Second Chance Dreams

by Agnes Alexander

  SECOND CHANCE DREAMS

  A COVERTON MILLS ROMANCE, VOL. 2

  by Agnes Alexander

  Second Chance Dreams

  Copyright© 2012 by Lynette Hall Hampton

  Fire Star Press Printing 2017

  Original title: Wildflowers for the Senator

  Cover Design Livia Reasoner Fire Star Press www.firestarpress.com

  All rights reserved.

  This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real.

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  CHAPTER 1

  “Jude Winslow, I can’t believe you said that.” Mavis Parker rolled her brown eyes at him, then looked at her husband. “Can you, Neil?”

  “I can believe he said it, but I can’t believe he believes it,” Neil replied. “It might sound okay in theory, but in real life it’d never work.”

  “I disagree with both of you,” Jude said as he stretched his long legs out in front of him. “I think it’d work as well as anything else. Look at all the people who’re divorced and they dated their spouse for months and sometimes for years before getting married.”

  “That may be true, but to marry a perfect stranger can’t be the answer. I don’t care how you slice it. I still say it’d never work.” Neil shook his head at Jude. “Man, I’d hate to marry a woman I didn’t know. Why, I’ve known Mavis since we were kids and she still baffles me, at times. A stranger would be impossible to figure out.”

  “I intend to keep baffling you, you old codger.” Mavis grinned at him, then turned back to Jude. “I can accept that a person can fall in love quickly. Heather and Alex Hargrove are a prime example of that, but marry a perfect stranger your parents picked out for you? I can’t go along with that.”

  “Every time we suggested Darlene might want to think about dating a certain boy because we liked him, she’d look at us as if we had two heads. Why, if we’d tried to pick out a lifelong mate for her, she would’ve had a fit.”

  “You’re absolutely right, honey.” Mavis laughed. “Of course, I’ve got to admit our daughter did okay picking out her man by herself. Red’s a good husband and a good daddy to the boys. We couldn’t have done better if we we’d handpicked him ourselves, could we, Neil?”

  “No, we sure couldn’t have. That boy’s like a son to me.”

  Before anyone could say anything further, the back door opened. “Are you here, Mom?”

  “In the den, Darlene. Come on in.”

  A tall, willowy brunette came into the room. “Hi, Pops.” She kissed her father and added, “Hello, Jude.”

  “Hi, Darlene,” Jude answered.

  “Honey, you seem to be frustrated and rushed. What’s going on?” her mother asked.

  She shrugged her shoulders. “I told you Red’s aunt was coming for a visit, didn’t I?”

  “Yes, you did. Is that what’s got you in such a tizzy?”

  “It sure is, Mom. I didn’t think this darn visit was going to be such a big deal until Red started getting on my case. Now he has me so worked up I don’t know which way I’m going.” She blew a big breath which came out almost as a raspberry. “You’d think we were entertaining the Queen of England, or some big movie star.”

  “What do you mean, honey?” Mavis grinned at her daughter.

  “He can’t be satisfied with anything I do, Mom. He’s making me do things I’ve never done to entertain anyone before.”

  Jude smiled and Neil laughed out loud. “Well, daughter, what has he done that has you so riled?”

  “I’ll tell you what he’s done, Pops. Yesterday, he called in a maid service to clean the house because Connie’s sick and couldn’t clean this week. I guess he was afraid I’d miss some obscure corner. He even went around after the cleaners left to make sure they didn’t miss anything.” She shook her head. “Then this morning I had to go buy sheets with the highest thread count I could find because he thought ours might be too rough for his precious aunt. Can you believe that?”

  “He probably just wants his aunt to be comfortable,” Mavis offered.

  “That’s not all, though. While I was out, he insisted I go by the florist and get fresh flowers, not only for the dining room table, but for the living room and the guest room where she’s going to sleep. Now, he’s complaining the chocolate pies I made aren’t good enough for her. He wants me to make a cheese cake because he thinks that’d be fancier than pies. I asked him why he didn’t request cherries jubilee, but he just frowned at me.” She rolled her eyes and tossed back her hair. “I’m about ready to tell him to kiss my you know what.”

  “Why is this aunt so important to Red, Darlene?” Jude smiled at her.

  Darlene shrugged again. “I don’t know, Jude. Her husband is a senator or was a senator or a congressman or something like that. Heck, from the way Red talks you’d think he was the president.”

  “Is her husband still a senator, honey?” Neil asked.

  “I doubt it. She’s an old woman, so I assume he’s dead. You know I don’t keep up with politicians. Anyway, she didn’t say anything about bringing him with her.” She shook her hair again. “I don’t know anything more about it except that she’s flying into Ashville this afternoon. I’m just the cook, cleaning lady, and errand girl. Red’s the one directing this all-fired important visit.”

  “Don’t let him bully you too much, Darlene. In my opinion, politicians are right up there with snake oil salesmen. Their spouses are probably about as bad. I think we should give them and theirs the respect they give the common man.”

  “Jude’s right, honey.” Neil laughed. “Can’t trust any of them. They all make you lots of promises which they never intend to keep.”

  “I don’t care about politicians or their families, Pops. I just want to keep my husband from having a heart attack over this stupid visit from an aunt he hasn’t seen for years.”

  “Well, Darlene, calm down and let me see what I can do to help.” Mavis stood. “I know one thing that’ll ease your plight. I have a cheesecake in the freezer. You can have it.”

  “That’d be great, Mom. Red will never know the difference between a frozen one and a fresh one. His aunt might be some high-class society woman, but he’s sure not a high society dude.”

  “Come on, honey. I’ll get it for you.” Darlene followed her mother out of the room.

  “See how they are, Jude?” Neil laughed. “They’re getting ready to pull this frozen cake deal on Red. I’m sure women fool us all the time and we never know the difference.”

  Jude chuckled. “It’s like they all belong to some secret organization that none of us men are privy to, isn’t it?”

  “Yep. One in which we’re not even allowed to know the rules.”

  “It’d probably scare the hell out of us if we did know them.”

  “You’re right about that.” Neil changed the subject. “Alex told me you were buying Bed, Breakfast, and More from him because his son Luke wants to concentrate on expanding the cattle and wine business and not fool with the inn any longer.”

  “He offered it to me at a fair price and I thought it’d be a good deal since he has a well-trained crew in place running it. Alex isn’t as interested in it since he married Heather. I think he wants to put in more time with the farm and the horses, and of course, we all know he wants to concentrate on his new wife.” Jude smiled. “Can’t say as I blame him. That Heather is quite a woman.”

  “That she is. Alex was lucky to find her. She might be a famous writer, but she sure fits in well here in
Coverton Mills. She and Mavis have become good friends, and they’ve started going to some of the women things together.”

  “I think everybody likes Heather. Her son, Tim, seems to be doing well as principal of Coverton Mills High, and Alex told me the other day he was spending quite a bit of time with Luke on the farm and at the winery. They might make a farmer out that city boy yet.”

  “Wouldn’t surprise me.” Neil stood, poked the logs in the fireplace and they blazed up. “Tim and Luke seem more like real brothers than stepbrothers. I think they’ve become a very close family.”

  “I’ve heard that. Cole and Alisa have become pretty good friends with Tim and his wife. They’ve always been close friends with Luke and Brenda.”

  “I think Darlene and Red have visited with them, too.” Neil sat down.

  “We have a nice bunch of kids, don’t we?”

  “We sure do.” Neil changed the subject. “Alex also told me Luke wanted to increase their herd about twenty-five percent in the next year or so. I think that’s a pretty big jump, even with a spread as big as theirs.”

  “It is, but I’m sure he can do it if he can get the land. I’ve been thinking I might offer him some acreage on my north pasture since it adjoins one of his fields, but I haven’t made up my mind yet.”

  “I can’t see you cutting back, Jude. Why would you want to, anyway? Everything’s going okay, isn’t it?”

  “It’s going fine, but since Cole’s not interested in the farm, I’m wondering if it wouldn’t be a good idea to slow down at my age. The farm was my dream, not Cole’s. Being a doctor is my son’s life and he’ll probably practice medicine until he’s old and gray. He only wants to have enough land to keep their horses. I deeded twenty-five acres to him when he got married and he says they’re going to build a house there someday, but right now, he thinks living in Asheville to be close to the hospital is for the best.”

  “Kids are funny. You never know how they’re going to turn out. Look at Darlene. We thought she’d leave the area for good when she went off to college. She always wanted to pursue a career in music because she’s always loved it. Now, here she is married to a guy who wants to do nothing more than be a farmer and she’s playing the piano at church. And until this aunt of his decided to pay them a visit, she was happy as she could be as Red’s wife.”

  Jude laughed. “How about Devon? Think he’ll ever come back to the farm?”

  “I doubt it and he’s the one who said he’d never leave home. He was going to stay right here and follow in my footsteps, but look at him. Lives in L.A. and works for a movie company. Says he likes it out there.”

  “Will he be in any time soon?”

  “I’m not sure. Mavis said he’s thinking about it, but he hasn’t committed to anything. If he comes, it’ll probably be in the spring.”

  “I think I got Darlene settled. She left in a better mood, anyway,” Mavis said as she came back into the room. “You men want some more coffee?”

  “I think I’ve had enough. Now that we have the marriage questions settled and got Darlene straight on serving cheesecake, it’s time I went on home.” Jude stood.

  “You don’t have to rush.” Neil pulled his recliner to a sitting position. “I appreciate you bringing the log splitter back.”

  “What are you doing cutting wood, Jude Winslow?” Mavis asked and before Jude could answer, she added, “Why didn’t you get one of your hands to do it?”

  “I like to stay busy, but I had plenty of help, Mavis.” He grinned at her.

  “I swear, you’re just like Neil. You’ve got to accept someday that you can’t do what you used to do before you got to be an old man.”

  “We’re not so old, my dear wife. I can still pull my weight.”

  “Yeah, right. I see you huff and puff when you’re working around here with Red.”

  “Just because I’m on the high side of fifty-five is no reason to think I can’t still do a little work.” He winked at his wife. “Talking about age, were we not in the same class in school?”

  She turned her head away from him. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

  “Just like a woman, Jude. She tells me I’m old, but she doesn’t count her years. It’s as if they never happened to her.”

  “I have to admit she has held up better than you, my friend.” Jude winked at Mavis.

  “Thank you, Jude.” She smiled at him. “At least there’s one gentleman in the room.”

  Neil ignored them and asked, “Are you sure you got enough wood cut?”

  “I have plenty. I probably won’t build a fire until Thanksgiving Day. Probably wouldn’t then, but Cole insisted I have one in the fireplace when they come for the holiday.”

  “Kids want tradition, don’t they?” Mavis smiled up at his six-foot-four-inch frame. “I wish you’d stay to lunch, Jude. I’ve got plenty cooked.”

  “I’m sure you do, Mavis. And I would stay, but the day will get gone before you know it. I still have to run by Alex’s and sign some more papers on the inn before I start moving hay. Once I get into that, it’ll take a while.”

  “Why are you moving hay?”

  “Had a leak in the corner of the barn. Have to move it so it can be fixed.”

  “Need any help?”

  “Nah. There’s not that much to move and my men don’t have a lot to do in this weather. I figured they’d appreciate working inside.”

  “Well, when you go by there, tell Heather and Alex we said hello. We all need to get together soon and cook up a big pot of chili or something.”

  “Sounds good to me, Mavis. I’ll tell them.”

  “Speaking of the Hargroves, I sure wish he and Heather could have gotten back in their house before colder weather. It doesn’t look like they’re going to make it, though.” Neil stood.

  “It was sure torn up, wasn’t it?”

  “You can say that again, Jude. I’d hate to have had that mess happen here.” Mavis shook her head.

  “The mess was bad enough, but when they found the culprits had filled some of the walls with termites it was imperative that they have the whole thing refurbished. I guess they were lucky not to lose the whole structure.”

  “They sure were, but those two are so much in love they’re happy anywhere. I’m just glad one of the houses on his place was empty and they were able to move from Bed, Breakfast and More and had somewhere else to go.” Mavis grinned.

  “I think it was good they got away from where those two crazy people tried to kill them,” Neil said.

  “I think that might be one reason he decided to sell it to me. The other reason, I’m sure, was that while they stayed there he saw how much effort it took out of him to run it.”

  “I’m guessing he wants to put that effort into spending time with Heather and those grandchildren.” Mavis smiled. “I was over there to see the granddaughters the other day. Those babies are three months old now. A month older than Darlene’s baby.

  “Heather was keeping them and both grandsons. I never dreamed she’d turn out to be the type of grandmother to sit in the floor and play cars with the boys then jump up and warm bottles for the infants, but that’s just what she was doing.”

  “As Neil and I were talking about earlier,” Jude said, “Alex hit a homer when he married her. If I could find a woman like that I’d consider getting married again myself, even after the fiasco I went through last year.”

  “Well, my friend, don’t you give up hope. There’s a good woman out there somewhere.” Neil stood and slapped Jude on the back. “Now, I’m not promising you’ll find that stranger we talked about to hook up with, but if you get desperate for a woman, there’s always Minnie Cox.”

  “Neil, that’s not nice.” Mavis couldn’t help laughing.

  Jude grinned. “Don’t think she hasn’t called me. It wasn’t long after Alex was married that I got an invitation to some sort of function. I guess it’s a good thing I don’t go to your church because so far, I’ve been able to dodge her.
”

  “You should go to church somewhere, you heathen.” Mavis took his arm and smiled at him. “You know I’m kidding, don’t you?”

  “Of course I do.” He patted her hand. “I’ll make a deal with you, Mavis. You find me a woman like you or Heather Hargrove and I’ll not only come to Coverton Mills Methodist Church, I’ll bring this new woman with me and sit right up front with you and Neil.”

  “It’s a deal, my friend,” Mavis said, standing on her toes to kiss his cheek. “I’ll start looking right away and I promise I’ll find someone better than Minnie Cox.”

  “You’d better. I’m not that desperate.” Jude chuckled and went out the door.

  When she closed it behind him, Mavis turned to her husband. “Lord, I wish he could find a good woman. He’s a lonely man, Neil.”

  Neil dropped his arm around his wife’s shoulder. “He sure is, but I’m afraid that last one he got involved with left him soured on women for a long time.”

  “I know. She had us all fooled, didn’t she? I never dreamed a woman could pull the wool over my eyes like that. I always thought she was a good Christian lady because she talked so much about her faith and she really spread it on thick about her beliefs when she ran for council woman. She even had Jude going to that little Baptist church with her occasionally. She sure didn’t do him right, did she?”

  “I should say not. And after he bought her that big diamond ring and everything.”

  Mavis frowned. “I wonder if she gave it back to him before running off with that two-bit preacher.”

  “I doubt it. It cost enough for her and that man to live on for a long time. I’m sure they decided to use it as a stake for their future.”

  “No wonder Jude has a bad taste in his mouth where religion is concerned.”

  “Politics, too. She was a council woman, and you know his first wife ran off with her lawyer because he wanted to move back to his home state to run for the legislature. Alice must’ve thought it’d be more fun to live the political life than to be married to a farmer, even a rich one like Jude.” He frowned. “I wonder if her lawyer ever made it in politics.”