Dixie Belle

by Debby Mayne

  “And you wouldn’t have met me,” Cissy reminded her.

  “Yes,” Charlene agreed with a smile. “There is that too.”

  That night as Cissy lay in bed, she thanked God for the gift of Charlene’s friendship. Charlene had been so generous with her advice and comfort that she was grateful to have a chance to return the favor. She just hoped that Charlene would like Tom’s church—and that she might find a good man there. What still baffled her was how Tom seemed to be one man at church and another man at his business. It was almost as though he could flip a switch and go from one person to another. How could she find out who the true Tom really was?

  Slowly a plan began to form in her head. What if she blabbed just a tiny bit of a company secret, then watched to see how he handled it? He was fully aware of her propensity to chatter, so he wouldn’t have any clue that she was setting him up.

  The idea seemed dangerous and a bit devious, but she had no other idea of how to force Tom to show his true colors. And if she was going to stop herself from falling for him big time and getting hurt all over again, she needed to act fast.

  Lord, she prayed, I don’t know what else to do. Help me! She opened her eyes for a moment before squeezing them shut again. And please forgive me if this isn’t pleasing to You, but You must understand that I have to do something.

  Chapter 20

  TOM SHOWED UP at her door precisely on time the next morning. In spite of nearly a week apart, as they walked to his car, she felt as though she’d seen him every day and known him all her life. She wanted to keep her distance, but when he reached for her hand or touched her cheek, the magnetic pull was too powerful for her to resist leaning into him.

  The concert was a couple of hours away at a field owned by a farmer who hosted this annual event. He stood at the entrance of the makeshift parking lot and handed out flyers as people pulled in. There was no admission fee, but according to the flyer, a collection was being taken to provide safe drinking water for a village in Africa. As soon as they found a parking spot, Tom led her to the donation booth, where he discretely handed a check to the person collecting.

  Tom turned to her. “Ready to find a good spot? I can’t wait to hear the music.”

  Cissy loved seeing a different, lighter side of Tom. His love for the music was evident in the way he moved as the different bands played.

  He nodded toward the stage. “I think you’ll like this group.”

  She looked at the banner and saw the name Addison Road. “I’ve never heard of them.”

  “I like the messages in their songs.” As he placed his arm around her, she couldn’t imagine being anywhere else at that moment.

  The concert was wonderful, but being with Tom would have been perfect even without the music. They’d started out the morning wrapped in the blanket he’d brought, but as the sun heated things up around noon, they shed the blanket. She unwrapped the sandwiches and poured the tea from the carton he’d brought.

  “Want a grape?” he asked.

  “Sure.”

  He reached over into the cooler, plucked a couple of grapes, and playfully popped one into her mouth. She leaned into him and sighed.

  “This is the life.”

  “Enjoying the day?” he asked.

  “Immensely.”

  Now it was her turn to feed him some grapes. As she held one in front of him, he grabbed her arm, pulled her closer, and tilted her face up to his. She knew he was about to go in for a kiss, so she held her breath and closed her eyes. As his lips touched hers, a shiver traveled down her spine.

  “Now that was a nice kiss,” he said. “I could easily fall in love with you, Cissy.”

  The impact of those words hit her like a thunderbolt. In the past Cissy would have responded by telling him she felt the same way. But now she knew she had to be much more cautious and wait until she was sure of his intentions. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as she allowed herself to gaze into his eyes.

  “That’s okay.” He smiled. “You don’t have to say a word. We have all the time in the world to see where this thing can go.”

  They kissed a couple more times, but Tom didn’t let them last very long. Cissy was glad he had self-restraint, a trait very few guys back home were willing to exercise.

  “Why don’t we talk?” He said as he put a few more inches between them.

  “What do you want to talk about?”

  “You. I’d like to know all about what you did in Alabama, your family, what you enjoy doing besides eating grapes.”

  She told him about college, her long string of jobs that didn’t last long, her family, and how much she enjoyed shoe shopping. He listened without judging.

  “What did you major in?”

  “Retail merchandising.” She shrugged. “I only went to college because that was what my parents expected me to do. I was more interested in life outside of class.”

  He laughed. “I’m sure you’re not the only one.”

  “I was so naïve back then, but I’m finally starting to figure out life.” She took a deep breath of the clean, country air and slowly exhaled. Now was the time to test him, before she fell too hard. “I love working for my uncle, even though it’s pretty frustrating at times.”

  “Zippers Plus seems like a well-run company.”

  Cissy nodded as guilt washed over her. She swallowed hard and did her best to ignore the thought that what she was about to do might make things worse. “It is. And it’s growing too. As a matter of fact, we have a new business plan that should make a huge difference. Oh, and there’s this huge account . . . Fabulous Threads . . . ” She gave her head a jaunty toss and flipped her hair over her shoulder so she wouldn’t have to look him in the eye. This was much more difficult than she ever imagined it would be. “I’m sure you probably know all about them since you’re in the business too.” Her voice caught, so she cleared her throat. “Anyway, they’re looking to make some major changes, which involves increasing their orders.” After she made a show of rambling on, she stopped abruptly and put her hand over her mouth. “Oops. I just said way more than I should have.” She let out a pretend nervous giggle. “This motor mouth is still a work in progress.”

  He glanced away for a moment before turning back to her with an odd look in his eyes. “We’re all works in progress. Why don’t we change the subject?”

  “Sounds good to me.” She grinned at him. “I have a few questions for you.”

  His smile faded momentarily, but he recovered and nodded. “Okay, ask away.”

  “Tell me more about how yourself. You already said it wasn’t what you wanted, and you certainly don’t seem like the type to get into the sewing notions business.”

  He shrugged. “You’re right; I’m not, and it wasn’t my first choice. However, I do have an eye for how to turn things around, so I couldn’t very well sit back and do nothing. I did some research and figured out what the problem was.”

  “You must be very smart,” she said.

  “Business seems to be my strong suit. I have an MBA from Wharton.”

  Whoa. “You’re kidding. Even I know about Wharton.”

  He smiled. “Anyway, back to how I wound up with my company. I walked into the Sewing Notions Inc. office, told the president of the company that I could help him turn his business around, and he basically told me he was done with it. If I wanted to turn it around, I was on my own.”

  “Wow.”

  He made a face. “Yeah, that’s what I said. Wow. He literally walked out. It took several months, but I managed to buy it from him. He wound up with a little bit of cash, and I got stuck with a failing business that I never really wanted.”

  “Are you . . . I mean, how is your company doing now?”

  He paused as he focused his gaze on hers. “The first few years were tough, really tough, but now it’s doing much better than it ever did in the past. In fact, I actually heard from the previous owner’s lawyer asking for more cash. Apparently he heard that the comp
any was now on solid footing and well into the profit zone.”

  Cissy gasped. “You’re kidding. That took some kind of nerve. What did you do?”

  With a grin he tweaked her cheek. “He’s gone, I’m still in business, and you’re here with me. Let’s talk about something else, okay?”

  She swallowed hard and nodded. He’d told her way more than she ever expected. “I hope you don’t mind that I invited Charlene to your church tomorrow.”

  “Of course I don’t mind,” he said. “Get there early, and I’ll introduce her to some of my buddies.”

  “I’m sure Charlene would love that,” Cissy said.

  “No doubt.”

  Now that he’d said the L word and shared more about himself, she allowed herself to relax. Maybe his reasons for being such a shark were legitimate, and he had to be tough the early years of his business just to survive.

  The rest of the afternoon was like a dream, now that the difficult conversation was behind them. Cissy couldn’t ever remember having this much fun with a guy. What made it even more amazing was the fact that she’d given up waiting for something to ruin the day.

  When they got back to her neighborhood, he parked behind the church because he needed to help set up. Tom held her hand as they strolled to the door of her apartment building. “Want me to walk you up to your apartment?”

  “No, I’ll be fine. You need to get back to the church.”

  He dropped a quick kiss on her lips and waved as she stepped into the building. Before the door closed behind her, she blew him an exaggerated kiss, and he laughed.

  As soon as she was back in her apartment, Cissy called Charlene and let her know the details. “Don’t bother dressing up. This is a come-as-you-are church.”

  “Can’t wait. See you bright and early.”

  The next morning, as they got closer to the storefront church, Charlene’s eyes widened. “Look at all those men, will you? It’s like a regular smorgasbord.”

  Cissy laughed. “I thought you might like it.”

  Tom popped out of the building, glanced around, and when he spotted them, waved in their direction. “He looks so happy to see you,” Charlene said. “That’s what I want—a man who lights up the instant he lays eyes on me.”

  She patted Charlene on the arm. “That was what I always wanted too. I just hope I can find out who he really is—a sweet Christian man or a business shark who wouldn’t let anything, including his faith, get in the way.”

  Charlene smiled. “It’ll all be clear soon enough. In the meantime enjoy the journey. Let’s find our seats.”

  Tom sat with them through the first half of the service, but he got up to help with the lights for the drama. Charlene’s attention remained riveted on everything that happened. Afterward she blew out a breath. “Hoo boy, I can’t get over how that moved me. I think I’ll be coming here again.”

  “I know what you mean.” She saw Tom heading toward her with a few of his friends. “Don’t look now, but—”

  Charlene spun around and then turned back to Cissy, her eyes about to bug out of her head. “Be still my heart.”

  Tom introduced everyone. “We normally go out for lunch after church, and we’d love to have you join us.”

  “Suits me just fine,” Charlene said, but her shoulders sagged slightly.

  Cissy knew that Charlene struggled financially. “Why don’t you and I split something? I want to go, but I’m not all that hungry.”

  Tom looked back and forth at both women. “If you want to split something, that’s fine, but it’s my turn to treat. You can get whatever you want, and what you don’t eat, you can bring back for leftovers.”

  A spark returned to Charlene’s eyes. “In that case, I’m all in.”

  Lunch was fun, but it lacked the intimacy from the day before, when it was just Cissy and Tom. However, Cissy didn’t mind. She had no doubt that she’d have plenty of time alone with the new man in her life if that was what God intended.

  Afterward Tom pulled her to the side. “I’m finishing up a project this afternoon, but I’ll call you tomorrow if that’s okay.”

  “Of course.”

  He gave her a hug and kissed her on the cheek. “Thanks for bringing Charlene. She’s quite a hit with the guys.”

  Cissy turned around and saw three men hovering around Charlene, hanging on every word she said. “I’m sure she’s having a good time.”

  All the way home Cissy listened to Charlene yammer on and on about how wonderful Tom’s church was. She lifted her take-home bag. “This is like edible gold. My body won’t know what hit it when I feed it something besides mac ’n cheese and ramen two days in a row.”

  Cissy was glad to have a little bit of time alone that afternoon. The weekend had been full of fun but exhausting, and she needed some rest and time to process everything before starting her busy workweek. Tom had risen to the occasion of being a hospitable host at church. The only problem was that when she was away from him, thoughts of his business dealings popped right back in to her mind. She still wasn’t sure if she’d ever be able to trust him. She needed to be extremely cautious, but it sure was hard when he looked at her the way he did.

  Chapter 21

  THE WEEK STARTED out slow, but it gained momentum as excitement grew over the Fabulous Threads account and all the new opportunities that popped up. Cissy was even given a small piece of it, and as Daddy would say, that made her happier than a butcher’s dog.

  She researched the new account, gathering information about suppliers that could fill the orders that she was certain would come pouring in, and compiled a priorities list. Uncle Forest would be so proud. She sighed as she imagined hearing from Mama about how he gushed over her ability to pick up on her new job so quickly.

  Friday morning Cissy got to the office a few minutes early to prepare for the sales meeting about Fabulous Threads. When Dave gave her a questioning glance, she shrugged. “I don’t want Uncle Forest to think you shirked your duties as a trainer.”

  Dave looked surprised but pleased. “You’re making me look good.”

  Cissy smiled and relaxed. She liked making others happy, and for the first time in her life she thought she might be accomplishing that.

  About an hour before the scheduled meeting, her uncle bellowed a sound she’d never heard before.

  “What is going on?” Cissy asked.

  “Uh oh.” Dave’s eyes widened as she stood. “That’s the sound of a very unhappy Mr. Counts. He reserves that yell for a major mess-up.”

  “Like what?”

  Dave pointed toward the conference room. “I think we’re about to find out. Let’s go get spots close to the door, just in case.”

  She jumped up and ran after Dave, following his lead. Mama had mentioned Uncle Forest’s temper, and she’d seen it a time or two since being in New York, but never like this. He was downright scary.

  As soon as everyone had a seat, Dave closed the door. Uncle Forest didn’t utter a word in the beginning. Instead he picked up a foot-high stack of papers and dropped them with a thud on the table.

  “See that?” he said as he pointed to the papers that had scattered across the table, some of them falling to the floor. “That is months of work wasted, because someone royally messed up.”

  Cissy let out a deep sigh. At least she couldn’t be the guilty party. The only mess-up she’d made had been fixed with one phone call. But still she felt terrible for whomever he was talking about.

  Uncle Forest’s gaze skimmed the room and finally settled on her before he closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. A strange gurgling sound erupted from her stomach. Dave looked at her, shook his head, and turned back to face their boss.

  “I should never have to tell anyone this, but when we are about to close on a deal that we’ve been working on for almost a year, all discussion ends at the door.” He paused and continued glaring directly at her. “No one outside our office should have even an inkling of what we’re doing. If no one has anythin
g to add, this meeting is over.”

  “Uh oh.” Dave leaned toward her. “Looks like you might be in trouble.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Cissy,” Uncle Forest said as he brushed past her. “In my office. Now.”

  With legs that felt like Gumby, she took off after her uncle. He didn’t bother saying a word until he closed the door behind her.

  He pointed to a chair. “Sit.”

  She gulped and did as she was told. “Did I do something?”

  Uncle Forest narrowed his gaze and glared at her. “I don’t know, did you?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Have you been seeing Tom Jenkins behind my back?”

  She glanced down, took a deep breath, and exhaled before looking back up at her uncle. “Yes.”

  “I should have known.”

  “It had nothing to do with you, though.” She paused and cleared her throat. “I just really like—”

  His glare stopped her cold. “Did you mention anything to Tom Jenkins about the Fabulous Threads account?”

  She felt as though someone had pulled the plug and drained all her blood. “Well . . . um . . . I might have said something . . . ”

  He took a couple of long strides toward her, widened his stance, and folded his arms as he glared down at her. “You have a big mouth, Cissy Hillwood.” His nostrils flared, and his eyes got so big they looked like they might pop right out of his head. “Do you not see how your indiscretion has cost my business big time?” He paced for several minutes as he started on a tirade but stopped himself, spun around, and shook his head.

  Cissy slowly shook her head. “I am so sorry. I would never do anything intentionally to hurt you or Zippers Plus.”

  He rubbed his neck and let out a deep sigh. “Cissy, you’re a very sweet young woman, but you don’t seem to have any filters . . . in any situation.”

  “Are you gonna tell me what I did wrong?”

  “Jenkins managed to take all the business we were supposed to get.”