The Sweet Smell of Magnolias and Memories

by Celeste Fletcher McHale

  Colin leaned away from her and began to speak. He started by telling her about his childhood, about his relationship with his parents—or, in his father’s case, the lack thereof. He didn’t try to whitewash anything . . . told her every bit of the good, the bad, and the ugly. He spoke of his unchecked anger and his lack of respect for his parents. He told her about Jasper’s constant absence and his mother’s apathy toward it. The only thing he left out was the truth of his parents’ affairs, believing there was no point in sharing secrets that didn’t belong to him. And he was honest with her about his college years . . . all the women, the drinking, the poor lifestyle choices he’d made.

  Jacey was a little surprised to hear most of the things he said because the Colin she knew was so far removed from the one he was describing. But she kept her questions and comments to herself for the time being. She let him talk because she knew he needed to.

  Colin described meeting Julie, and how their friendship turned him around. “I was so lost,” he said. “I didn’t care about anything except the next thing that would make me feel better—be it a woman, a bottle of Scotch, or a fast vehicle. I was searching that night for something . . . redemption, I guess. Julie probably saved my life, though she would say it was all part of a divine plan. I was in a downward spiral, destination Rock Bottom, with no way or intention of stopping myself. Julie stood up to me, called my bluff, and put me in my place. That was a first for me.”

  Colin clearly loved his friend, and Jacey was thankful Julie had come into his life when she did.

  “When I left Baton Rouge, the day after you spent the night at my trailer,” Colin continued, “it was my intention to go home and have it out with my father once and for all. I just couldn’t take it anymore. I had found you again, and that was enough for me. But then my mother got sick. Well . . . she got sicker, and I thought it was my fault. I said some things to her that day I never should’ve said and . . . well . . . to cut to the chase, she ended up in the emergency room and had heart surgery the next day.”

  This was the day Georgia had seen him with the other woman. Should she interrupt him here and ask the question? She decided against it. There would be time to ask him later, and maybe he’d tell her without any prompting.

  “I was in bad shape, Jacey,” he said. “I still couldn’t stand to be in the same room with my father. I started to question my commitment to the ministry, and I knew I was really none of the things I presented myself to be. And I couldn’t drag you down with me. I needed to get my head together, but my mother was about to have her chest cut open. I wanted to call you. I wanted to ask you to be with me, but I just couldn’t. I knew you didn’t need any more chaos in your life . . . It sounds childish when I say it out loud, but I made a rash judgment call when I sent that text. But I thought I was doing you a favor.”

  Jacey really wished people would stop doing her favors. “You broke my heart,” she said quietly.

  Colin felt like a traitor. “I know I did,” he said. “And I am so sorry. If you will let me, I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you.”

  Jacey looked at him without answering, still more than a little confused. She was beginning to understand why he’d sent the first text message. The stress of his circumstances was enough to jolt anybody into another plane, and the strain from the tug-of-war with his father was equally frustrating, she was sure. But there was another problem far more prolific.

  “What about the girl?” Jacey asked.

  “What girl?” Colin said.

  “You know what girl,” Jacey said. She appreciated his explanation, but the important question lingered. “Please don’t bare your soul to me and then lie about the woman. It defeats the purpose.”

  “Jacey, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said. “There is no girl.”

  “Colin, please, don’t lie to me,” Jacey said. “Especially not now. I was in that same hospital the day your mother had surgery. Georgie and I were in Biloxi looking for the boys. We stopped at a smoothie shop and, long story short, I landed in the ER.”

  “You were here?” he asked.

  She waved him off. “I was still in the ER when Georgie saw you down the hall,” Jacey said. “She saw you with a girl. The same girl we saw at this very house from our hotel balcony right over there.” She pointed to the hotel. “Georgie heard you tell her you loved her. That girl.”

  Colin finally understood. “That wasn’t a girl,” he said. “That was Julie.”

  “Who is Julie?” Jacey asked.

  “Julie is my friend, my dear friend,” he said. “Julie with the Bible from the bar.”

  “Julie was the bar Bible girl?”

  “Yes,” Colin said. “I do love her, and I always tell her so. But there’s never been anything like that between us.”

  “So the girl you were hugging on that deck”—she pointed outside—“and the girl you were talking to in the hospital was . . . your friend. And that’s all?”

  Colin nodded his head. “Yes,” he said. “And I do love Julie, but I am in love with you. Only you, Jacey.”

  Jacey sprang from her seat on the sofa and flung herself into his arms. “I’m in love with you too,” she said.

  Colin held her, the relief flooding through him. He felt the way he did the day he saw the boat coming around the bend to save her. They were going to make it. He pulled her away from him and kissed her, thoroughly and completely. And when he was done, he kissed her again.

  “Well, that was worth the wait,” she said, her voice shaky and her knees weak. She was glad she was sitting and not standing.

  He pushed her back gently. “But, wait. What about the other guy? You told me you were seeing somebody and . . .” Colin paused, assessing Jacey’s face. “You lied to me, didn’t you?”

  Jacey grinned sheepishly. “I did,” she confessed, “but it’s your fault.”

  “Okay, I’ll accept that,” he said, pulling her back to his lips. “I can’t tell you how much I have thought about this,” he said, his mouth against hers.

  “Me too,” she said, straining her body against his, every part of her alive and aware.

  “We’d better stop now. I don’t want the first time to be like this. In somebody else’s house, on an ottoman.”

  Jacey laughed. “That’s very gentlemanly of you.”

  Colin kissed her lightly on the lips. “I aim to please,” he said.

  “How did you find me?” she asked. “How did you even know where to look?”

  Before he could answer, they were interrupted by the sound of wailing. It sounded like World War Three had broken out on the beach. Jacey knew in an instant what it was.

  Colin jumped up to open the gate. “I’m so sorry,” Georgia said, rushing past Colin to get to Jacey. She held Devin, inconsolable in her arms, and a sobbing Derek by the hand. Dewayne stood behind her, dry-eyed but bewildered.

  “Devin woke up crying, then Derek started in,” she said in a frantic tone. “Dewayne tried to help, but they only wanted you.” She looked behind her. “Hi, Colin.”

  “Hi,” Colin said, visibly confused.

  Devin whipped around in Georgia’s arms and spotted Colin for the first time. Then Dewayne noticed him, and Derek too.

  “Colin?” Dewayne said. Colin knelt down on one knee and opened his arms, and Dewayne ran toward him. Derek jumped on Colin’s back, and even Devin wriggled out of Georgia’s arms and joined the party. Colin looked up at Jacey, the questions clearly written on his face.

  “I forgot to tell you,” she said, smiling. “I adopted them. In eight more months, they will be all mine.”

  Colin fell backward on the floor and allowed himself to be consumed by the adoration of three giggling, spirited, and energetic little boys.

  There were still questions to be answered and curiosity to be satisfied . . . but tonight, Colin and Jacey knew all they really needed to know.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  “Your home is beautiful, Ava,” Lisa Lang said.
“I can’t tell you how much we appreciate the invitation to join you for Christmas.”

  “And I can’t tell you how much we love your daughter and the children,” Ava said. “They have transformed our lives in a matter of months.”

  “Speaking of, what is the shrieking coming from the other room?” Lisa asked.

  “I imagine that would be Colin teaching the boys how to slide down the bannister, although I am afraid to look,” Ava said.

  “I don’t think I will either,” Lisa said.

  “Colin!” Jacey’s voice echoed from the foyer. “Have you lost your mind? Boys, get down from there! Every one of you is going to break your neck. Colin, don’t you dare let them get up on that bannister again, do you hear me?”

  Ava and Lisa listened and smiled.

  Jacey came into the kitchen where the women were still chuckling. “Do you know what Colin was letting the boys do?” she asked.

  They shook their heads.

  “They were sliding down the bannister,” she said. “They could’ve killed themselves. It’s like watching four kids instead of three when they’re together. And I don’t know who the worst influence is—Colin on the kids or the other way around.”

  She walked out of the kitchen, and Ava and Lisa laughed out loud.

  “Young mothers,” Lisa said.

  “She’ll relax,” Ava said. “Give her some time. When Colin was a baby, his bed collapsed with him in it. When I uncovered him, he was smiling. But I almost called an ambulance.”

  “When Jacey was a baby, she slid out of my lap and onto the floor while I was giving her Tylenol. I almost called the National Guard.”

  In the foyer, Jacey continued to scold Colin—but he could only grin at her motherly tone. “I’m sorry, Jacey, but that’s like a rite of passage. Every kid needs to slide down a bannister.”

  “Not with a marble floor beneath them,” Jacey said.

  “Did you want me to put some mattresses down?” he asked. “I will.”

  “I want them to not slide down the bannister,” she said.

  He kissed her quickly. “Okay, I promise, no more bannisters.”

  “Thank you,” she said, pulling him back to her lips. “That one was too fast.”

  “Ewwww!” The joint disgust echoed behind them as the boys witnessed their affection. Jacey pulled away from Colin and laughed.

  “Come on, guys,” Colin said. “I want to show you how to get down the bluff without using the steps.”

  Jacey shook her head. “Are you kidding me?” she muttered as they all dashed outside.

  Her cell phone jingled and she fished it out of her pocket. It was Georgia.

  “Hello, my friend. What are you doing?” she said.

  “I’m waiting for Joshua to come back to the car,” she said. “We stopped at the store to get a bottle of wine to take to Mom’s house.”

  “Oh, so you two decided to spend Christmas together,” Jacey said. “I approve.”

  “Jacey . . . he’s wonderful,” Georgia gushed, “and I mean wonderful. He’s thoughtful and generous and asks for my opinion about things. He’s . . . perfect. So now I’m just waiting for him to mess up.”

  “No.” Jacey laughed. “You can’t think like that.”

  “It’s hard not to.”

  “Listen, Colin says he’s a real stand-up guy. He’s no cheater. Now, don’t do anything crazy to run him off.”

  “Like what?” Georgia asked.

  “Like be yourself.” Jacey laughed.

  “Ha-ha, you’re so funny,” Georgia said. “Oops, here he comes. Oh my, he looks like a Greek god. I have to go, bye.”

  Jacey was still smiling after they disconnected.

  Georgia was going to make it. She and Joshua had been dating for a couple of months, and she’d never seen Georgia this happy and relaxed. Joshua was good to her and for her. The fact that he was a football coach was just lagniappe. Georgia loved football and had already attended a couple of his games. Joshua had told Colin he knew Georgia was a keeper when she told him at halftime that his defense should blitz the rest of the game if they wanted to win. The strategy worked.

  Later that night the Jenningses and the Langs gathered in the den to open presents. Jacey sat with a beautifully wrapped package in her lap, looked around the room, and counted her blessings. Her father and Jasper were working on Devin’s new motorized jeep in one corner. Colin and the two smaller boys were playing with their new puppy, the golden retriever Jasper had given them. They had argued for thirty minutes about what they were going to name her, but finally decided on Princess Leia as a salute to the Star Wars character. Leia was currently licking Derek’s ear, and he was in the throes of a giggle fest. Ava and Lisa were sharing cookie recipes and comparing cooking notes. Jacey wondered if there was another time in her life she’d been this happy, but she couldn’t remember one.

  “Okay, ladies and gentlemen, if I could have your attention, please,” Colin said. “Boys, are you ready?”

  The boys ran to his side, and they all walked to Jacey and stood in front of her.

  Jacey smiled. “What’s this?” she asked.

  “One, two, three,” Colin said, and they all bent down on one knee in front of her.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  They began singing “My Girl” to her in perfect pitch and tone. Jacey was completely enchanted, as was the rest of the audience. When the song was over, Colin turned to Dewayne. “You still got it?” he asked.

  Dewayne smiled, took a small box out of his pocket, and gave it to Colin.

  Still on one bended knee, Colin opened the box. It held a beautiful antique diamond ring.

  Jacey’s hand flew over her mouth. They hadn’t even talked about this.

  “Jacey,” Colin said, “I love you and I love these boys. It would be my honor to be your husband and their daddy. Will you marry me?”

  “Please?” Devin added, which cracked up the room.

  Jacey opened her arms and invited all of them in. “Yes, yes, yes, and yes.” She laughed and cried. “I will marry you.”

  EPILOGUE

  June sixth was cooler than normal in Mississippi. The temperature was holding steady in the lower to mid-eighties. It was the perfect temperature for an outside evening wedding looking over the Gulf.

  Jacey had peeked out the window earlier and saw several people she recognized walking to the large white tent, including Mrs. Ernestine Harrison. She was dressed to the nines and being escorted by none other than Sheriff Roger Jefferson. The boys were going to be so excited to see her. Jacey had taken them to visit not too long ago, and they had loved it.

  Ava and Lisa—the wedding planners, as they liked to call themselves—had done a beautiful job getting ready for today. There must have been a million white lights in the trees on the lawn that would come on when twilight fell. Vintage and rustic features adorned every table and chair. The guests would feast on the bounty from the Gulf with all the trimmings. And magnolias were everywhere.

  One day months earlier, Jacey was sitting at the table with Ava and Lisa talking about the wedding flowers when Colin walked in and listened to their conversation.

  “Lisa and I think roses would be best,” Ava said. “Pink-and-white tea roses. They will be beautiful.”

  Jacey didn’t really have a preference, and she trusted the opinion of both her mother and soon-to-be mother-in-law. “That’s fine with me,” she said.

  “How about magnolias?” Colin said. “I don’t know much about flowers, but magnolias are nice.”

  “Why on earth would you want magnolias, son?” Ava asked.

  He bent down by Jacey’s chair and kissed her cheek. “Because she rode into my life on a magnolia limb full of flowers. That limb stayed on the roof with us for days, and I can still smell them. Can we have magnolias?”

  Jacey smiled. “We sure can,” she said.

  “This isn’t just an ugly dress, Jacey,” Willow said. “It’s almost criminal.”

  Jacey stare
d at herself in the mirror of Ava’s bedroom. In a few minutes, she would walk down the stairs on her father’s arm and marry the man of her dreams. She was too happy to care what Willow thought of her matron of honor dress.

  “Hey,” Georgia said. “You knew this was coming, Willow. You knew this was coming and you should’ve waited longer to get pregnant. You didn’t plan well.”

  “I didn’t know I was going to have to wear hot-pink spandex,” Willow said. “Or I would have.”

  “It isn’t spandex,” Jacey said. “It’s supposed to fit that way.”

  “Um, I don’t think so,” Willow said. “It’s like I have two butts. One in the back and one in the front.”

  Georgia laughed out loud. “It sure does!” she said.

  “Just because you’ve lost twenty pounds and are trying to look like a Victoria’s Secret model now doesn’t mean you can laugh at the pregnant chick,” Willow said.

  “I look so good in this dress I can’t believe it,” Georgia said. “Here, take a picture so I can text it to Joshua.”

  “He’ll see you in ten minutes,” Willow said. “You’re so full of yourself.”

  “It’s because I’m so hot,” she said.

  “Will both of you just stop and look at me, please?” Jacey asked. “All I want you to be is jealous. Just jealous.”

  Willow and Georgia stood on either side of her.

  “You look unbelievable,” Willow said.

  “You do,” Georgia agreed.

  There was a knock on the door, and Willow went to see who it was. She came back and handed Jacey a box with a bow on top.

  “What’s this?” she asked.

  “I don’t know,” Willow said. “Your future father-in-law said it was a gift from your future husband and you may want to wear it for the ceremony.”

  Jacey opened the box and found a note. She flipped the paper over and read it out loud. “Remember the locket Lillian wore? It’s only fitting that their other mother has one too.”