Honeysuckle Summer

by Sherryl Woods

  Standing behind them, Carter sighed. He’d hoped the parade and the town’s Fourth of July celebration might help Carrie to see the advantages of living in a small town where events like this brought people together as a community. Instead, it seemed she was going to judge everything in comparison to Columbia, and Serenity was going to come up short. He hoped to heaven her attitude improved before they walked over to Sarah’s for the barbecue. Otherwise it was going to be a long afternoon.

  “Oh, look,” Mandy exclaimed. “Tommy and Libby are on the float for the radio station. Don’t they look adorable?”

  Even Carrie smiled when she saw them sitting in a replica of the station’s studio, wearing headsets the way their mom and Travis did. Walter sat nearby operating the controls, though he was more likely there to keep them from tumbling off the flat-bed trailer. Country music filled the air as the float went by. When they spotted their mom in the real station studio, they nearly fell off their chairs waving. Walter snagged them and sat them back where they belonged.

  “You have to admit they looked pretty cute,” Carter said to Carrie.

  She frowned at him, but there was a twinkle in her eye. “Okay, yes,” she admitted grudgingly.

  There were another half-dozen floats from local businesses, a marching band from the high school and several antique cars before the parade finally wound down.

  “Can we check out the booths on the green before we go to Sarah’s?” Mandy asked Carter. At his nod, she tugged on her sister’s arm. “Come on. I saw some really cool jewelry when we were walking over here.”

  “Don’t take too long,” Carter told them. “I promised I’d help get the grill going for the hamburgers.”

  “You can go ahead. We know the way,” Mandy told him. “We’ll be there in a half hour. I promise.”

  Pleased to see that Carrie was at least willing to go along with her sister, he nodded. “Thirty minutes,” he warned. “I don’t want to have to come looking for you.”

  He watched the two of them walk off toward the booths, Mandy skipping along excitedly and chattering a mile a minute, while Carrie walked more sedately behind her. At least her mood had improved slightly since returning from their weekend in Columbia, but he didn’t trust it to last. Maybe all teenage girls had mercurial mood swings, but Carrie’s seemed to him to be off the charts.

  At Sarah’s, he found a few of the men already in the yard. Raylene was in the kitchen supervising what looked to him like barely organized chaos. She spared a grin for him before giving several other guests their marching orders.

  When everyone except her had cleared out of the kitchen, she motioned for him to come in. “Or are you afraid I’m going to put you to work, too?”

  He dropped a kiss on her flushed cheek. “You don’t scare me,” he said.

  “I probably should. There’s a lot to be done before we can eat.”

  “Tell me, and I’ll help. I checked in with Erik and he doesn’t need me to help with the burgers yet, so I’m all yours for the moment.”

  She shook her head. “Erik’s never going to need your help with the burgers. The man is a control freak when it comes to his grill or a kitchen. I swear, if Dana Sue didn’t own Sullivan’s, he probably wouldn’t let her in the kitchen there either. I heard stories about Helen pitching in over there before she and Erik got married that made me wonder how they ever made it down the aisle. Can you imagine Helen letting anyone boss her around?”

  “I don’t know her all that well, but no.”

  “Well, Erik did it, and lived to tell the story. I think it’s the only place in their lives he dares to pull rank.”

  Carter studied Raylene as she talked. Her hair was scooped up in a casual ponytail that made her look about eighteen. Her cheeks were pink and her eyes sparkling. “You’re in a good mood today,” he observed.

  “It’s a holiday and the house is overflowing with company. What’s not to love?” Suddenly her expression sobered. “It’s probably the last one I’ll get to spend here like this.”

  He frowned at her words. “You’re not still considering getting your own place, are you?”

  “I have to, and you know why.” When he started to speak, she held up a hand. “Let’s not talk about this now.”

  “Okay, but we will discuss it,” he said firmly. “I have my reasons why it’s important for you to stay right here. Promise me you won’t make any final decisions until we’ve talked.”

  “I can do that much,” she agreed. She shoved a huge bowl of potato salad at him. “Take this outside. There’s a big table for the food on the patio. You’ll see.”

  He hesitated. “Is everyone going to be eating outside?”

  “Don’t frown like that. Some people will stay outside and some will come in here to be in the air-conditioning. I’m not going to be stuck in here all alone, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

  “Have you been outside since the other day?”

  She frowned at the question. “A couple of times with Dr. McDaniels,” she said tersely.

  “And?”

  “No meltdowns, but I’m not taking any chances today.”

  Carter backed off. “Just checking,” he said. “Be sure you save a seat for me.”

  “I’ll make sure there are places for you and the girls,” she assured him. “Annie’s in the living room holding them now. She’s always said she doesn’t give two hoots about the theory that women glow in hot weather, that she just sweats. Of course, since that argument made her look like a wuss, she says she’s staying in today because it’s too hot out there for the baby.”

  “Is anyone buying that?”

  “No, but they’re humoring her because Ty’s not here to wait on her himself. At last count, she had two glasses of lemonade and three of sweet tea on the table beside her, along with an entire bowl of her mother’s guacamole. Frankly, I think spicy food like that is a really bad idea when she’s still nursing the baby, but there’s no stopping her from eating it. Meg will probably wind up with terrible heartburn.”

  Carter hesitated, struck by something that hadn’t occurred to him before. “With Ty on the road so much with the team, was he able to get back when Meg was born?”

  “The team flew him home the second Annie went into labor. He made it with just minutes to spare.”

  “That’s good,” Carter said. “I know I’d want to be there for the birth of my child.”

  She regarded him with surprise. “Really? A lot of men would prefer to sit in the waiting room with a box of cigars.”

  “Well, I’m not one of them. I had to deliver a baby once when the mom wasn’t going to make it to the hospital. I don’t recommend giving birth in the backseat of a car, but it was still pretty amazing. I definitely want to be there when my own kids arrive in the world.”

  She regarded him thoughtfully. “So raising Carrie and Mandy hasn’t scared you away from wanting to be a parent?”

  “Not so far,” he said. “Now let me get this potato salad outside and I’ll be back to see what else needs to go out.”

  “I think that’s it,” Raylene told him. “I’m just going to fill a couple more pitchers with ice and sweet tea.”

  “Then I’ll get those and let Erik know it’s time to put those burgers on the grill.”

  He spotted Carrie and Mandy in the backyard when he set the potato salad on the table, spoke to Erik and offered to help with the grilling, only to be told once more that his help wasn’t needed. He went back to get the tea from Raylene.

  “Tell me what you want to eat and I’ll fill a plate for you,” he said.

  “You’d better take Annie’s order first,” she told him. “Travis is heading this way. I’ll send the tea out with him.”

  He walked into the living room and found Annie seated in a comfortable oversize chair. She did have her daughter cuddled in her arms, so he supposed there was a case to be made that she had her priorities in order and wasn’t totally slacking off.

  “Hey, little mama,
what can I get you to eat?” he asked.

  She grinned at him. “I just sent my mother out for fried chicken and potato salad, but now I’m thinking about ribs.”

  “I’ll bring some in,” he promised. “Anything else? I saw what looked like some excellent corn on the cob out there.”

  “Perfect.”

  “You sure that’s it?”

  “I have to pace myself. I know there’s peach pie, ice cream and Mom’s bread pudding for dessert.”

  Carter’s mouth immediately watered. “I may have to start with those.”

  Outside, he put together a plate for Annie, delivered that, then filled two more for himself and Raylene. He glanced over and saw his sisters were deep in conversation with Travis and Sarah at one of the tables that had been set up under a tent on the lawn. At least Mandy was talking. Carrie seemed to be gazing at Travis with the rapt expression of a love-struck fan.

  He went back inside and handed a plate to Raylene.

  “Where are the girls?” she asked.

  “With Travis and Sarah. I don’t think we’re going to tear them away.”

  Raylene looked oddly disappointed.

  “Did you want to spend some time with them for some reason?” he asked.

  “No, it’s fine. I just wanted to be sure they didn’t feel like outsiders.”

  “As long as Travis is in the vicinity, I think they’re very happily occupied,” Carter told her.

  He and Raylene took their meals into the living room and joined Annie. People came and went for the rest of the afternoon and into the early evening.

  “Is everybody going to see the fireworks?” Ronnie asked, standing in the doorway just before dusk.

  “Not me,” Annie said. “I need to take Meg home and get her to bed. Even though she sleeps like a rock, I’m afraid the noise of the fireworks will be too much for her. Where’s Trevor? Can you take him with you, Dad?”

  “Will do,” Ronnie said. “Carter, you coming?”

  “No, I’m going to hang out here and help with cleanup.”

  “You don’t have to do that,” Raylene told him. “Don’t you want to see your first Fourth of July fireworks in Serenity?”

  “Carrie and Mandy can tell me all about it,” he said. “I’m staying. I don’t want Sarah and Travis to come back to a major cleanup job.”

  “Actually, pretty much everything’s inside,” Ronnie told him. “The leftovers have been wrapped up and put away in the fridge.”

  Raylene gave Carter an amused look. “Frankly I think those leftovers are the real attraction. Since no one at his house cooks, I think he’s hoping he can steal them for home.”

  “Maybe the leftover pie,” he agreed unrepentantly.

  “As if,” Ronnie said. “That apple pie was the first thing to go.”

  Carter sighed dramatically. “Just my luck. I’ll have to settle for some fried chicken.”

  Annie’s expression brightened. “There’s more fried chicken?”

  “If you eat it, you’ll explode,” Raylene told her. “I’ve watched what you packed away this afternoon. It’s little wonder you can barely move. You’re stuffed.”

  “Hey, I’m enjoying food while I can. Once I stop nursing, I’ll be back to eating miniportions again.”

  Though she sounded as if she was joking, Carter thought Ronnie looked alarmed.

  “Annie,” Ronnie began, but she looked at him and he fell silent. Carter couldn’t imagine what the aborted exchange was about.

  Annie struggled awkwardly to her feet with the baby. “If I don’t walk home now, I’ll never do it.”

  “I could drop you by the house,” Ronnie offered at once.

  “No, the walk will do me good.” She kissed his cheek. “Stop fretting, Dad. I’m fine. Just look out for Trevor.”

  After everyone had gone, Carter checked to make sure the kitchen was in good shape, then came back to settle beside Raylene.

  “Did I sense some tension between Annie and Ronnie?” he asked.

  Raylene nodded. “Any time the subject of food comes up, there’s tension between them. Annie was anorexic in her teens. Ronnie and Dana Sue were divorced then, and he wasn’t living in town. When Annie collapsed and nearly died, he came back. I don’t think he’s ever really gotten over the shock of finding her in such bad shape. The one good thing that came out of it was that he and Dana Sue got back together.”

  Carter frowned. “Annie really came that close to dying? I didn’t realize anorexia could be so serious.”

  “Oh, it’s serious, all right. I was there the night Annie collapsed. Sarah and I both were. I’ve never been so scared in my life. It was a huge wake-up call to both of us about just how dangerous an eating disorder could be.”

  Carter stood up and began to pace. He thought about how many times he’d seen Carrie eating like a bird, mostly just shoving food around on her plate. Surely, though, it hadn’t gone that far. She was a little on the thin side, but he’d chalked that up to fashion. Most girls her age seemed too darn skinny to him.

  “Carter, are you okay?”

  “I was thinking about Carrie.” He met her gaze. “She worries me.”

  “Me, too,” Raylene said, startling him.

  He hesitated, then asked, “You think she has a problem with food, too?”

  “It’s crossed my mind. Frankly, that’s one reason I wanted everyone to come here today. I wanted Annie and Dana Sue, in particular, to keep an eye on Carrie and see if they thought my suspicions were correct before I said anything to you.”

  “And then Carrie stayed outside,” he guessed, realizing now why she’d looked so disappointed.

  “Yes, I hadn’t counted on that. I certainly didn’t want to spoil things and make a big deal about getting her to come in here. It won’t help if she thinks she’s under a microscope.”

  “I know. She overreacts every time I say anything at all to her about eating,” he said. “What the hell am I supposed to do to be sure if there’s a problem?”

  “We’ll try my plan again. You all can come to dinner one night this week. I’ll just have Annie over. Believe me, if there’s a problem, she’ll recognize the signs.”

  He stopped pacing and sat back down beside her. “Let’s not think about Carrie right now,” he suggested. “If we turn on the TV, we can watch the Boston Pops or the celebration on the National Mall in Washington and have our own Fourth of July celebration right here.”

  And if the evening progressed the way he wanted it to, they might even have their own fireworks!

  12

  Though Raylene was relieved to have Carter acknowledge an awareness of Carrie’s disturbing attitude toward food, she was now anxious for an entirely different reason. She’d seen the glint of desire in his eyes right before he’d settled next to her on the sofa. She knew what that look meant. And though she was as attracted as he was, all the reasons not to move forward and complicate their relationship even more kept spinning around in her head, leaving her a little dizzy.

  When he put his arm behind her on the sofa, she froze. But when he didn’t actually drape it across her shoulders, she allowed herself to relax. Every once in a while, his fingers brushed idly across her bare shoulder, sending shivers dancing across her flesh. Good shivers…at least so far.

  She turned toward him, and found his gaze on her.

  “I really want to kiss you,” he said quietly. “But I don’t want to freak you out.”

  She closed her eyes against the tide of longing that washed over her. “I want that, too,” she admitted eventually, daring to meet his gaze. “But I don’t know if it’s a good idea.”

  “Because of what happened the last time I touched you?”

  “No, actually because I think this is leading toward a complication that neither of us really need.”

  “It’s just a kiss,” he said.

  Her lips twitched at the sweet innocence behind those words. Surely he had to know better.

  “Not if you do it right,” she
said. “Carter, there have been sparks between us since we met, some good, some not so good. If you kiss me, we’re both going to want more. I’m not sure I’m ready for that, and I don’t think you are either.”

  “Oh, I’m ready.”

  He said it so fervently, she laughed. “Well, when you put it that way, so am I, but come on. Are either of us in any position to take this to the next level?” She ticked off all the strikes against them. “You have two young girls who’re counting on you. One of them might have an eating disorder. I’m agoraphobic, most likely because I can’t cope with the way my ex-husband abused me. I’m just now starting to make a little progress toward getting better and now that same man is about to get out of prison. That scares me to death. For all I know, it could make me regress, and then I’ll be worse off than before. None of that is exactly conducive to starting a normal, carefree relationship, which is the way a good relationship should start.”

  “Carefree’s great, but it’s not terribly realistic, is it?” he asked. “Everyone has problems, Raylene.”

  “But ours are huge,” she insisted.

  He sat back with a sigh. “You’re being very rational about this.”

  “Somebody needs to be.”

  “Usually I’m the one who starts thinking with my head,” he admitted. “Especially since Carrie and Mandy became my responsibility. I haven’t let myself get carried away by what I wanted in a long time. Heck, I haven’t even let myself want anything—or anyone—in a long time.”

  Despite her words of caution, Raylene was pleased by the admission. “I really get to you?”

  He smiled. “Yes, you really get to me.” His gaze narrowed. “You’re not ruling this out forever, right?”

  “This being a relationship?”

  He nodded.

  She hesitated. She wanted to think a time would come when both of their lives would be less complicated, but she couldn’t guarantee it. “I don’t know,” she said honestly. “None of these problems—especially mine—have quick fixes. That much is clear.”

  “I’ll take that as a maybe.” He looked into her eyes. “I know the timing sucks for a lot of reasons, but I think we could have something pretty amazing going on here. I like spending time with you.”