“I’ll try to remember that,” she said.
“So, who’s the lucky fellow?”
Marilee sighed. “If you must know, he’s my boss at the Pickford Inn, and I’ve already had dinner with him several times. He’s a perfect gentleman, so you needn’t worry.”
“You’ve had dinner with him. You never mentioned it.”
“I didn’t think it necessary.”
“You’ve had dinner with another man? How come you’ve never had dinner with me?” He looked none too pleased at the thought.
“I’m having breakfast with you right now,” she said.
He was prevented from answering when a woman suddenly appeared at the table.
“Marilee, is that you?”
Marilee smiled. Jenny Rawlings was a member of Chickpea Baptist Church and had been a good friend who’d often volunteered for jobs that nobody else wanted. “Jenny, how nice to see you again.” Marilee held out her hand, and they shook.
“I thought I saw you come in. I didn’t mean to interrupt, but I just had to find out how you’re doing. I would have called, but I had no idea where you were, or if you’d left town.”
“I’m in my parents’ old house,” Marilee said. “And I’m fine, Jenny. Doing just fine.”
Jenny smiled pleasantly at Sam and went on, as if a strange man sitting beside the ex-preacher’s soon-to-be ex-wife was of little consequence to her. “We have missed you so much, Marilee. Things just aren’t the same without you. The new minister and his wife are very kind, and they try hard, but, well, everything is so different now.”
“I’m sorry to hear it.”
“Not only that, most of the volunteers dropped out, and we had to close down some of the programs.”
Marilee couldn’t hide her disappointment. “What about the senior citizens’ hot lunch program?”
“Oh, we’re still doing that, but we had to cancel Mother’s Day Out, and the Wednesday-night potluck dinners. Seems nobody has time for anything these days. We can’t even get people to visit the nursing home.”
“Is the church holding their annual bazaar this year?” Marilee asked.
Jenny shook her head. “I think a lot of folks lost their enthusiasm after what happened with, well, you know.” She seemed embarrassed to have mentioned it.
Bea appeared with their food, and Jenny stepped out of the way. “Oh, I shouldn’t have interrupted your breakfast,” Jenny said. “I just wanted to stop by and say hello. I wish you’d consider coming back to Chickpea Baptist, Marilee. Maybe convince Clara and Ruby to rejoin us as well. We could certainly use the help.” She smiled and left.
Marilee was quiet once Jenny left, and Bea refilled their coffee cups. Sam picked up on it right away.
“You okay?” he asked.
She shrugged. “Just disappointed. We all worked so hard to get those programs started.”
“Maybe you should go back,” he said.
Marilee stirred her grits. “I would feel uncomfortable.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“All the members know my business.”
“You’re going to have to stop worrying about what other people think. Except for me. You know what I think?”
She was curious. “What?”
“I think you’re one of the strongest women I know. You’ve dealt with a lot lately, but you keep right on going. I admire you for that.”
“Thank you, Sam.”
“You haven’t touched your food.”
Marilee nibbled on a piece of toast. Finally, she tasted her eggs. “And thank you for asking me to breakfast.”
“Are you having a good time?”
“As a matter of fact, I am.”
He was pleased. “So cancel the date with your boss and spend the day with me.”
She met his gaze. It was tempting. Even more so than getting all dressed up and seeing her first Broadway play. Sam Brewer made her heart beat faster, and when he looked at her that way she had trouble breathing. Which is precisely why she shouldn’t cancel her date with Jack, she reminded herself. “I don’t think so,” she said softly, “but I appreciate the thought.”
Sam tried to hide his disappointment. “Maybe some other time,” he said.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
JACK WAS WAITING FOR MARILEE when she pulled into the parking lot of the Pickford Inn. She wore a simple, ankle-length, black dress with tiny white dots, and a matching jacket. She’d purchased it from her favorite consignment shop months ago for a fraction of what it would have cost off the rack.
Jack seemed impressed as he helped her into his white Mercedes, which looked as though it had just rolled off the showroom floor. “Marilee, you look absolutely stunning. And I much prefer your hair to the wig.”
She blushed, wondering if Jack thought her silly for working in disguise. He was the only one at the Pickford Inn who knew anything about her personal life; she hoped he understood why she went out of her way to look different.
“Thank you, Jack. You look very nice yourself.” It was true. He wore crisp beige slacks, a knit shirt and a navy jacket. His shoes shone like a new appliance. She could not imagine him in faded jeans and rugby shirts.
The ride to Charleston took little more than an hour, but the time passed quickly as Jack described the show they were about to see. “I promise you’ll enjoy yourself, Marilee,” he said. “I think I told you it’s a musical. The troupe will be doing songs from Cats, Les Misérables, Rent and Miss Saigon, to name only a few.”
“You’ve already seen this production, haven’t you?” she asked.
“Not this particular one. I saw numerous plays when I lived in New York, but that seems like another lifetime.”
“Do you ever visit?”
“Oh, no. The memories are too painful. That’s where…where Teresa died. Upstate New York,” he added. “We were visiting our country home at the time.” He turned to her and smiled, although it didn’t reach his eyes. “After her death, I figured a change of scenery would help, so I moved to Pickford and bought the inn, and the rest is history. But let’s talk of something else. Tell me about Chickpea. I’ve only driven through it a couple of times.”
Marilee told him about the town in which she lived, told him about Winnie and her friends, and their attempts to raise money for Blessing Home. “We have our own little theater, but everyone involved, even the actors, donates their time. I’ve seen a few of their plays, and several of us from church saw the Nutcracker when they put it on at the high school.”
“I’ll have to take you to a professional ballet,” Jack said. “Perhaps at Christmas.”
Marilee was surprised he was making plans for the future, but she was not in a hurry for the holidays to begin. She needed time to prepare herself in the event Josh refused to visit. If he didn’t show up, she would simply have to make the best of it. Besides, she wanted Winnie to have a nice holiday. She’d learned long ago the quickest way to forget one’s troubles was to help someone else.
Marilee forgot about everything else once they arrived at the theater. They were early so Jack purchased a program, and they studied it in the lobby as they waited for the show to begin. Once the curtain rose, Marilee found herself mesmerized, and she wondered what Sam would think of the show. She couldn’t imagine him sitting through a musical, any more than she could visualize Jack sitting in a booth at the Mockingbird Café.
“Enjoying yourself?” Jack asked at intermission.
Marilee smiled. “Oh, yes! Thank you for inviting me.”
He smiled. “Are you kidding? Watching you have this much fun makes it more pleasurable for me.” He nudged her. “I noticed you got a little teary-eyed when they sang the theme song from Cats.”
“It was very moving.”
“I’m surprised your husband didn’t take you to these events.”
Marilee’s smile faltered. “We never had the time,” she said. “When you’re involved with a big church there’s always something going on, or some
body in need.” She wouldn’t mention that she and Grady could never have afforded to attend such events on a minister’s salary, at least not on a regular basis.
“I think it’s time people started doing nice things for you, Marilee.” Jack took her hand and squeezed it gently. “You’re a beautiful woman. You’ll have men standing in line before you know it, and the one who wins your heart will be the luckiest man in the world.”
The compliment was so nice and unexpected it caught Marilee off guard. “What a lovely thing to say.”
“I’m merely being honest. I feel you’ve been taken for granted far too long.”
Marilee pondered his words as they went back in to see the second half of the performance. She was not surprised when the cast received a standing ovation, and she and Jack applauded as eagerly as the rest of the audience. She felt as if she were on a cloud as they left the auditorium. Afterward, Jack drove to an exclusive French restaurant that he claimed had received glowing reviews. He pulled into valet parking, and a man in a white jacket hurried up.
As Jack led her into the restaurant, Marilee forgot about everything else that was on her mind. Chickpea had a couple of elegant restaurants, but nothing of this caliber. Jack ordered a bottle of wine that was so expensive she allowed him to pour just a smidgeon into her glass, which she sipped cautiously. The veal dish he’d recommended tasted better than anything she’d ever put in her mouth. They were coddled and pampered by the staff, and when Marilee visited the ladies’ room, she found a woman waiting for her with linen hand towels and various perfumes so she could freshen up. The woman even used a lint brush on Marilee’s dress, taking time to compliment her on her outfit. Marilee noted a basket of tips by the door, and she placed a dollar bill inside on her way out. She felt like a queen.
Nevertheless, as the evening progressed, her thoughts kept returning to Sam, and she found herself comparing Jack to him constantly. It wasn’t quite fair, seeing as how Jack had gone to so much trouble for her. As they drove back to Pickford, she couldn’t keep her mind from drifting toward Sam, even as Jack entertained her with amusing stories about the restaurant business.
“I owned a very successful bistro in New York,” he told her, “right in the heart of Manhattan. That’s where I met Teresa. She and her friends lunched there often. Naturally, she insisted I sell the restaurant once we married. She traveled abroad extensively, and she wanted me right beside her. You might say I became a gentleman of leisure,” he added with a smile, “but I missed the hustle and bustle of restaurant life. I’ve always had a strong work ethic, and I didn’t quite know what to do with myself at first. That’s why, after her death, I decided to get back into the business.”
Marilee wondered if Teresa had been a demanding woman. Surely it would have been difficult for Jack to give up his thriving business in order to accompany her in her travels. But, knowing Jack as she did, he would have done it for the woman he loved and wouldn’t have complained.
“Tell me more about yourself, Marilee. I want to know everything about you.”
She could see that he was sincere. “I’m afraid my life has been dull compared to yours,” she said. “Other than a few vacations Grady and I took, I’ve spent my entire life in Chickpea.”
Jack smiled at that. “A small-town girl. I like that.”
Marilee was disappointed to see they had arrived back at the Pickford Inn so soon. “I had a wonderful evening, Jack,” she said as he walked her to her car.
“That makes two of us.” He unlocked her door, kissed her on the cheek and waited for her to climb in. “Drive safely.”
It was after nine o’clock when a still-smiling Marilee arrived home to find a slew of baby clothes folded neatly on the kitchen table. A note from Winnie bragged about the deals she’d found at the garage sales that day. The girl had obviously washed everything, ironed some of them, and Marilee couldn’t help smiling as she reminisced about all the cute things she’d bought Josh when he was a baby.
She sighed happily and thought of going to bed, but she knew she was too wound up to sleep. She put water on to boil for hot chocolate and wished Winnie was awake to hear about her evening. She was still curious why none of her friends had questioned her about her plans. Perhaps they hadn’t wanted to pry.
Marilee had just pulled a mug from the cabinet when someone knocked lightly on the back door. She turned on the back porch light and found Sam standing there, looking rumpled in his jeans and pullover shirt.
“I saw your car pull up,” Sam said as she let him in. His eyes seemed to drink in the sight of her. “Marilee, you look beautiful.”
“Thank you, Sam.” She felt beautiful.
He stood there for a moment, still staring. “You got any more of that hot chocolate?”
“How did you know I was making hot chocolate?” she asked.
“Just a wild guess.”
“Sure. Have a seat.” She made her way to the stove where she found the water boiling. After pulling out another mug and filling two cups, she started to sit down. “Oops, almost forgot.” She reached for the napkins, folded them into neat squares and placed them beneath each cup, just as the waiter had done in the restaurant. She sat down, her back ramrod straight and head held high, much the way Jack had sat through the evening. She would have to take care to remember her manners, now that she would be going to nice places.
Sam arched one eyebrow as he took it all in. Was she trying to impress him? “Well? Aren’t you going to tell me about your evening?” She’d obviously enjoyed herself very much; she hadn’t stopped smiling since he’d walked into the house.
“I had a wonderful time,” she said. “The production was stupendous,” she added, using a word Jack had used earlier. “I’ve never heard such melodious voices or seen dancers move so gracefully and with so much fluidity, yet with a fine-tuned precision.”
Sam arched one eyebrow. “That good, huh?”
“Stupendous,” she repeated.
He looked at her. Smile, smile, smile. “Glad you had a good time.” He tried to sound sincere. He would have been happier if she’d done something fun with him. “You know, I’ve been to a couple of plays, myself,” he said.
Marilee realized she was slouching. Not much, not really enough to notice, and she was tired. That had to count for something. Once again, she sat tall. A yawn escaped her, but she patted her mouth gracefully. “That’s nice.”
She sounded as if she didn’t believe him. Sam started to tell her the names of some of the plays he’d seen, but decided against it. He wasn’t going to brag just to make himself sound good in comparison to another man. If that’s what it took to impress her then she was no different from the other women he’d known.
Perhaps he was trying too hard. He’d never had to work at winning a woman’s favor in the past, and it was beginning to irk him that Marilee was oblivious to what other women saw in him.
“More hot cocoa?” Marilee asked, deciding cocoa sounded classier than hot chocolate.
“No, thanks.” Sam frowned. “Is something wrong with your back?”
“My back?” She blushed and relaxed her muscles. Maybe she was overdoing it. “No, it’s fine.”
Sam stood. He was in no better a mood than when he’d first come over. In fact, he was jealous, and it wasn’t an emotion he was used to dealing with. “I’d better get back,” he said. “I have an early day tomorrow.” He surprised her by leaning over and dropping a kiss on the top of her head.
“Sleep well, Marilee.” He started for the door and turned. “Hey, I’m glad you had a good time. I’m sorry for teasing you at the restaurant this morning, you know, asking all those dumb questions. Every woman needs to be able to dress up and go to nice places. And you do look beautiful.”
He smiled and left, leaving Marilee confused. One minute he acted jealous, the next minute he acted as though he couldn’t care less if she’d spent the evening with another man. She finished her hot chocolate slouched over her chair, because there was nob
ody to see.
WHEN MARILEE LOOKED AT HER paycheck on Monday, she discovered Irby had given her both a raise and a new job title. Her check had been tucked into a white envelope and attached to a note of thanks for all she’d done. Irby seemed a little more upbeat than he’d been the previous week, but the somber air remained. He didn’t quite meet her gaze as he discussed the business of the day.
“I picked up a nursing-home patient last night,” he said in a monotone. “Mr. Raymond Kellet. Died in his sleep. His relatives are scattered all over the country, but they’re flying in, should be here late this afternoon. There will be a viewing tonight, so I’d better get busy.”
Marilee nodded. He sounded as though he’d rather be anywhere but there.
“Oh, by the way, Kellet’s daughter has requested a small service in the chapel here, tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. I wanted to see if you were interested in making a few extra bucks playing the organ. She’s only asked for a couple of songs, so it shouldn’t take long.”
“I’ll be glad to do it,” Marilee said. “Nine is pretty early.”
“Yeah. Seems his son has a busy schedule and has to return home immediately.”
“Gee, that’s too bad,” Marilee said. “Poor Mr. Kellet should have chosen a more convenient time to pass on.”
Irby nodded. “You can bet he’ll find time to drop by the attorney’s office for the reading of the will, the selfish bastard.”
Marilee looked up in surprise. She had never heard Irby use such strong language before. The man was definitely not himself these days, and she had no idea what to say or do. “Where’s Debbie?” she asked, thinking a change of subject was in order.
“At the beauty parlor. She called our baby-sitter first thing this morning and made arrangements to be away all day.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Marilee said. “She seldom takes time for herself.”
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