He gave her a sour look. “Yeah, she wanted to warn me about sexual harassment at work. She said she’d be happy to talk to me about the law. She’s another friend of yours, right?”
Sarah nodded.
He waved more pink slips in her direction. “I’ve also had calls from Dana Sue Sullivan and Maddie Maddox. Hell, even Tom’s wife called. I haven’t returned any of those calls yet, but since they were all at that barbecue on the Fourth, something tells me all the calls have something to do with you. What did you do, sic the whole damn town on me?”
Her lips twitched, her expression turned guilty and then she chuckled. “Sorry. Actually I told them all to lay off and leave you alone.”
“Well, obviously they didn’t listen.”
“Not my fault. You’re the one who kissed me in plain view of the whole stupid town. This is the consequence. You’ve created a public uproar.”
He shook his head wearily. “And here I thought I was kissing a mature woman who was capable of saying no if she didn’t want me to.”
“I am. I was,” she said, clearly flustered. “They’re just a little overly protective.”
“Do I need to hire a lawyer?” he asked, not entirely in jest. “Or a bodyguard?”
She laughed, then sobered and shook her head. “I think you’re safe, but you might want to put a lid on the kissing.”
He gave her a belligerent look. “And what if I don’t want to?”
She blinked at that. “You’d risk a lawsuit just to kiss me?”
“The sane part of me would like to think I know better. The part that’s itching to kiss you right this second suggests otherwise.” The admission made his palms sweat. He’d known putting himself within a few feet of temptation every single day wasn’t smart, but he’d done it anyway. “I need to get out of here.”
He was almost out the door when Sarah spoke. He turned and met her gaze.
“Travis, I’m not going to sue you,” she said solemnly.
Heat spiraled through him. It wasn’t just the promise. It was the hint he could swear he heard that she wanted him to do it again. She’d left the damn door open. He could see it on her face.
Travis wanted nothing more than to walk back to her desk, pull her into his arms and test her on that, but he didn’t. He just gave her a jaunty, careless salute. “Good to know, sugar. I’ll keep that in mind the next time I have an urge to play with fire.”
Mary Vaughn had been feeling queasy all morning, but her lunch plans with Rory Sue were too important to cancel. She intended to convince her daughter that she belonged back in Serenity working for her in the real estate business. They’d make an outstanding team. Rory Sue had her gift of gab and her steely determination.
She’d tried out her strategy on Sonny last night and he’d helped her fine-tune it. He wasn’t going to be at lunch because he tended to cave in the second Rory Sue turned her big ole tear-filled eyes on him.
Unfortunately, when Mary Vaughn walked into Sullivan’s, she saw that her daughter was with her granddaddy. She had to fight the desire to yell at Howard for intruding. How could she, though, when she knew how much he and Rory Sue adored each other?
“I wasn’t expecting to see you,” she said, leaning down to give her father-in-law a kiss, then brushing another one across her daughter’s cheek.
“Sorry to crash the party,” Howard said. “But I haven’t seen nearly enough of our girl during this visit. I was afraid she’d get out of town before we had a chance to spend any time together.”
“Well, if I have my way, she’ll come home for good,” Mary Vaughn said.
“Mom, you know I don’t want to live here,” Rory Sue said with disdain, then regarded her grandfather apologetically. “No offense. I know this town means the world to you, but it’s boring.”
“That depends on what kind of excitement you’re looking for,” Howard said.
“I agree,” Mary Vaughn said. Her agreeing with anything Howard said was rare enough that both he and Rory Sue stared at her. She decided to stick with her plan.
Regarding her daughter with an unyielding expression, she asked, “Tell me this, have you found a job yet?”
“I’ve only been out of college a couple of weeks,” Rory Sue said airily. “Give me a break.”
“Actually, it’s been a month. How hard have you looked?” Mary Vaughn persisted. “I know you. You’re hanging out with your friends over in Charleston and probably haven’t set up a single interview.”
“I’ve had two interviews,” Rory Sue said triumphantly.
“Did either of them look promising?” her granddaddy asked.
“One woman called back, but I said no. The pay was lousy.”
“Entry level pay usually is,” Howard said. “You have to work for a while before you make the kind of money you’ll need to live in a city like Charleston.”
“Daddy said he’d help me out with rent,” Rory Sue said.
Mary Vaughn frowned. Sonny hadn’t mentioned a thing about that to her. She’d thought they were together on getting Rory Sue back here. She wondered just which of her many wiles Rory Sue had used to win that concession from him.
Undaunted by the setback, she forged ahead. “Okay, let me spell this out for you,” she told her daughter. “If you want to live in Charleston, you have until the end of the month to find a job and a place to live. And don’t be counting on help from your daddy and me. Whatever he agreed to give you toward your rent is no longer an option.”
Rory Sue’s gaze immediately shot toward Howard.
“Nor will you let your grandfather subsidize your living expenses,” Mary Vaughn added, shooting a forbidding look in his direction. For once, Howard didn’t argue with her.
Her daughter immediately pouted. “That’s not fair.”
“That’s the real world,” Mary Vaughn said sternly.
“And what if I don’t meet these deadlines of yours?”
“Then you’ll come back here and work with me. When you’ve saved up enough, if you still want to give Charleston another try, you’ll have the financial means to do it.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” Howard enthused, once again startling Rory Sue by agreeing with her mother.
Just then the waitress brought their meals. Mary Vaughn took one whiff of Howard’s rare steak and nearly gagged. She leapt up and ran for the ladies’ room, ignoring Howard and Rory Sue’s shocked expressions.
A minute later, when she’d thrown up and her stomach felt more settled, Rory Sue came into the restroom.
“Mom, are you okay?” she asked tentatively. “I’m sorry if I upset you.”
“I’m better now,” she said, splashing some cool water on her face. “It’s not your fault. It must be a touch of the flu.”
Rory Sue gave her a knowing look. “Or you’re pregnant,” she said quietly.
Mary Vaughn stared at her in shock. “At my age? That’s insane. Why would you even think such a thing?”
“Because I’ve seen the way you and Dad are all over each other,” Rory Sue said. “It’s weird. I don’t even know why you’d want me home. I’ll just be in the way.”
“You could never be in the way,” Mary Vaughn insisted. “Having all of us together again, at least for a little while, it’s all your daddy and I want.”
“You’re not going to feel that way once there’s a new baby in the house,” Rory Sue said. “Not unless you expect me to babysit all the time, which I am not going to do. I have a college degree. I need to have a real job.”
Mary Vaughn hid a smile. “Isn’t that exactly what we’ve been discussing? Real estate is a real job.”
“You know what I mean. A job in my field, on a career track.”
“If you find a job like that, you’ll hear no more complaints from me,” Mary Vaughn assured her. Her stomach rolled over again. “Oh, crap,” she murmured, as she threw up again.
When she emerged from the stall, Rory Sue had a damp paper towel ready for her. “I have some mouth spray in my pu
rse, if you want it.”
“Yes, thanks.”
Rory Sue’s eyes sparkled as she handed the mouth spray to Mary Vaughn. “I’ll bet you fifty bucks I’m right,” she said. “About you being pregnant, I mean.”
No way, Mary Vaughn said to herself, her knees suddenly wobbly. She walked back into a stall and sat down. It couldn’t be.
Then she thought of the day she’d sold that space downtown to Travis McDonald. She and Sonny had been in a rush. Too much of a rush to worry about a condom? More than likely.
“Damn, damn, damn,” she murmured, stunned. She was forty-three. Her daughter was twenty-one. And it appeared there was a very good chance she was about to have a baby. For a woman who thought she had her future all mapped out, wouldn’t that be a kick in the rear? As for Sonny, he’d probably run around town gloating or have a heart attack. It was hard to know for sure just what his reaction would be.
“Don’t you dare say a word to your grandfather or your father about this,” Mary Vaughn told her daughter. “I need to know for sure before I get anyone else all stirred up.”
“You can pick up a home pregnancy kit at Wharton’s,” Rory Sue said, her eyes alight with mischief.
“And have the whole town discussing it by nightfall? I don’t think so. I’ll have to take a run out to one of the big discount stores.”
“I can do it, if you want,” Rory Sue offered, suddenly solicitous. “Then if anyone happens to see me, they’ll just assume I’ve gotten myself into trouble. Again. They’ll never in a million years think it’s for you.”
Mary Vaughn knew there was a downside to that. If someone did see Rory Sue with a pregnancy test and assumed the worst, Sonny or Howard were bound to hear about it. Right this second, she preferred that possibility to the reality she was facing.
“Go,” she said. “And please hurry. I’ll deal with your grandfather, and then meet you back at the house in an hour.”
Rory Sue started from the restroom, and then came back to give her a hug. “It’ll be okay, Mom. No matter what happens.” An impish grin lit her face. “And a baby brother or sister might be cool. Embarrassing, but cool.”
Mary Vaughn sighed. Embarrassment was the least of it.
11
Sarah finished her show on Friday morning and uttered a sigh of relief. It had been a very long week. Not only had there been the now-infamous kiss and the fallout from that, but Travis had been in a weird mood ever since the Sweet Magnolias had ganged up on him. She didn’t know quite what to make of it.
Now, for instance, he was lounging behind his desk in his usual laid-back posture, but something about the pose told her he was anything but relaxed. He looked moody and edgy. It didn’t help that his gaze seemed to be fastened on her.
“Is something wrong?” she asked finally.
“Not a thing,” he claimed.
“Then why are you staring at me like that?”
His lips curved slightly. “Because you’re prettier than staring at the walls of this place.”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”
He was instantly on his feet, which had her instinctively pulling back. The last time he’d gotten a glint like that in his eyes and moved that quickly, he’d kissed her and stirred an uproar.
“Come on,” he said, holding out his hand.
“Where?”
“Trust me.”
The problem was, she didn’t know if she could. Okay, maybe what she really didn’t know was if she could trust him…or herself.
He frowned at her hesitation. “What’s the problem?”
“I just want to know where we’re going,” she said, balking at just taking off impulsively. “I have kids. I have responsibilities. I can’t just take off whenever I feel like it.”
“I wasn’t thinking of taking off on a Caribbean cruise, though the idea does hold some appeal,” he said, regarding her with amusement. “I need fresh air. You look about as jumpy as I feel, so I figured you do, too.”
Sarah bristled. “If I look jumpy, it’s because you make me nervous. You’re unpredictable.”
Naturally he looked a little too pleased by that, but he refrained from comment. He continued to hold out his hand. “Come on, sugar. I promise not to do anything you don’t invite me to do.”
“I hate to admit it, but that’s not especially reassuring,” she told him, still holding back.
His smile spread at her revealing comment. “In that case, it could be an interesting afternoon. We’ll take my car. It has more room than that little toy thing you own.”
The voices of six Sweet Magnolias sounded an alarm in her head. In the end, that’s what decided her. It was a Friday afternoon, blue skies and sunshine beckoned, and she was feeling a little reckless. She might not trust Travis entirely, but she did know he’d meant what he said. Nothing would happen that she didn’t want to happen.
“Okay,” she said eventually. “Give me a minute to call the house and make arrangements with the sitter.”
He nodded. “I’ll bring the car around front and put the top down.”
She held up a hand. “Just so we’re clear, this isn’t a date.”
“Whatever you say,” he said agreeably. “Call it a business conference, if it makes you feel better.”
She nodded. “That’s good, because Helen was very clear about what you can and can’t do when it comes to anything related to business, right?”
He nodded solemnly. “Very clear. She spelled out the legal parameters of sexual harassment in terms even I could understand.”
Somehow, she wasn’t entirely reassured, but she nodded. “Okay, then. I’ll meet you out front in five minutes.”
“Which means fifteen, if I know anything at all about women and their primping,” he said with exaggerated resignation.
Sarah beamed at him. “Why would I primp if it’s not a date? What you see is what you get.”
The fact that he didn’t seem one bit put off by that disconcerted her more than the invitation had in the first place. She wished like crazy she could see herself through his eyes, because what she saw in the mirror was still colored by Walter’s nonstop criticisms. Even if she trimmed down to a svelte 110, had her hair styled by the best of the best in a New York salon and wore designer clothes, on some level she’d still feel like a frumpy, overweight housewife who couldn’t do anything right. Not even Walter with all of his apologies and well-meant attempts to put things right had been able to dispel fully the effect of years of verbal abuse.
With the top down on his very expensive red sports car and Sarah by his side, Travis should have been able to relax, but he still felt off-kilter. He’d gone on dates with supermodels that had been less stressful. Being with Sarah, knowing that she was unlike any other woman he’d ever known, that she wasn’t someone he could toy with and toss aside, made him edgy. He didn’t want to hurt her. Unfortunately, he couldn’t seem to make himself leave her alone, either.
Driving to the park seemed like a safe enough option. At this time on a summer day, it was crawling with moms and kids and older retirees out for an afternoon stroll. The swans were gliding across the lake. Ducks were following anyone who looked as if they might drop a few crumbs for them. It was a completely tranquil setting that usually soothed him.
Of course, that was when he was here in the evening alone, going for a run around the perimeter of the lake, or even accompanied by Tom, who knew how to keep quiet when the occasion called for it.
When he stopped the car, Sarah glanced over at him, looking vaguely disgruntled. “We’re going for a walk? In this heat?”
“Yep.” He gave her a considering look. “Unless you’d like me to check us into the Serenity Inn for an afternoon of hot, sweaty sex.”
She swallowed hard, but didn’t look away. “I thought we’d ruled that out.”
“Sugar, I never rule anything out. So, what’s it going to be?”
“We’ll walk.”
“Too bad,” he said cheerfully. “Howev
er, if you keep up and don’t complain about everything, I’ll buy you ice cream at the end.”
She looked mildly intrigued by the offer. “All the way around the lake?”
He nodded. “It’s only a mile. No big deal.”
“Are you hoping to sweat another five pounds off me?”
He frowned at her. “Why would you ask me something like that? There’s nothing wrong with you the way you are. Women are more attractive when they don’t look like skinny little scarecrows.”
She didn’t look as if she believed him. Travis shook his head. “Boy, that husband of yours must have been a real piece of work,” he muttered.
“He was just being honest.”
“He was being a jerk,” Travis said.
“You didn’t see me when I first got back to town,” she argued.
He stopped in his tracks, put his hands on her shoulders and looked straight into her eyes. “I might not have seen you then, but I can see you now. My eyesight’s twenty-twenty, and you look damn good.” He dropped his hands and backed off a step before he made the mistake of kissing her again just to prove the attraction was real. “A little too good for a man who’s supposed to be remembering that this is not a date and that sex is out of the question.”
Her mouth curved slightly at that. “Thanks.”
She sounded so pleased by that paltry little compliment, he wanted to track down Walter Price and slug him for putting such a dent in her self-confidence.
He slung his arm over her shoulders and nudged her with his hip. “Come on, Sarah, let’s relax and enjoy the scenery.”
They strolled along like that, the silence companionable. Sarah seemed to be oblivious to the stares aimed in their direction, but Travis wasn’t. He knew with gut-wrenching certainty that this walk, like the kiss, would be the talk of the town by nightfall. Which probably made it one more mistake that would wind up causing both of them grief. Somehow, though, he couldn’t seem to make himself regret it.
About a hundred yards before they reached the ice cream vendor, Travis broke the silence. “I’m thinking two large cones with chocolate and vanilla swirled together. What about you?”
Sweet Tea at Sunrise Page 14