by Ava Miles
“What’s his name and what does he do?” Amelia Ann asked.
“I’m missing out on something, aren’t I?” Tammy said, walking out the back door and coming over to join them. “Shelby, you look amazingly great.”
Sadie heard what she wasn’t saying: For the kind of week you had.
“There’s a man,” Amelia Ann confessed with a grin.
“Really?” Tammy drawled. “Who?”
“We were just getting to that,” Amelia Ann told her sister.
Shelby gave Sadie a look and then fiddled with her manicure. “Maybe it’s too early to talk details.”
Rye bounced over and wrapped his arms around his sisters. “What are y’all talking about?”
“Shelby’s new beau,” Amelia Ann told him. “Come on, girl. We’re family. You can tell us his name and profession at least.”
“Good idea,” Rye said. “Then I can have my security manager run a check on him to make sure he’s good enough for you.”
Shelby’s natural glow was fading fast, and Sadie linked arms to support her. “Doesn’t Tory need help in the kitchen?”
Rye shook his head. “No, I finally talked her into lying down a bit before dinner. Why that woman insists on cooking and hosting family dinner when she’s so close to popping, I’ll never know. But you’re evading. Shelby, honey, who are you seeing? Don’t make me call J.P. over here. He’ll want to do his big brother act, although mine is much more effective. I have a shotgun.”
Sadie felt Shelby tense up beside her.
“All right,” her sister finally said, making an attempt to smile. “His name is Vander Montgomery, and he’s a private investigator.”
“Vander Montgomery?” Rye asked, shaking his head. “He and his firm did some work for me early on before I needed a full-time security team. He’s a good guy, but how in the world did you meet him? He runs in pretty different circles.”
Sadie all but heard her sister gulp. “Ah…Gail.”
Rye nodded. “Of course. How is that loony ol’ girl? Now, there’s a woman who knows how to mix it up.”
“She’s fine,” Shelby said, and Sadie could feel them all walking on shallow ice.
Tammy was looking at everyone with concern, and Sadie knew why. It hurt to keep such a whopping secret from their loved ones, but they could hardly justify concealing the truth from Mama if they told the rest of their extended family.
“I’m feeling all this heat suddenly,” Shelby said, fanning herself. “Sadie, why don’t you come inside and help me pour out some sweet tea?”
“Good idea,” Rye said, “I’ve got a powerful thirst. Shelby, you tell Vander I said hey when you see him next. I’ll hold back the gun threats until Vander does something naughty.” Then he gave a knowing wink.
She gave him the fish eye. “I’ll pass along your regards, you silly man.”
Sadie drew her sister to the back door as Rory and Annabelle raced out, almost bowling them over.
“Excuse us!” Annabelle called, waving a sparkly yellow fairy wand. “Rory and I have flowers to pick before dinner. Aunt Tory told us we could choose anything we wanted.”
“Mind the thorns on the roses, Annabelle,” Tammy hollered as her children raced off. “That girl. I tell you. She’ll walk right into brambles if there’s a pretty flower. I’ve even gotten her child gardening gloves, but she doesn’t wear them.”
“Too busy running so fast,” Rye said, smiling at his niece and nephew. “They’re a pair. I can’t wait for them to play with our baby. It’s going to be great for him or her to have cousins around.”
Tammy put her arm around her brother. “Indeed it is.”
Shelby tugged on Sadie’s arm to draw her inside. When she closed the door behind them, she all but slumped against it. “I shouldn’t have glowed.”
“Oh, good heavens,” Sadie told her as they wandered through Rye’s house to the kitchen. “You can’t keep yourself from glowing. Nor should you.”
“I hate this!” Shelby said, reaching for the plastic cups on the counter. “I don’t like holding back from everyone.”
“What are you holding back?” Amelia Ann asked from the doorway, still yards away but closing on them fast. “If you think I can’t smell when something is up, you’re crazy.”
Shelby sighed and looked over at Sadie. “I don’t know what to do,” she said.
“Well, I do,” Amelia Ann informed them. “You’ll tell me because Tammy already knows about whatever’s going on with your beau. I could see it on her face. She’s my sister, after all.”
“Amelia Ann…”
“You’re going to hurt my feelings, Shelby,” she said. “I thought we were friends if not sisters.”
Her expression was so crestfallen Sadie crossed the room to her and rubbed her arms. “Of course you are. It’s just…we haven’t even told Mama. It’s…delicate.”
Amelia Ann’s eyes grew wide. “You know you can trust me. I’d like to tell Clayton since I don’t like secrets between married folk, but if you don’t rather I didn’t, I won’t.”
Shelby glanced around the kitchen, then walked to all the doorways to make sure no one was hovering. “All right, we’ll tell you.”
And so she did, dredging up all the heartbreak and guilt Sadie suspected would never leave her. Even after hearing her sister recount their search for their daddy, Sadie couldn’t help but wonder for the thousandth time why the man who’d sired them had run from everything he knew at the prospect of seeing them. It was the worst hurt she’d ever felt.
“Oh, honey,” Amelia Ann said, wrapping her arms around Shelby when she finished the tale. “And Sadie. Come here, girl.”
They shared a long hug, and Sadie felt tears start to drip down her cheeks again. They’d hardly stopped these last few days.
“I wish there was something I could say to help,” Amelia Ann said, patting them both on the backs, “but if there’s one thing I’ve learned from working at the law clinic, it’s that there are no words to soothe the pain of abandonment. You were brave to look for him after all this time. More open-hearted than I could be. At least you’ll never regret it.”
“That’s the only blessing in all this,” Sadie found herself saying.
“And Vander,” Amelia Ann said, releasing her hold on them. “Meeting him sounds like a blessing.”
Shelby nodded. “Yes, you’re right.”
“God does work in mysterious ways,” Sadie found herself saying. “Maybe that’s what we need to focus on.”
“Maybe so,” Shelby agreed. “We aren’t going to tell Mama, which is why we haven’t told anyone outside of our siblings—and Tammy and Jake.”
“Of course,” Amelia Ann said. “I understand. That’s likely best.”
“Do you think so?” Sadie asked. “We never settled things completely. I know Susannah would like to forget about the whole thing.”
Their eldest sister hadn’t even risen from her deck chair to come over and talk with them, sticking close to her new husband. Susannah was keeping to herself after everything, and Sadie was trying to respect that.
“What are y’all doing?” Rye asked, coming in from the mud room. “I know trouble when I see it.”
Amelia Ann put her hands on her hips. “Women stuff.”
“Oh,” Rye said. “Well, excuse me. I was coming in for that sweet tea y’all promised me.”
“You’re excused,” Amelia Ann said, walking over to the kitchen counter and pouring her brother a glass from the pitcher. “Now, off with you.”
“You sure have gotten bossy,” Rye told her with a wink. “Keep it up. It sure beats the shy wallflower you used to be. I’ll leave you to your women stuff. I’m going to check on my beautiful wife and baby.”
He left the room, and Sadie took a breath. “That was close. We need to be wiser about where we speak about this.”
Shelby nodded. “Hopefully this is the last of the discussion.”
“You can talk to me anytime, y’all,” Amelia An
n said, pouring everyone sweet tea. “I hope you know that.”
“You can talk to me too,” said a familiar voice from behind them.
Sadie turned, her belly looping into sail knots. “Mama.”
“Yes, Mama,” she said with narrowed eyes. “Y’all have been ducking me, and I can’t see as I understand why.”
Amelia Ann cleared her throat. “I’ll just go deliver this sweet tea.”
Frankly, Shelby couldn’t blame her. In the face of Mama’s glower, she was speechless.
“Shelby is dating someone new,” Sadie blurted out, “and we didn’t want to raise everyone’s hopes she’s finally getting hitched.” Had that really popped out of her mouth?
Her sister glared at her.
“Is that all?” Mama asked, shaking her head. “Shelby, is this man anything to be ashamed of?”
Her sister shook her head fiercely. “No, Mama.”
“Then why in the world would you think I wouldn’t be happy for you?” Mama said, walking over to her sister and putting her hands on her shoulders. “Are you feeling a mite tempted by him?”
Oh, Good Lord, Mama was going there.
“Mama!” Shelby gasped, blushing to her roots.
“Honey,” Mama said, “when a new man comes into your life, especially one you care about a lot, there’s always temptation. You know how I feel about things, but you’re a grown woman. It’s up to you to decide what’s best for you. I hope you know I would never judge you for your choice. I’m always here to listen or share my insights with you.”
Sadie was sure her eyes were as wide as quarters. This was the kind of embarrassing chat that made her cringe from the thought of finding someone special. And it kind of ticked her off some too. Would Mama have said the same thing to J.P.?
“Thank you, Mama,” Shelby said, clearing her throat.
“So, when are we going to meet this man?” Mama asked. “If you set so much store by him, I surely will too.”
“Ah… As I was telling Amelia Ann, it’s early yet. We haven’t…talked about meeting each other’s families.”
Mama patted her on the back. “Well, yours is important to you. I hope your man knows that.”
Oh, he knew. Mama had no idea how much.
“What is his name, Shelby?”
“Vander, Mama,” she said, clearing her throat again.
“Vander, huh.” She shook her head. “An interesting name.”
“He’s named after the school,” Shelby shot out. “It’s a family thing.”
“Are his people here?” Mama asked.
“They used to be,” Shelby said. “His daddy died when he was a boy, and then his mama moved them back East. We haven’t much talked beyond that.”
“Well, you can tell a lot about a man from the way he treats his family,” Mama said. “Too bad about his daddy. You have him come to Sunday dinner next week so we can all meet him.”
“I don’t know, Mama,” Shelby said, her shoulders slumping.
“I won’t take no for an answer,” Mama said. “You bring him by and let us get a good look at him. I don’t want either of you girls to get taken advantage of.”
Sadie was sure her mouth opened a touch. She remembered Mama saying things like that when they were growing up. The full reason hadn’t hit her until now. Mama didn’t want them to make the same mistakes she had. This was her way of talking around it like she always did.
“You mean like you did with Daddy?” Sadie asked softly.
Her mama turned her full attention toward her. “Yes, and that’s all we’ll speak about it. You just need to trust me on this, girls.”
Sadie felt herself wither like a flower in the first frost. Her eyes tracked to Shelby. There was a stricken look on her sister’s face, and she had her hand on her heart.
Mama patted Shelby on the back. “I look forward to meeting your man, honey.”
Then she walked out of the kitchen.
Sadie could feel tears well up in her eyes, and Shelby wrapped her up in a hug.
“I’m sorry,” Sadie whispered. “That just popped out of my mouth.”
“No, I’m glad,” Shelby said, holding her tight. “I was paralyzed.”
“We can never tell her what we did,” Sadie said, fighting the powerful urge to let those tears loose.
“I know,” her sister said. “There’s no question now.”
Chapter 23
“You’ve got a spring in your step these days,” Charlie said to Vander as he stopped by her office to say goodnight for the evening.
Like usual, his best friend and top detective was eating at her desk with her shoes off. “Do you ever go home?”
“You’re one to talk,” Charlie said, kicking her bare feet up on her desk. “Until recently, you were all work, work, work. Now you’re running off at… What time is it? Just before seven o’clock. Wait. I think hell might have frozen over. I take it things are going great with Shelby.”
Things were going more than great. He was a little freaked out by how much he thought of her when they weren’t together, by how much he enjoyed being with her, and yes, by how early he’d been leaving the office to see more of her. “Yes. I need to run.”
“That’s all you’re going to say?” Charlie asked, swinging her legs to the floor and standing. “Dammit, Vander! We’ve known each other for a long time now. You’ve never acted this way over a woman.”
She wasn’t wrong. “I don’t want to discuss this, Charlie. Shelby and I are seeing each other and having a good time. I’m trying not to think about anything else.”
“Oh, come on, Vander,” Charlie said. “Who are you kidding? Shelby’s mom is a preacher, and her siblings are some of the nicest, most down-to-earth people we’ve come across. This isn’t your run-of-the-mill girl to have fun with.”
It was like Charlie was reading his mind. He’d seen Shelby every day since their first racetrack date, and they still hadn’t slept together. “I know. Shelby’s…” He broke off, not sure what the hell to say. Special? “I don’t like it when you talk like a girl. It freaks me out.”
“I don’t like talking like a girl with you either,” Charlie said. “I’m really talking as your friend. You’re being abnormally close-mouthed about this situation, Vander, and it’s not like you.”
“What do you want me to say?” he asked. “Do I know Shelby is the settle-down type? Yes! Do I get a little queasy thinking about that? Yes.”
Charlie sat on the edge of her desk. “I know we both had shit happen to us when we were growing up that makes us run like rabbits at the thought of marriage.”
“Who’s talking about marriage? Jesus, Charlie, we’ve only been going out for less than a week.” Of course, they’d been spending practically every free moment together.
She rolled her eyes. “Vander, you’re a man who knows what he wants. I’ve never known time to be a factor in your decision making.”
Shit. She knew him too well.
“You need some help,” Charlie went on. “Maybe if I find someone I want to leave work for early, you’ll be the one to help talk it out. I… Vander, do you ever think about growing old?”
He started at that. “Not really.” But that wasn’t entirely true. He’d thought about it a little this year, thanks in no small part to that damn nightmare about his dad. What are you going to do with the rest of your life, son? Thank God, he hadn’t had it in weeks. Shelby was filling his dreamtime now.
“Well, I do,” Charlie said. “I suppose it’s because of what happened to me. I…when I was a kid, there were days when I wanted to die. I…shit…this is heavy. I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to grow old, you know, like gray-haired-old-lady old. The more years I rack up, the more I wonder if I’ll get there. But if I do, I’d rather not do it alone. Don’t get me wrong—I like being on my own. I’m just not sure I’d like being alone and old. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
He walked forward and put his hands on her shoulders. “I promise you can sit in a
rocking chair beside me on a front porch when we’re old and gray. We’ll read the newspaper and listen to the police scanner and look for clues. Maybe we can change the company name to the Geriatric Crime Busters.”
She smiled at him, a soft one for her. Though he rarely saw her like this, his tough, no-nonsense friend was like everyone else beneath it all. Human.
“I’d like that,” Charlie said. “Thanks for not laughing at me.”
He rubbed her shoulder. “I’d never laugh at you.”
“I know that, and I’m also trusting you not to get pissed at what I’m about to say.” She took a deep breath. “Usually as we get closer to August 30th, I have to start walking on egg shells around you…and worrying about you working too late, eating enough, and sleeping more than a few hours a night. I don’t feel that way this year. You’re…lighter somehow.”
It was her way of crediting Shelby for the change, and he couldn’t disagree. “I’ve noticed it too. Do you really worry about me eating and sleeping? Charlie, that’s pretty fucking weird.”
“I know it is,” she said with a smile, giving him a hard shove toward the door. “Girl talk is over.”
“Thank God,” he said, resting his hand on the doorframe. “Don’t work too late, Charlie. Sometimes I worry about you too.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she said and turned back to her computer, ignoring him.
As he drove to Shelby’s house, he couldn’t help but think about what Charlie had said. Did he need to think more about the future? Is that why his dad kept rising up in his subconscious mind?
He was content on his own—like Charlie had said. He’d created a successful business, made a name for himself. He was well respected and knew interesting people. Like Gail. That thought made him smile. He wondered if Shelby had mentioned they were dating yet. What would Gail think of that after chasing him all these years? Surely she wouldn’t be jealous? She wouldn’t go off the deep end about it and hurt Shelby, would she?
Shit. He was in crazy deep if he was worrying about that.
Somehow he didn’t mind at all.
When he finally knocked on her door, and she answered, the light from the fading sun seemed to cast her in a magical glow. His throat got thick as she smiled and rose on her tiptoes to kiss him sweetly on the lips. She smelled delicious, and her curvy body was so soft against him. His heart started thudding in his chest.