Wedding Mints and Witnesses

by Kelsey Browning

  “I. Am. Not. Sick.” She repeated her words slowly, enunciating them carefully. But if those two lovely ladies didn’t get their butts inside quickly, Jenny was going to blow. And it wouldn’t be pretty.

  It would be decidedly ugly.

  “Please let Mom and me have some privacy.”

  Maggie put her arm around Lil and scurried her inside.

  Smart woman that Abby Ruth Cady was, she hesitated on the top step, watching Jenny like she might a baby rattlesnake. “Something’s obviously wrong.”

  “You think?” Jenny laughed, a harsh sound, because if she didn’t laugh, she would start crying again and might never stop. Dammit, she was a grown woman. Why was she this torn up over the news of her father? The fact that she didn’t have one had stopped bothering her years ago. At least she’d thought it had.

  Then this.

  Her mom bent at the waist and cleaned up Jenny’s mess, picking up the candy package and beef jerky bags without glancing up. Yeah, she knew something bad was going down. Once she had everything stuffed inside the ice cream tub, she set it near the front door. Then she picked up the wedding planner from the rocker next to Jenny’s and carefully lowered herself as if she was afraid there might be a bomb strapped to the chair’s seat.

  “Just tell me, Jenny. Is it something with the baby?” She reached and tried to grab Jenny’s hand, but she wasn’t ready for any physical contact and shifted away. “Did something…happen?”

  “The baby is fine. Assuming I didn’t put her into a lard and sugar coma.”

  “Then what’s this all about?”

  Jenny fixed her gaze on her mom’s face. “This is all about Red Jensen being my father.”

  * * *

  The air in Abby Ruth’s lungs couldn’t have whooshed out with more force if someone had marched across her chest wearing combat boots. Her mind blanked, went black like when the electricity failed in the dead of winter.

  Then the thoughts and excuses and pleas swirled so fast in her brain, making her dizzy.

  “Don’t deny it, Mom. I’ve already confronted Red.”

  All she could do was push out two words. “I’m sorry.”

  Jenny cocked her head to the side in a smart-ass way Abby Ruth hadn’t seen since her daughter was an angsty hormonal teen. And far be it from her to point out how Jenny’s hormones might be affecting her attitude right now. Abby Ruth wasn’t an idiot.

  “What exactly are you sorry for, Mom? Are you sorry for leaving my birth certificate blank? Or maybe telling me that you didn’t know who my father was when I was a little girl?” With every word, Jenny’s voice rose in pitch and volume—up and down like she couldn’t control herself. “Or possibly letting me watch an untold number of Astros games without mentioning that my dad was the pitcher? Or, gosh, could it be that you have allowed me to live in the same small town with Red Jensen for the past year and never said a damn word about how you apparently hopped into bed with him at some point and I was the accidental byproduct?”

  Abby Ruth leaned in and pointed a long, thin finger toward Jenny. As much as she loved her daughter, she wouldn’t let her make what she and Red had once shared sound like some tawdry one-night stand. “I did not just hop into bed with Red. It wasn’t like that.”

  “How long did the two of you date?”

  “We didn’t date, not exactly. You see—”

  “So you’re saying it was only sex? Mom, women have every right to have physical relationships, but I don’t understand why—”

  “Jenny…”

  Something in Abby Ruth’s warning tone must’ve clued Jenny in because she said, “Oh, Mom, you loved him, didn’t you? That’s even worse.”

  Abby Ruth lowered her head.

  “It’s obvious he cares for you. How long have the two of you been in love? And why couldn’t you tell me the truth, if not raise me together? I don’t understand. He’s obviously a good man.”

  “The absolute best,” Abby Ruth said.

  “Then how could he…”

  Before Jenny could finish that horrible thought, Abby Ruth grabbed her hand and held on tight. “He didn’t let you down, Jenny. Until recently, Red didn’t know about you.”

  “What?” By the way Jenny was clutching her other fist against her chest, it was obvious that bit of news had sideswiped her.

  “I never told him I was pregnant.”

  “W…why?” The way Jenny’s voice stumbled over that one word made Abby Ruth nearly choke in response.

  “We never meant to fall in love, but we did. He was married, which was bad enough. But he was also married to a woman with a chronic medical condition. At the time, she needed him far more than I did.”

  “Did you think about whether or not I would need him?”

  “Of course I did. But I was a grown woman who had a good job, and I knew I could provide for you.”

  “Dinner on the table every night isn’t the same thing as a parent’s love.”

  And that cut through Abby Ruth like a jagged saw blade, ripping flesh and feelings. “I love you with everything inside me.”

  “Just not enough to tell me who my dad is. I’m not some breakable six-year-old child. I’m a grown woman with one child of my own and another on the way. Did you think I was so fragile, so weak?”

  “No,” Abby Ruth insisted. “Red and I went our separate ways after the night he told me his wife’s condition had worsened and that he needed to honor his marriage vows. That’s exactly the reason I couldn’t put more anchors around him.”

  “Great,” Jenny scoffed. “Now I’m not just gaining three pounds a week, I’m an anchor. Big enough to drag a man down to his death.”

  “A bit of an exaggeration, don’t you think?”

  “You still think you did the right thing, don’t you?”

  “I don’t think it, I know it. It was a complete fluke that Red ever walked back into my…our lives.”

  “Did you ever intend to tell me?”

  “Hell, I hadn’t planned to tell him,” she mumbled, then caught Jenny’s horrified expression. “Look, I planned to tell you the other night when I came over, but you were a little busy trying not to heave.”

  “Handy.”

  “Dammit, Jenny.” Abby Ruth jumped from her seat, the wedding planner slipping from her lap and thudding to the porch. In that instant, she’d released her daughter’s hand. One that had curled into a tight fist. “I did the best I could. Was that always good enough? No, it absolutely wasn’t. I remember that time you wanted me to make you a Pocahontas costume for Halloween and I couldn’t sew to save a life. You ended up wearing a paper sack and fringed cowboy boots. Lots of times I downright sucked as a mother. But tell me this, before today, were you happy? Consider yourself moderately well adjusted?”

  “That doesn’t matt—”

  “Of course it matters. You’re the same woman who got out of your bed this morning. Now you happen to know something that changes your perspective on the world.”

  “No, Mom.” With deliberate—and brittle—movements, Jenny pushed herself up from the rocker. “It changes everything.”

  The calm chill in Jenny’s words froze its way through Abby Ruth’s bones. “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying forget about being involved in my wedding. I have no interest in you planning it.” She kicked the white book that held every detail about her wedding, sending it sliding across the porch. “In fact, I have no interest in talking with you for a long while. If ever.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Lil stood at the base of the stairs looking up toward Summer Haven’s second floor. It wasn’t like Abby Ruth to sleep this late. Usually, she was up and at ’em. “Do you think we should wake her? It’s ten o’clock.”

  Maggie leaned forward, listening. “After what she said about her and Jenny’s fight last night, I bet she tossed and turned until early morning. I hope she’s okay.”

  “I’ve never seen her in that kind of state, and I was afraid of the same thin
g.” Lil patted the balustrade. “But we also can’t coddle her. She needs to get out of that bed. If not, she’ll just lie in there feeling sorry for herself, and that certainly won’t help anything.”

  “If you say so.” Maggie’s forehead creased. “You don’t think she’ll do something crazy, do you?”

  Honestly, the thought had crossed Lil’s mind too, but Abby Ruth was a strong woman. Action was a better medicine than wallowing in whatever was making you miserable. She knew that firsthand. So even though it pained her knees a little, she marched up to the Sweet Vidalia Room and knocked twice on the door. “Abby Ruth, it’s time to get up. You’ve slept for long enough.”

  Not a peep from the other side.

  So Lil rapped again, harder this time. “Abby Ruth Cady, it’s midmorning. You need to get out of that bed.”

  “Go ’way” was the mumbled response from inside.

  “Since Summer Haven is my home, I doubt that will happen, so why don’t you get on your feet and get dressed?”

  “Don’t wanna.”

  For Pete’s sake, it looked as if she was going to have to take this stubborn old Texas bull by the horns. Normally, Lil was very respectful of her roommates’ privacy, but desperate times called for boldness. So she opened the door and swung it wide. Then she hit the light switch before bustling around the room, opening the drapes to let the spring sunshine flood inside.

  Abby Ruth groaned and turned over.

  Ha. Like that would stop Lil. She grabbed the end of her own grandmother’s Jacob’s Ladder quilt and yanked it from Abby Ruth’s lean body. Her man-style pajamas were woggled around her calves and creased all over. A sneer touched Abby Ruth’s lips, which made it apparent the creases didn’t stop with her clothes. Her face looked as if a bunch of drunk semi drivers had raced across her cheeks all night.

  Poor baby.

  But not so sad that Lil was about to let her hide in here today. They had things to do—a wedding to pull off and a bad guy to take down. Nudging the mattress with her hip, she said, “When I was a girl, if I was throwing a fit—not a regular one, mind you, but a bad one—my momma would threaten to toss a glass of ice water on me. That’s all it took to straighten me up right quick.”

  “I’m not throwing a fit,” Abby Ruth said into her pillow.

  “Well, then pull yourself together,” Lil said. “Don’t think I won’t resort to Momma’s tactics. It only takes one time. Shocks the very breath out of you, and yes, I’m talking from experience.”

  At that, Abby Ruth opened one eye. “I think I would’ve liked your momma.”

  “Once she got past some of your sharper angles, I think she would’ve liked you too.”

  “Why are you here?” Abby Ruth asked.

  Rather than sitting on the edge of the bed to comfort Abby Ruth, Lil yanked the comfy feather pillow out from under her head. “Because wallowing in this bed all day won’t accomplish anything. It sure won’t fix things with Jenny.”

  But Abby Ruth just lay there. “Pretty sure nothing in this world will fix things between Jenny and me.”

  Lil clucked her tongue. “This isn’t like you. Where’s the woman who’ll fight with her own shadow if it comes down to that?”

  “Jenny has a right to be mad at me. I can’t blame her.”

  “Can’t say I blame her either, but it’s up to you to fix all this. None of us can help in that regard.” It occurred to Lil that this might not be the best avenue to light a fire under Abby Ruth’s behind. “But that’s not why I’m here. We have a case to solve. If you don’t get dressed and get on the ball, we’re never going to track down that scoundrel who’s targeting the wedding attendees.”

  “I could care less about that guy now.”

  “That may be so, but I care a great deal because my rings are missing. Plus, you promised that sweet couple, Hannah and Brandon, a free destination wedding and honeymoon. You can’t let them down.”

  Abby Ruth groaned.

  “If you don’t care about anything else, the least you can do is help me get my rings back.”

  Abby Ruth turned her face away, but not before Lil spotted the guilty look in her eyes.

  “And with all the ado last night, I’m assuming you haven’t spoken to Red yet.”

  “His number is in my phone,” Abby Ruth said. “Why don’t you give him a call and bring him up to date?”

  Lil pulled her hands to her hips. “No.”

  “What?”

  Lil sucked in a steadying breath. Abby Ruth wasn’t used to people refusing her demands, and if her balled fists were any indication, she was ready for a fight, but that was better than the woman lying around in a heap of a pity party all day. “You started all this. One secret that’s snowballed over the years.”

  Abby Ruth rolled her eyes. “I get it. It’s huge now.”

  “The least you can do is talk with Red about it yourself. Good Lord, woman. You can fix this if you two put your heads together.”

  Abby Ruth thrust her arm out as if asking Lil to pass her the phone.

  Instead, Lil grabbed Abby Ruth’s cell and slipped it into her pocket. “And you owe him the courtesy of doing it face to face.” She went to the wardrobe and pulled out a starched pair of Wranglers, a bright yellow shirt, and Abby Ruth’s favorite pair of cowboy boots. “Get dressed.”

  “Ugh,” she said from the bed.

  “If you’re not dressed and downstairs in twenty minutes, I’m coming back with the ice water.” With that pronouncement, Lil strode out and shut the door behind her.

  When Lil returned to the foyer, Maggie said, “Any luck?”

  “I have a feeling I may have motivated her.”

  Sure enough, Abby Ruth was downstairs nineteen and a half minutes later, pouring herself a cup of now stale coffee with jerky motions. The glare she shot on her way out of the room would’ve intimidated Lil a year or so ago. Now, she knew that Abby Ruth had a big bark, but she was a caring mother and a good friend at heart.

  The front door slammed, rocking the pottery on an open shelf, and Maggie said, “Whoa, she was not happy.”

  “Of course she wasn’t, but she was in motion. That’s all that matters right now.”

  * * *

  Abby Ruth knocked on Red’s front door, then walked inside before he could answer. They hadn’t exactly gotten to the walk-on-in stage in their relationship, but this was a desperate time, and it wasn’t as if Red would care about her barging in.

  Sure enough, he looked up from Teague’s old recliner, the Summer Shoals Dispatch spread out on his lap and a cautious smile on his lips. “Good morning. How are you?”

  “How do you think I am? I’m paying the ultimate price for keeping a lifelong secret from Jenny. Our daughter hates me now.” She held out a hand to stop him from butting in. “Please don’t say you told me so. That’s the last thing I need.”

  “Ru, you know me better than that. I never wanted things to end up this way. I know I was pushing you to tell Jenny, but this…this isn’t good for any of us.” He ran his fingers through his greying hair. “The look on her face…”

  “I can’t listen to that right now.” She pressed a palm against her chest, trying to ease the pain that had settled where her heart was supposed to be. Her normal swagger had vamoosed, and all she really wanted was to curl up and hibernate until things could miraculously change. “I swear I’ve never felt worse.”

  “Then why are you here?”

  “I need your help.”

  “Anything.” With quick movements, he folded the newspaper three times into a perfectly creased rectangle and set it on a side table. “You know that.”

  Amazing, after all she’d kept from him, that he was still willing to support her, no questions asked. “I need to borrow your condo in Hawaii for a week.”

  “Running away won’t fix this.”

  “It’s not for me. Is it available the week of June fifteenth?”

  “For Jenny and Teague. That’s a great idea. Why didn’t I think of tha
t?” He stood and pulled her into a hug. “It’s something we can give her together as her parents.”

  She pressed her palms against his chest and kept some distance between them even though what she really wanted to do was lean in and rest against him. But she couldn’t afford that right now. Fixing things with Jenny was priority one, but a getaway to Hawaii wouldn’t smooth away the pain Abby Ruth had caused her daughter. “She won’t ever forgive me.”

  “Yes, she will. Give her time.” He tipped up her chin and met her gaze. “She’s getting married. She’s pregnant. Her whole life shifted on its axis. This situation with her finding out about me on her own isn’t perfect, but we’re all adults. It’s not like she’s fifteen and this is getting hurled at her. We can work this out.”

  “If she was fifteen I could send her to her room and make her cooperate.”

  “Somehow I doubt that. She is your daughter, after all.”

  She couldn’t suppress a smile. “She is that.”

  “You Cady girls are tough customers, but there’s nothing deeper than your loyalty to who and what you love. You forgave me after all we went through years ago, and I’ve forgiven you for not telling me about Jenny.”

  “I’ve royally screwed things up. You do know that I was trying to protect you both, don’t you?”

  “Yes, and Jenny will too once she has some time to cool down. Trust that to work in our favor. A trip to Hawaii won’t hurt either.”

  “I don’t think I was clear about the condo. I don’t need to borrow it for Jenny and Teague’s honeymoon either.”

  “Do I even want to know what you’re up to this time?”

  He’d been right there for the takedown of the G Team’s last big case, but did she really want him to be involved in this one? He’d probably try to talk her out of the investigation, or tell Teague, and right now the case was all she really had.

  “Probably not.”

  He went to the desk under the window and pulled out a leather folio from the second drawer. He thumbed through it and pulled out a card. “Here,” he said. “Call the property manager and let her know the details. The account codes are all right there. Whatever you need is yours.”