by Arianna Hart
“Well, my mom was sleeping with the good pastor. I caught them right before Orleane came up the drive.”
“You did? Really? Never mind. The fact is, neither one of them were married to other people. They were adults, and it wasn’t like he was doing her on the pulpit, for heaven’s sake. If this town got all fired up every time someone got caught having premarital sex, things would never settle down. What the hell else is there to do around here?”
“But she was a gypsy, which means she was trash. You know how they all thought of me and my mama.”
“Only the ignorant, jealous ones. They just wished they looked like her. How’s your mama doing, anyway?”
A familiar pang of grief struck Nadya in the heart. “She’s passed on. Cancer. That’s why I’m back in town, tying up some loose ends.” She didn’t need to explain which loose ends.
Tears welled up in Mary Ellen’s baby-blue eyes. She clutched Nadya’s hand. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I just loved your mama. I was always jealous of you. She was so exotic and young and pretty and didn’t make you go to church every Sunday.”
“And I was jealous of your mom. She baked cookies and volunteered in the school and took you shopping in Atlanta every Christmas and Easter. How is she? And your daddy?”
“They’re both fine. Daddy retired from the Forestry Service a few years ago when they were having cutbacks. He and Mama sold the house and the business to Bill and me and moved to a retirement community in Canton. We still see them every Sunday. Oh! Are you going to be here through the weekend? Mama would love to see you. You know how much she thought of you. She always said you were smart as a whip and the hardest worker she’d ever had.”
“I don’t know yet. Maybe.”
“Are you staying at the bed and breakfast? It’s nice and all, but so pricey.”
“No, I’m staying at a hotel in Canton.”
“That’s an hour away. And along all those windy roads. Why don’t you check out of the hotel and stay with us? That way you don’t have to drive back and forth all the time, and we can have a nice visit.”
“I couldn’t. I wouldn’t want to intrude on you and Billy.”
Mary Ellen’s face fell. “I understand. If I had the choice to stay in a hotel with maid service or in a house with two kids and a dog, I’d take the hotel too.”
“But I would like to meet your boys and see Billy again. Maybe we can do dinner together soon?”
“You bet. How about tonight? No, Bill has a meeting up at the ranger station. There’s talk of a developer coming in and clearing some of the woods that border the state forest. If that happens, it’ll throw the whole ecosystem into chaos or some such.”
“Billy is a forest ranger? Really.”
“Yup, he just got promoted to supervisor.”
“That’s great.” Nadya had trouble wrapping her head around Billy Michaels as a responsible adult.
“So enough about me. What are you doing these days? You look so sophisticated. I bet you work for some big company and go out every night drinking cosmos at rooftop bars and whatnot.”
“Not quite. I’m a lawyer for a huge firm in New York City. I have a tiny apartment that costs the earth, but it’s close to work.”
“Oh, a lawyer. I can see you strutting around in front of a jury and annihilating the opposing lawyer. Is it anything like Law and Order?”
“Not quite. I actually do contract law, not trial law. It’s pretty boring. I sit in an office and read contracts all day looking for loopholes or traps. I’m one of a bunch of other peon lawyers in the firm. But I do drink martinis at a bar down the street after work some nights.”
“What about the men? Are you married? Do you have a different boyfriend for every night of the week? Please, give me something good. I’m an old, married, pregnant lady. I’ll take any scrap of excitement I can get.”
“There hasn’t been a lot of time for dating. There was a guy I was seeing for a while, but it didn’t take. He was a broker on Wall Street and just as busy in his job as I was in mine. It makes it hard to have a relationship when you’re working fourteen-hour days.”
“Well, pooh. That’s no fun. Sounds like you need to slow down some, remember your Southern roots.”
“It’s been a while, but I think I can find my inner Southern Belle.”
“Like you were ever a Southern Belle. Why, I remember when you—” The phone ringing cut Mary Ellen off mid-sentence. “Shoot, I have to get that. Don’t you go anywhere.”
Nadya moved out from behind the counter as Mary Ellen talked on the phone. It looked like she was taking down an order. The back wall of the store where there used to be a soda fountain had been remodeled, and there was a deli case and a display of baked goods that reminded Nadya she hadn’t eaten since breakfast.
“Nad? Where’d you go?”
“I’m back here by the deli. Did your mom make those cookies?”
Mary Ellen waddled behind the deli case with the order slip in her hand. “No, Mrs. Sugarfield did. I have some of the ladies in the garden club baking for me fresh every day. It gives them some pocket money and makes sure I have a steady stream of customers in the afternoon.”
“Great marketing idea. Do you run the store by yourself?” No customers had come in since Nadya had been there, but still, if Mary Ellen was manning the counter and the deli, that was a lot for one person.
“Heavens, no. I’m just covering the breaks. I have a couple of high school girls who come in like we used to, you know, to stock shelves and the like. I have two full-time employees who run the deli and bakery and work the counter. I mostly do the books and the scheduling.”
“Listen to you. Mary Ellen Farley, business woman.”
“It’s Mary Ellen Michaels, and I consider myself an entrepreneur.”
Nadya laughed again and dug in her purse for a business card. She scribbled her cell phone number on the back. “Here, call me and we’ll set up a date for dinner.”
“You know I will. When my hands aren’t full of lunch meat, I’ll text you my number.”
“I’m surprised you have any cell service way up here.”
“The town rented out some land to the cell phone companies for a cell tower. They pay a huge chunk of change every month, and we just have to ignore the ugly thing.”
“Really? I can’t believe the town council went for that.”
“Went for it? They practically did cartwheels. The money from the cell companies is about the only thing keeping Dale alive.” A frown briefly crossed Mary Ellen’s face. “But never mind all that. I’ll text you and we’ll make plans. How long are you staying in the area?”
Thoughts of Hornblower tried to crowd her head, but she pushed them away. “I not sure, but I’ll keep you posted. It was good seeing you again, Mar.”
“You too. I’m glad you stopped in.”
As Nadya got into the car, she scanned the street to see if J.T. was around. There were a few old duffers sitting on a bench under a tree and a woman pushing a baby in a stroller, but no signs of a police car. It was probably better that way. The day had been emotionally exhausting, and she still had to drive an hour back to the hotel.
As Dale faded in her rearview mirror, she was surprised to feel a pang of wistfulness. Who’d have thought she’d missed this place after all?
Chapter Four
J.T. watched Nadya climb out of the pool as he drank his beer at the poolside tiki bar. He wasn’t the only one watching her, either. The tiny scrap of a bikini she wore on her luscious body pretty much ensured she had the attention of every man with a pulse in the vicinity.
Water streamed from her long hair and dripped down her back as she crossed to a lounge chair and grabbed a towel. He was glad to see she hadn’t cut the wild curls. With the way she’d had it all pinned up nice and neat earlier, he hadn’t been able to tell.
He took a long gulp of beer, hoping it would cool off the fire burning through him. He’d been on the edge of arousal ever since she’d stepped ou
t of the car. Seeing her in her bathing suit was doing nothing to help his condition. For God’s sake, he was thirty years old. He shouldn’t be sporting a woody just from seeing an attractive woman climb out of the pool.
Just the same, he needed to calm himself down before he called himself to her attention. Watching her bend over and dry her hair wasn’t helping.
Come on, man, pull yourself together.
Nadya slipped a loose dress over her head and stepped into her sandals. If he was going to make his move, it’d better be now. J.T. leaned back casually against the teak bar and waited for her to come closer. She had her phone in her hand and wasn’t paying attention to the trail of drooling men she left in her wake.
“Nice form. Did you join the swim team in college?”
Her head snapped up and zeroed in on him like she had radar. A smile crossed her face as she skirted two little boys in water wings and joined him at the bar. “Well, Officer McBride, are you working undercover? I didn’t think you had jurisdiction in Canton.”
“Nope, I’m off duty for the next three days, and I thought I’d come down to the big city and get myself a drink. I’ve got a powerful thirst.” With her hair curling as it dried and no makeup on, she looked younger, more vulnerable than she had in her business clothes.
“They don’t sell Budweiser in Dale? I’m pretty sure I saw some at the store.”
“That wasn’t the only thing I was thirsty for.” He took a long pull on the bottle and let his gaze run up and down her body.
She raised an eyebrow and fixed him with a look that would freeze a weaker man in his tracks. “I’m glad you got your beer. You may have to content yourself with that.”
J.T. laughed out loud. “Damn, but you always were quick. Really, I came to see if you wanted to go out to dinner. We never did go out on a real date.”
“You mean getting ice cream at the Tasty Treat and then making out in your daddy’s Buick didn’t count as a date?”
“Not that that wasn’t fun, but I was thinking something more along the lines of a nice Italian restaurant and maybe some dancing.”
“I am not line dancing.”
“Why don’t we start with dinner and see where it leads?”
She seemed to consider the idea, her face carefully blank. “What the hell? It might be nice to take a trip down memory lane.”
“I was thinking more along the lines of making new memories, but whatever works.”
Her face softened. “J.T., I’m not going to be here long. I’m just in Georgia to wrap up some loose ends after Mama’s death. I’ll be headed back to New York when I’ve finished my business.”
“I figured as much. I was just looking to enjoy the time you were here.”
“This has a familiar ring to it. No promises?”
“No promises.”
“I’ll be right back.”
J.T. watched her head back into the hotel and let his eyes linger on the swing of her hips. It had been twelve years, but he vividly recalled holding her sweet ass as she kissed his brains out. He wondered if reality was as good as his memories.
…
“So how did you find me, anyway? Canton has several good-sized hotels.” Nadya sipped her Shiraz and marveled at the way the candlelight brought out blond, bronze and gold highlights in J.T.’s hair. He wore it shorter now, but there was still a little shock that fell over his forehead. Her fingers itched to brush it back.
“I employed my amazing detective skills and deduced where you’d be staying. It was just luck that the bar was near the pool.”
“Really?”
“Sort of. I figured you would stay in one of the nicer hotels, and I cruised the parking lot until I saw your car. Elementary, my dear Watson.”
She laughed and leaned back in her seat. The Italian restaurant he’d brought her to had plush booths, dim lighting and fabulous food. She’d dithered over whether to order the lasagna since she was wearing white pants but decided to risk it. The aroma of tomato sauce, garlic and oregano was too much to resist.
“This place is great. Do you come here a lot?” She could have bitten her tongue off. It sounded like she was prying into his love life.
“I try to hit it when I’m in town. I get sick of my own cooking, and there are only so many variations at the deli.”
“I was disappointed to see Sonny’s Barbeque had gone out of business. He had the best ribs and coleslaw.”
“Yeah, he closed up shop a couple years back. His son moved to Atlanta and he was getting too old to keep the place running.”
“I noticed a lot of empty storefronts on Main Street. It reminded me of an old woman who had fallen on hard times but refused to go away gracefully.”
“I guess in a way Dale is dying. It was never big to begin with, but families stayed generation after generation. Now the kids graduate high school, go on to college or trade school and move away. There’s not a lot of options in Dale.”
“You know, I was born in Dale, but I was always considered an outsider because my mama wasn’t from Georgia. I was the only kid who didn’t have cousins in the school and family all around until you and your daddy came.”
“I remember what it felt like to be the new kid. But I was used to it. My daddy traveled from church to church most of my life. When my mama was alive, it was easier. By the time we got to Dale, I was so used to feeling like an outsider, it didn’t bother me. Much.”
“Considering you became an almost instant celebrity, I’m not surprised. All anyone could talk about was J.T. this and J.T. that. You had the entire town in the palm of your hand the day you walked into school.”
“I don’t remember it that way.” He grabbed a roll and buttered it. “How did we get on this topic, anyway? So tell me what you’re doing in Georgia, Miss Fancy Pants New York City Lawyer.”
Nadya swirled the deep red wine in her glass and refrained from taking one of the heavenly smelling rolls. She planned on enjoying her lasagna, and she could only have so many carbs before her ass got too big for her pants.
“You knew my mama died, right? I figured your daddy would have told you.” Pastor McBride was one of the few people she had notified of her mama’s death. Apparently, Talaitha had kept in touch with him after their inglorious departure from Dale.
“Yup. I was real sorry to hear about that. Your mama was a special lady. She’s the one who convinced me to go into the service, you know.”
“What? Really? No, I didn’t know that. My mama hated anything to do with the gadzé’s rules. I’d think she’d have been appalled by the idea of joining the military.”
“She caught me smashing the hell out of a tree with my baseball bat in the woods back behind the church. I was furious with my daddy for one reason or another. Hell, I don’t even remember what now, and she just stood there while I wailed away, smacking this sapling with a bat. When I wore myself out, she asked me if I felt better and gave me this look.”
“Oh, I hated that look. It made you feel about two inches tall.”
“That was the one. She asked me what I was so upset about that I had to destroy a tree that had done nothing more than try to grow in the forest.”
“When was this? I don’t remember her talking about meeting up with you in the woods.”
“It was before we were going out. Shortly after New Year’s. That’s the anniversary of my mama’s death, and my daddy and I always struck sparks off each other for a few weeks around then.”
“Understandable. So how did you go from feeling like a worm to joining the Marines?”
“Your mama told me the reason me and my daddy fought so much was that I had the heart of a warrior and my daddy was a peacemaker. She said we were both leaders, both wanted to help the innocent, but in different ways, and our paths would never be the same.”
“Sounds like gypsy woo woo to me.”
“Me too, but when she looked you in the eye, you believed what she had to say.” He stopped talking while the waitress placed their meals in fro
nt of them. When she’d left, he continued.
“She told me I could fight against my path or I could take steps to follow it constructively. The next day, I borrowed the Buick and went to the recruiter’s office.”
“Wow. And now you’re a cop.”
“It’s not like Dale is a booming metropolis.”
“I know, but you’re still the face of the law.” Nadya scooped up a forkful of steaming pasta, cheese and sauce.
“So what’s the real reason you’re in Dale? I can’t imagine your mama left anything with Hornblower. He didn’t open his office until earlier this year.”
“Really? Why would he want to open a law practice in Dale? It’s not like there’s a burning need for legal advice in a town of three hundred or so people.”
“Damned if I can figure it out. He said he was going into semi-retirement and had always liked the area. Bought one of those houses off of Church Street and settled right in.”
“Huh. That’s weird.”
“Which makes me wonder why he’d call you all the way down from New York.”
Nadya took another bite of her dinner to give herself time to consider an answer. Why not tell him some of the story? Maybe talking about it would help straighten it out in her mind. Lord knew replaying the conversation over and over again hadn’t helped.
She took a bracing sip of wine for courage. “Hornblower wasn’t hired by my mama. He was hired by my father.”
J.T. let out a low whistle. “No shit? What does he want?”
“Nothing now—he’s dead too.” Nadya waited to feel some grief, some angst, some anger or leftover resentment, but she just felt…nothing.
“So what? Now that he’s dead and can’t do anything to help you and your mama he wants you to what? Lay flowers on his grave?”
“I don’t know. Hornblower had a letter from him for me and said something about a will, but I was too floored to pay attention.”
“He left you in his will? That takes some balls. He wouldn’t acknowledge you when he was alive, but once he’s dead and can’t get in trouble, he’ll leave you a little something. Who the hell was he?”
