Where Azaleas Bloom

by Sherryl Woods

  Mitch thought about that. Secrets were no way to start a relationship, but something told him this would be an exception he’d have to learn to live with. “Because you made a promise?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  “Then I’ll have to honor that,” he said. “But no more secrets, okay? They’re death to a marriage.”

  Her lips curved into a smile filled with irony. “No one knows that better than I do,” she said. “Believe me.”

  He reached over, stroked a hand along the curve of her hip, felt her skin blaze beneath his touch. “So, do you want to go out for dinner?”

  She shook her head. “I want to stay here and talk about the future.”

  “Our future?”

  “Yes. Is that presumptuous of me?”

  “Hardly. As Helen would say, I think that question’s been asked and answered. We will get married.”

  “I’m not a hundred percent sure I recall a proposal,” she teased.

  “Really? Well, let me correct that right now. Will you do me the honor of marrying me, Lynnie? I promise to love and cherish you all the days of our lives. I’ll support whatever you decide you want to do, though personally I’m really counting on your moving forward with that bakery idea.”

  “Even though you could have me as your own personal baker all the time?”

  “Even then,” he said. “I want you to do whatever will fulfill you. I want you to be your own woman, so you’ll never be scared again. Doesn’t matter if it’s the bakery or something else. Your choice.”

  “I think I really, really want to open the bakery,” she finally dared to admit.

  He chuckled. “Good thing, because I’ve been looking at fancy professional ovens and have a few things on hold.”

  She slapped at him. “You were that sure of yourself?”

  “I was that sure of you.”

  “Then you probably know what I’m going to say to your marriage proposal, don’t you?”

  “I hope I do, but I can’t wait to hear it from your lips.”

  “Yes,” she said softly. “Yes, I’ll marry you, Mitch. Just as soon as all this messiness with Ed is behind me, I will marry you.”

  “Think Lexie and Jeremy will be okay with it?”

  “I think they’ll be over the moon. What about Nate and Luke?”

  “Luke will be onboard. Nate will come around.”

  “I don’t want to come between you and your son, Mitch.”

  “I won’t let that happen,” he assured her.

  Because this was too important not to get it right. By the time they walked down the aisle as man and wife, there would be no shadows to darken the way. He’d make sure of that. He’d been blessed once before by love. Now he could count himself twice-blessed. What man could possibly ask for more than that?

  Epilogue

  “Why on earth do you want to stop by the bakery at this time of night?” Lynn asked Mitch after their dinner at Rosalina’s with the kids. “You can’t possibly be hungry.”

  “I have a craving for one of those red velvet cupcakes of yours,” he said. “And I know for a fact there were three left over when you closed up. That’s exactly enough for me, Jeremy and Lexie.”

  “All right!” Jeremy said, giving a fist pump from the backseat. “Now that you’ve got the bakery, Mom, you never make cupcakes at home.”

  “Oh, please,” Lexie scoffed. “You stop by the bakery every day after school and look pitiful till Mom gives you whatever you want.”

  Mitch grinned. “Does that mean you don’t want your cupcake?” he asked Lexie. “Because I can manage to eat two.”

  Lexie rolled her eyes dramatically. “Don’t even think about it,” she warned as Mitch pulled into a parking space in front of the darkened bakery. “That cupcake has my name all over it.”

  Lynn shook her head at the friendly bickering and reached into her purse for the key. She held it out to Mitch. “Go ahead. You obviously know where they are.”

  She thought she detected a flash of alarm on his face, but maybe she’d only imagined it since he immediately shook his head and said, “No way. That alarm system is still a mystery to me.”

  “Don’t blame me. You were the one who insisted I have it installed.” She climbed out of his truck, unlocked the bakery door, then quickly punched in the alarm code on the box just inside, only to have all the lights come on and shouts of “Surprise!” echo off the walls.

  With her hand on her chest, where her heart seemed to be beating wildly, Lynn looked around and into the faces of her friends. Every single one of the Sweet Magnolias was in the room, along with the three women who thought of themselves as the Senior Magnolias—Flo, Liz and even Frances.

  Lexie danced in front of her, delight written all over her face. “Are you really surprised, Mom? You didn’t have any idea they were going to throw you a bridal shower?”

  “No idea,” she managed to whisper, her eyes welling with tears. She turned to Mitch. “You knew?”

  “Of course he did,” Helen said. “It was up to him and the kids to get you here without letting you get suspicious.”

  “I had to keep the secret, too,” Jeremy said, grinning as he added triumphantly, “And I did it!”

  “Yes, you did,” Lynn said, giving her son a hug. “I nearly had a heart attack when all the lights came on.”

  Jeremy looked around at all the women gathered there, then gave her a plaintive look. “But there are cupcakes, right?”

  “Of course there are,” Raylene assured him. “Grace Wharton put in a huge order yesterday, claiming she wanted to give them a try in the restaurant.” She gestured to the counter, which had been set up with a beautiful tiered arrangement of cupcakes, plates of cookies and, of course, margaritas. A huge pile of presents graced the end of the counter.

  “I’m afraid the margaritas are nonalcoholic tonight,” Helen said with unmistakable regret. “At least three women in this room are pregnant, three have no business drinking,” she added with a pointed look at her mother, Liz and Frances, “and the rest of us are making a huge sacrifice to keep Carter from feeling the need to raid the premises.”

  The tears she’d been fighting spilled down Lynn’s cheeks then. It wasn’t enough that these friends had supported her in getting Sweet Things opened and had sent more than enough business her way, now they were here to celebrate her upcoming marriage to Mitch, which was less than a week away.

  Without their unwavering support, she wondered if they’d have made it this far, especially after the news of Ed’s relationship with Jimmy Bob had broken and set the town on its collective backside. She’d needed their help in making Lexie and Jeremy believe that the news wasn’t the end of the world, that he was the same dad as before and that nothing could change the fact that their dad loved them to pieces.

  She had no idea how Helen, Raylene and the others had accomplished it, but she’d not heard of a single cutting remark being made in the presence of her children, not even at school, where old lessons about bullying had apparently had a lasting effect. Even their grandmother’s tart tongue had finally been silenced, though if there had been a way to blame this turn of events on Lynn, she was sure her mother-in-law would have found it.

  “Okay, Mitch, you can go now,” Raylene said, urging him toward the door. “You, too, Jeremy.”

  “Hey, I’m the groom,” Mitch protested halfheartedly. “Shouldn’t I get to stay?”

  “You’ll see these presents soon enough,” Raylene
told him with a spark of mischief in her eyes. “And, trust me, you’re going to want privacy when that time comes.”

  Lynn felt a blush steal into her cheeks, even as Mitch’s face turned an even deeper shade of red. He nodded toward the pile of presents. “Lingerie?”

  “You bet,” Helen said.

  He winked at Lynn then. “In that case, I’ll see you at home later.”

  “But there’s an embargo on the lingerie till the honeymoon,” Helen said with mock severity. “Understood?”

  Mitch planted a kiss on Helen’s cheek. “Counselor, correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think there’s a law on the books that would prevent Lynn from giving me a private showing tonight. I’m counting on that.”

  Jeremy went with him without protest, two cupcakes in hand. Mitch had stolen a couple, as well.

  “I thought they’d never go,” Maddie grumbled with a grin. “Now let’s get this party started. Hon, you have a lot to celebrate.”

  Once again, tears welled up in Lynn’s eyes. “I sure do,” she whispered. “And you guys are right at the top of the list.”

  “Higher than Mitch?” Helen challenged, though there was a spark of amusement in her eyes.

  “No one’s higher than Mitch or my kids,” Lynn said, drawing Lexie close. “But you all are right up there. I never knew how much it meant to have friends like you, the kind who are there at a moment’s notice, who listen without making judgments, who’ll whip up a margarita at the first sign of a crisis. You’re the best.”

  “To the Sweet Magnolias!” Dana Sue said, lifting her glass.

  “To the Sweet Magnolias!” the others chimed in.

  “What about me?” Lexie asked. “Mandy and I want to be Sweet Magnolias, too. So do Carrie and Katie and Misty.”

  The three original Sweet Magnolias—Helen, Maddie and Dana Sue—exchanged a look. “Your day will come, I imagine,” Maddie promised. “You already have exactly what it takes.”

  “What’s that?” Lexie asked.

  “You understand the meaning of real friendship,” Helen explained. “You’ve all proven that at one time or another. So has every woman in this room.”

  Maddie linked arms with Helen and Dana Sue, then said quietly, “To lifelong friends!”

  “And to those we’ve come to know,” Dana Sue added. “Love you guys.”

  Once Lynn would have felt like an outsider, but now she basked in the knowledge that she was one of them. And when she walked down the aisle to marry Mitch, they’d be there cheering her on. She’d wanted at least one of them to stand up for her at the ceremony, but it had been impossible to choose. Instead, Lexie would be at her side, and her friends would be in the pews reserved for family. Exactly where they belonged.

  * * * * *

  Be sure to look for Sherryl’s next original trilogy set in the Outer Banks, coming in spring 2013! Also, check out THE SWEET MAGNOLIAS COOKBOOK, available at your favorite retailer now.

  Questions for Discussion

  1. Divorce can be traumatic enough, even when all goes smoothly, but for Lynn Morrow the end of her marriage has been anything but smooth. Have you ever known anyone who was left nearly destitute while embroiled in a divorce? How did she cope both emotionally and in terms of getting her finances in order?

  2. Often the children suffer the most when parents are going through a divorce. Could you relate to Lexie’s desire to protect her mom and how that conflicted with her love for her dad? What should parents do to protect their children from the fallout? Did Lynn do enough?

  3. Mitch knows that Lynn and her family are in trouble, but he tries hard not to trample on her pride when offering his help. Raylene is equally cautious about stepping in. What should friends do when they see someone struggling to make ends meet? Should they take action or wait for guidance from the one who’s in trouble?

  4. When Mitch does reach out to Lynn at first, how much of that was tied to old feelings and attraction? Or do you think it had more to do with his own personality and the emptiness he’d been feeling since his wife’s death? Have you known people who rushed into a new relationship right after a loss? Did it last?

  5. Initially, Mitch’s sons are dead-set against his relationship with Lynn. What role, if any, do you think adult children should play when their parents get involved with someone new? How much should the new partner do to reach out? Or is it the parent’s responsibility to smooth over hard feelings?

  6. At the same time, Lynn’s children were already bonding with Mitch. How careful should a parent be about allowing her children to get too attached to someone before she knows where the relationship is going? Do you think Ed was right to be concerned about that bond? Or was he acting solely out of jealousy?

  7. When Lynn hears rumors that Mitch has a drinking problem, it stirs old memories for her that are almost impossible for her to put aside. Do you think she handled her fears appropriately, by getting Mitch to open up on the subject? Should she have trusted what he told her, especially when she’d personally seen no evidence to the contrary? Have you ever carried past baggage over into a new relationship and allowed it to interfere in moving forward?

  8. When Ed Morrow finally opens up to Lynn about why their marriage failed, she is stunned. Have you ever known anyone whose spouse turned out to be gay? Were there signs that the partner—or Lynn—should have noticed all along? Do you think Ed did love Lynn as much as he was able to? Or was the marriage all about preserving his image with his parents and the town?

  9. When Helen Decatur-Whitney discovers that her mother is seriously involved with a younger man, she’s appalled. She’s even more horrified when Flo and Donnie decide to move in together, rather than getting married. Have you known senior couples who’ve decided to do this? How have their families reacted? Should the families even have a say?

  10. In this story Frances’s cognitive disorder has progressed and it’s necessary for her family to be told and for tough decisions to be made. Have you known families who’ve been faced with the dilemma of whether to take in a parent or find an appropriate living facility? What choice have they made and why?

  There’s no place like home, especially if it’s Serenity, South Carolina…

  For more warm and inspiring stories of friendship, families and heartfelt emotions, don’t miss the rest of the Sweet Magnolias series:

  Stealing Home

  A Slice of Heaven

  Feels Like Family

  Welcome to Serenity

  Home in Carolina

  Sweet Tea at Sunrise

  Honeysuckle Summer

  Midnight Promises

  Catching Fireflies

  Do you love to cook? Sherryl Woods shares delicious down-home Southern recipes and exclusive “behind-the-scenes” stories in The Sweet Magnolias Cookbook. Available now!

  Looking for even more? Check out the Chesapeake Shores series, and dozens of other titles by New York Times bestselling author Sherryl Woods, all available in ebook format.

  “Woods is noted for appealing, character-driven stories that are often infused with the flavor and fragrance of the South.” —Library Journal

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  ISBN: 9781459237766

  Copyright © 2012 by Sherryl Woods

  All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable righ
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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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