by Talley, Liz
“I understand,” Sunny said, giving a smile to Ed Hermann, Nancy Odom, and Peggy Lattier, who were part of the committee… and likely the only members of the soon-to-be rescue group. “And that’s the most important part. You’re helping animals, and that’s the main goal, so a mission statement should be easy to compose. I can build a Facebook page and file the paperwork with the state. Do we have any seed money to pay for applying for our status?”
“I got it,” Ed said. He was a gruff man who ran a lawn-care service. Sunny had known him all her life. “Just tell me who to write the check to. We gotta do something. Too many people letting their dogs and cats have litters. It’s become a problem.”
“Which could become part of our action statement. Education for owners about spaying and neutering. There’s a lot we can do, but we need to do some administrative work first.”
“I’m so glad you’re helping us,” Nancy said, reaching over to pat Sunny’s hand. Nancy had been Sunny’s Sunday school teacher once. She was as quiet as her husband Fred was talkative. “God sent you to us.”
God had nothing to do with it. Sunny needed to find a home for Fancy… even though her mother had relented and let the dog stay longer than the initial two days she’d been given. Besides, helping this group of animal activists gave her something more to dwell on than Henry, the kiss, and the memories she’d tried to bury. And she was tired of spending all her free time with a paintbrush and her mother. A person can only watch so much crime television. And painting was lonely business. “I’m happy to help. This is something I believe in. I like dogs.”
“You don’t like cats?” Peggy asked, sounding offended.
“Uh, sure. I like cats.” Sorta. The ones she’d grown up with had hissed and spit at her. And though there had been some scary dogs, her aunt’s sweet Maltese-poodle mix had endeared her to puppies.
“I have five cats,” Peggy said.
“Oh wow,” Sunny said as she watched Peggy pull her phone out.
“This is Mr. McFluff, here’s Rosie, and this is Stitch. These two rascals are Han Solo and Chewie.” Peggy flipped through, like, a bazillion pictures of cats. Cats on top of laundry baskets. Cats rolling on the floor with ribbons. Cats licking themselves. “Oops, those are private ones.”
Peggy stifled a giggle.
Oh jeez.
“Well, my point is we need a name, a logo, a website, a nonprofit status, a board, and maybe some brochures. Who’s working with county animal services? We need a good contact who wants to help us and serve as a liaison. We can use our Facebook page to post animals and perhaps get some home owners’ associations on board to help us network lost pups and recruit fosters. Oh, and we need to contact the paper. Do a press release about the run. That needs to be done yesterday.” Sunny made notes on her legal pad. If she was going to do this, it needed to be done right.
No one said anything, and when she looked up, everyone was staring at her.
“What?”
“That’s a lot of stuff,” Grace said, looking worried. “We already sent something to the paper, didn’t we?”
Nancy nodded. “I learned how to do a press release online and sent them one.”
“Good, and it’s not really that much work. There are four of us and we can divide up some of the tasks. We need some more volunteers. I’ll call my sister’s friend Rosemary Reynolds and see if she might help out. She knows everyone, and if you want something done in this town, she’s a sure bet.”
Grace nodded. “Yeah, if we can get her on board, that would be awesome. But she’s Rosemary Genovese now.”
Sunny shook her head. “I always forget, but I’ll call her. Now, we need to get the race applications printed and put up online. I’ll create the form.”
An hour later, Sunny waved goodbye to the committee members. They each had a list of things to do by the next meeting.
Grace lingered. “Thank you, Sunny. I mean truly. I am a big-picture kind of person, and I’m all in when it comes to trapping cats or picking up hurt puppies, but websites and Facebook pages make me feel nauseated.”
Sunny shrugged. “I’m happy to help y’all get started. I loved volunteering at Happy Hounds. I’m going to put in a call to Sherrie Woods who started the rescue group and run everything past her to make sure we’re not forgetting something.”
“That would be awesome.” Grace picked up her coffee cup. “By the way, Henry Delmar said he’d sponsor and assist with the race. He’s helped with several other races around here. One for St. Jude’s and another for the American Heart Association. I know you and he have a past. That won’t be a problem, will it?”
Sunny shook her head. “I guess people still talk, huh?”
Grace looked a bit embarrassed. “Well, it’s a small town.”
“Yeah, it is, but Henry would be a good person to help. He cares about this community.”
“I wasn’t being nosy. I mentioned your name to one of the other teachers. She told me about how you were, like, the valedictorian, beauty queen, cat’s meow… and what happened with him.”
“Yeah, well, that’s all in the past.” Sunny believed her words. Or tried to. The accusations they’d hurled at each other the night before had loosened something inside her. For too many years she’d bottled up the pain, ignored it, nailed the entrance to her heart shut. Which was probably why her marriage had floundered so badly. She’d let Alan only get so far with her before warning bells went off. If she’d been braver with her heart, perhaps she and Alan would have been much happier and she could have erased the damage Henry had done.
She wished she could go back in time and berate herself for being so protective of her heart. Lots of people lost in love. Plenty of women had their guys cheat on them. She’d gotten her heart broken when she was a teenager. Big deal. Alan didn’t deserve to suffer the repercussions of her broken heart. But he had because she’d not been able to let it go. So much of who she was had hinged on Henry, Ole Miss, and their dreams.
When Henry burned her down, he’d destroyed more than her heart. He’d broken her spirit.
If she could talk some sense into the girl she’d been, she would. That stupid child had thrown away a full-ride scholarship, her title of valedictorian, and a shot at being the first Voorhees to get a college degree. She now realized she’d been ill-equipped to deal with her world falling apart. She’d had little support—her emotional gene pool was barely deep enough to get her feet wet when wading in.
And after enduring two weeks of the town talking about Henry Todd knocking up the governor’s granddaughter along with suffering pitying glances, she’d reached a tipping point. Which pretty much happened at the end-of-the-year PTA meeting. She’d attended because as the outgoing student council president, she had to make a final report on student activities and receive her PTA gift. Right after the meeting concluded, she’d overheard Patsy Reynolds tell Lydia Mason that the Delmar boy was marrying the girl he’d gotten pregnant that May.
Henry Todd was getting married.
No fixing that.
After Sunny had finished sobbing in the girls’ bathroom of MGHS, she caught a ride to Henry’s house, hoping he’d come home from college by now. Her friend waited while she knocked on the front door of his colossal home. Annaleigh had answered. Sunny had tried to smile, but she knew she wore her grief.
“Is Henry home yet, Mrs. Delmar?”
“He is, but he’s out with his father. Buying wedding rings.” Annaleigh’s expression was almost sly. As if she thrilled at delivering that news.
Sunny felt as if she’d been punched in the face. Henry was going to marry the debutante. Or almost debutante. Maybe they didn’t let girls who were preggers be presented at their fancy shindigs. Sunny wouldn’t know.
“Will you tell him I came by?” Sunny managed, swallowing the raw ache in her throat.
Annaleigh had cocked her head, her eyes finally softening. “Sunny, I think it would be best if I didn’t tell him you were here. Darling, you’re gonn
a have to let Henry Todd go. His situation has changed, and he doesn’t need you distracting him from what he’s honor bound to do. Besides, Jillian will make him an appropriate partner in life.”
Sunny had stared at Henry’s mother. Appropriate partner? “But—”
Annaleigh stepped outside onto the porch and took her elbow, turning her around. “Now, sugar, I know it’s hard, but sometimes you have to let go of the thing you wanted because it’s not meant to be. I know you and my son had fun in high school, but high school is over. That time is over. Now go on home and don’t make trouble. Do that because it’s the right thing to do.”
Sunny didn’t respond as she walked down the steps toward her friend’s car. She felt like a zombie on the outside, but inside something had broken. Her heart had fallen and shattered into a million pieces. Sunny knew she could never in a hundred years put herself back together again. As her friend backed out of the drive, Sunny watched Annaleigh Delmar raise her hand in farewell and knew that Henry’s mother was right.
Sometimes a meant-to-be could never be.
When Sunny got home, she packed her suitcase, pulled out the graduation money she’d hidden in the floorboards beneath her closet, and bought a bus ticket to Charlotte, North Carolina. A friend she’d met at Close Up in DC lived there and said she could come stay until she could figure out what to do with her life.
Sunny didn’t tell anyone she was leaving. She put a letter to Eden underneath her pillow that her sister didn’t find for a week. By then Sunny had met Alan David in a bus station, lost her virginity, and was living in a one-bedroom apartment outside a Marine base.
She married Alan one month later.
Game over.
Grace snapped her fingers in front of Sunny’s face. “Hey, Sunny.”
“Oh, sorry. Too much on my mind. What were we talking about?”
“Henry Delmar. I saw him giving you rides. Heard about his kid running over your motorcycle too.” Grace didn’t seem to be nosy, just matter of fact.
“Yeah, heck of a way to run into your old boyfriend.” Sunny shrugged into her jacket and glanced at her phone. Her aunt still had a half hour before she could pick Sunny up.
“You need a ride?” Grace asked, glancing out the glass door toward the parking area.
“My aunt is coming. I’ll hang out here with Sassy. Been a while since I visited with her.”
“You sure? I mean, it will give people something else to talk about. A lesbian with a Harley-riding former beauty queen. We could make headlines.”
“Won’t that upset your girlfriend?”
“Nah.” Grace laughed. “I know where my bread is buttered. I don’t look for any other… other…”
“Buns?” Sunny winked.
Grace burst out laughing. “Oh Lord.”
“Thanks for the offer, but I’m set. Have a good night, Grace. I’ll be in touch about all the things I’m doing.”
Grace waved to Sassy and slipped out the door.
“It’s a good thing you’re doing, helping them get set up,” Sassy Grigsby said from behind the counter. “We’ve been needing something like this for a while. Got a whole passel of feral cats out by my house. I hate to call animal control. They’ll just put ’em down.”
Sunny nodded at the older woman. The Lazy Frog had been in business longer than most small businesses in Morning Glory, namely because of Sassy. The coffee and ice cream were always good, but the company was better. Sassy had a warmness that extended beyond the counter and permeated the cheerful eatery. People came for the treats but stayed for the atmosphere. The café had been Eden and her group of friends’ go-to place for years. In fact, Sunny knew exactly what table they always sat at and what chairs they occupied.
“Well, it’s something I can do,” Sunny said.
“To give back?”
“If you want to call it that. I might as well be useful before I leave.”
“You’re getting out of town that quick, huh?” Sassy smiled.
“By the end of summer. I’m trying to get Mama in the Arbor. I think it would be good for her to have some stimulation. Do some activities and not be alone.”
Sassy sniffed. “She ain’t alone if you’re there, is she?”
“I’m not staying here.” No sense beating around the bush.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought once too,” Sassy said, tapping at the register. “I moved to Chicago, but I came back. Too damn cold up there.”
“That’s why I’m moving to California. I have a friend there who married a guy who owns an insurance agency. He’s going to give me a job.”
“Well, that sounds nice. A new start, huh?”
“If I can get my mama to sell the house.”
“Mmm,” Sassy said, looking out into the inky night, her brown eyes searching for something likely not there. “So what’s with you and Henry?”
“Nothing. He’s giving me rides since his kid destroyed my bike. That’s it.”
“But it’s unfinished business, ain’t it?” Sassy looked back at Sunny.
“Not really. All that happened long ago, and it’s not like it’s that big of a deal. We were two dumb kids who found out life ain’t so easy. Two kids who built a dream world, pretty pages with pretty pictures, and thought love was enough. But when you’re eighteen, love is like an empty box wrapped in fancy paper finished with a bow. It looks good, but when you pull the ends of the ribbons and tear off the paper, you’re left with an empty box. So there’s nothing unfinished between me and Henry. We’re two people tolerating each other until we can move on and forget again.”
Sassy studied her for a few seconds. “Well, hell, if that ain’t the saddest thing I ever heard.”
Sunny lifted a shoulder. “But it’s the truth.”
“Is it? Or what you want to believe?”
“So is this the part where you give me sage, mystical advice? Like you’re Morgan Freeman playing at God? You gonna reveal to me how stupid or blind I am?” Sunny tried to keep her words light because she’d always liked Sassy Grigsby. The woman had a gentle spirit, a weakness for weird shoes, and a soft spot for Sunny’s sister, but she didn’t need anyone trying to make something from nothing.
Even if it hadn’t felt like nothing last night when Henry had kissed her.
“No, I guess I’m asking the questions everyone’s too afraid to ask you. I know your aunt Ruby Jean’s a good woman, but she’s running that office and it’s tax season. Trusting your mama for good advice is like trusting a timber rattler.”
“I don’t need advice, Miss Sassy. I need to finish my mama’s house and find a new life in California. There’s nothing left for me here, and maybe there never was.” Sunny believed those words. She couldn’t imagine staying in Morning Glory. Or maybe she couldn’t imagine herself being happy in Morning Glory. It had been so long since she’d been content, and even then those moments had been fleeting. The only time she’d felt like she belonged, like she fit somewhere, was when she’d been with Henry. The rest of the time she’d been pretending.
“I understand, Sunny. I do,” Sassy said, pushing the change drawer shut and walking to the glass door to flip the CLOSED sign over.
Her words made Sunny’s heart ache, but aching was her normal. She felt much like a wounded bird flapping around, merely existing.
Lights swept the front of the coffee shop. “Aunt Ruby Jean is here. Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
Sassy walked over and pulled Sunny into a hug. For a moment Sunny stiffened, but then she relaxed, inhaling the scent of lavender mixed with coffee in Sassy’s cornrows.
“Don’t be too set on always leaving, Sunny. I spent a lifetime running from who I am, and I wasted a lot of time. I ain’t saying you’re wrong, but when you only keep your eyes on the road in front of you, you miss the life passing you by.”
Sunny pulled away. “Dang it. You had to go Morgan Freeman on me, didn’t you?”
Sassy just smiled and turned to wave at Aunt Ruby Jean, who’d toote
d her horn during the hug. “Can’t help who I am, and I still think Morgan Freeman is a fine-ass man.”
“I wouldn’t change you for the world, Sassy Grigsby,” Sunny said, grabbing her bag and slipping out the door. The cold wind met her, but the warmth of Sassy’s hug stayed with her, along with words she didn’t want to hear.
Nothing wrong with fixing one’s eyes on the prize.
Her prize would be California.
Not Morning Glory. Not Mississippi.
And damn sure not Henry Todd Delmar.
Fancy wasn’t in her kennel when Sunny pushed into her bedroom and dropped her bag on the bed. Alarm coiled through her gut. When she’d gotten home, her mother was parked in front of the television, as usual, an empty paper plate scattered with toast crumbs indicating she’d fended for herself. Another step in the right direction. After years of giving up, maybe Betty was showing a little fight.
“Mama, where’s the dog?” Sunny called, hurrying back into the living area. Her aunt had let Fancy out when she’d come home for lunch and to check on Sunny’s mama. And Vienna, the aide who came to help Betty each day, had assured Sunny she would let the dog out occasionally to stretch its legs. “Did Vienna leave her out?”
“She’s in my bedroom,” Betty said, her eyes not leaving the sight of a detective roughing up a suspect on the television.
“Who?”
“The damn dog. I told Vi to leave her out. The mutt was whining.”
Sunny stared at her mother. “You told her to leave the dog out?”
“Are you effin’ deaf? I couldn’t take all that caterwaulin’ it was doin’.”
Sunny arched an eyebrow.
Betty ripped her gaze from the television. “That stupid dog was driving me batshit crazy. Easier to let her out. I don’t care as long as she don’t come bothering me, begging for food and stuff.”
Sunny opened her mother’s bedroom door to find Fancy curled up on the afghan her great-grandmother had made. The makeshift pallet was messy, as if the dog had dug around on it, or perhaps her mother had pulled it down from the bench underneath the window. Either way, Fancy’s tail thumped before she rose and stretched. A yippy little yawn followed, and then the dog sat, tongue lolling out, looking like she was smiling at Sunny.