“If you don’t want the job at Wharton’s, I do,” Mandy said eagerly. “I could save up for some really cool clothes for school next fall.”
“Back off,” Carrie said. “Carter says Grace offered the job to me. You’re still a kid. No one’s going to hire you.”
“I’m just saying, if you don’t want it—” Mandy began, only to have her sister cut her off.
“I’ll probably take it,” Carrie said, though Carter could tell her heart wasn’t in it. She was just trying to keep Mandy from getting it.
“Okay, fine,” Mandy said huffily. “It’s all yours.”
When Carrie stalked out of the room, Mandy turned to Carter with a wide grin. “Reverse psychology,” she said. “You should try it sometime. Not on me, though. On her.”
He laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Apparently there were quite a few lessons he could learn from the women in his life. If they didn’t drive him into an early grave.
An hour later Carter noted that despite her earlier enthusiasm for going out for breakfast, Carrie had merely dissected her pancake and pushed the resulting pieces around on her plate. She gave him a look that dared him to make something of it. He was so relieved that she’d actually talked to Grace about the part-time job at Wharton’s that he kept silent about her failure to eat.
“What do the two of you have planned for the rest of the day?” he asked as they headed for the car.
“Would you mind if I went over to see Raylene?” Mandy asked. “I was going to volunteer to weed her garden since she can’t do it.”
“That would be very thoughtful,” Carter told her. “What about you, Carrie? Do you have plans?”
“I might as well tag along with Mandy,” she said casually. “I should see what kind of job she had in mind before I give Grace my final answer.”
“Good idea. Call Raylene and make sure she’s not busy.” He was struck by a sudden thought. “You two aren’t planning to cross-examine her about last night, are you?”
“Not me,” Mandy said.
Carrie was not as quick to respond. “Only if the subject comes up,” she said.
“Try to make sure it doesn’t come up,” he told her. He handed her his cell phone. “Her number’s on speed dial. Give her a call. If she says it’s okay for you to come over, I’ll drop you on my way home.”
“Speed dial, huh?” Carrie gave him a knowing look.
“Do not make too much out of that. Everyone I ever call is on speed dial. I can’t remember phone numbers.”
“It’s sad that you’re so old and decrepit that you can’t remember stuff,” Mandy teased.
Carter shook his head. “You two are determined to give me grief today, aren’t you?”
“Pretty much,” Mandy said happily, then fell silent when Carrie got Raylene on the phone.
“It’s okay? You’re sure?” She grinned. “Okay, we’re on our way.”
She handed the phone back to Carter. “It’s fine with her. You don’t have to take us. We can just walk or ride our bikes over.”
“We’re already in the car,” he said. “I’ll drop you off.”
Carrie grinned at her sister. “I knew it. He’s not about to miss a chance to get one more glimpse of her this morning.”
“Whatever,” Carter said.
Carrie laughed. “You hate it when I say that.”
“Because when you say it, it’s annoying,” he told her.
“Well, guess what,” she retorted. “That goes double for you.”
As soon as he pulled into the driveway at Raylene’s, the girls bolted from the car. He debated following them, but decided in the mood they were in, that would be way too telling. He settled for waving to Raylene as she held the door open for the girls.
As soon as they were out of sight, he dialed her number. “Watch out,” he warned. “Something tells me those two are on a mission.”
“Oh?” she said. “Explain.”
He could hear Carrie’s voice in the background. “That’s Carter, isn’t it? Tell him to butt out.”
Raylene laughed.
“You won’t find this so amusing when they start cross-examining you about whether we slept together last night,” he warned.
“Uh-oh,” she murmured, though there was still amusement threading through her voice.
“Uh-oh, indeed. If they get to be too nosy, send ’em home.”
“Not to worry. It’s all under control,” she assured him.
“That’s what you think. Talk to you later.”
“Bye.”
He hung up with a sinking feeling in his gut that he’d just made a terrible mistake by leaving Raylene to the mercy of his two overly inquisitive sisters. She was skittish enough as it was.
“Carter’s never stayed out all night with a woman before,” Carrie announced as Raylene poured them all glasses of sweet tea. “At least not since he’s had us to look out for.”
“Were you frightened about being at home alone?” Raylene asked, refusing to rise to the obvious bait.
“No way,” Mandy said. “Carter’s worked the night shift before and we’ve been by ourselves. In Columbia, he’d make the housekeeper stay, but now that we’re here and we’re older, he says it’s okay as long as we don’t have anyone over.”
“And do you follow that rule?” Raylene asked, knowing full well how many times she, Annie and Sarah had broken it. It was the nature of teens to test their boundaries.
“Never,” Mandy said solemnly, though there was a twinkle in her eyes. “Mostly because we don’t know that many kids well enough to invite them over yet.”
Carrie interrupted. “My point was—” she began with obvious frustration.
Raylene covered her hand. “I know what your point was. You aren’t happy that he was here with me.”
Carrie frowned. “It’s not that exactly. It’s just that Carter takes his responsibilities very seriously, so for him to stay here all night, it had to mean something.”
“Like what?”
“That you’re special,” Carrie said. “Do you feel the same way about him? Because I wouldn’t want him to get hurt, if you’re just having an affair or something.”
Raylene might have laughed if Carrie hadn’t looked so earnest. The girl really was worried that her big brother might be in over his head. “What exactly did Carter tell you about last night?” she asked eventually.
“That you were having a rough time and he stuck around to make sure you were okay.” She looked directly into Raylene’s eyes. “I figured he said that because he didn’t want to admit he was having sex. It’s kind of a touchy subject in our house.”
Raylene could imagine. The idea of Carter discussing his sex life with his sisters was pretty much beyond her imaginative capabilities.
“No, he said that because it was the truth,” she told Carrie.
Carrie looked vaguely disappointed. “Really?”
“Honest to goodness.”
“That’s kind of a shame,” Carrie said. “Don’t guys his age want to have sex all the time? The guys I know certainly do.”
“I can’t speak for most guys, or even for your brother,” Raylene told her. “What matters is that you don’t ever let yourself get talked into doing something you’re not ready to do.”
“Yeah, Carter says that, too,” Mandy chimed in.
“How old were you the first time you had sex?” Carrie asked, throwing Raylene yet again with her un-censored directness.
“I may not be the best example in the world,” Raylene said. “I was eighteen, but I was also married. As it turns out, that was a huge mistake.”
“Why?” Mandy wanted to know.
“Because I was much too young to make a decision that important. I didn’t have enough experience to have good judgment about someone I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with.”
“So you got a divorce,” Carrie said. “Lots of people get divorced.”
Raylene didn’t know how
much she should reveal about her marriage to two impressionable young girls. It was possible, though, that she could turn it into a cautionary tale without revealing too much detail.
“My situation was more complicated than most,” she said. “My husband turned out to be abusive.”
Carrie’s eyes widened. “He hit you?”
Raylene nodded. “And maybe if I’d been a little older when I met him, I would have recognized the signs that he wasn’t a good guy and I would never have been in that situation. I like to think so, anyway.”
“What signs?” Carrie asked.
“He was controlling and extremely jealous. I was so naive, I thought that showed how much he loved me.”
Carrie fell silent, but Mandy had tears in her eyes when she asked, “He’s not ever going to hit you again, is he?”
“No,” Raylene said adamantly.
“Carter won’t let him, that’s for sure,” Mandy declared.
“No, he won’t,” Raylene agreed. Her faith was as strong as Mandy’s when it came to that. “Now, why don’t you go check out the garden and see how bad the weeds have gotten.”
“Okay,” Mandy said eagerly.
After she’d gone, Carrie finally met Raylene’s gaze. “He’s the reason you don’t go outside, isn’t he? Your ex-husband, I mean. You’re scared he’ll come back?”
Raylene nodded. “That’s certainly part of the problem.” She saw no reason to mention that he was in prison now, but about to be released.
“Do you think you’ll ever stop being afraid?”
“I’m working on it,” she told her.
Carrie hesitated, then said, “I get scared sometimes, too.”
“Of what?”
“That something will happen to Carter. If it did, what would happen to me and Mandy?”
“Your brother’s not going to let anything happen that would take him away from you,” Raylene said, trying to reassure her.
Unfortunately, they both knew that fate sometimes overrode the very best of intentions, which was all the more reason for his sisters to know there were other people in their lives they could count on.
Raylene met Carrie’s worried gaze. “Did Carter mention I might have a job for you?”
She nodded.
“It’s not much, but I could really use some help to maintain the garden.”
“Mandy and I are willing to help with that for free,” Carrie said at once.
“But this would be more than that,” Raylene explained. “The psychologist wants me to spend more time outside. I was thinking that would be easier if someone were here with me.”
Carrie looked puzzled. “You want to hire me to be like a companion or something?”
“I’m not sure I have an actual job description, but the hours would be flexible, so you could still spend time with your friends.”
“And it would help you to get better?”
“I hope so.”
Carrie’s expression turned thoughtful. “That would make my brother happy, and it would be cool if you could go shopping with me and Mandy sometime or out to dinner with all of us.”
“Let’s be careful not to make the goals too ambitious,” Raylene cautioned.
“Still, helping you would be doing something that really matters,” Carrie said. “That’s way better than just waiting on tables.”
“You might earn more at Wharton’s,” Raylene said.
Carrie looked out the window, then turned back to her. “But I like it here. I’ll take the job.”
Raylene smiled. “I’m glad. How about starting tomorrow?” she suggested, then added impulsively, “You can come over when Dr. McDaniels is here, so you’ll know what she’s expecting from me.”
Carrie stilled. “You want me to be here when the shrink comes?”
Raylene could hear the distrust in her voice and backed down at once. “I thought it might be helpful,” she said, “but it’s fine if you’d rather start another time.”
Carrie immediately looked relieved. “What time does she leave?”
“Around two o’clock.”
“I’ll be here at two-thirty.”
“Perfect,” Raylene said, grateful that she’d dodged an inadvertent complication. But Carrie’s skittishness when it came to the psychologist told her just how frightened the girl really was that her eating habits weren’t normal and that someone with expertise might call her on it.
Carter’s impromptu meeting with Tom McDonald to discuss the new Serenity police department took most of the afternoon. He’d actually stopped by the town manager’s office just to check on his progress with finding ways to put some Public Works employees on the scene in Raylene’s neighborhood, but the conversation had evolved into a planning session.
“I’d like to take a proposal to the council by the end of the month. Do you think you can have something ready in writing by then?” Tom asked.
“I can, but don’t you think you need to work out the parameters for the chief’s job and decide if I’m the right man to fill it first?”
“Let me tell you something about the politics around here. Howard may not technically be a strong mayor in terms of the way Serenity’s government is set up, but he usually gets his way. He wants you for the job, so you can consider it yours. You have my backing, too. The council approved the position and the salary at their last meeting.”
He jotted down a figure and passed it to Carter. “It’s probably not what you’re worth, but it’s more than you’ll make as a deputy with the sheriff’s department.”
“It seems fair,” Carter said. And the three-year contract would give him both the kind of job security and regular hours that mattered to him. Starting a department from scratch would be challenging, too.
“Are you saying yes?” Tom asked.
“I’m saying yes,” he confirmed.
“Then work out your schedule with the sheriff, so he’s not left in the lurch, and give me a starting date.” A worried expression crossed his face. “Or do you want to stay in uniform and on duty with the sheriff’s department until this situation with Raylene’s ex-husband is resolved?”
It told Carter a lot about his new boss that he would think of something like that. “I’d like to stay on there, either until Paul’s gone for good or we have this department up and running. I’ll give you as much of my spare time as I can to put together the department. Frankly, the sooner our own force is in place, the better I’ll like it.”
“How about we pay you hourly for the time you put in until you come on board full-time?”
“That’ll work.”
“Just so you know, the public-works guys and the local utility crews will do whatever they can to pitch in when the time comes. Some of them knew Raylene in high school. They were furious when I told them she might be in danger from an ex-husband.”
Carter worried about untrained men getting too enthusiastic about protecting Raylene. That could be as dangerous as whatever crazy thing Paul decided to try. “You don’t think they’ll get carried away, do you? Maybe take the law into their own hands? The last thing we need is a bunch of vigilantes taking over.”
“You’ll meet with them and set the rules,” Tom said at once. “They’re good men. They just want to help.”
Carter nodded. “I’ll schedule a meeting as soon as I have a clear idea of the timetable for Hammond’s release. You’ll be able to get them in place on short notice?”
“I can have them there within twenty-four hours. Will that work?”
“It should.”
Having extra eyes keeping close tabs on Raylene’s house might not prevent Paul from getting into the area, but it should go a long way toward keeping him from getting anywhere near Raylene.
After spending a couple of hours in the yard, Carrie and Mandy came back into the house looking hot, tired and bedraggled just as Walter arrived unexpectedly for a late-afternoon visit. They regarded him warily.
“You were at the picnic,” Carrie said, her gaze na
rrowed suspiciously. “I thought you were with Rory Sue.”
“I was,” he said, looking amused.
“Then why are you here now?” Carrie pressed.
Raylene stepped in before Carrie could continue grilling him. It seemed she had potential as an investigative reporter, but she probably needed to channel the skill in a different direction. “He’s Tommy and Libby’s dad, remember? He stops by a lot to see his kids.”
“Oh, yeah,” Carrie said, but she still looked suspicious.
“I think I’ll see if they’re up from their naps,” Walter said, backing out of the kitchen.
“Does Carter know he comes by here?” Carrie asked, still determined to protect her brother’s interests.
“I think so. Walter and I are just friends,” Raylene reassured her. “Now, how about some iced tea? Or would you prefer lemonade? There are cookies, too. I baked oatmeal raisin while you all were weeding for me.”
“Just water for me,” Carrie said.
“But you barely touched your sandwich at lunchtime,” Raylene said. “You must be starved by now.”
Carrie immediately frowned. “You’re not going to start on me, too, are you?”
“Why shouldn’t she?” Mandy demanded. “Anyone can see that you’re not eating right.”
“Because it’s none of her business,” Carrie snapped at her sister. “I’m going home. You stay here, if you want to.”
Raylene stepped in front of her, then shot a warning look toward Mandy. She’d practically been handed the perfect opportunity to discuss eating disorders, but it was about to blow up in her face.
“Please don’t go,” she said to Carrie. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I told you the other day about what happened to Annie. I probably worry too much when I see someone your age not eating.”
Carrie didn’t look pacified by the apology, but she did sit down. She even took a cookie off the plate. She broke it into at least a dozen tiny pieces on her napkin, then forced down one of them. It took an obvious effort, which spoke volumes about her attitude toward food.
“I don’t know why everyone’s so freaked just because I don’t want to eat a bunch of stuff that’s bad for me,” she muttered.
Honeysuckle Summer Page 19
