Love, Alabama (Alabama Series Book 2)

by Susan Sands

  “When I was in high school. It was a relief for me. My mother didn’t think so.”

  “How long were they married?”

  “Too long. From the time I was about eleven or so until I was almost eighteen. He was a nasty bastard to my sister and me, but my mom thought he hung the moon.”

  “She didn’t know how he treated y’all?” Emma couldn’t believe a mother would condone poor treatment of her own children by anyone.

  “She knew, but pretended not to. To her credit, I don’t think she realized how bad it was for us because he hid his true nature in front of her. It was a real talent that he had, being two different people in the same household.”

  “I’m so sorry you had to grow up like that. What happened to your dad?”

  “Cancer. He left to die, literally. He found out he was sick and took off to check himself into a VA facility to spare us watching it happen. But we just thought he’d run out on us. Mom found him a few weeks before he passed.”

  Emma’s face crumbled. “How awful.”

  She thought about her own family, her parents, and how close they’d all been her whole life, and couldn’t imagine poor Matthew with his little sister going through such horrible things at the hands of their own parents.

  “Are you close with your sister?” she asked.

  “In some ways. We aren’t in constant contact, but she keeps me posted about what’s happening with Mom and the kids. It’s my fault that we don’t talk more. I’ve avoided going back because of all the bad memories.”

  “And yet Lisa stayed to be with your mom?” Emma asked.

  “She met Dub in high school. He was her way out of the house and away from all the emotional mess that was my mom. He works offshore in the Gulf of Mexico on a rig, fourteen days on and fourteen off, so she stayed in town to be near his family and because my mother has a way about her that is incredibly passive-aggressive and guilt-inducing.”

  “Sounds—difficult.”

  “She’s difficult, not a deep-down bad person, just really good at making you feel like you somehow owe her to make up for the consequences of her own bad choices.”

  “A victim.” Emma knew this kind of personality and had dealt with a few over the years, which had made her determined not to behave like one.

  “Exactly. Always the victim and never able to take any responsibly for her own poor judgment.”

  “Sounds a little harsh, but I haven’t lived with the situation,” Emma said.

  “It is harsh, and I try really hard not to be angry with her, but she works so hard to gain sympathy when she really just needs to stand up and stop wallowing in the fact that the asshole left and realize she’s better off.”

  “Sounds like she really loved him.”

  He ran a hand through his hair. “I hated that bastard so much, I never really thought about the fact that she could have felt true love for him. I guess if she really loved him and has been suffering from a broken heart instead of a blow to her pride that would make all the difference. I really believed she just didn’t want to be alone or wanted to hang onto him so people wouldn’t talk about her having had two husbands run off on her.”

  Emma stood and came over and sat on the arm of his chair, and gently placed an arm around his shoulders. “Sounds like you have a great opportunity to show your mom some compassion this weekend. Obviously, you care a great deal about your family. Mine are crazy, but they would do anything to protect me, and I know they love me.”

  He sighed. “I guess you’re right. I have been pretty harsh with her because of my feelings toward Frank.”

  “It doesn’t mean you have to change your opinion of Frank. He did what he did. Too bad I can’t hunt him down and punch him in the face.” Emma really wanted to.

  “You look fierce right now, and I really appreciate it, but Frank isn’t worth your spending your time or emotions on. He’ll get his one day, unless I find him in the meantime to guarantee it.”

  “You’re right. Karma is a bitch, and it will bite him on the butt eventually.”

  She slid down beside him into the chair. “Nice talk. So, where is home?”

  Instead of answering her question, he leaned over and kissed her.

  *

  What else was he supposed to do? He’d spilled his guts to her and it had felt so good and right, because this woman had a heart three times the size of his. But was he really ready to tell her everything? Because if he did, would she ever want to speak to him again? He couldn’t handle the answer if it was no. Not yet.

  “That’s enough gut-spilling tonight,” he said. “It’s been a long day. See? I am capable of just talking.” He disentangled himself from her very soft and undeniably sexy body before he changed his mind about all his good intentions of going home and letting them both get a good night’s sleep.

  “So, I guess I won’t see you until after the weekend?”

  “Guess not, but I’ll give you a call if I get some time.”

  “I’ll answer if I see your name on the caller ID.”

  He kissed her lightly once more and could see the light strain in her expression. “Hey, is there something wrong?”

  “No. Just tired,” she smiled sleepily.

  “You look more than tired to me,” he said.

  “Tonight was our night to talk about you. Next time, we’ll talk about me, okay?”

  He frowned. That meant something was wrong. “Are you sure it’s nothing I can help with?” They were walking toward her front door now.

  “It’s nothing that hasn’t been around a lot longer than you. And it’s certainly nothing that won’t still be around when you get back after the weekend. And it has nothing to do with you; so, no, you can’t help with this. We can talk later. I’m fine.” She smiled at him and shut the door behind him as she ushered him out.

  Matthew got into his car, concerned about what she’d said, or didn’t say, really, and wondered if her current concerns were about what had occurred with Tad at the wedding and were tied to their shared past. But if he went back, he would most definitely be forced to come clean about knowing who she was about five minutes after their first interaction on the set. He would tell her when he got back after the weekend. He would.

  Hopefully, whatever it was that was on her mind wasn’t something to be alleviated by any admission he might make. In fact, what he had to say was sure to make things more complicated. There wouldn’t be any way for him to drop that bomb then leave town in good conscience. It was his conscience that he’d been wrestling with for so long now and would continue to do so until he got back and came clean with Emma. But, for now, he had to focus on his family and hopefully, make some sort of headway toward a more peaceful relationship with his mother.

  This had all been weighing on him for a long while. It was time to release some of this pent-up frustration from holding in his emotions and not communicating properly with those he cared about. It had become easier to avoid rather than confront these conversations because he hated the drama.

  Hopefully, tomorrow’s workday would go smoothly, considering they’d planned a series of holiday baking items to shoot. Cammie was an expert baker, and she and the food stylist had pre-prepared most of what she was to demonstrate. Much of what they would do tomorrow involved Cammie’s discussing family holiday traditions and the usual Friday routine of answering questions sent in by viewers from the previous week. They’d gotten great feedback from social media regarding this weekly segment.

  Hopefully, he could get out of town before dark, but now that the time had changed, he doubted that would be possible.

  He went to bed with his thoughts running through all the possible scenarios he might face upon arriving home tomorrow. Funny that he should even think of Chapman, Alabama as home, because he hadn’t in a really long time.

  *

  Emma had two pageant students who were participating in the Miss Alabama Teen pageant this weekend. Emma wasn’t required to attend as a coach, as coaches weren�
�t allowed backstage during the pageant practices or the actual pageant. But she did want to be there to support her students and share in the culmination of all the hard work, time, and effort they’d put in together. Driving to Montgomery took about an hour and forty-five minutes, so she wouldn’t stay overnight Saturday after the pageant.

  Today would be a slower day since those two girls were headed out of town, as they’d recently been taking up a great deal of her time in preparing for this weekend. She still had three students scheduled for private lessons and one group class after school ended, but this morning, she was free to attend her Pilates class and run some errands.

  The bell sounded at the front door of the diner as she entered, and Emma experienced an overwhelming sense of déjà vu when she saw Matthew sitting at the exact same booth where she’d run into him here that first time. He looked up and a smile spread across his extremely handsome face upon seeing her. The warmth in his blue eyes made her knees want to buckle. Something happened then; she experienced belonging, and it all clicked into place in that instant. She loved Matthew Pope. She guessed that was what it must be, because nothing she’d ever experienced had ever threatened to take her legs out from under her.

  “Hi there. Are you alright?” He appeared concerned now.

  “Um, yeah. I’m okay.”

  “You look like you might need to sit down. Care to join me?”

  “Sure.” She hardly recognized the sound of her own voice, it was so faint.

  “You’re pale. What’s wrong?” His concern was obvious now.

  “Just need my donuts. I haven’t eaten this morning yet,” she said, hoping not to reveal the stunning truth that had her sitting across from him, lying through her teeth, and wondering how in the world this had happened without her realizing it.

  Sure, they’d been having a very fun and enjoyable—whatever they had been having? But, love? She’d been so far removed from such a possibility and hadn’t even dared hope for such a miracle in her life that it seemed inconceivable how this had snuck up on her and taken her by such surprise. Should she tell him how she felt? No, this was too new. He was leaving to confront his family and had his own troubles. What if he wasn’t emotionally invested? Sure, she knew he liked her, but what if he liked her and nothing more? How would she know without making herself so vulnerable that he could crush her heart with a mere word or response?

  “Emma? You seem upset by something more than low blood sugar.” His voice was soft, concerned.

  Thelma shuffled up at that moment, and placed two donuts on a plate and a big glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice on the table in front of Emma. “Honey, you don’t look so good. Eat your breakfast.”

  “Thanks, Thelma,” she answered.

  She raised her gaze to Matthew. “I’m okay.” But she wanted to know how he felt about her, about them, and if he just saw what was happening between them as a temporary thing.

  So, she mentally and emotionally suited up, deciding she had to know. “I’ve realized something, Matthew.”

  “Oh? What’s that?” he asked, separating the two halves of his English muffin, or what she deemed as cardboard.

  “That I really like you.”

  He looked up at her and grinned broadly, then picked up a knife. “I really like you, too.”

  “It’s occurred to me that I haven’t felt this way about anyone in a really long time, and it scares me just a little—well, a lot.”

  He stilled from spreading fruit on his English muffin. “If you’re wondering if I feel the same way, Emma; I do. I don’t want to push you into something you’re not ready for, but I’m pretty crazy about you, in case you haven’t noticed.” He put down the bread and grabbed her hands between his and looked into her eyes. “I’ve never met anyone like you—you’re gorgeous, sexy, smart, and you’re one of the most compassionate women I’ve ever known. I keep wondering why you let me come around.”

  She let out a small, sad laugh. “I was so worried I wouldn’t ever meet anyone and that I would end up alone.”

  “You? Alone? If you ended up alone it would only be because you didn’t let anyone near you.” He was serious, she realized.

  “I didn’t know if you thought of me as a fling. I was afraid to tell you how I felt,” she admitted.

  “We are not a fling. We are as much as you want us to be,” he said, very serious.

  Her heart soared. They were in a relationship—together. “Okay. I know you’ve got work and you’ll be gone over the weekend, and I’ve got a pageant to attend. But I needed to know one way or another where this was going.”

  “When we both get back after the weekend, we’re going to spend some real, quality time together.” He leaned forward and whispered in her ear, “Not just talking.” His eyes held such promise and her heart lurched.

  “Sounds heavenly.” And it did.

  As busy as they both were right now, just having an evening to themselves to explore each other and spend the time getting to know everything about the other would cement their bond and strengthen this tenuous new relationship. In Emma’s heart, she felt their connection, and had from the beginning. Something had clicked into place this morning though. He hadn’t told her he loved her, but they really hadn’t been in a good setting to speak intimately. And she could wait. Her revelation had come as a bolt of lightning; maybe his hadn’t come yet. But based on what he’d said, she had high hopes that it would. They just needed a little more time together.

  *

  Matthew’s day had gone as smoothly as could be expected, he supposed. Cammie made his work look good most days. She was great at what she did and such a natural that when problems cropped up, they usually arose from technical issues with equipment or some other source of human error.

  He’d managed to get out of town before the worst of the jam up at the red light at the center of Ministry, which was typically caused when some of the locals, celebrating the end of their workday, stopped to talk and visit in the middle of the town’s only regulated intersection. Things often went awry for those who were actually trying to make their way home instead of hanging out and making plans for later or gossiping about the day’s events.

  Matthew’s impatience for such nonsense stemmed from his lack of real integration thus far into Ministry besides his budding relationship with Emma and her family. Back when he was a young man in Chapman, he had friends there and could better relate to wanting to connect with others at the end of the day. But he’d never really been a relaxed personality as a teen and young adult due to Frank’s presence in their home. After he’d left for Auburn, he worried about his mother and sister. He envied those who’d felt a deep sense of comfort and belonging throughout their lives.

  He subscribed to satellite radio, so his choices of music and other programs were endless. He stumbled onto an old country station playing the George Strait song, “Amarillo by Morning” that unexpectedly brought him straight back in time to a memory of him and his dad sitting inside the garage while his dad worked on refinishing an old dresser for his mom.

  “Matt, the key to getting the stain to take is making sure you sand it just enough. If you sand it too much, you’ll lose the grain.”

  He’d held his little square of sandpaper and worked beside his father diligently, hoping to do a good job.

  His dad had patted him on the head and smiled at him, pride shining for his son’s hard work. “You keep working like that and you’ll grow up to be a fine man someday.”

  Matthew hadn’t thought about his dad or even allowed himself those memories in decades. He’d kept such a tight lid on his emotions where Dad was concerned because the burning he experienced in his chest made him feel exposed and vulnerable. Here he was, driving toward Chapman in the dark, back to all those emotional land mines that lay all around there, just waiting for him to make a tiny misstep and blow his carefully constructed nonchalant facade all to hell.

  And everyone there would call him Matt. Just like Dad had. And Frank.r />
  Emma was the one person who came to mind as he started downward toward sadness. She would understand, she would give him a hand up and out of the sludge as she always seemed to do, even without trying to, or realizing the positive effect she’d had on his life since they’d met. She was sunshine when his world became clouded and overcast. And whether or not she was ready for it, he’d fallen crazy in love with her. But he’d wanted to wait until he returned from this weekend and resolved some of this mess with his family before moving forward toward a future with Emma.

  Matthew hoped to be less encumbered by the anger and frustration with his mother and the worry and pain of his past. Hopefully, this trip home would help. Sabine’s shining new perspective on his mother’s actions made him realize that he really needed to take his own anger toward Frank out of things and listen to her.

  And, he hoped and prayed Dub and Lisa would be alright. Of course, that wasn’t his responsibility, as Sabine had also pointed out, but he wanted to be there for Lisa and the kids if things blew up.

  So, instead of declaring his undying love for Emma and then blowing out of town, he would clean up his personal life as much as possible, then go for it. His heart expanded with hope and excitement at the thought of filling his world with her everyday and suddenly all the sadness evaporated. He would be able to solve any problems knowing she was by his side. He was leaving the lonely and sad Matthew behind, finally for a future of promise.

  Chapter Thirteen

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  Sadie Beaumont had noticed changes in her husband, Tad’s, behavior. Oh, he’d been a decent husband early on, especially in public, but never an especially good man. She’d seen through his affable, good guy act, because when it came right down to it, he was out for number one—always. His comfort came first; his needs came first; his reputation in the community was the most important thing, above all else. Tad Beaumont had an incessant need to be loved and adored by everyone.

  But she saw his dark side more and more lately. He used to try and hide it because he was afraid she would tell someone he wasn’t perfect, so it behooved him to treat her like a princess and with great kindness. But no longer. He’d become darker recently, to the point of verbal and mental abuse to both her and Sarah Jane. Sadie wasn’t quite certain what to do or how she could get out of this situation.