“And this coming from a woman who traveled in very chic social circles in Charleston once upon a time,” Maddie said, then winced. She gave Raylene’s hand a squeeze. “Sorry, sweetie. I know that time of your life doesn’t bring back such good memories, but I wanted Adelia to understand that coming from you, what you said was high praise.”
“It’s okay,” Raylene said. “There are some days when I can actually remember the positive things about that time of my life.” She focused on Adelia. “Maddie’s right, though. You need to take me seriously when I tell you how good you are.”
Adelia flushed at all the compliments. “Thank you.”
Helen gave her a sympathetic look. “Okay, fair warning. All this sweetness and light ends now. This group is notorious for asking inappropriate, intrusive questions. You are always free to tell us to butt out.”
“But we’ll hate you for it,” Dana Sue said, joining them. “We pride ourselves on knowing the inside scoop about everything.”
“Only Grace Wharton knows more gossip than we do,” Helen said with a resigned sigh. “I don’t know how she does it, but it’s annoying.”
“I’m afraid I’m way out of the gossip loop,” Adelia apologized. “If that’s the card that grants me entry, you’re all going to be disappointed.”
“Maybe you’re not current with everything, but the way I hear it, you have the inside track on at least one thing,” Dana Sue said, her expression mischievous. “I hear you’re getting tight with the sexiest man to hit Serenity this year, Gabe Franklin. What’s the scoop with him? He was a couple of years younger than Maddie, Helen and me, but I remember him from years ago. He had quite a reputation as a troublemaker back then. He was nothing at all like Mitch.”
Adelia blinked and tried to scramble for an answer that wouldn’t reveal much of anything about how Gabe rattled her. She knew instinctively that she shouldn’t jump in to defend his past behavior, no matter how great the need. A quick, fierce defense would be far too telling.
“I don’t really know much about him,” she said evasively, glancing frantically around the room until her gaze landed on Lynn. “Ask her. Gabe is her husband’s cousin.”
“Which means Gabe doesn’t flirt outrageously with her,” Maddie said. She glanced at Lynn and grinned. “At least I hope he doesn’t.”
“Of course he doesn’t,” Raylene chimed in. “Mitch would kick him out of town if he so much as looked at Lynn.” She cast a sympathetic look toward Adelia. “Nope. You’re the one he has in his sights. We’ve all heard the stories.”
“Which stories and from whom?” Adelia said, another fiery blush heating her cheeks. Did she have to steer completely clear of the bakery—or maybe even all of Serenity—to put an end to the already rampaging gossip?
“I believe Grace was at Rosalina’s on a recent Saturday night when you were there with Elliott and your kids. She says she caught a glimpse of something,” Sarah McDonald explained as she joined the group. “She couldn’t wait to tell me the next morning. And if she told me, you can bet she told every single customer who walked into Wharton’s.”
“But nothing happened that night at Rosalina’s,” Adelia protested, dismayed. “We never even spoke to each other. I didn’t meet Gabe till a couple of mornings after that at the bakery.”
“Grace thinks of herself as being intuitive about these things,” Sarah said. “She says she can spot a budding romance a mile away. Surely having grown up in Serenity, you know that.”
“I was probably one of the few kids in town who didn’t hang out at Wharton’s as a teenager,” Adelia explained. “My mother was pretty strict back then. She was worried to death about my sisters and me getting into trouble. She considered a teen hangout to be trouble just waiting to happen.”
She grinned as she recalled the lectures about spending time at the local soda fountain. Of course, those lectures had made it sound even more alluring. “Forbidding us to go there was probably a big mistake,” she told them. “As it was, I was pretty inexperienced when I met Ernesto in college. Believe me, if I’d dated or hung out at Wharton’s the way most other girls in town did, I might not have fallen for him. I might have recognized the sort of macho cheater he turned out to be.”
“Ernesto is in the past,” Helen declared forcefully, dismissing her ex with a wave of her hand. Then she grinned. “Let’s get back to Gabe instead. We’ve all heard about the kiss.” She glanced around as the other women nodded. She used her best interrogator’s voice on Adelia. “Care to tell us about that, Ms. Hernandez?”
So this was what friendship was like, Adelia thought, suddenly feeling completely out of her depth. Being surrounded by women who thought they had the right to ask about her innermost private thoughts was beyond disconcerting. Maybe she’d misjudged the value of the whole friendship thing.
“Careful,” Raylene warned Helen. “She’s starting to look a little pale. Remember, Adelia’s not used to being cross-examined by people she barely knows.”
Before Adelia could thank Raylene for trying to intervene, Helen merely smiled and came at her from a different, more subtle direction. At least Adelia assumed Helen considered it more subtle.
“Gabe’s definitely a good-looking man,” she said casually, then gave Adelia a sly look. “Don’t you think so?”
“I wouldn’t kick him out of my bed,” Dana Sue commented, drawing a shocked look from Helen and Maddie. “Oh, get over it. I’m alive, aren’t I? Ronnie’s the man for me. Always has been. Always will be. But I can have the occasional fantasy. That’s perfectly healthy. And don’t either of you dare tell me that you haven’t had your share of daydreams about someone other than your husbands.”
Helen and Maddie exchanged guilty looks.
“Okay, maybe, from time to time, I fantasize about Brad Pitt,” Maddie conceded. “Even if he is way, way out of reach. And even if Cal is the perfect husband.”
That drew a few dreamy sighs from around the room. Adelia laughed, finally relaxing. “You all are a little bit crazy,” she said, then added apologetically, “If you don’t mind me saying so.”
Raylene put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a comforting hug. “And now you know our dirty little secret. We are all a little nuts and a little delusional. Have another margarita.”
Adelia held out her glass. “I believe I will.”
She just hoped the drinks weren’t like truth serum. She didn’t want to find herself an hour from now spilling her guts about her own unwanted fantasies about Gabe Franklin. Of course, given the speculative looks she’d been receiving, she doubted a single woman in this room would be surprised to hear anything she had to say. They’d probably respond with a fervent “Amen!”
* * *
The morning after his night with the guys, Gabe found himself taking a break from the work site at nine-thirty. He swore to himself that he was heading to the bakery at that hour because he hadn’t had time to stop there earlier for his usual cup of coffee. He needed a solid caffeine fix.
The fact that he’d chosen the precise time that Adelia tended to get to Chic to open up was purely coincidental. He’d stick to that claim with his dying breath, if need be.
Sure enough as he stepped outside, he saw her at the door to the boutique. She seemed to be fumbling with the key. He frowned as she dropped it, then struggled again to get it in the lock with fingers that were clearly shaking.
Making up his mind, he walked quickly down the block, stepped up behind her and placed his hand over hers. She jumped a good foot in the air, panic on her face.
“Sorry,” he said. “It’s just me. You looked as if you were having a little trouble with the lock.”
Color flooded her cheeks. “I’m a little shaky this morning,” she confessed. “I have no idea why. Well, I do know why. It’s probably the three margaritas I had last night. Everybody warned me to
quit after two, told me they don’t call them lethal for nothing.” She gave him a shy, almost bewildered look. “They were really good, though.”
Gabe bit back a smile. “But you don’t drink much.”
She frowned. “Are you implying I’m a lightweight who can’t hold my liquor?”
He laughed. “Are you?”
She held his gaze with a defiant look, then sighed. “I must be if I can’t even unlock a stupid door this morning.”
“How’s your head?”
“I believe a jackhammer has taken up residence,” she admitted.
Gabe pushed open the door to the boutique and handed her the key. “Go on inside and do your thing. I’ll be back.”
When she seemed about to protest, he held up a hand to cut her off. “I’ll be back, Adelia. Leave the door unlocked, okay?”
“Okay,” she said, sounding surprisingly meek.
That meek response alone told him just how off-kilter she was feeling.
He headed straight for the bakery and told Lynn, “I need two coffees, both large, one with lots of sugar.”
“You drink your coffee black,” she said, looking startled.
“It’s not for me.”
“Then who?” she said, then went perfectly still. “Adelia?”
He nodded. “She’s feeling a little under the weather. What the heck did you women do last night? She mentioned three margaritas.”
Lynn winced. “I think it was actually four. She might have lost count. That happens.”
“Sweet heaven,” he said. “I don’t imagine they’re watered down as the evening goes along.”
Lynn looked horrified. “I think Helen would rather give up her entire wardrobe of designer shoes than water down a margarita. Most of us have learned to pace ourselves. And, of course, those of us who are pregnant stick to frozen limeade so we at least look as if we’re fitting in. Then we jealously keep count of the drinks the others are consuming.”
Gabe thought of what Mitch had told him about these Sweet Magnolia get-togethers. “Not to sound egotistical, but did my name come up last night?”
She chuckled. “Oh yeah.”
Gabe groaned. “And you all were on Adelia’s case about me and our relationship, that sort of thing?”
“We might have asked a few intrusive questions,” Lynn confessed. “All in the spirit of sisterhood, of course. We wanted her to know she has backup.” She hesitated, then added, “We might have been a little too inquisitive about any juicy details she might want to share.”
No wonder the woman had been downing margaritas like water, Gabe thought. “Maybe you should tell these so-called friends to butt out,” he suggested. “Not everyone wants to have their private business hung out like laundry for everyone to see.” He gave her a stern look. “And don’t you think Adelia might have had more than enough of that with the whole Ernesto fiasco?”
Lynn flushed guiltily. “We didn’t think of it like that,” she said. “And if you must know, we were all encouraging her to give you another chance. You should be thanking us.”
Gabe understood that Lynn at least meant well, but he suspected their efforts had been counterproductive. “Adelia and I are perfectly capable of figuring things out for ourselves.”
Lynn leveled a disbelieving look at him. “Are you still seeing each other?”
“No, because—”
She cut him off. “Because you are not capable of figuring things out. She’s vulnerable and scared. You’re...” She hesitated, then blurted, “Okay, I’ll just say it, if you let her go, you’re an idiot.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Gabe said.
“Of course I do. I was just as stubborn and stupid about Mitch, that’s how I recognize all the signs. And every one of those women there last night has been through something similar. We’re experienced with putting up defenses and pretending that we don’t need or want some man in our lives. And we don’t need a man, not a one of us.” She held his gaze. “But we’ll all tell you now that we’re better off for deciding to take a chance.”
Gabe sighed at the heartfelt conviction in her voice. “Lynn, I appreciate what you’re saying, but could I just have those coffees and maybe a couple of pastries? Whichever ones Adelia likes.”
She gave him a long look, but she poured the coffees and put several pastries in a box. “Tell her to call me if she needs anything.”
Gabe nodded. “Will do.”
“And I don’t care what you say, I think it’s sweet that you’re looking after her.”
Gabe frowned. Sweet was the last thing on his mind. He’d taken just one look at the state Adelia was in this morning and felt his heart plummet. No matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t help thinking he was responsible for it. If Elliott got wind of this, he was going to punch Gabe’s lights out and Gabe wouldn’t do a darn thing to try to stop him. A good thrashing was probably just what he deserved.
* * *
The simple act of opening the cash register was almost more than Adelia could manage. And the familiar sound the drawer made to signal it was being opened seemed to echo in her head.
This is so wrong, she thought. Women her age should not be suffering from a hangover. They were supposed to have better sense.
The bell over the door rang and she clamped her hands over her ears at the sound and groaned. If this was going to happen every time a customer came in today, she might die. Or at least wish she could.
This, though, was Gabe returning and the look on his face was filled with pity or sympathy. She looked closer and thought she saw just a tiny touch of amusement that he was trying valiantly to hide.
“Head hurt?” he asked lightly.
“You have no idea.”
“Here,” he said, holding out his hand. “It’s just aspirin. That and the caffeine and sugar in the coffee might help.”
“I don’t like sugar in my coffee. Lynn knows that.”
“She made an exception today at my insistence.” He shoved the container a little closer. “Drink up.”
Adelia thought about arguing, taking a stance, in fact, but the thought of caffeine held a little too much appeal. As did those aspirin he’d set in front of her. She took those, then a sip of coffee.
“Why are you being so nice to me? We’re not even supposed to be speaking.”
“I feel a little responsible,” he admitted.
She stared at him incredulously. “Why? You weren’t there shoving margaritas down my throat.”
“Might as well have been,” he said. “At least the way I hear it.”
She frowned at that. “What did you hear?”
“Lynn says we were a hot topic last night.” He held her gaze. “Adelia, I never meant for you to be in that position.”
He looked so apologetic and dismayed, Adelia found herself taking pity on him. “Gabe, you don’t know these women. Heck, I don’t even know them that well, but even I could tell that they make a hobby out of butting in. They’re all happily married. We’ve just provided them with some new fodder. Sooner or later some other couple will come along and they’ll meddle in their lives.”
“But in the meantime, you shouldn’t have to deal with this. That’s what I told Lynn, too.”
“You told Lynn that everybody needed to back off?”
“Yep. In no uncertain terms.”
Adelia started to laugh, but it hurt, so she settled for saying, “You’re delusional if you think she’s going to pay a bit of attention to you. If anything, she’s probably more convinced than ever that there’s something between us.”
He looked thoroughly, charmingly confused. “How? Why?”
“Because you immediately leapt to my defense. And because you went over there to get me coffee and pastries and aspirin.”<
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“Why is that a bad thing?” he asked. “And, for the record, I didn’t get the aspirin from Lynn. I had them in my car.”
She gave him a pitying look. “That is so not the point.”
Gabe sighed. “You’re going to have to explain this to me. Clearly I, a mere man, am not privy to the way women’s minds work.”
“What you did for me just now is not a bad thing at all,” Adelia explained patiently. “It is, however, exactly the kind of thing that Lynn will report to all the others and they’ll sigh happily and conclude that they were exactly right to try to push us straight into each other’s arms.”
“Are all women this crazy or do these Sweet Magnolias have some kind of a lock on that?” Gabe asked.
Since Adelia had wondered almost the same thing the night before, she shared the conclusion she’d reached. “I think it’s these women. They care about their friends. They’re intrusive and a little crazy, but they’re well-meaning. That makes them more dangerous, I think.”
Gabe frowned. “Dangerous? How so?”
“They’re all so sweet and normally trustworthy that they make you want to believe them, to make them happy.”
“What are you saying? That we ought to take another look at this thing between us?”
She hesitated, because that was exactly what she’d been thinking by the time she’d left Raylene’s the night before. Now in broad daylight with her head pounding, she was having second thoughts. “No, of course not. We decided...”
He held her gaze. “Adelia, do you think we made a mistake? Do you want to go back to the way things were? You know, hanging out, just seeing how things develop?”
“What do you think?” she asked, not wanting to crawl out on that shaky limb all by herself.
“I think we made the decision for all the right, sensible reasons,” he said.
She fought to hide her disappointment, not just because it was humiliating, but because she didn’t want to admit even to herself that she felt so much as a tiny bit of regret. “Yes, of course we did.”
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