Gary could sense his mother studying him as she said this. How could he explain to her how seeing Meredith affected him? “I know what you’re thinking. You’re afraid she’ll hurt me again.” He took a sip of his sweet tea to soothe the tightness in his throat.
“I’ve never seen you so hurt as that day she said she wouldn’t go with you to the banquet.”
He winced at the memory. “I was only in high school. A lot of time has passed since then. I’ll be all right, Mother. You don’t need to worry.” Even as he said the words, he wished he could believe them himself.
“Are you going to see her while she’s back in town?”
“Possibly. I’d like to talk to her about her historical research.”
“Why don’t you bring her home for a meal sometime while she’s in town?”
“If the chance comes up.”
His father wiped his mouth with his linen napkin. “Dinner with a bestselling author. That’ll be a treat.”
Chapter 2
Meredith worked late reading the books and fell into bed exhausted, no closer to a breakthrough idea for a novel. The morning sunlight and the mockingbirds singing outside her window woke her. She decided to go running. She donned sweats, feeling virtuous.
Outside, she took off down the street. This part of town was the same, and she hardly noticed where she was going until she saw her old elementary school ahead. The pine trees on the playground reminded her of playhouses she and her friends made by pushing pine needles together to create walls. Their imaginations provided everything else, along with a few twigs and pinecones.
She headed downtown, where the large church steeples and towers loomed over the streets and the courthouse stood surrounded by azalea bushes and magnolia trees. Turning a corner, she saw the school she had transferred to in fifth grade. Emotion threatened to engulf her. At that entrance, her daddy had dropped her off in his old beat-up pickup truck, the one he never replaced. A girl on the playground called out to her. “Hey, you’re in the wrong place. Trailer trash goes to the other school.” That first day of school taught her the world could be very cruel.
“Oh God. Why did I have to leave my friendly little school and come to this school to suffer?” She knew the answer—the scholarship to the gifted program. Her parents were so proud of her that she never told them what happened.
Meredith realized that she was staring at the school, clinging to the fence with tears running down her face. “See, God, I told you I had to move away. How else would I find out that not every place measures people by where they live or what they wear?”
She pried her tense fingers loose from the fence, then turned and jogged back to the bed and breakfast.
Mr. Roberts stood by the gate. “We wondered where you’d gone. Breakfast’s ready.”
Meredith teared up again at his Southern drawl, so homey sounding. “Thanks, Mr. Roberts. I’ll come right back down after I get cleaned up.” She went upstairs to her room to splash cold water in her face. How could she face three weeks of memories and encounters? With a sigh, she quickly showered and changed clothes.
The breakfast smells revived her appetite as she went downstairs. Mrs. Roberts appeared carrying a platter of sausage patties and homemade biscuits. “How do you like your eggs, honey?”
“Over hard or scrambled, whichever’s easiest for you.”
“No trouble either way. Would you like an omelet?”
“Scrambled’s fine. These biscuits look marvelous.” Meredith put some butter and homemade fig preserves on her biscuit. Closing her eyes, she savored every bite. Only her mother could make better biscuits than Miss Ellie.
Mr. Roberts came in then. “How are you, girl?” He set his coffee cup on the table and took the seat beside her. “Seems like you stay gone longer every time.”
“It’s been around four years, Mr. Hap.” Quiet fell between them.
Finally, he sighed. “We miss your mom and dad. We sure do.”
“Thanks, I do, too.”
“I reckon our little church will go under soon. Just a handful of old-timers left.”
“I’m so sorry. You’ve all taken care of me.”
“We’ll make do. But I’m worried about you. You got any young men interested?”
Meredith wanted to say, “None of your business,” But she resorted to “I’m fine alone, Mr. Roberts.”
“Humph, we’ll see.”
Miss Ellie came in with the scrambled eggs and fruit salad. “Now, Meredith, Hap and I won’t eat dinner here tonight. We gotta watch our grandkids at their house for a few hours, but I left some food in the fridgedaire for you.”
“Oh, Miss Ellie, you didn’t have to do that. This is a bed and breakfast, not a full service restaurant.”
“And you’re our friend, not a customer. We’ll see you after ’while.”
After they left, Meredith went back up to her room. The bed had been made and the bathroom cleared away. How did Miss Ellie find time to do that? She settled down beside her computer. She had to get some inspiration somehow. Looking at her e-mails, she remembered that she needed to get a gift for the co-ed wedding shower this Saturday night. Gary might attend. She sighed. This whole wedding business would be an emotional roller coaster.
She spent the day choosing a gift and getting it wrapped. The expensive silver platter reflected her desire to impress anyone at the shower who might still disdain her.
Alone at the bed and breakfast, she realized she hadn’t eaten lunch, and now it was dinnertime. She opened the refrigerator door. Potato salad, pulled-pork barbecue, Jell-O salad, deviled eggs—what a treat. And on the top shelf chilled a full pitcher of sweet iced tea, exactly what she wanted. Miss Ellie must have worked for hours fixing all this.
Refreshed after a marvelous supper, she worked until late, polishing her Kansas manuscript.
On Saturday evening, she dressed in that studied casual look she liked, a lemon yellow T-shirt over khaki pants with a bronze jeans jacket and colorful accessories. She examined her reflection in the full-length mirror. The bronze jacket brought out the best of her brown hair and eyes. In high school, she had thick glasses, crooked teeth, hair pulled back in a ponytail. Book royalties could buy contacts, straight teeth, and good haircuts. Would the old crowd find her changed?
She had to park in front of Stanton Hall and walk down the street to the large home where the shower was taking place. A knot clenched in her stomach, she opened the doors into the crowded entryway. She might look sophisticated, but at this moment, she wanted to escape to the library and disappear behind a book.
“Meredith Long. I hoped you would make it. My, girl, I wouldn’t have recognized you if I hadn’t seen your Facebook picture. You got contacts, didn’t you? Where’ve you been all these years?” The cheerful redhead behind the table loaded with wrapped gifts still looked the same, in spite of her advanced pregnancy.
“Joy, it’s good to see you. When are you due?” Meredith set the package she carried on the table.
“Next month. This’ll be our third. I married Bo Miller right after high school.”
“That’s right. I remember you two were dating.” Other people pushed into the small entryway. Meredith moved on, looking around to see if she recognized anyone else. Most everyone arrived in couples. Then the bride-to-be came up to her. “Meredith, is that you? You look terrific.”
“Francine. Thanks for asking me to your wedding. Now, tell me everything. Do I know Bill?”
“No. I met him at my job in Jackson. He has a landscaping business. Come meet him.” Francine led her over to a buff-looking man. “This is Bill.”
Meredith reached out to shake Bill’s hand but noticed he was talking to Gary Bishop. Though seeing Gary rattled her, she managed to smile at Francine’s groom. “Happy to meet you, Bill.”
“Meredith hasn’t told me yet what she’s been up to for the last ten years,” Francine said.
“She’s too humble to say so, but I know what she’s done.” Gary moved
closer. “How many books have you published now, ten?”
Bill whistled. “A published writer. That’s impressive. What kind of books do you write?”
“Historical fiction,” Meredith murmured.
“Really good stuff, too. I’ve read all I could find. I loved your pioneer series.” Gary’s praise sounded sweet to her.
“Thanks, Gary. How did you know?”
“Google. Best way to keep up with friends. You have more entries than anyone else I know.”
“We’d better get in line if we want to eat.” Francine pointed to the buffet. “They’re having cajun-fried chicken and red beans and rice.”
“This is more like a party than a shower. I can’t remember the last time I had cajun,” Meredith said, following Francine and Bill to the line.
“Where’ve you been, girl?”
“Lawrence, Kansas.”
“You mean like Little House on the Prairie Kansas?”
“Her books are better even than those.” Gary stood close enough his warm breath tickled her cheek. “Are you planning a series set in Natchez?”
“Yes, but I can’t figure out where to start. I’ve never visited the mansions.”
“Never?”
Meredith took a deep breath. “I guess I took the local sights for granted.”
“I volunteer over at Longwood all the time. I’d be glad to give you a personal tour.”
Before she could answer, a woman’s voice interrupted them.
“Gary, I told you I would save us some seats. I’ve already gotten your food.”
“Bobbi Lee, you remember Meredith Long, don’t you?”
Bobbi Lee’s red lips stretched into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Oh, our class scholarship student. Good to see you. Come on, Gary.”
Meredith watched them walk away together, as if they were a couple. Were they married? She hadn’t thought to ask him. Her delight in reconnecting with old friends dissipated. Nothing had changed, not really. Bobbi Lee, at least, still saw her as the class nerd.
“We seem to have lost Gary.” Francine nodded in their direction. “Bobbi Lee’s after him again.”
Meredith picked up a plate to serve herself and tried to sound casual. “Are they married?”
“Not them. Bobbi Lee was married to a casino manager. But that didn’t last long. Now she’s the school secretary. Gary’s on the faculty at our old school, you know.”
“I know he’s a history teacher.”
Francine put some beans and rice on her plate. “I hear the kids really like him.”
“He always did like history.”
“Yeah, I remember you two meeting before school in the library. I always thought he liked you. That’s why I partnered you two in the wedding.”
“You’re kidding.” Meredith forgot to serve her plate. Gary partnered with her? A nudge behind her got her moving again. Why this unaccountable rise in spirits? Because Gary still wasn’t married?
She found a place to sit down near Francine. Her food looked delicious with the spicy fried chicken and some mashed potatoes and gravy. Not since her mother died had she eaten as well as she had the last few days.
Gary sat down next to Bobbi Lee, wanting to kick himself for agreeing to sit with her. He was missing his chance to visit with Meredith. She hadn’t agreed yet to go with him through Longwood. She looked terrific, even better than the other day.
“You aren’t listening to me.” Bobbi Lee tapped his arm with a fire-engine red fingernail.
“I’m sorry, were you talking to me?”
“I said you would have to give the blessing tonight. You have some responsibilities as a groomsman, you know.”
“If you insist.” Gary didn’t argue with her, but her bossiness sometimes got on his nerves. She thought being the school secretary made her responsible for everything, including the faculty. Joy Miller had organized the shower, but that didn’t keep Bobbi Lee from taking charge.
“Hey, ya’ll,” Bobbie Lee said, tossing her sleek platinum blond hair back from her bronzed face and looking around the room. “It’s so great that so many could make it tonight. I’m going to call on Gary Bishop to say our blessing.”
Gary looked out over the room. Meredith gazed at him from her seat next to Francine. A gentle smile lit her face. “Let’s pray. Dear Lord, thank You for the food we’re eating, for this chance to fellowship and help Francine and Bill celebrate, and most of all for the salvation You’ve provided through Jesus. Amen.”
Back at the table, Bobbi Lee frowned. “Why did you have to mention Jesus? Some people may be atheists.”
“I don’t think I should have to deny my faith when I’m talking to the Lord.”
“Yes, but nowadays we need to respect other people’s beliefs and not offend them.”
“If you don’t like the way I pray, you can recruit someone else next time.” Gary’s exasperation threatened to overcome his good manners.
Bobbi Lee pouted by his side while he turned and engaged his old chemistry lab partner, John North, in conversation. “Did you see Meredith Long?”
“No, where is she?”
“Over there.” Meredith sat near Francine, who was opening gifts with Bill while others stood around and watched.
“Man, she looks different. Where has she kept herself all these years?”
“Writing historical novels. She’s published quite a few.”
“Really, I didn’t know that. She always acted like such a mouse in school. Brilliant, but a mouse.” John drank some iced tea.
“She’s the most intelligent woman I’ve ever known.”
“Didn’t she live in a trailer over north of town? I thought her father worked as a car mechanic.”
Gary wondered how that related to her intelligence. “Her father received the Purple Heart in Vietnam and came home disabled.”
“Is she home visiting them?”
“Both her parents died in the tornado that blew through four years ago.” Gary gazed at Meredith, wondering how anyone could go through all she had and still accomplish so much.
“Man, that’s tough, but you know, trailers aren’t the safest place in storms.” John reached for his pecan pie.
“What is it with you and Meredith Long?” Bobbi Lee said, poking Gary’s arm again. “I don’t know what you’re so excited about. So she wrote a few books.”
“Have you read any, Bobbi Lee?”
“I don’t have to. They’re pulp fiction. I’ve got better taste than that.”
“Then you wouldn’t think much of my taste, because I’ve read them and liked them. She did thorough research and wrote interesting stories with great characters.”
“Well, whatever. I won’t argue with you. Anyway, Gary, I have an idea. After we eat, let’s go down to the boats for a little fun.”
Gary shook his head. “You know I don’t gamble. Besides, I have some people I want to talk to here. I’ll see you Monday at school.”
“But Gary.”
He didn’t wait to see what she wanted, because Meredith had picked up her purse and started toward the door. “Meredith.”
She turned. “Yes?”
“I wanted to catch up some more. Would you like to take a walk around Stanton Hall’s grounds?”
“If you like.”
They walked out into the cool air and up the street to Stanton Hall. “We can go hang out by the pool if you like.”
“Can we?”
Her question surprised him. “My mother’s a garden club member, so we’re allowed to use the pool.”
Meredith didn’t say anything, but she followed him across the grounds. At the pool gate, he unlocked it with his key and held it open for her. The pool area glowed with twinkle lights on the umbrellas.
“They must be anticipating some Christmas weddings.”
Meredith looked surprised. “Do many people have weddings here?”
“All the time. It’s a major fund-raiser for the club. In fact, most of the houses have weddi
ngs. Francine and Bill’s will be at Longwood.” He led her to a table. “Speaking of Longwood, are you willing to go on a tour with me?”
Meredith sat in the chair he pulled out. “Do you have time?”
“I would consider it an honor. Longwood has a fascinating history, but I won’t tell you anything yet.”
“I should know more about the houses in Natchez, but I neglected local history.”
“Yes, I remember. You wanted to study life in other places.”
“Yes,” Meredith said, staring off at the pool, “and now I’m back and making up for lost time.”
“The successful author. Did you find what you were looking for, Meredith?” Now why did he say that? She might consider it prying.
Instead, she answered. “I found some things. I got my education at Kansas, I’ve written some books, but…”
Gary leaned forward. “But not everything you hoped to find?”
“I didn’t want to come back, but God told me to. I’m not sure why, but He has something to teach me here.”
“It’s so refreshing to hear you speak of God like that.” Gary studied her face in the glowing pool lights. “So many people see church as a once-a-week obligation rather than a relationship with the Creator.”
“I couldn’t have made it without Him.”
He touched her arm. “I’m so sorry about your parents.”
“That was tough,” Meredith said, shrugging, “but now I can say I’m glad they got to go together. I know I’ll see them again.”
Silence fell between them. Gary studied her face, looking for the girl he had known in this sophisticated woman. She had always attracted him, but now her style and accomplishments intimidated him. He wanted to understand her, to plumb the depths of her mind and thoughts, but he had no right. “You haven’t told me when we can go to Longwood.”
“You have school, don’t you?”
“How about next Saturday? I’m down to lead tours until three. We could go through after that and maybe get some dinner somewhere.”
When she hesitated, all the pain from her rejection in high school came back to him. Would she reject him again?
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