She sniffles and then takes off her gloves to wipe her eyes with her bare hand. I dig in my pocket for a paper napkin from the cake table. “Here,” I say as I hand it to her.
“Thank you, Carolina. Please forgive me.”
We sit in quiet for a few minutes. It’s hot out here, but the bush gives a bit of shade and every so often a breeze comes our way. The river below us is blue-green, reflecting the trees and sky. High above it, buzzards swoop to and fro. We watch them and just as I start to get up—after all, I am the host of the shower—Missus puts her hand out and lays it on my knee.
“Carolina, can I tell you something?”
“Of course.”
“I’ve never told anyone this. There’s something about you not being from Chancey that makes it easier. You didn’t know my father or my mother. You won’t find what I’m going to say surprising or contradictory to what you knew about my parents.” She stops there and takes a deep breath.
It doesn’t feel like she’s waiting for me to say anything, so I don’t.
“My father was abusive. At home. To my mother. With me it was merely demeaning talk and threats, which I’m coming to see is abuse as well. Unlike many men I’ve read about, he never regretted his abuse. My mother deserved it, he always explained. She caused his anger, and, well, I’m ashamed to say, I agreed with him.”
She’s dry-eyed now and staring straight ahead. Again, even though there is silence, I don’t feel like there’s anything she needs to hear from me. So I just take slow, steady breaths and pray for calm. And there is an unnatural calm, like a blanket around us. My heart isn’t jumpy, and my thoughts aren’t scattered or fearful.
She smiles. “Have you ever wondered how someone as nice as FM could be married to someone like me?”
My mouth opens, but should I say it? “Well, to be honest, yes. It’s obvious you love each other and you make a good match, but…”
“But…” She stretches it out, matching me. “Yes, I wonder, too. When he says he fell in love with me when he saw me up there on the Miss Whitten County beauty pageant stage, that isn’t exactly true. He was offered the same money to vote for me that my father offered to the other judges. As you can imagine, something like that doesn’t exactly stay a secret. My father did that my whole life, paid for any success. However, when FM refused my father’s money, my father tore into me, not him. In front of FM. About how he couldn’t even pay for me to win. It was awful. And then FM—” She chokes up and has to clear her throat. She finally continues. “FM defended me. Spoke back to my father, like no one ever had.”
She suddenly turns to me and looks into my eyes. “Remember when you moved here and you would say you ‘accidentally sold your house’?”
“Yes,” I answer. “It just happened.”
Missus nods and twists her mouth as she does. Then she says, “I accidentally married FM. After the pageant, when I won unanimously, father crowed that he didn’t even have to pay FM, just scare him into voting for me. Father was merciless as we were leaving the pageant.” She shudders and looks away from me. “It was as ugly as I’ve ever seen him, and worse, my mother had started joining in on his verbal abuse. It was like she saw a way to align with him.” Missus shakes her head as if to clear it.
“Anyway, when we got to the entrance of the building, FM was waiting. My father always knew how to cover and he started telling FM he was wrong to have offered him money and he went on and on. FM apologized, actually groveled, and then asked if he could court me. I was flabbergasted, so were my parents. FM asked if he and I could have a few moments to talk. In private.”
I interject. “FM apologized? Groveled?”
She shakes her head and says, “Wait. He figured that would sooth my father. After all, everyone always apologized to him. Him asking to court me was what really shocked them. I had never had many suitors. Well, my parents were so stunned, they simply agreed and went on to the car. They told me they’d wait there for me.” She laughs a bit and continues. “As soon as they were out of earshot, FM took my hand and started walking, fast. Around the corner of the building was his car. He gently laid both hands on my upper arms and looked at me. He said, ‘We’re going to South Carolina to get married. You are never living another day under that man’s roof.’” She lifts her hands, palm up, and says, “And I didn’t.”
“What?” I’m incredulous. “You eloped with him, right then?”
“Yes, and oh, did I make him pay for his spontaneity. I’d never been loved, so I didn’t recognize him trying to love me. And I had no idea how to love him. Matter of fact, I hated him for many years. When we came back to Chancey, I sided with my parents. Now, I never moved back home, I wasn’t stupid, but FM was made to look like he had stolen the princess from the castle. He was so beneath me. So not worthy of me. I was horrid to him. Then, about three years later, my mother passed away and my father quickly remarried. She was a middle-aged widow from a very good family near Atlanta. Well,” she swallows. “Well, one day in church I saw that she had a bruise on her cheek and marks on her neck.” Missus snaps her finger. “And just like that it all came back to me.”
She closes her mouth and shakes her head. Then she exclaims, “As hateful as I had been to FM, I knew he would never lay a hand on me, and I began to see him anew. Luckily, Father’s new wife wasn’t as helpless or scared as my mother had been. She divorced him. It was a huge scandal, but it was in no way his fault, of course. He sold our family home without one word to me and left town saying he’d never come back to Chancey. We would go visit him at his home in Atlanta, when he was there, but mostly he traveled and then after a few years, he had a heart attack and died while overseas.”
She draws in a long, calming breath before she says, “That felt good. Of course, people know parts, as I’m sure Gladys was getting ready to share when I came into your house. However, I’ve never said it all out loud before.”
She looks down at her hands clasped in her lap and finishes. “When I saw Kimmy’s bruised face and began watching her and that husband of hers together, I knew what was going on. As I’ve thought back, I remember I would think when my parents and I were in public that if only people knew what was going in our home. Then I realized later that people did know, they just didn’t say anything.” She bows her head, then jerks it back up, saying, “Well, not on my watch. Not in my Chancey.” She stands up and folds her gloves together lengthwise. “My favorite quote is from Edmund Burke, ‘All that is required for evil to prosper is that good men do nothing.’”
I stand up, too, and lean towards her to hug her. Her back straightens and her hands come up. “Oh no, let’s not.” She steps away from the bench and asks, “Susan?”
Looking up at the house, I echo her. “Susan?”
“Is Susan here?” She merely points at the garden as we walk by it.
I roll my eyes and acquiesce, “Yes, Susan did it.”
“Carolina, please do not try to be something you are not. It’s not attractive or honest.”
Wonder where I can get a sainthood application for FM?
Chapter 35
“You look great,” Susan says as she sits down at my table in Ruby’s. “Few days at the beach can work wonders.”
I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and lean back in my chair. “Oh, yes. It was our first time to see Jackson’s mom’s new place. It’s in this tiny little town, and the basement apartment is perfect for a couple. Savannah and Bryan stayed upstairs with Etta.”
Susan waves at Libby and turns her coffee cup over. “Did they get happier about leaving once they got there?”
I roll my eyes. “Have you ever heard of teenagers that don’t want to go to the beach? It was short notice, and I know I considered not going. I’m not good with spontaneity, as you well know, but so glad we made it happen.”
Jackson got up on the Monday after the weekend of baby showers and Cayden’s early arrival, with a notice that his job site was going to be shut down for a week due to a concern abou
t some of the concrete they were to use. Another round of concrete testing was going to take the week, and suddenly, we had time for a trip to the beach. With him on the job site, we’d thought we wouldn’t be able to get away. We checked with Jackson’s mom, who in one fell swoop last Christmas left Jackson’s dad who was having an affair with his younger assistant; used a recent inheritance to buy a house at the beach; and moved. We hadn’t had time to make the trip to the South Carolina coast, but with free time and Etta being between visitors, we piled in the minivan and headed southeast last Wednesday morning. We got back late Sunday afternoon, which was yesterday.
Libby carries a full pot of coffee and a plate of muffins towards our table. As she nears she exclaims, “Why Carolina Jessup, look at that tan!”
I stretch out my arms. “We had beautiful weather all week. Me and Savannah don’t burn, but wait’ll you see Bryan and his dad. They are both red, despite applying sunscreen constantly. But then, we were outside every possible moment. Since we haven’t been to the beach in a few years, we couldn’t get enough of it. Or the seafood.”
Libby sighs and rests one hand on her hip as she pours coffee with the other. She explains her sigh. “Bill and I wanted to get away this summer, but now Cathy needs us to watch Forrest for her while she gets her business off the ground.”
“Why, Libby,” Susan says, “I didn’t know Cathy was starting a business. Where? What is it?”
Libby sighs again and shakes her head. “You know my daughter. You can sell makeup or candles or baskets from your home, but no. She decides to sell sexy things, lingerie and such. Her daddy is pert near embarrassed to death. Especially since she’s put these magnet pictures on her car. Downright pornographic. Here,” she digs in her pocket and brings out a handful of business cards. “I’m supposed to be handing these out for her, but I just can’t. Look at that.”
“Oh my,” Susan says at the same time I say, “Oh, wow.”
The cards are hot pink with shiny gold writing, and I have to hold it up to the light to read the words, “Sexy Belles – Make their heads ring.” Then under that Cathy’s name and phone number. On the back is a picture of Cathy wearing some of the merchandise, I assume. While the writing on the front might be hard to decipher, the picture gets the message across loud and clear.
Libby pushes my hand down and whispers, “Don’t hold it up like that. My daughter might not have the decency to be ashamed, but I do. Be right back.”
She dashes off, and Susan and I turn the cards over to the picture again. Susan laughs, “I’ve heard of ladies going to these lingerie parties, but I never have. Can’t imagine trying stuff like this on in front of my friends.”
“Oh!” I exclaim. “You try it on? With everyone there?” I put the card down and pick my coffee cup up. “No way. I barely had the gumption to wear my new swimming suit on the public beach. So what’s been happening while we were gone?”
Susan starts picking at the muffin on her plate. “Well,” she begins, “Laney came home on Tuesday, but Cayden had to stay at the hospital until Friday. Apparently, he wasn’t as early as they thought. He passed all the tests and is eating up a storm. It’s been pretty quiet around town. Lots of folks on vacation it seems. Bonnie is amazing, you sure got a winner there. She has Blooming Books running like a well-oiled machine. Shannon is still sulking and chasing Peter. There are rumors they actually had a date.”
“Really?” Then I scrunch up my nose and say, “Still can’t see them together. Can you?”
Susan nods as she eats. She’s looking down at her muffin, eating bit after bit, and rocking back and forward. When she maintains that for more than a couple moments, I dip my head toward her and ask, “Are you thinking? Or what? You went quiet on me.”
“Oh, nothing. Just…” She pauses and begins brushing up the crumbs around her plate.
“Nothing? About what? Shannon and Peter?” I suck in my lower lip and ask.
“No, not them, however, the Bistro is looking really good. Alex and Angie have that place really rocking.” She suddenly looks up and says, “Oh, Angie quit the Piggly Wiggly.”
“For the Bistro?” I ask.
Susan grins. “Well, for the Bistro and Alex. Savannah might’ve been right that leaving Alex alone for that long would take her out of the running.”
I roll my eyes. “Don’t remind me. Longest six hours of my life listening to her and Bryan whine about not wanting to leave Chancey the whole drive to the beach. Told both of them if Alex and Brittani couldn’t manage to not cheat just because they were out of town, they shouldn’t want to be with them in the first place. Of course, they lamented how old I am and how I don’t understand.”
Susan finishes her coffee and picks up her purse to sit on her lap. “Well, remember all that sewing and design stuff she did when you were opening Crossings last fall? She’s doing the same sort of thing at the Bistro. Alex is actually wanting to open a food truck to take to some of the area colleges or towns.” She makes a clicking sound with her mouth and squinches up her nose at me before adding, “And Alex may not leave like we thought.”
I slump. “What? No. He has to leave.”
She shakes her head at me and stands. “Not sure, but that’s what Susie Mae was telling me. I’ve got to get to work. Actually have an appointment to talk to Alex about a food truck out at the park at the times when the concession stand isn’t open.”
“See you later,” I say glumly. “You’ve ruined my morning telling me Alex may stay. I was hoping Savannah could get him out of her system. However, with cheerleading camp this week and then practice starting when they get back, maybe she just won’t have time to chase him around like before.”
Susan waves and leaves as I get money out to leave on the table. Laying it down I notice Cathy’s card and pick it up. Cathy has on a black lace nightgown. Her hair is messy and her lips a glossy red. If not exactly pornographic, it’s definitely not something I have any interest in seeing one of my friends modeling. I pocket the card as I stand up.
Lingerie parties in Chancey—the South will rise again.
Not having seen Blooming Books for the past week, and with all the extra touches Bonnie has added, it’s like walking into a whole new shop. As the door opens and the bell chimes, it feels like the street outside melts away. There’s a hush, an atmosphere I associate with those la-di-da shops on the Marietta Square or in Downtown Roswell. Places where ladies shop before or after a nice lunch. Places where the prices are a tad high, but oh so worth it. This is my shop?
“Bonnie! Shannon! You two have created a miracle.” Walking through the tables and merchandise, I see candles lit here and there. Up near the front window there’s a coffee station with an assortment of china cups and saucers. “Oh my,” I exhale as I pick up a cream-colored pillow with a copy of our logo on it. “Where did you get this?”
Shannon says from behind the sales counter, “Angie Conner. Look at the tag. She’s started her own little business.
Bonnie walks up to me, and I open my arms to hug her. She hugs me back and says, “It’s been such fun. I’m so relieved you like it.”
“Relieved? It’s wonderful.” I turn the pillow over and see the tag, AC Creations. “And I hear Angie is now at the Bistro working her magic there, too.”
Shannon bristles. I can hear it in her voice even across the store. “Well, she’s employed there, if that’s what you mean. Peter is in charge. It’s his shop. His creation.”
Bonnie and I meet eyes and share a tiny eye roll. Bonnie says low, under her breath, “We have Peter Bedwell’s fan club president in residence here.”
I laugh and step past Bonnie. “And I love what you did to the bookshelves! Looks much better this way.” Bonnie has left spaces and turned books out different ways, even making displays of similar books in the middle of the rows. It looks much more inviting than my lining everything up nice and tight. I suppose that’s the difference between a librarian mind and a decorator mind.
“Whew,” Bonnie
says. “Of course this isn’t how the books were arranged in my classroom, or the school library, but I wanted to try it. Glad you like it.”
Walking through the shelves, I say, “In a library you get so used to trying to get all the books on the shelves that there’s not the space, or the time, to do things like this. But more’s the pity, as this looks so enticing.” I turn back to Bonnie. “And thanks for letting me run off at the last minute.”
“Oh, don’t you apologize for that. That’s what I’m here for. To give you more freedom. I loved being here instead of up in Laurel Cove waiting for Cal to come off the golf course. You may have saved my marriage by hiring me!” We laugh as we walk back over to Shannon at the counter.
She holds up a pad of paper as we near. “What do you think?”
On the top sheet is a layout of an ad. I ask, “Is this for the Vedette? Looks good.”
Shannon nods. “Yeah, Charles is doing a back-to-school page of ads. He’s giving us a great price, says with the Dollar Store putting a flyer in each week, he’s got more leeway in advertising prices.”
“Speaking of the Dollar Store,” I say, “how’s Mr. Kendrick been? Anything happened?”
Bonnie clucks once and flutters her hands. “Shannon filled me in on what that Missus did. Well played, I feel. So many times as a teacher in public school I couldn’t step in when I saw things happening in families. That was one of the best parts about working at Darien Academy. We could step in since we were private and address things like this. Kudos to Missus.”
Shannon agrees. “Pretty much how everyone in town feels. Plus, it made folks a bit braver. And it’s not hurt business for the Dollar Store.” She laughs. “Steady stream of Nosy Nellies and Sally Do Goods.”
I sigh and complain. “I was hoping with us leaving town with no notice he’d fire Savannah. But no such luck. He said she could come back after cheerleading camp and work as few hours as she wants during school. Do y’all think we should let her still work there?”
Kids are Chancey Page 25