Sweet Southern Hearts

by Susan Schild

  Linny sat on a dock in Pullen Park, her bare feet dangling in the lake as she finished off the last of the amazing muffins. Brushing the crumbs from her lap, Linny sipped her latte and held her face up to the sun.

  * * *

  Later Linny arrived at Green Sage. Unlike the dread that had filled her before her last scheduled meeting, she felt a flutter of excitement to be there for Chanel at her onward and upward speech.

  The young CEO beamed at Linny when she walked into the large room they had set up for the meeting. Hurrying over, she put a hand on Linny’s arm that felt like a vise grip. “I can’t tell you how glad I am that you’re here,” she murmured. She gave her an imploring look. “Tell me again why I can do this?”

  “You can do this because it’s important to you, and to Green Sage.” Linny gave her a little nod. “You know this talk backward and forward. You’ve got your notes on the screen so you can remember everything. If you need a break just stop talking and collect your thoughts. People don’t mind you stopping to think.”

  Chanel nodded, as if memorizing every word Linny said. “If I forget anything you said I should just speak from my heart, right?”

  “That’s right.” Linny said.

  Chanel spun away and began greeting employees.

  Linny watched her and saw that Chanel’s lips kept sticking to her teeth. Dry mouthed from nerves probably. She slipped off and got a bottle of cold water from the refreshment table and casually handed it to her. Chanel sent her a grateful look, twisted off the cap, and took a long swallow.

  Linny took a seat at the small table set up catty-corner to the podium. As she slid her feet under the tablecloth, she felt a warm, furry body. She hid a smile. Sage was attending the meeting.

  Chanel caught her eye and gave her a rueful smile. For good luck, she mouthed silently.

  Linny nodded and glanced around, trying to gauge the mood of the employees as they traipsed into the rows of chairs they’d set up in the middle of the common area. Some looked like they’d been sent to the principal’s office, while others had the buoyant look of kids who’d just flown out the door for recess. Many simply stared down at their devices, their fingers flying.

  Linny recognized some of the employees she’d interviewed. Afro-bearded Vaya, who called his female co-workers chicks, gave her a wary nod. In deference to the occasion, Jax hadn’t worn his I’m-with-stupid hat to the meeting. Jarrett wore a loud Hawaiian shirt and his hair was disheveled, like he’d just crawled out of that hammock he’d requested. Grinning, he held up his hand, curled his three middle fingers, and rotated his hand back and forth in a hang-loose sign.

  Linny couldn’t help but smile.

  Chanel cleared her throat and rose to stand behind a small podium, looking like a gazelle catching wind of a tiger in one of those awful cycle-of-life nature documentaries. She shot Linny a desperate glance, then began. “Welcome,” she said in a small voice.

  Linny watched as employees kept talking and joking with one another, possibly not noticing that Chanel was trying to start the meeting. Linny met Chanel’s eyes and gave her an encouraging nod, willing the employees to be quiet and listen.

  Chanel glanced around the room for a moment, and then a look of irritation crossed her face. Standing up straighter, she squared her shoulders and, too loudly, boomed out, “Welcome.”

  Instantly, the room fell quiet.

  Chanel met the eyes of her employees and seemed to grow in stature from her place at the podium. “Good morning and welcome. I’ve brought you here today to share good news about Green Sage, and to paint a picture for you of what will be our very bright future.” She cocked her head. “Take a look at the person to your right and the one to your left. Look at the person behind you and the one in front of you.”

  Laughing nervously, employees glanced at one another.

  Chanel paused for a moment. “You are looking at some of the most talented IT professionals in the consulting world. I’m very proud of each and every one of you.”

  The nervous laughs turned into looks of relief, back-slapping, and fist bumps.

  Now looking poised, Chanel leaned away from the podium, took a sip of her water, and smiled as she let them be silly. She queued up a PowerPoint slide and, after a moment, went on. “Let me show you where we are currently with profits, earnings, and market share. Next, we’ll look at projections on the same for the next two to five years. Finally, I’m going to talk about what we need to do to take us from here to there. Specifically, we are going to talk about improvements we need to make in teamwork, professionalism, and customer service.”

  Linny breathed out, relieved. Chanel looked nothing like a nervous speaker. Instead, she looked and sounded like the confident, practically charismatic owner of a small business. Linny’s shoulders dropped. She’d been unaware she’d hunched them in nervousness. Leaning back in her chair, she watched Chanel, feeling proud of the young woman. The speechmaking practice Linny had insisted she do had paid off. Leaning down, she gave Sage a quick scratch behind the ears. He was a splendid good-luck charm.

  * * *

  Feeling fizzy optimism about life itself, Linny wheeled into the parking lot of Jack’s vet clinic and walked with a light step as she went in to pick up Neal and the baby.

  Ruthie greeted her, laughing as she gently disentangled Lucas’s fingers from the sparkly reading glasses she kept on a chain around her neck. “He’s just fascinated with these glasses. Good thing they only cost a dollar.” Handing the baby to Linny, Ruthie shook her head, grinning. “He is just the sweetest little pea and his big brother was so good with him.”

  “I’ll bet he was.” Linny shifted Lucas’s heft to her hip and kissed his head. She saw Neal behind Ruthie, busily packing games and his iPad into his backpack. “Hey, buddy,” she called, then spoke to Ruthie in a voice loud enough for him to hear. “Not only has Neal been gentle and helpful with the baby, he’s been a tremendous help in other ways. I don’t know how we could have done it without him.”

  Ruthie laced her fingers together and turned to gaze admiringly at Neal. “Neal, you are just the best young man.”

  Neal flushed and pretended to adjust the straps on his backpack. “Thanks,” he mumbled.

  Linny gave Ruthie a grateful look and a quick hug. She, Neal, and Lucas walked to the car.

  Neal was already seat-belted in the Volvo and engrossed in a game on his phone as Linny double-checked the security of Lucas’s car seat. The buckles were tricky, and she worried she’d get it wrong and somehow catapult the baby out when she slowed to stop at a light. She was getting good at imagining unlikely catastrophes: tooling down 1-40 with Lucas in his baby seat teetering precariously on top of the car, getting Lucas mixed up with another baby at the pediatrician’s office and taking home another woman’s much less bright child, or baby snatchers dressed as rural postwomen putting him in a sack and screeching off in an undersized mail truck.

  She gave the buckle a pat, satisfied she’d gotten it right, and slipped into the driver’s seat. Looking toward the other side of the parking lot, her heart skipped a beat as she spied a familiar black Mercedes—and the petite blonde standing beside it, gesticulating as she talked earnestly to Jack. Linny gasped quietly as she watched Vera throw her arms around Jack’s neck and hug him fervently. She darted a glance at Neal to see if he’d witnessed the happy reunion, but he was engrossed in his game. Was her husband out of his mind? Glancing behind her, she slowly backed up, her hands icy on the wheel. Linny’s thoughts careened around wildly as she pulled out of the parking lot.

  Jack couldn’t still be romantically interested in Vera, she reasoned. He just couldn’t. He was so exasperated by her, and angry at her for allowing drama in her personal life to come before parenting. She racked her brain, trying to think of any other excuse for the embrace she’d witnessed. More kindly, listening-ear TV preacher moments, she guessed, but the thought made the blood pulse in her ear. What would it take for Jack to stop being so close to Vera? Linny w
as still fuming as she pulled into the driveway at the farm, but Jerry was waiting for her on the porch to drop off Ivy and the rest of the afternoon passed in a blur.

  At five thirty, Linny was trying to figure out what to cook for supper when Jack breezed into the kitchen, all smiles.

  “Hey, darlin’ girl,’ he said softly as he reached around her waist to give her a hug. But Linny spun away and stood in front of the oven, arms crossed. She gazed at him coldly. “Anything interesting happen at work today? Any visitors?” she said in an icy voice.

  He met her gaze unflinchingly. “You saw Vera when you stopped by the office?”

  “I did,” she said.

  He put his canvas briefcase down and leaned against the counter. His eyes met hers and he said in an even tone, “I was going to tell you, Lin, as soon as supper was over and we had some time alone.”

  She gave him a flinty look. “You can tell me now.”

  Jack blew out a sigh and rubbed the back of his neck. “Vera stopped by, all broken up. Chaz served her with divorce papers. She was crying so hard she couldn’t breathe. So I walked her outside to move the dramatics out of the office. I didn’t want Neal or the staff to see her upset,” he said, looking grim. “So at the car she said that divorcing me was the biggest mistake of her life and just launched herself at me. She kept hugging my neck and wouldn’t let go.” He shook his head, looking embarrassed, and met her eyes. “That’s the moment you saw.”

  Linny felt her face flame with anger and tried to decide who she wanted to strangle first: Vera or Jack. Probably Jack.

  He looked at her gravely. “You don’t for one minute think I’m in love with anyone but you? You know that, Linny.”

  She thought about it and nodded slowly. She did know that. But she wasn’t letting him off the hook so easily. “When are you going to set better boundaries with her?”

  He held up a hand. “I will, I promise, but today wasn’t the day to do that.”

  She waited.

  He leaned forward and held her eyes. “I told her you were the best thing that ever happened to me, and that there was zero chance that she and I would ever get back together.”

  “You should have had that conversation with her a good while back,” Linny said, not ready to forgive him yet.

  “Agreed,” Jack said sheepishly.

  “How did she react?” Linny asked.

  “Angry, hurt, pitiful. Her usual,” Jack said and rubbed his forehead with his fingers. “Next time I get run by guilt about failing Neal and try to fix Vera so his life with her is stable, will you hit me in the head with a board?”

  “A two-by-four,” Linny promised, softening. Since she’d met him she’d had a crash course in just how powerful a force guilt was for divorced parents. “You can’t fix Vera. The only thing we can do is to give Neal as much stability and love as we can in our little family.”

  He raised a brow at her, a determined glint in his eye. “And exes can’t be best pals. This listening-ear foolishness has got to end.”

  Linny felt giddy with relief. Jack Avery was finally getting what she’d been trying to tell him. Vera’s insistence on staying too close for comfort eroded her and Jack’s bond and kept him from holding his ex-wife accountable for her behavior. She cocked her head and gave him a cheeky grin. “You’re sounding a little like John Wayne and I like it.”

  “Come here, little lady,” he said in a not bad imitation of the Duke. He pulled her into a long hug.

  Linny shivered, feeling deliciously safe, loved, and, finally, understood. After a long moment she pulled back and gazed at him. “I had my own epiphany today. I quit on a client.”

  Jack’s eyes twinkled. “You look cheerful about that.”

  “I am,” Linny said. “If you’ll pour me a glass of wine I’ll get this delicious frozen meal cooked up and tell you what else I’ve been thinking about.”

  Jack opened a bottle of Sauvignon blanc and poured them each a glass.

  Linny checked the cooking time on the package. As Mama Alessia’s Frozen Lasagna began to twirl around in the microwave, they sat at the kitchen table and raised their glasses to each other in a silent toast. Linny took a sip of wine. “I’m overwhelmed,” she said, gazing at him.

  “I know,” Jack said simply and took her hand. “I’ve been worried about you.”

  Linny paused to think about it, reassured by the warmth of his strong hand holding hers. “We’ve taken on all these new roles but not put down any others. I can’t just keep trying to go faster. I want to pay attention to what I want to do, not just do what I’ve always done.”

  He nodded slowly.

  “When I worked at my old job and new mothers came back after having a baby and seemed overwhelmed, I didn’t get it.” She winced, not proud of what she was admitting. “I secretly thought they were wimps. I remember a staff meeting when a woman just back from maternity leave said she couldn’t work overtime because of family obligations. A single girlfriend and I went out for a beer after work and rolled our eyes about that woman. We said things like, How hard could it be? and How could a fast-tracker like her want to go that route? Now I know the answer to both those questions.” She gazed at Jack. “If we can afford it, instead of ramping up my business I’m cutting back—at least for the time being. I’ll do the work I’ve already committed to but not take on anything new and try to phase out the business for the time being. It’ll take a little while to wind it all down so things will be crazy until then. But I’m needed at home right now, and that’s exactly where I want to be.”

  “That’s a big decision for you and it’s fine by me.” Jack picked up her hand and kissed it. “I made a decision today, too. For now I’m stopping my volunteer work at the spay and neuter clinic.”

  She studied him a moment, knowing how strongly he felt about the importance of the program. “You sure?”

  He nodded firmly and squeezed her fingers. “I’ll work with them again when our lives are more settled. Family comes first now. It has to. You need me, Neal needs me, and Lucas needs me.”

  And that’s when Linny just had to kiss him.

  CHAPTER 14

  The Duke Finally Arrives

  The next morning Linny leaned against the counter and took a sip of her coffee. She grimaced. It tasted funny, almost metallic. Like pennies had been dropped in it. She opened the refrigerator and sniffed the half-and-half. The cream still smelled okay, but she dumped the quart down the sink just to be safe.

  A rumple-haired, stubbly-cheeked Jack gave her a sleepy smile. In his terry bathrobe he stood at the stove, dropping slices of turkey bacon in a frying pan. Turning on the burner, he padded toward Neal’s room to wake him up.

  As the bacon began to sizzle, Linny covered her mouth and ran for the bathroom. She emerged a few wretched minutes later.

  Jack was whistling as he flipped bacon and punched toast down in the toaster.

  Trying to breathe through her mouth so she wouldn’t get another whiff of bacon, Linny poured herself a glass of ice water and took a long swallow. She turned to Jack. “Did your stomach do okay with that lasagna last night?”

  “Fine. I was hoping there were leftovers for me to take to work today,” Jack said as he pulled strawberry jam from the refrigerator and put it on the table. “Why?” he asked.

  “My stomach . . .” she began.

  But Neal walked in and Jack turned to him and smiled. “Morning, buddy. How’d you sleep?”

  Neal mumbled something, slipped into his chair, and rubbed his eyes. He picked up his phone and scrolled through it.

  Linny eyed him. The boy’s lower lip stuck out and his brow was furrowed. But today was going to be a good day, she assured herself. She’d promised Neal an outing. Taking him to a Carolina Hurricanes players’ Meet the Fans event this afternoon was one of her better stepmother ideas, she decided, and gave herself an imaginary pat on the back.

  After Jack left for the office Linny caught a quick shower. As she toweled herself dry and slippe
d on a robe, Lucas began wailing. She hurried to his room, scooped him up, and did the little bouncing dance that seemed to soothe him. Lucas quit crying, but Linny caught a whiff of his diaper and fought to keep herself from gagging.

  Breathing through her mouth again, Linny reached in the drawer of the dresser they used for baby supplies and with her free hand felt for a diaper. She came up empty. She rummaged through the other drawers. No diapers. How could they have let themselves run out? Feeling panicky, she riffled through a towering stack of baby supply bags they’d piled on the floor of the closet and spied a promisingly large one. Feeling a flash of relief, she reached for it but paused when she heard a cacophony of barking dogs. Gravel crunched as a car pulled up to the house. Peering out the window, she saw Diamond’s white Range Rover with the spinning wheels and relaxed. Their pack of dogs surrounded the car, wagging their tails. They knew the good guys from the bad guys.

  Draping a towel over Lucas, Linny scurried to the door, holding the naked baby to her chest and knowing at any moment Lucas could decide to pee—or worse. She pulled open the door and grinned at her friend. “Morning, Diamond.”

  Diamond stopped tapping at her phone and glanced at her. “Kitten, you’re not answering calls, texts, or emails.” She raised a brow and glanced at Lucas. “Mary Catherine told me about the new baby.”

  “Things have gotten lively around here,” Linny admitted and turned the baby so Diamond could admire his perfect cherub face. “This is Lucas.”

  Diamond patted his head like she would a dog. “Good boy,” she said absently.

  Linny took a good look at her friend and jiggled the baby to hide her surprise. Instead of looking like her usual glamorous self, Diamond wore a drawstring linen skirt and a cornflower blue tank with sandals that looked like the pretty new Birkenstocks. No swoopy eyeliner today. No crimson lips. She wore light makeup, and instead of her towering updo, her hair was pulled back in a loose braid. Diamond was a beautiful woman, but she usually was intimidating: always in full makeup, perfectly color-coordinated, and wearing her expensive St. John-knit meets Victoria’s Secret–looking outfits. Today she was lovely in a fresh faced, wholesome way. “You look so pretty, like Jennifer Aniston when she’s in her casual mode.”