by Josie Kerr
“Oh, Mrs. Sampson,” he said, standing up from the table and taking her offered hand. “How are you doing? I saw your daughter and her fiancé this afternoon, but I’m sure you know that.”
“Yes, I heard.”
Rob turned to introduce Tally and Chloe, but Una lasered her attention on Rob and launched into a monologue regarding Mary-Leland’s wedding. “I’ll admit I was a little skeptical about having Mary-Leland’s reception at a place like Owl Creek Orchards and Vineyards, but then I heard that the Cobbs had their granddaughter’s reception at the Georgia Winery and that it was gorgeous, and I thought, why not keep it local and support the economy of our very own Hemlock Creek? I mean, I’m sure you can use all the help you can get.”
Rob inclined his head, but he couldn’t help internally cheering at Tally’s horrified expression. Thank goodness Tally saw straight through this beastly woman. “Well, I’m glad I got the opportunity to show Mary-Leland the grounds.”
“I do have some questions for you regarding the daylilies that MeeLee was going on and on about. We need to have some frank discussions about varieties and whatnot to ensure the colors don’t clash. I’d like to meet with you next week to go over the full grounds. After all, the North Georgia Women’s Garden Club thrived under my direction, and while I’m sure you know what you’re doing, I like to think I have some sage advice.”
Rob had just about had it with this old battle-ax and was about to tell her that, when she snapped her attention to Tally. “You’re Liddie Hopewell’s girl, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I am,” came Tally’s cool reply. Rob almost choked because he knew Una Sampson expected a “ma’am” to be included at the end of Tally’s confirmation, but looking at Tally’s face, he knew there would be a better chance for snow in July than hearing that form of address come from Tally’s lips.
He wanted to kiss her. On the mouth. In front of everybody.
Especially Una Sampson.
“Well, tell your mama and her . . . uncles ‘hello’ for me.” Una gave Tally an icy smile as she cut her eyes between Rob and Tally. “I’d best be going. Robert, I’ll expect your call.” And then Una Sampson swooped off, no doubt to spread the word about Robbie Mac’s rude date.
“Oh, man. I am so sorry, Tally,” Rob murmured after Una was out of earshot. “Una is—”
“Oh, just lovely,” Tally spat. “I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to being in a town this small.”
“Yeah.” Rob cleared his throat and tried to think of some topic of conversation to mitigate the sinking feeling he had in his stomach.
“Miss Tally?” Lily piped up. “Which would you rather have: an elephant-sized rabbit or a rabbit-sized elephant?”
Tally snapped her mouth shut and frowned. “Huh. I’d never really thought about that.”
And just like that, Rob’s daughter saved the day. He was in sad, sad shape if he needed to be rescued by an eight-year-old, so he just shut up and ate his pizza.
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The ringing telephone woke Tally from a dead sleep. She was confused at first, trying to figure out how she could hear a phone in the middle of a field, but then she opened her eyes and realized she was in her cozy bedroom and not frolicking in the grass with Robbie Mac.
The phone continued to ring, and she scrabbled to pick it up, knocking a book and her alarm clock off the nightstand in doing so.
Tally squinted at the overturned clock, kicking herself yet again for choosing for the retro quaintness of the 1960s design over nice, clear digital numbers. “Hello?”
“What the fuck, Tallulah?”
Tally sat bolt upright in bed, instantly awake. “I’m not talking to you, Greg. If you need to discuss something, have your lawyer call my lawyer. Goodbye.”
She hung up, but before she could unplug the phone, it began ringing again. Tally shook her head. She should have known this was coming. Her soon-to-be ex-husband had access to the same calendar as she did, and he most likely realized she could officially file for divorce tomorrow, which she had planned to do first thing, before she did her weekly volunteer stint at the legal aid office.
When the phone stopped ringing, Tally picked up the receiver and punched in the code to disable the voicemail. The last thing she needed was to have another six hours of recorded ranting from Greg. But on the other hand, the verbal barrage would bolster her proof that his behavior was erratic at best and threatening at worst. Reluctantly she reactivated the voicemail but left the receiver off the hook. She wasn’t going to spend the next six hours listening to the phone ring.
Tally picked up the paperback and her alarm clock and put them back on the nightstand. After making sure the alarm was still set, she turned off the light and pulled the top sheet up around her neck.
Her cell phone blooped with a notification.
“This. Is. Not. Happening! How did he get my cell phone number?” she whined as she grabbed the phone off the other nightstand.
Sorry about ending the evening on a bum note. I’m still looking forward to “just dinner” tomorrow.
Tally grinned in the darkness. Halfway through their pizza dinner, she’d confirmed her suspicions that Robert McFerrin was actually a very sweet man. Sure, a little rough around the edges, but definitely sweet.
Her phone blooped again.
Today. Today is our “just dinner” not-date. I’m going to quit typing now. See you tonight.
Tally eyed the clock again, debating whether to text him back. In the end, she decided she would simply enjoy the sentiment and try to get some sleep because she had a big day ahead of her.
Tally heard the doorbell and froze. Clad in her jeans and a bra, with a different shoe in each hand, she was in the middle of panicking about what she was going to wear on her upper half. Which was ridiculous, right? Because this was “just dinner,” not a date, especially not a date date.
The lemonade house was not particularly large, being a 1920s bungalow-style house, so she could hear when Chloe opened the front door and the male voices that greeted her. Tally groaned, pulled on an embroidered blouse, and took her shoes out to the living room to see why in the world the uncles just happened to stop by today of all days.
“Well, don’t you look nice, Tallulah.” Ace turned his smiling face toward Tally when he heard her come into the room. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were on your way out. Wait—we’re not interrupting anything, are we?” Ace narrowed his eyes when he caught Bunny’s and Tally’s knowing looks and Chloe’s eye-roll. “Why do I get the feeling I’m missing something? We were out, and I thought you might want to go out to dinner, seeing as you’ve had a pretty big day.”
Tally got ready to make a sarcastic comment, but Bunny cleared his throat. “Well, actually, Ace, I believe Tally is headed out this evening.” He smiled sheepishly at his niece. “Sorry, Tal. I didn’t spill the beans. I promise.”
“I have a date. I mean, not a date date, but a . . . thing with Rob McFerrin.” Tally smiled brightly.
“Robbie Mac? You’re going out with Robbie Mac?” Ace cocked his head as if he were trying to physically wrap his brain around the idea.
“It’s just dinner—absolutely, positively not a date. Just. Dinner.” Tally felt her smile get even bigger, and she knew she looked like a complete lunatic.
“You don’t seem too sure about the status of this non-date,” Bunny muttered.
“Yeah, I’m not,” Tally blurted.
“Especially not after we met him and Lily for dinner last night,” Chloe helpfully added, which caused both uncles to raise their eyebrows at Tally.
“Oh, this is new.” Bunny leaned back against the wall, settling in for an explanation.
“It wasn’t a big thing. We were finalizing plans, and I mentioned that we were getting pizza, and Rob said they were getting pizza, and so not a big deal or anything,” Tally explained as she slipped on her shoes. “So totally not a thing.”
“Yeah, they didn’t even kis
s or anything, but Rob kept touching Mom’s hand, and that older lady made a point to be really rude to Mom, and then Mom didn’t call her ‘ma’am,’ and I thought her head was going to explode. It was awesome.” Again with the helpful play-by-play from Chloe.
“That older lady wouldn’t have happened to be Una Sampson, would it?” Ace asked.
Tally ignored Bunny’s lip twitching to answer the other man with a sigh. “Yes, Ace, it was. And yes, I know all this has most likely made its way around the gossip circuit a few times by now.”
“So that’s what was with all the questions when she showed up to purchase that arch,” Ace murmured. Tally raised her eyebrows in question, and her uncle shrugged. “Oh, it was a whole thing. Robbie Mac bought the arch a few days ago and just hadn’t picked it up and . . . you know what—never mind. It doesn’t matter.”
“That is exactly right.” Bunny shot his longtime partner a look. “We do not need to add any more fodder to the gossip mill.”
Tally was getting ready to shoo her uncles out when she saw the black truck pull into the driveway. Chloe noticed it as well and gave her mother a mischievous grin.
“Just don’t, Chloe. You’ve said quite enough today.” Tally turned to her uncles. “I have only two words to say to you two: Be. Nice.”
“Jeez,” Ace muttered but plastered a huge, cheesy grin onto his face as he stepped up beside his partner, who had an identical expression.
The doorbell rang, and Tally placed her hand on the doorknob. She turned to her uncles and hissed a final warning before opening the door and greeting Rob with a cheery “Hi, Robbie Mac!”
Rob, who had Lily in front of him, dazzled her with a big smile of his own. “Hey, Tally,” he said and didn’t miss a beat when he looked past her and saw the uncles and Chloe in the living room. “Hey, Ace, Bunny. Good to see you. And, Chloe, thanks so much for hanging with Lily while your mom and I grab some dinner.”
Chloe nodded at Rob but beamed at the little girl. “We had so much fun after Mimi’s wedding. Now, we have time for spa night! Are you ready, Lily?” Lily burst through the door at her invitation, and the two headed into the kitchen.
“Okay, well, that reassures me.” Rob huffed a small laugh. He watched his daughter trail the older girl around the corner before fixing his attention on Tally. “Hey, Tally.”
Tally was trying really hard not to giggle or snicker or make some sort of awkward noise, because Rob was standing there in a pair of boots, dark jeans, and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, exposing a hairy forearm and a tattoo she hadn’t noticed before. He looked and smelled really good, and she didn’t know quite how to react, because this might not be “just dinner.” Hell, at this point, Tally thought she might be a little bit disappointed if it were just dinner, but that was crazy, right?
“You already said that,” she blurted and then closed her eyes and shook her head. Smooth, Tallulah. Really, really smooth.
“I suppose I did. I’m gonna say it a third time, because third time’s the charm. Hey, Tally.”
Their stare-down was interrupted by Lily flying back into the living room and announcing, “We’re having cold fried chicken, Daddy! And potato salad and coleslaw and the little tiny carrots and dip. This is awesome!” before disappearing around the corner again.
“Sounds like she approves.” A small giggle bubbled out of Tally’s mouth. “Okay, so, we should probably get out of here, yeah?”
“Yeah, our reservations are in about half an hour, so . . .”
Tally’s mind raced. Reservations? Oh no. Did she need to change? Put on a dress? Trousers? Oh God. It had been so long since she’d been on a date, and even then, they were essentially high school dates, albeit with a baby, which made the whole dating part of her and Greg’s relationship super weird. Now, fourteen years later, she’s on a date with a man, a grown-up, that involved reservations.
She was not sure she was ready to do this. At all.
“You okay, babe?” The rumble of Rob’s voice, along with the heat and weight of his hand, snapped her out of her panic. She glanced at her uncles, registering Ace’s raised eyebrows and Bunny’s protective scowl.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine.” Tally gave Rob a reassuring grin and then turned to her uncles. “You two don’t need to hang out here. Chloe’s been babysitting since she was eleven. She’s certified in CPR and everything. And we’re not going to be very far, are we?” She looked to Rob and prayed that he wouldn’t make her a liar.
“Nope. Just downtown.”
Rob held Bunny’s gaze, steady, almost challenging. Bunny made a little sound in his throat, and Tally made a mental note to ask him what exactly that noise meant, because it didn’t bode well.
“Well, let’s tell the girls goodbye, and we’ll be off.”
Rob followed her into the kitchen, and Tally took some deep breaths. This non-dating thing was going to drive her to drink.
“Okay, let’s get this out of the way—I did not have any idea that my uncles were going to show up at the house this evening. This was not some sort of grand scheme of intimidation.”
Tally’s fingers drummed on her left thigh, and it took everything Rob had to not cover her hand with his and hold it tight, if just to reassure her. She seemed to grow more agitated the farther they got from the house and, honestly, didn’t seem that happy to be with him.
“Do you wanna be here?” Rob asked after he put the truck in park and turned off the engine.
“What? Why are you asking me this? Am I not in the truck with you?” Tally was looking at him like he’d lost his mind.
Rob wrapped his hands around the steering wheel to keep from grabbing at her, getting in her face. “Look, Tally. If you really didn’t want to go out with me, that is absolutely fine. I get it. I’m a widower. I’ve got a young daughter. I’m not exactly financially stable. I’m too old for you. But what I’m not is a bully, and you’re obviously not ready to do this, so let’s figure out what we’re going to do for the next few hours until we can get you home and then go our separate ways.”
He snuck a look in her direction and found her still looking at him, only her expression had changed from incredulity to what he suspected was . . . anger?
“Since we’re highlighting our negative attributes, let me give you a rundown. I’m a barely thirty-year-old woman with an almost-fifteen-year-old daughter. I work in a vintage shop and do transcription on the side, so yeah, right there with you on the ‘not exactly financially stable’ bench, buddy. And, oh yeah, I used my daughter as an excuse to get back together with my abusive husband because I was completely overwhelmed about being alone. Then I turned around and relied on that same fifteen-year-old girl to get me right back out of that terrible situation I put her and myself in.”
Rob opened his mouth to speak, but Tally wasn’t finished yet.
“And you know what? I have had a hell of a day, mister. You know what I did? I filed for divorce, freaking finally—because you have to live in Georgia for six months before you can file. And since Greg is already calling me a million times a day about Lord knows what, I expect him to lose his mind and call even more, so I’ll probably have to change my phone number yet again and add telephonic contact to the protective order. So how’s that for baggage, buster?”
Yep. Definitely anger. And she still wasn’t finished.
“And who do you think you are, Robert McFerrin, telling me what I am or am not ready for? I’ll tell what you what I’m ready for: some adult conversation, several adult beverages, and maybe some . . . quality adult time. But you had to open your big fat mouth and ruin everything with your stupid . . . candor.” She huffed and glared at him.
“You finished now?” Rob arched an eyebrow just to see how much madder he could make her.
She narrowed her eyes. “For the time being.”
Rob started the truck and pulled back onto the road without saying anything further.
“So, what? What are were going to do for a few hours?” She tap
ped her foot impatiently.
“We are going to have some adult conversation, several adult beverages, and maybe if it’s not too late by the time we finish with conversing and beveraging like grown-ups and you’re not ready to strangle me, we can have some quality adult time.”
Rob pulled into the lot of the nicest restaurant in Hemlock Creek, parked, and turned off the engine before turning to Tally. She was no longer smashed against the door, physically as far away from him as she could get while remaining in the truck, but her body language wasn’t exactly looking receptive.
“I’m being serious, Tally. If you don’t want dinner, I’ll take you home. But if you do, great, and then if you want more, even better.”
He could see her chest rise with her inhalation, and then she unbuckled her seat belt. “I’m pretty sure I’m going to want more, and that’s what I’m afraid of.”
He finally did squeeze her hand. “Me, too, honey. Me, too.” He opened the door, but before he got out, he turned back to Tally. “And don’t you even think about getting out of this truck before I open that door and help you down.”
“Oh my God. So bossy.” She shook her head, but she had a shy smile on her lips and in her eyes, so he’d take it.
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After they had appetizers, a few glasses of wine, and some light conversation, Rob sensed a change in Tally’s mood. “Penny for your thoughts.” Rob scooted a shiny copper coin toward his lovely dinner date.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure. I’m an open book.” He chuckled at Tally’s snort. “Okay, I’m an open book that’s facedown and dog-eared and maybe a bit redacted, but I’ll truthfully answer any questions you have.”
“How long were you with your late wife?”
“A little under ten years though we got married the day we found out she was pregnant with Lily.” Rob took a sip of wine as Tally studied him. “I met her when I was just starting my master’s degree. She was an undergrad but was not in any of the classes I was assisting—her friends were the ones in the Ag classes. She was an art major—ceramics, specifically.”
