“Danny’s not my man,” Mary Louise said regretfully. “Not the way Cord is Dinah’s or Josh is Maggie’s, anyway.”
Amanda regarded her with sympathy. “Then you decided against getting married?”
Mary Louise nodded and suddenly she couldn’t seem to stop the tears that welled up in her eyes. She brushed at them impatiently and then Nadine handed her a tissue.
“I’m trying so hard to be sensible and do what’s best, but it hurts, you know,” she said, swiping at the tears. “I never thought I’d be having my first baby all by myself.”
“You are not by yourself,” Dinah said fiercely. “You have all of us and your folks.”
“I don’t think my folks are gonna be much help,” Mary Louise said candidly. “They’ve been great about not getting on my case and everything, but I can tell they’re real disappointed in me. They kind of pretend this isn’t happening. My dad barely looks me in the eye anymore, much less at anything else. It’s like if he doesn’t see my stomach getting bigger, it won’t be real or something.”
“Oh, honey, once they see their first grandbaby, I guarantee you they’ll forget all about how the baby came to be and just love it to pieces,” Nadine said, giving her hand a squeeze. “And if you need a surrogate grandma around, you let me know. I wasn’t the most doting mama in the world when Josh was a baby, so I can’t wait to make up for that.” She gave Maggie a pointed look as she spoke.
“I know. I get it,” Maggie responded. “I’ll hurry up, or I would if Josh were in town for more than fifteen minutes at a time.” She frowned at Dinah. “Tell your husband I need my husband back here more often. It’s virtually impossible to get pregnant long distance. Or is that the way you’re making sure I won’t catch up with you?”
“I think we’ve already established that this is one race you cannot win,” Dinah retorted. “As for Josh being gone, the man has a perfectly good motel room in Atlanta. You ever thought about driving over there? I’m pretty sure I conceived on one of my surprise visits to Cord.”
Maggie’s expression instantly brightened. “Is that so? I’ll have to remember that for next week. Something tells me by the time he and the guys wind up their boys’ night tonight, he’ll crash and it’ll be more than even I can do to wake him up.” She grinned. “Even though I do have a very sexy red camisole I’ve been wanting to show off.”
“If that won’t keep him awake, you’re doing something wrong,” Dinah told her.
Mary Louise giggled. “You all are so funny. I wish I had friends like you.”
“But you do!” Dinah declared. “You have us.”
Mary Louise regarded her with wonder. “You really mean it? You guys will be my friends? I’m just a kid and you all are kinda…”
Dinah frowned. “Surely you were not going to say old?”
Mary Louise giggled. “How about more mature?”
“Shall we kill her now?” Maggie asked.
“Stop teasing, you guys,” Nadine ordered, then turned to wrap Mary Louise in a hug. “Sweetie, we are your friends. We all think you’re brave and mature and wonderful. If you need one single thing, you just ask one of us.”
“And if you want Josh to have a few words with Danny, you let me know,” Maggie said.
Mary Louise immediately shook her head. “No. I made the decision to have this baby on my own,” she said, feeling more confident than she had in weeks. “I can do it. And it’s not like Danny won’t be around some of the time. He even went to one of my doctor appointments with me the other day. I thought he was gonna pass out when he saw the baby for the first time.”
“That’s great,” Dinah said. “But if he can’t be here, then I expect you to take birthing classes with me and Cord.”
“And I’ll be your coach,” Amanda offered.
“I could do that,” Maggie said.
Amanda frowned at Maggie. “How many babies have you had?”
“Yes, Magnolia,” Dinah taunted. “Maybe you ought to concentrate on the getting-pregnant part.”
Maggie held up her hands. “Okay, okay, I defer to the mother of three.”
“Thank you,” Amanda said, grinning at Mary Louise. “Is this okay with you?”
“Sure,” Mary Louise said eagerly. “I was wondering what I’d do. I don’t think Danny’s going to want any part of the delivery. Willie Ron would probably do it as a favor to me, but that’s probably a really bad idea, especially with the way Parnell Hutchins has been spreading talk about us.”
Maggie held up her hand. “Whoa! What kind of talk? I know Parnell. He’s a low-class troublemaker. And Willie Ron’s a doll. He’s been a real blessing to his mama. There should be more men in the world who take on that kind of responsibility without giving it a second thought.”
“Amen to that,” Dinah said. “Now, tell the rest of them about Parnell. Cord’s already filled me in.”
Mary Louise realized she’d just opened up a real can of worms. “It was nothing,” she said halfheartedly.
Dinah regarded her with sympathy. “It wasn’t nothing,” she said quietly, then told the others what Parnell had said. “Cord’s afraid he’ll stir up some of those low-life characters he hangs out with and something will happen to Willie Ron or to Mary Louise. Cord tried to convince her to quit, but she refuses.”
“Danny’s tried, too, but I can’t quit,” Mary Louise protested. “I have to work to save money for the baby.”
“I can understand that,” Amanda said. “But what if there was another job out there? There’s an opening for a sales clerk at the boutique.”
Mary Louise could hardly believe her luck. “Really? Do you think they’d hire me?”
“We can certainly check into it,” Amanda said.
“Or you could work for me,” Maggie chimed in. “One of my clerks just had an amazing show at the gallery and wants to start concentrating on her art full-time.”
Mary Louise stared from one woman to the other and burst into tears.
Nadine was right there, this time with a whole box of tissues. “What on earth?” she asked. “Why are you crying, sweetie?”
“Because everyone’s being so nice,” Mary Louise said, blotting at the tears she couldn’t seem to stop. “And I would absolutely love working at either of those places, but I don’t think I should leave my job. It would be like letting Parnell win.”
“No, it would be protecting yourself, your baby and Willie Ron,” Dinah contradicted. “Be smart about this, Mary Louise. This is one fight it would be best to avoid.”
The others nodded.
“You really think so?” she asked, her gaze on Nadine, who gave her an encouraging nod.
“That’s settled, then,” Dinah concluded. “Which place would you rather work? The boutique or the gallery?”
“The gallery’s a sure bet,” Maggie reminded her. “I’m the boss and the job’s yours if you want it.”
Mary Louise couldn’t believe it was that easy. “Would you maybe teach me how to run a business? I mean, I know I’d have a lot to learn about all the things you sell in your shop, but after that?”
Maggie grinned at her. “I think we have a budding entrepreneur here,” she said with approval. “Sweetie, I will teach you everything I know.”
“Careful, Maggie,” Dinah teased. “She could wind up being your strongest competitor one day.”
“Oh, no,” Mary Louise assured her. “If I ever had my own business, it wouldn’t be a gallery. It would be a yarn shop, you know, where women would come and take knitting classes and sit around and talk the way we’re doing now.”
Amanda regarded her with surprise. “You knit?”
Mary Louise nodded. “My grandma taught me before she died. I’m making some things for the baby right now.” She glanced around and realized they were all looking at her with real interest. “Would you like to see the blanket I’m knitting?” she asked shyly. “It’s in Dinah’s car. I work on it when things are slow at the Stop and Shop.”
“Ab
solutely,” Amanda said.
“You stay put,” Dinah told her. “I’ll get it. Is it in that tote bag you had with you when I picked you up from work?”
Mary Louise nodded.
“I’ll be right back,” Dinah said.
While she was gone, Mary Louise turned to Amanda. “Do you think I could have some more soda?”
“Water,” Amanda said. “You need to cut back on the soda.”
“Sure. Water’s good,” Mary Louise said, amazed that she felt protected when these women pressed her to do something. If her mother pressed, she felt smothered.
“And while we’re waiting for Dinah, I’ll get the dessert,” Maggie said. “Nadine baked brownies and I brought ice cream.” She grinned. “I assume everyone here wants both.”
Mary Louise listened to the chorus of enthusiastic responses and shook her head. “How do you all eat like this and stay so thin?”
“Trust me, we do not eat like this all the time,” Nadine assured her.
“We reserve it for girls’ night,” Amanda said. “Which is probably why we’ve only had two girls’ nights so far. Otherwise we’d all be big as blimps.”
“Oh, that’s why you came up with all those excuses,” Maggie taunted. “To protect your waistline for Caleb.”
Amanda ignored her. She handed a tall glass of ice water to Mary Louise, then started scooping ice cream onto the brownies Maggie had been setting into bowls. The desserts were ready when Dinah returned. She had this weird expression on her face as she handed the tote bag to Mary Louise.
“You okay?” Maggie asked.
Dinah nodded, then gave Mary Louise an apologetic look. “I peeked.”
“That’s okay,” Mary Louise said at once, though she felt vaguely embarrassed. “It’s not like I’m an expert or anything. I’d need to take some classes if I ever opened a shop.”
“Stop it,” Dinah said. “The blanket is beautiful, Mary Louise. Show them. And then promise you’ll knit one for me. I want one exactly like it for my baby.”
Mary Louise regarded her with uncertainty. “You mean it? You really like it?”
“Come on. Show us,” Amanda pleaded.
Mary Louise pulled the nearly completed blanket from the bag. She’d chosen a pale green yarn and added white trim. It was the softest yarn she’d been able to find and it felt kind of like she imagined a cloud would feel, just barely there and gentle against a baby’s skin. The pattern wasn’t all that complicated, but she’d added a little row of fluffy yellow ducks around the border that she thought made it different.
“Oh, my,” Amanda whispered, her eyes wide as she held it almost reverently against her cheek. “It’s lovely, Mary Louise. It’s absolutely charming.”
“The ducks are just precious,” Nadine said.
“When you’re finished, would you let me show it to my boss?” Amanda asked. “She’s been talking about adding a baby boutique to the store. I’ll bet she would take as many of these as you could make.” She grinned. “And charge an arm and a leg for them, too.”
Mary Louise was overwhelmed. “You really think it’s special?”
“I think you have a gift for design,” Maggie confirmed. “And remember one thing if you sell any of these to Amanda’s boss. She only gets an exclusive for, say, the next year. After that, we’re going to see what we can do about opening your own shop.”
“Absolutely,” Dinah said. “I’ll invest.”
“You’ll have to get in line behind me,” Maggie countered.
Mary Louise clutched the baby blanket to her chest and blinked back more tears. For the second time since her dream of marrying Danny had gone up in smoke, she felt a sense of her own self-worth coming back. She realized she might be able to make a real future for herself and her baby all on her own. It was amazing how good that made her feel.
Caleb knew the instant he spotted Max making his way into the restaurant that he’d made the biggest mistake of his life by insisting that Amanda let Jimmy and Larry come along with him this evening. She was going to blow a gasket when she found out that the boys had met their grandfather when she wasn’t there to supervise. She’d already postponed two meetings between them, making excuses about work pressures during the holidays. Caleb thought she was just terrified that once Max had met her children, there would be no turning back.
Cord spotted Max at the same time Caleb did. “Oh, boy,” he muttered. “Is this going to be as bad as I think it is?”
Josh, who’d never met Max, looked bewildered. “What’s the problem?”
“Could you take Jimmy and Larry for a walk?” Caleb asked Josh urgently. “Now!”
Josh didn’t hesitate. “Hey, kids, let’s go outside, okay?”
Jimmy stared at him curiously. “How come?”
Cord ruffled his hair. “Because if we get some exercise, we’ll have more room for dessert. I’m thinking hot fudge sundaes. How does that sound?”
“Totally awesome,” Jimmy said.
Larry, however, said nothing. His gaze seemed to be riveted on Max, who was making a beeline in their direction. “Who’s he?” he asked Caleb.
Caleb forced a smile. “I’ll tell you when you get back, okay? Just go with Josh.”
Jimmy bounded out of his seat, but Larry was slower. He seemed to sense that the excitement was going to be right here.
“Larry, go with Josh,” Caleb said firmly, then turned to face Max, who was standing by silently, his avid gaze locked on the boys.
Cord stood up and nudged Larry along, then cast a sympathetic look at Caleb.
“They’re Amanda’s sons,” Max said with certainty after the boys were gone. He regarded Caleb with a hurt expression. “Why did you send them away?”
“Because it’s not up to me to introduce you to them,” Caleb said. “Amanda would be furious if I took that decision out of her hands.”
“It’s not as if you arranged it,” Max scoffed. “What do you think I’m going to do—scare the two of them?”
“No, of course not,” Caleb said. “It’s just awkward.”
“And you don’t think it was awkward shooing them out of here as if I were the devil incarnate?” Max asked. “I imagine they’re pestering Cord and that other fellow with questions right now.”
Caleb sighed. “Yes, I suspect they are.”
“Think they’ll rat you out?” Max asked.
“No, I think they’ll be very discreet,” Caleb said. “Unlike you, they seem to know what’s at stake.”
Max’s gaze narrowed. “Which is?”
“Your relationship with your daughter,” Caleb responded at once. “And mine.”
Max sat down suddenly as if his legs would no longer hold him. “You think she wouldn’t forgive you?”
“Or you,” Caleb said. “Max, we have to tread lightly with Amanda. This truce between you is still a fragile thing. If you upset her, it could go up in smoke.”
Max looked genuinely bewildered. “But I thought we’d made progress. She stayed there a couple of weeks back and played poker with the two of us.”
“She’s mellowed, no question about it,” Caleb agreed. “But these are her babies, Max. You said some awful things about them once. She’s going to have to decide when you get to see them. She’s just trying to protect them.”
“I never said a thing to their faces,” Max blustered indignantly, but it was evident from the regret in his eyes that his tone was mostly for show. He knew how badly he’d behaved.
“I would never deliberately set out to hurt a child, especially not my own grandchild,” he added for good measure.
“But you did hurt them, at least indirectly,” Caleb admonished him. “When you cut their mother out of your life, then turned their father away, you made sure that they wouldn’t have a grandfather in their lives. You robbed them of that. I think that’s more important than ever, now that they’ve lost their dad.”
“Is that what you’re worried about, or are you upset because I didn’t hand Amanda t
he money to dig herself out of the hole that O’Leary scoundrel put her in?”
“It’s not about the money, Max. That’s the least of it,” Caleb said. “All I care about are people.”
Max rubbed a hand across his eyes. “Okay, I get it. I’ve made a lot of mistakes. I know that. I’m trying to fix things.”
“By coming here tonight?”
“I told you it was an accident,” Max said, but without real vehemence.
“Then George didn’t happen to mention anything about this boys’ night out when he stopped by to see you?” Caleb asked mildly.
Max looked startled. “You know about George being at the house?”
Caleb smiled. “He said that’s why he couldn’t join us, because he was coming to see you. I imagine he told you exactly where we’d be and that we’d have those boys with us.”
“You’re too damn smart for your own good,” Max grumbled.
“And you’re not half as clever as you think you are,” Caleb retorted. “Why don’t you go home before you stir up a ruckus in here, Max? Amanda will bring the boys to see you soon.”
“You sure about that?”
“Didn’t she promise she would?”
Max nodded grudgingly. “She said it would be before Christmas, though, and that didn’t happen.”
“Well, I know the one sure way to guarantee that she won’t keep her word would be for you to force the issue right now,” Caleb said confidently.
Max frowned, but he stood up. “Okay, you win,” he said, his expression sad. “Least I got a glimpse of them. They’re Maxwells through and through, aren’t they?”
Caleb couldn’t deny him that. “They have your stubbornness, too,” he said. “And trust me when I tell you that is not a compliment.”
“Watch your tongue, boy.” He gave Caleb’s shoulder a squeeze. “I suppose you think I ought to thank you for keeping me from stirring up trouble.”
“I’d appreciate it, but I don’t expect it,” Caleb retorted.
“In that case, I thank you,” Max said, a twinkle in his eye. “See, even an old man like me is capable of a few surprises.”
Waking Up in Charleston Page 23
