by Peggy Webb
“Bea.” He turned and cupped her face, holding it almost fiercely. “You’ve been one of the best times of my life.”
“That sounds like goodbye.”
“It is. You don’t need me anymore, Bea.”
She needed him so much, the need was almost a physical pain. But she didn’t tell him that. So...they had felt passion for each other. That was nothing unusual between a man and a woman, especially two people who had been forced into such close company. If her passion bordered on love, that was her problem, not his.
She squared her shoulders and smiled at him.
“You’ve been a good knight in shining armor.”
His fingers tenderly traced her cheekbones. “If I ever run across another damsel in distress, I hope she’s half as delightful as you.” His hand lingered on her cheek. “Goodbye, tiger lady.”
She had to clear the lump in her throat before she could speak.
“You could stay for the rest of the family reunion.”
“I’ll go.”
“Everybody in the family loves...likes you, Russ. We’d all be happy for you to stay longer.”
“I might get addicted to families.”
Suddenly she felt something close to panic. What would she do without Russ? Not that she needed him to take care of her. No. That wasn’t it at all. Somehow, somewhere, sometime he had become a part of her, and his going would divide her so that the joy and laughter vanished and the lonesome part stayed behind.
She knew that was crazy. She kept telling herself that it was crazy. She pressed her hand over her mouth to swallow words she had no business saying.
“Bea.” Russ’s hands moved over her face, ceaselessly, committing her to memory. “Thank you for the invitation.”
He kissed her swiftly, so he wasn’t tempted to stay. Then he stood up to leave.
“Good luck, Russ.” She wouldn’t speak of money again. Instinctively she knew he wouldn’t take it. In fact, he’d be insulted. “Take care. Do take care.”
Suddenly he remembered the shoe and scooped it out of the pine needles.
“I believe Cinderella has lost her shoe.”
“But not at the ball.”
“And this is not a Prince Charming who found it.”
“There have been times over the last few days when I could argue that point.”
“If I were Prince Charming and you were Cinderella...” He paused, reaching for her. She extended her leg and he caught it then slid his hand slowly down to her foot. With great tenderness he slipped the shoe on.
“The shoe fits,” he said. “If the fairy tale were true, I’d have to make you my princess.”
There was magic in his blue eyes, and humor and passion and promises she couldn’t read.
“We should both be grateful it was just a fairy tale.” Where was her stinger when she needed it? “Two people like us... so different.”
“So very different.” He cupped her face, then quickly let go. “Goodbye, Bea Adams.”
He left the grove quickly, never looking back. If he saw her sitting there with leaves falling in her hair, he might pick her up and carry her to his truck and ride away with her, south toward Florida, south where the breezes were balmy and the sun was hot and love was supposed to last forever.
Bea watched him go, shading her eyes, straining forward until all she could see of Russ was a distant shadow.
She imagined she heard the screen door shut behind him, although common sense told her the house was too far away. She even imagined the sound of his footsteps on the stairs. He would be going to get his duffle bag. It was not too late to stop him.
Instead, she waited in the grove until he’d had time to leave; then she stood up and brushed the pine needles and clinging leaves off her clothes. Her face felt flushed, and she sniffed loudly. She wasn’t about to face Taylor with tears on her cheeks—even if they weren’t tears for him.
o0o
Russ drove without thinking.
After saying goodbye to Bea’s family, he left Florence and hit Highway 72, heading east toward Huntsville. He figured he might angle southward from there toward Birmingham, or maybe even southeast toward Atlanta. Usually he avoided the big cities, sticking to back roads and small towns. There was something soothing about small towns where he could smell the earth and feel the breezes from trees along the street and meander for miles with never an interstate highway in sight. He supposed he was just a country boy at heart.
Someday, maybe, he’d buy another little place, maybe an orange grove in Florida or a cotton field in Georgia, or a soybean farm in Alabama. Someday... He let his thoughts trail off. No use thinking about someday. Best to think about right now.
Right now he needed a change of pace, something to make him forget a certain black-eyed woman.
The wind whistled around the truck’s ill-fitting windows. His radio was dead, so he couldn’t play country music. He drove with the sound of wind in his ears and the image of Bea in his mind. What was she doing now? Was she missing him?
There was a huge empty spot in the pit of his stomach, and he realized that he had never even finished his dinner. But he knew the ache had nothing to do with hunger. It had everything to do with a woman who smelled like spring and tasted like heaven.
He hoped her car was ready when she got back to Pearcy. He hoped she didn’t have to depend on the kindness of another stranger to see her safely into Dallas.
Suddenly he rammed his foot on the brake and pulled off at a small country store. The old truck rattled and squalled as he turned it around. Bea would be leaving Florence on Saturday, taking a rental car as far as Little Rock. From there she’d take a bus into Pearcy.
The emptiness in his stomach vanished and he began whistling, tapping the rhythm on the steering wheel with his fingers. He was headed back to Paradise.
o0o
After Russ left, Bea went directly to her room, going up the back staircase in order to avoid questions. She didn’t want to see anybody, especially not Taylor.
The door to the guest bedroom was open. She could feel the emptiness wafting through the open doorway.
When she got to her bedroom, she locked the door.
“Bea.” It was Molly, tapping at the door. “Please, Bea. Let me in.”
She considered not even opening the door, but in the end slide the lock. Molly catapulted through and caught her in a bear hug.
“Oh, Bea, I wanted to tell you, but Sam thought it was best to surprise you, and I couldn’t betray my husband.” Molly’s breath hitched as she fought back tears. “Instead, I betrayed you. OMG, will you ever forgive me?”
“I will if you won’t say another word about how delicious Russ Hammond is. And if you won’t mention Taylor Adams. And if you will go downstairs and bring me up a big plate of fried chicken. Stress makes me hungry.”
“Oh, Bea. You’re the best.”
“I thought that was my brother – and in the early morning.”
“I’m not talking about my Virginia!”
“I don’t want to talk about mine, either. I’m just going to get a chastity belt and forget it.”
“It’s so good to see you smiling again.”
“I won’t be if you don’t get me some food. And Molly, add a big hunk of that chocolate cake I saw on the kitchen cabinet. It’s going to take lots of chocolate to get through this crisis.”
o0o
Bea waited until the day she left Florence to face her father. He was staying at the local inn with his wife, Betsy. Bea asked to meet him in the dining room, neutral ground.
Taylor was already at the table when she arrived. He stood up, but made no move to touch her. Thank God!
“I’m glad you came, Bea.”
“Don’t be glad yet. I’m not here for a sentimental father-daughter reunion.” She stood behind her chair, clutching it with tight fingers. The solid feel of the wood gave her something to cling to. “I have to know the truth, Taylor. I have to know why you left us, and why, during al
l those years, you never tried to see us. Not once.”
“And you deserve to hear it. Sit down, Bea. We have a lot to talk about.”
Taylor Adams told his daughter why he had left her. He explained about marriages that go bad, sometimes because of terrible things that two people do and say to each other, but most often because of neglect. He and Glory Ethel had neglected their marriage, and when Betsy came to town, he was ripe for a diversion, something to make him forget what he was missing at home. He had never meant to leave his family, never meant to divorce his wife. But Betsy became more than a diversion for him; she became his love, the greatest love of his life. And because he had been the one to stray, the marriage partner to go wrong, he had made a clean break, leaving Glory Ethel with full custody. At the time, it had seemed the best thing to do.
“It was a mistake, Bea, not coming back to see you and Samuel. I realize that now. I should have made amends with you years ago.”
“It’s a little too late for regrets, isn’t it?”
“It’s never too late. I’ve missed too many years of your life, and I can see how you must have believed that I never loved you. But I did, Bea. And I do. I swear that.” He reached across the table, then, and took her hand. “I know I can’t make the past up to you, but I want to be a part of your future.”
“Are you absolutely certain this time?” She let her hand lie limp in his, not squeezing back, not giving him any reason to think that he could return and she’d let him into her life as if nothing had ever happened. “You have to be sure, Taylor. I don’t think I could stand it if you left me twice.”
“Oh, Bea.” His anguish showed in the tight lines of his face and in his eyes, dark with regret. “I was so young and foolish. I never thought how you must have felt.”
“It’s still how I feel, Taylor. I can’t change my feelings the way I change clothes, just shuck off the dirty and put on the clean.”
“Let me try, Bea. Give me a second chance to be your father.”
She considered his offer a long time before she spoke.
“What about Betsy?” she finally asked.
“She understands. She wants both of us to be a part of your life, if you’ll let us.”
“Hearts and flowers and fried chicken on Sunday? False smiles and make-believe hugs and let’s pretend everything is wonderful?”
“No. All I’m asking is that we both take the time to know each other. I’m hoping the smiles and the hugs will be real, Bea. I’m hoping you’ll learn to love me as I’ve always loved you.”
At last Bea understood the hard choice her father had made and the courage it took for him to come to her after all these years—courage and love.
“I’m not making any promises, Taylor.” She stood up, and when she smiled, it was the small, shy smile of a little girl trying to please her father. “But I’ll try. I promise you that.”
She leaned down and kissed him swiftly on the cheek. “Goodbye, Taylor.”
He caught her hand. “For now, Bea.”
She left him sitting in the restaurant with a smile on his face and tears in his eyes.
o0o
From: Bea
To: Molly, Janet, Belinda, Clemmie, Joanna, Catherine
Re: Heading Back to Dallas
The family reunion is over, thank God, and I’m heading back to Dallas where the only thing I’ll have to worry about is spouting off to my horrible boss and getting fired. Of course, I loved seeing Mother again, and I’m eternally grateful to your daddy, Molly, for making her so happy! It was great to see you and Sam, too. My Lord, you’ve turned my workaholic, up-tight frog of a brother into Prince Charming! What’s your secret?
I had to leave my rental car in Little Rock and now I’m bumping along on the bus to Pearcy, Arkansas, which is the backside of nowhere. If this email ends in mid-sentence, you’ll know I’m losing signal and sending it while I can.
Of course, I told Molly at breakfast this morning, but the rest of you don’t know: Russ and I said goodbye in Florence. It was an amicable parting, but still I didn’t know how it would hurt until I saw that old rattletrap truck of his disappear. So much for falling in love. Maybe I was really falling or maybe it just my poor, deprived Virginia screaming at me. In any event, gone is gone. I’ll just have to make darned sure the next man who whets Virginia’s appetite has a job, a house and at least a vague idea of what he plans to do with his life. Well, forget the house. But I am holding out for the other two.
Oh, lord, I think that last bump on this old bus dislocated my kidneys! Wait till I get to Dallas. I’m going to give that mechanic who swore my car was road ready a piece of my mind!
Bea
From: Molly
To: Bea, Janet, Belinda, Catherine, Clemmie, Joanna
Re: You!
I miss you already, Bea! I’m so lucky to have Sam and this fabulous little art gallery he found for me. When the renovations are finished, I’m going to have a grand opening and all of you can come! I’m painting the walls yellow!! It’s this rich, cheerful color that looks like sunshine, and it will make all the art just pop!! Of course, I’m getting as much paint on myself as I am the walls!
I really, really liked Russ Hammond, and I can’t believe he’s out of your life for good! In fact, I REFUSE to believe you’ve seen the last of him.
Sam likes him, too. He says Russ has a lot of depth, and a man with character wouldn’t just walk off and leave a wonderful woman like you!!!
And speaking of my amazing hubby, he’ll be at the gallery any minute!!! We always try to make time for lunch together and for you know what! I just have time to get out of these paint-spattered clothes and into blue jeans. Or maybe I’ll just strip and drape myself with a feather boa!!! Sam ADORES that!!!!
Molly
From: Clemmie
To: Bea, Molly, Joanna, Catherine, Janet, Belinda
Re: Giddy
This latest romance novel I’m reading can’t hold a candle to Molly’s and Belinda’s emails! I read this scene where the heroine squeezed orange juice over herself and the hero licked it off, but I like Molly’s feather boa better! I imagine there are so many inventive ways you could use it! Sigh! At the rate I’m going, I’ll never find out. College tuition is so expensive, and I’m just trying to make ends meet till my brothers can graduate. I was going to up the rent, but with this economy, my sweet little boarders can’t afford to pay it, so I’m keeping rates low.
Oh, Bea, I just know Russ Hammond hasn’t vanished forever! Remember that old movie classic, Now Voyager, where Betty Davis returned home and thought she’d never see the hero again. And then they had this final dramatic scene, standing together at the window where Betty said, “Oh, don’t let’s wish for the moon when we have the stars!” Or something like that. Anyhow, the ending made me cry.
Bea, I just know you’re going to have a happy ending!
Clemmie
From: Belinda
To: Bea, Clemmie, Molly, Joanna, Catherine, Janet
Re: Happy Ending
Happy endings in romance novels and movies are just the beginning in real life! Reeve gives me the moon and the stars at least twice a day, and if I don’t get pregnant at this rate, I’ll just think I’m not holding my mouth right or something.
Bea, do you have Russ’s email or phone? Send him a sweet little message thanking him for rescuing you, or staying around for the family reunion. Just anything so he hears the sound of your voice and gets so lonesome for you, he can’t bear the thought of never seeing you again. I bet he’ll turn straight around and race back to you and simply sweep you off your feet!
Belinda
From: Janet
To: Bea, Belinda, Catherine, Joanna, Clemmie, Molly
Re: Messages
Bea, do not send this man any messages! You’re an incredible, independent woman who doesn’t need anybody. Not that I would want to ever do without Dan, but he knows darned well he’s in my life by choice, not necessity! If Russ is meant to be the one, it
will all work out. If not, move on to something bigger and better!
Speaking of bigger and better, I shudder to think how I might have missed out on the Coach if I hadn’t been dumped by that wimp in medical school. Now Virginia is all stirred up and I still have hospital rounds. Molly, did you start this?
Anyway, keep pressing forward, Bea. You’re going to land on your feet and before you know it you’ll be kicking ass again with those high-heeled boots!
Janet
From: Joanna
To: Bea, Catherine, Molly, Belinda, Janet, Clemmie
Re: Russ
Russ sounds like one of those DELICIOUS, RUGGED types! You know the kind who vanishes into the mountains or some remote cave till he can figure things out. He’ll come back, Bea, but DON’T YOU DARE act interested!!! Make him EARN YOU!!! I’d hold out for a big diamond and maybe an eye-popping emerald or two, but I know that’s not your style. Still, maybe you can ask him for little ranch in Texas!
Oh, I WISH I WERE IN THE STATES! I feel like I’m in PRISON over here!!! I HATE school!!!
Joanna
From: Catherine
To: Bea, Molly, Joanna, Janet, Belinda, Clemmie
Re: Weekend
Bea, the next break I get, I’m going to drive over to Dallas so we can shop and kick up our heels. We may even ride a mechanical bull! Don’t they have those in Texas? You hang in there, sweetie! Everything’s going to be all right. The Dixie Virgins won’t have it any other way!
Cat
Chapter Ten
It was late afternoon when the bus pulled into Pearcy, Arkansas. Bea was rumpled and tired. She smoothed the wrinkles from her skirt and stepped down from the bus. The station was small and poorly lit. Dingy windows blocked what little sunshine there was, and one naked bulb cast a pale yellow glow over the plastic furniture and the faces of the weary travelers.