After the Rain

by Karen White

  Sarah Frances entered the kitchen, wearing a pretty silver bangle on her arm and a toe ring on her bare foot. Joe frowned but caught Suzanne’s grin out of the corner of his eye.

  He tried to keep the censure out of his voice. “What are you wearing, Sarah Frances?”

  “It’s my birthday present from Suzanne.” She smiled shyly at the older woman.

  “I haven’t seen you wear it before.”

  She shrugged as she opened a drawer in the hutch and pulled out place mats. “I hadn’t gotten around to it yet.”

  A small glance passed between his daughter and Suzanne, and he knew enough to know that things were okay between them and that it was none of his business.

  He turned to Sarah Frances. “Can you help Knoxie with lunch? I need to talk to Suzanne.”

  She nodded, and he led Suzanne outside, where they sat on the top step. The sun shone brightly but hardly put a dent in the chill of the late November day. He looked at his jacket, nearly swallowing her slender frame, and realized it had probably never looked better. “Thanks for watching the kids while I was at the hospital. Hope they didn’t wear you out too much.”

  “I had fun.” She squinted up at him with a questioning look, one that mixed curiosity and wariness in equal measure. “You didn’t tell me if they’d named the baby yet.”

  “They did.” He paused, watching the play of light and shadow in her gray eyes. “Harriet Suzanne Parker.”

  “What?”

  He laughed at the expression on her face. “You’ve been made immortal.”

  “Was this Sam’s idea?”

  “Nope. Cassie’s. I supposed after what you went through, you deserved a little recognition.”

  Suzanne hugged her arms to her chest, her breaths coming out in puffs of white. “I hope this means she’s not still mad at me.”

  “Why would she be mad?”

  “We were arguing when her water broke. I was hoping that I hadn’t caused the baby to come early.”

  “Actually, since the baby was almost nine pounds, Cassie should be thankful it came three weeks early.” He peered at her closely. “What were you arguing about?”

  She glanced up, and her lips, heavy with bright fuchsia lipstick, were almost touching his. “You,” she said softly.

  “What about me?”

  She fiddled with her fingernails for a minute before answering, “How much you like to pretend that you don’t need anybody in your life. She said it was the only thing we have in common.”

  He sat back, leaning against the railing. “Do you believe that’s the only thing?”

  “No.” She reached up and tentatively touched his face. “We both have these empty places inside.” She placed her hands on his chest. “And we both wish we had more time to fill them in with what needs to be there.”

  She really had no idea. Reaching behind her head, he pulled her to him, tasting the sweet fullness of her lips and not caring that they were on the front porch of his house for everyone to see. He wanted her, mind, body, and soul, and it was about time he told the world about it.

  The sound of a car door shutting jerked both their heads up. Maddie was getting out of Rob’s car, and they both waved when they spotted him and Suzanne on the front steps. Joe kept his arm around Suzanne as Maddie made her way toward them.

  She gave them a nonchalant hello before opening the door. Turning back to them for a moment before going inside, she said, “You might want to take the lipstick off before you go anywhere, Daddy.”

  Suzanne ducked her head into his chest and laughed, the sound warming him to his very core.

  He waved Maddie away. “Why don’t you go help your siblings get lunch ready?”

  When the door banged shut, he turned back to Suzanne. “Oh, before I forget—Cassie gave me something to give to you. She said it was stuck in the folds of her dress when she got to the hospital.”

  Joe dug in his back pocket and pulled out a small gold heart charm. She lifted her palm, and he placed the heart in it. “She said you’d know what to do with it.”

  She looked at him again with those incredible eyes. “Tell Cassie that I do and that I’ll take care of it.”

  He wondered why those words made her appear so small and vulnerable, and as she bent to look closely at the heart, he leaned over and kissed the top of her head.

  She glanced up quickly. “Why did you do that?”

  “Because I wanted to. And because you seemed to need it.”

  He thought she was about to argue. Instead, she took his hand. “Thank you. You’re a pretty nice guy, Joe Warner.”

  “Shh. Not too loud. It’s bad for my reputation.” He put his hands over hers to warm them, one of hers fisted in a ball to hold the heart. “You need to come to one of our football games. They call me ‘Mean-ass Joe.’ To my back, of course.” He reached out to smooth a strand of bright red hair behind her ear—hair that was a dark auburn at the roots. He almost asked her then about the money in her backpack that he’d seen in her closet, but didn’t. Things were still so fragile between them. She was like a butterfly in his hands; if he squeezed too tight, he’d damage her wings. But if he opened up too much, she’d fly away.

  Instead, he said, “I guess a lot of people wear two faces. To protect those who know and love us from seeing our other half.”

  Smoky gray eyes stared into his. “Maybe.” She pulled away from him and tucked the charm into the pocket of her oversized jacket. Then she giggled. It was light and frivolous and definitely not a sound he’d heard come from her before. It made him smile. “Mean-ass Joe, huh?”

  He elbowed her gently. “Hey, that’s better than ‘Sweet Potato Joe,’ you know what I mean? I’ve got to put the fear of God in them.”

  She elbowed him back. “Mean-ass Joe,” she said again. Then she snorted.

  He leaned close to her. “What should your nickname be? ‘Sexy Suzanne’? Or maybe ‘Sweet Suzanne’?” He watched her closely. “I know. What about ‘Secretive Suzanne’?”

  She pulled away, and he knew he’d gone too far. She stood abruptly. “I’ve got to get back to work on Maddie’s album. And take care of Cassie’s necklace.”

  He stood to face her, and when she looked at him, she smiled. “You look like you belong in a circus.” She pulled a clean tissue from a pocket and handed it to him. “You might want to use this before anybody sees you.”

  He took the tissue as she kissed him on the mouth, her lips chilled against his. Then she walked away from him without another word, looking small and lost in his oversized jacket. He watched her as she headed down the street, willing her in his mind to look back—just once. He was about to give up when she neared the end of the block and looked back with a small wave. Then she turned her back on him again and disappeared from his view.

  A cold wind blew down his spine, like an odd premonition, and he couldn’t help thinking that this wasn’t the first time he’d watched her walk out of his life—and that it probably wouldn’t be the last, either. Sticking his hands deep inside his pockets, he turned and entered the house, listening to the fall wind batter the door shut behind him.

  Maddie listened as her daddy moved around the downstairs of the house, turning off lights, clearing a path through toys and checking doors to make sure they were locked. He and Mama had once done it together, but now it was a lonely ritual, and one that he’d postpone as long as he could. He usually fell asleep on the couch first, as if an old lumpy couch was more appealing than an empty bed.

  Maddie fished a Barbie doll from a dark corner of her closet and tossed it into a pile she was making for Knoxie and Amanda. She waited as her father’s footsteps paused in the hallway outside her door before he knocked softly.

  “Come in,” she said, not at all ready to explain why she was sitting cross-legged on the floor by her closet, its contents strewn in neat piles around her, a packing box filled to the top and pushed against her dresser.

  “Shouldn’t you be in bed, Maddie?”

&nbs
p; She didn’t look up. “I wanted to finish this first.”

  He stepped closer and saw the old school program from a fifth-grade play that lay open in her lap. She closed it and stuffed it in an overflowing garbage can.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m cleaning out my closet. I figured I’d better get this over with now so you don’t have to deal with it after I’m gone.”

  He sat on the edge of the bed. “What do you mean? You’re only going away for college, Maddie. This will still be your bedroom. And if you’re accepted at UGA, you’ll be coming home a lot.”

  She shrugged, still not looking up at him. “Yeah. Whatever. But just in case . . .” Her voice trailed away as she picked up a stack of old birthday cards and dumped them on top of the play program.

  “Just in case what?”

  Finally, she turned her eyes up to him, embarrassed that they were wet. “In case . . . well, I remember after Mama died. Aunt Cassie and Aunt Lucinda came by and cleared out Mama’s closet and dresser drawers, and they cried the whole time.” She sniffed and looked at the pile in front of her on the floor. “It was like she was dying all over again. I didn’t want you to have to go through that with my stuff.”

  Her daddy slid to the floor to sit next to her, and put his arm around her shoulders. “You’re not dying, Maddie. You’re just going to college. And as long as I’m alive, there will be a place for you in my house. Always.”

  Maddie buried her face in his shoulder, wishing she was small enough to fit in his lap again. But she was too big for that now, but not too big to need a father’s shoulder to cry on. He placed his hand on her head. “What’s wrong, Maddie? Are you missing your mother? I miss her, too, you know.”

  She sniffed and nodded. “Yeah. But it’s not just that.”

  She didn’t say anything more for a long time, trying hard to find the right words. She’d learned that from him. Her voice was small and feeble when she finally spoke. “I’m scared. Scared about college. Scared about making the wrong decision.” She stilled, bracing herself for her father’s reaction. “Scared about dying young. Like Mama. And Grandma.”

  He hugged her tightly, making her remember how he and her mama used to spray a can of Lysol under their beds to kill all the monsters she imagined lingered in all the dark spaces. She wanted so badly now to still believe that all monsters were so easily vanquished.

  Lifting her head from his shoulder, he brought her face in front of his. “We don’t always know what’s in store for us. We do what we can to control our futures, and that’s all that we can do. I know you’ll do that. Heck, I know fifteen people who will remind you every year about getting a mammogram and doing self-exams just in case you forget. Beyond that, it’s out of our hands.”

  He swallowed as if fighting back his own tears, then said, “Your mother gave you so much—your beauty, your brains, your awesome talent. But most of all, she gave you life. Her only dream for you, and for all her children, was for you to take your lives and live them to the fullest.”

  Maddie laid her head on his shoulder and sobbed, her tears soaking his shirt, and she felt her daddy’s tears falling in her hair. “Don’t be a prisoner to your fears, Maddie. Reach as far as you can. But always remember that there will always be a home for you here, wherever I am. Whenever you’re give out and tired, and feeling more like the bug than the windshield, you can come home. Even if it’s just for a little while to catch your breath.”

  He leaned back against the side of the bed and held her to his chest as they looked out of her window and watched the cold winter moon climb higher in the sky. “Your mama once told me that every life would have some rain in it, but that’s the only way you’d ever get to see the rainbow.”

  Maddie lifted her head and looked at him, her face wet. “Suzanne told me the same thing.”

  “Well, then. It must be true. If two of the smartest women I’ve ever known are in agreement, then it’s fact.”

  She smiled, her heart lighter until she saw the old sadness in her father’s eyes. How can I ever leave? Swallowing back her doubts, she kissed his cheek and moved away. “Thanks, Daddy. I feel better.”

  “Me, too.” He glanced around the mess on the floor. “It’s late. Why don’t you get some beauty sleep and I’ll help you put this stuff away in the morning?”

  Yawning loudly, she said, “All right.”

  He stood and pulled her up with him, and she realized for the first time that she now reached his shoulders. When had she grown so tall?

  He hugged her, then kissed her on the forehead before saying good night. After he’d closed her door, she listened as he slowly walked down the hallway toward his empty bedroom, his footsteps echoing in the sleeping house.

  CHAPTER 20

  Joe slapped the newspaper on the laminated counter at the Dixie Diner, almost making Sam spill his coffee in surprise. “Well, good morning to you, too.”

  “Look at this.”

  Sam glanced down at the page in front of him. “Police called to residence on Maple Lane because of dog barking?”

  Joe shook his head with impatience. “No. Here.” He pointed to the top of the page, and Sam read aloud, “City of Mapleton Notice of Public Hearing. Consideration of annexing one hundred and thirty unincorporated acres into the city limits of Mapleton. The property is located off the I-Twenty access road east of Walton in proximity to Highway Nine.”

  Sam wrinkled his forehead. “What are they talking about?”

  Joe sat on a stool and nodded at Brunelle, who held up a pot of coffee. “That’s Stinky’s property—all of it pine forest. The city administrator in Mapleton was his college roommate at Tech, who also happens to be a major stockholder in Wright Paper Products. Are you getting the connection?”

  “Yeah. But why the annexation? Isn’t that just an additional unnecessary step?”

  “Not at all. The zoning regulations in Mapleton are a lot less stringent than here in Walton. Which won’t matter much to Walton, since we’d bear the brunt of the deforestation and pollution of a pulp mill.”

  Sam rubbed his forehead. “Why haven’t we heard about this before? The hearing is next Wednesday.”

  “That’s what I want to know. I’m the mayor of this town, and this is the first I’m hearing about it, too. My guess is, Stinky’s been greasing some palms.”

  “Nothing you can prove, huh?

  Joe took a gulp of his coffee, burning his tongue. Cursing, he slammed it down on the counter, spilling some over the side. “Nope. Can’t prove a damned thing. Thank God I know about it now. It’s not a lot of time, but I bet I can get enough support here in Walton and in Mapleton to oppose. I’m the mayor—it’s time to start throwing some weight around.”

  Sam’s forehead creased. “There’s an activist group I’ve heard of—something like ‘Reach for the Unbleached’ or something like that—who might be able to help you out. I’ve got their Web site bookmarked on my computer. I’ll e-mail the URL to you.”

  “Great. Do it today. I need to get on this as soon as possible.”

  They both sat in silence for a moment as Brunelle brought them their breakfasts. Brunelle had long since forgone the ritual of showing them the menu since they always ordered the same thing. Sam took a bite of cheese grits, washing it down with a swallow of coffee. He turned to Joe. “I don’t want to sound negative, but I think we need to consider everything. What’s going to happen if Stinky wins this election? Imagine all the information he’ll be privy to that he won’t bother sharing with the rest of us. I think a pulp mill could be the least of our worries.”

  “I won’t let that happen. Hal Newcomb’s last survey had me with a ninety-four percent approval rating. Unless I screw up real bad between now and the election, I don’t think Stinky stands a chance—no matter how much money he gives to the Daughters of the Confederacy.” He took a quick gulp of coffee, burning his tongue again.

  The bell over the front door rang, and Suzanne walked in. She wore one of the
outfits Lucinda had helped her buy on their shopping expedition. It was a lot less revealing than the blue leather miniskirt getup, but it created the same reaction as men along the counter turned their heads.

  The cropped pants revealed long, slender calves and ankles, her narrow feet in high-heeled strappy sandals, the toe ring visible on her right foot. None of the men seemed to care that it was too cold for sandals. A formfitting orange sweater outlined her slim waist and ample breasts, the gold heart necklace bouncing over them, as if a man needed a piece of jewelry to draw his attention to her chest. Joe wanted to throw his jacket over her.

  Her face brightened when she spotted him, but she waited until he waved her over to walk toward him and take the adjacent seat at the counter. He forgot all about what she was wearing when he saw her eyes and lost himself in their gray depths. To her surprise and his, he leaned over and kissed her lightly on the lips, his mouth lingering over hers for a long moment. It wasn’t enough that people had been gossiping over backyard fences about the night he’d left her house at four a.m. He wanted people to be able to talk about him and Suzanne in front of him.

  “Coffee?” Brunelle held the pot up in front of Suzanne, and she nodded.

  Sam cleared his throat. “Well, I’d better be going. Cassie asked me to tell you to stop by and see her and the baby when you got the chance.”

  Suzanne looked uncomfortable and concentrated on unfolding a paper napkin and placing it in her lap. “Yes, well, I’ve been meaning to, but I’ve been busy at the store with getting ready for Christmas and everything.”

  Sam leveled a gaze on her. “She says you two need to finish your conversation.”

  Joe could tell she was avoiding Sam’s eyes. “Tell her I’ll come when I can.”

  “All right.” He kissed her on the cheek. “Let me know if you plan on delivering any more babies, so I can start planning my retirement.”

  She blushed as he squeezed her shoulders and waved to Joe before leaving. Noticing the paper spread in front of Joe, she asked, “What’s this all about?”