The soft glow of the dashboard lights didn’t hide her blush.
“Well, it’s really very easy.” Then she spent the next five minutes explaining something about dice and Yahtzee, but I’d tuned her out, my mind a jumbled mess from trying to figure out how to keep from getting arrested.
Before I knew it, Belinda had turned down a cul-de-sac lined with cars and a house with all the interior lights illuminated. A string of lights ran along the sidewalk to a southern-style front porch decked out with wicker chairs and cushions. The porch light completed the welcoming look.
Belinda parked across the street and turned to me with a sweet smile. “I can’t wait to introduce you to everyone.”
I only hoped they were as excited to meet me. My gut told me this would be a disaster, but Belinda got out of the car before I could beg her to go get mani-pedis or see a movie instead. She was waiting for me at the end of her car, her cute Kate Spade purse hanging from the crook of her arm.
I got out and hurried toward her, jumping a little when the horn gave a single loud honk.
“You can’t be too safe,” she said, shaking her key fob. She sounded very much like a mother in an infomercial for safety scissors.
It suddenly occurred to me that there were a lot of things she didn’t know that her friends might—about my Broadway mishaps, for one, and my trouble with the law, for another. “Belinda, I’m not sure if it’s a good idea for me to go in there.”
“That is so cute that you’re nervous.” She gave me a patient smile and shook her head. “Don’t worry, Magnolia. They’ll love you. How could they not?”
I could give her a slew of reasons—the real question was where to start. “Belinda, you have to listen to me. There are several things you don’t know.”
“I know all about the videos,” she said as she continued to walk, her heels clicking on the concrete driveway. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about.” She stopped and turned to me, grabbing my hand and holding it between her own. She gave me an earnest look. “You have a beautiful body, Magnolia Steele. Anyone who gives you grief over it is simply jealous.”
I was fairly certain that wasn’t true, and incredibly, that was much lower on my list of concerns than it had been the night before. “That’s not it . . . or I mean all.”
Belinda was already climbing the steps to the porch. She moved with alarming speed, probably hoping the host would open the door before I could run back to the car.
When she reached the middle of the porch, she spun around to face me. “Magnolia,” she said in a mock stern voice. “You have nothing to worry about.”
She rang the doorbell before I could stop her, then laughed at my look of shock when the tune to Rocky Top rang out in chimes. “I guess Blake went to the University of Tennessee. I hear he’s kind of a fanatic.”
The blood rushed to my feet. Oh, God. Had she said Blake? That had to be a coincidence.
The front door flung open and revealed a pretty blonde woman wearing a silky pink blouse and pearls paired with cream pants and ivory sling-back heels.
Oh, God. No. This was her house. But how? Belinda had said the party was at her friend Sylvia’s house . . .
“Maddie!” Belinda said. “That was so sweet of you to fill in for Sylvia after her son came down with strep throat this morning. I hope it’s okay that I brought a guest.”
“Well, of course,” she said in a bright voice, but all the color drained from her face when she saw me. Maddie looked as if she’d seen a ghost.
Belinda had turned to face me, so she missed her reaction. “Maddie, this is my sister-in-law, Magnolia.”
I wanted to turn around and run, but my feet refused to move. Instead I stood my ground. “Hey, Maddie.”
She still didn’t speak, and Belinda was finally grasping that there was tension between us. “Do you two already know each other?”
Maddie crossed her arms as the color returned to her face, anger slowly creeping into her eyes. “I thought we did, but I was obviously wrong.”
“I think I should go,” I said quietly, wishing the ground would open and swallow me whole.
“That’s right, Magnolia. Go on. You’re good at taking off, aren’t you?” she said. “The shocker is that you actually bothered to tell me this time.”
“I’m sorry, Maddie. I’m so sorry,” I said, my voice breaking. “I didn’t know
that you’d be here. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have come.”
“And you and I both know you do what you want,” Maddie said, her tone as cold as a January wind in New York. She shrugged and glanced back inside before turning to face me again. “You can do whatever you want, Magnolia. It makes no difference to me one way or the other.”
I watched her walk back inside with all the grace of an old movie star.
“Magnolia?” Belinda asked softly. “How do you know Maddie Green?”
Several years ago—before I’d stopped looking—I’d learned via Facebook that she’d married the lying, cheating bastard. I’d tried to reach out to her after leaving—if only to tell her that Blake was cheating on her—but she’d never answered my calls, emails, or texts. For all I knew, she’d deleted all my messages without checking them out.
The air in my chest froze and tears stung my eyes.
“Magnolia?”
“She was my best friend,” I pushed out past the lump in my throat.
“Oh, gosh,” Belinda said. “I had no idea.”
“Didn’t Momma tell you? Or Roy?”
She shook her head, dangerously close to tears herself. “No. I only know her because she’s a neighbor, but we just bought our house six months ago. We’re not really friends, just acquaintances. And Roy never spends any time with the neighbors. I don’t think he knows she lives here. If he did, he sure didn’t mention it.” She paused, turning her attention to a car pulling up to the curb. “What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know.” I didn’t want to go inside, but I didn’t want Maddie to have further proof that I was a coward.
“You know what I think?” Belinda asked.
“What?” I whispered.
Her mouth turned up into a tight smile. “I think you should walk into that room and hold your head high. You’re Magnolia Steele, Broadway star. Did you make mistakes before you left New York? Apparently, but I dare any of the people in there to lay claim to perfection.”
“This isn’t forgetting to send a birthday card, Belinda. I took off. Without a word. I broke Maddie’s heart. And Momma’s. And maybe even Roy’s just a little bit. I tried to make it right with Maddie after I left, but she didn’t want to hear it.”
“No one takes off like that without a reason.” She grabbed my hand again and squeezed it. “And maybe you’ll trust me enough to tell me one day, but for now I just want to be your friend.”
“Why?” I asked, wiping away a tear. “Because I’m Magnolia Steele, former Broadway star?”
“No,” she said, leaning forward and squeezing. “Because you’re Magnolia Steele, Roy Steele’s sister and Lila Steele’s daughter. That makes you my family, Magnolia, and family sticks together. I’ve got your back.”
I shook my head. “You have no idea what you’re doing, Belinda. You’re so sweet you’re probably friends with every woman in that room. If you walk in there with me, you may well ruin yourself forever.”
She released a soft laugh. “Well, that’s probably an exaggeration. I doubt I’ll be ruined forever. And besides—” she gave me a sad look, “—my life could use a little shaking up.” Then, keeping a tight hold of my hand, she walked through the still-open door.
As I crossed the threshold, I realized I was not only walking into Maddie’s house, but Blake’s as well.
Oh, God.
I felt like I was going to throw up, but Belinda kept her head held high and tugged me around several card tables decorated with tablecloths and mason jars full of fresh-cut flowers that couldn’t have already grown and bloomed in middle Tennessee in March. A woman on a mission, she didn’t stop until she reached two women. She flashed them her megawatt smile. “Trudy, Samantha, this is my sister-in-law, Magnolia. She’s just come back to town.”
The two women’s eyes widened, and I couldn’t help but wonder what part of my life shocked and offended them most. Maybe all of it. But Belinda, powered by her Energizer Bunny spirit, charged through the room, introducing me to at least half of the twenty or so women in the house, using her positive can-do attitude to challenge anyone who would dare to besmirch my name. Most of the faces were unfamiliar, but two of the women had gone to school with Maddie and me. They made sure to steer clear of us as Belinda made the rounds, not that I had a problem with that. It was no surprise to see where their loyalty lay.
As we wandered the first floor, my anxiety dropped several levels when it became apparent Blake was nowhere around. But there were plenty of other issues to keep the anxiety brewing.
Belinda led me into the kitchen, and I did a double take when I saw Emily standing behind an island stacked with a multitude of food. She took one look at me and drained her wine glass. Her very next move was to refill it from a decanter.
“I heard you were here. You know, I was starting to think you’d changed. I never expected that you would stoop this low.”
“I didn’t know she’d be here.” My whisper held a hard edge. “I didn’t even want to come at all.”
“It’s my fault,” Belinda assured her. “I had no idea there was history between Maddie and Magnolia. No one ever talks about Magnolia’s past, and I only met Maddie a couple of months ago. She’s never seen me with Roy, so we never made the connection.”
Emily studied her for a moment before giving a slight nod. “It didn’t occur to me to mention anything to you either.” She gave us a halfhearted smile, then grabbed an empty glass and filled it.
“White wine sangria?” she asked as she held out the glass to me, giving me an anxious look. Was she worried her friends would find out Momma had roped her into representing me? Or maybe she was worried I’d tell everyone about how she’d frozen up in that interrogation room. She had nothing to worry about. I didn’t plan to tell anyone any of it.
“Yes.” The alcohol was masked by fruit juice and ginger ale, and I’d drained half of it before realizing what I was doing.
Emily offered Belinda an empty glass, but she shook her head with a sweet smile. “Oh, no thank you. I’m the designated driver, so I’ll stick to sweet tea.”
“Really, Magnolia—” the woman’s voice was horribly familiar, and it came from behind me, “—I can’t believe you had the nerve to show up after all these years and everything else.”
Dammit. I didn’t have the strength to do this. I spun around to face Ashley Pincher, the girl Blake had been cheating with on the night of our graduation. She’d hated my guts since middle school. She probably liked me even less now that I knew her little secret. “Talk about nerve, Ashley. I’m surprised you have time to play Bunco, what with all your extracurricular activities.”
I took a sip of my drink, pretending like I didn’t give a damn. Belinda and Emily gave me a curious look, but Ashley’s eyes narrowed. She knew exactly what I was talking about.
“No one wants you here,” Ashley said, enough venom in her voice to kill. “You should run off and leave like you did before.”
“Maybe I should spill a few secrets first. Some Maddie might like to hear.”
Her face paled, and the hatred in her eyes was overlaid with fear.
Belinda looped her arm through mine and said in her sweet, cheerful voice, “Leave? Why, that’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard.” She turned to look at me and squeezed my arm, offering me a warm smile. “We’re thrilled you’re here.” Something shifted in her eyes—ever so slightly—as she turned her gaze to Emily’s, but I saw it and I know Emily did too.
Emily plastered on a half-smile. “Yes, of course. And so is Lila.”
Maddie walked into the kitchen with a tray of appetizers. She stopped and her mouth dropped open at Emily’s statement.
Oh. Shit.
But Maddie recovered faster than I probably would have given the situation. “Lila’s like a second mother to me,” she said to Belinda, ignoring me. “In fact, she gave me the recipe for these crab puffs. So if Lila’s happy, then I’m happy for her.”
She poured herself another glass of san
gria. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to check on my other guests.” She shot me a glare, then cast one that read traitor to Emily and headed out of the kitchen.
I wanted to apologize to Emily, but I wasn’t sure why. She’d held a grudge against me for years, and she’d basically taken over my old life. Was I supposed to apologize for coming back and disturbing her friendship with my ex-best friend?
But I had been the one to move on. I had been the one to make a fresh start, leaving everyone I cared about behind to pick up the pieces. Could I blame Maddie or Momma for the way they’d coped? Could I be upset that they had lives that no longer included me? Or that they resented my return?
“Let’s get something to eat,” Belinda said, handing me a blue Fiestaware plate.
Another look at Maddie’s island told me that she’d drunk the Williamson County Kool-Aid. There was so much food displayed, it looked like she’d been preparing for days instead of since this morning. Multiple appetizers and dips, six desserts, the white wine sangria—which I recognized as another one of my mother’s recipes—as well as sweet tea, margaritas, and cosmos. The food was staggered in varying heights so each dish could be displayed, and the pitchers of drinks were arrayed in a silver ice bucket.
I realized this would have been my life if I hadn’t left. I would have come home after college, and then I would have gotten married and had kids. Two of them. Maddie and I had come up with almost identical life plans our senior year of high school. I remembered mine by heart: I would go Southern University and major in education. Then I would come home, marry Tanner, and we’d start a family—a boy and a girl and a dog. Tanner and I would live in this very neighborhood, and we would have our happily ever after. But watching these women now, I had to wonder how happy they were throwing Bunco nights and cul-de-sac cookouts. Living in houses with literal white picket fences.
For the first time since I’d left, I wondered if I’d done myself a favor.
I put some food on my plate, but not much—my stomach was still churning with anxiety. It was like a bad case of stage fright, except the only way I was going to get applause from this group was if someone doused me with pig’s blood at the end of the evening—which they’d only dare if they got me outside and next to the sewer drain, lest the blood leave a stain. But even that seemed unlikely. Thank God.
Center Stage: Magnolia Steele Mystery #1 Page 13
