by Josie Kerr
Rob was padding around the kitchen, turning off all the lights and preparing to go to bed, when he spied a white SUV pull into his driveway with the lights off. He heard the light knocking on the door and groaned when he didn’t manage to dart into the hallway quickly enough to avoid being seen by the woman who had her face mashed against the sidelight window adjacent to his front door. When their eyes met, she waved enthusiastically and flashed him a huge grin.
“Oh, dammit,” he muttered to himself. “This is why you don’t fuck people at home, Robbie Mac.”
He opened the front door just enough to poke his head through. “Tawney, what the hell are you doing here?”
“I was just in the neighborhood—” she began.
“We all know that’s some bullshit because I don’t live in a neighborhood.” Rob glared at her, and she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Fine. I wanted to see you.” Tawney pulled on the screen door and frowned when she discovered it was locked. “Let me in, Robbie Mac. Let’s talk about this.”
“No. I told you. This is over. This should never have been started. You need to leave, right now.”
“Rob!” She stomped her foot. “You’re being ridiculous. We can still have some fun. We’re both single adults.”
Rob squeezed his eyes shut, trying to keep his temper. “Tawney, I said no. I also told you to not come by the house, especially at night. This is not going to happen anymore. Ever.”
She pursed her lips, shiny with some sort of lip gloss that Rob was sure would stain his shirt and make his face buzz. “You know I could have any man in town,” she snarled, leaning in so close to the screen that he was surprised she didn’t leave a sticky residue behind.
“Well, good for you. Why don’t you go visit one of them?”
“You’re an ass.”
“Yeah, I kinda am.” Rob sighed. “I’m sorry, Tawney. I should have never started something with you. But you need to understand that this is done. Don’t come back or I’ll call the cops.” He shut the door and turned off the porch light. He raced up the stairs and watched her from the landing. She stood in the front yard for a few long moments, staring toward the front door like she was willing it to spring open. Finally, Tawney got into her SUV, made a thirty-six-point turn, and sped out of the driveway, gravel flying.
Rob rested his forehead against the cool glass. Of all his bad decisions, Tawney McMichaels was the one he deeply regretted. There was a feral quality to her that he ignored until he’d slept with her several times. Although the sex was good, it wasn’t worth the sudden appearances at dinner and when he was out with Lily. No, Tawney McMichaels needed to stay far away from him and his little family.
Rob had learned his lesson: don’t make decisions with your little head. He’d managed to avoid that mistake with Tally after the wedding. Sure, they’d fooled around a bit, and he suspected she was just tipsy enough to agree to something she’d regret the next day, but he’d summoned enough willpower to not go further than almost second base. Still, he’d felt a bit like a naughty high school boy, especially when Tally’s uncle had given him major side-eye when Rob had dropped her off at her uncles’ house, so much so that he’d merely thanked Bunny and Ace for inviting Lily into their home and had taken his daughter and practically run out the door.
Super mature.
Rob peeked into Lily’s room. She was sound asleep, thank goodness, and hopefully didn’t wake up enough to hear his hissed conversation with Tawney. He closed her door and went down the hall to the room he’d moved into when Becca had gotten bad enough to need a hospital bed. He lay down on the twin bed and stared at the ceiling for a while, wondering how he’d gotten to be a forty-five-year-old man who had women stalking him, or better yet, a guy who thought going out with a probably-not-yet-single mom who was more than fifteen years younger was a good idea.
He peeked inside his sleep pants. “Little Dude, I’m not so sure you’re not still calling the shots.” He scrubbed his face with his hands, pressing his fingers against his closed eyelids. There was absolutely no reason to rush anything. This was only dinner. They’d go out to eat, and then he’d return home, pay the babysitter, and jerk off like a normal single dad.
Wow, that was kind of depressing.
Tally put the last piece of glass on the new display shelf and turned on the black light. All the vases, platters, and figures immediately turned from various shades of yellow-green to a bright fluorescent green. She grinned and clapped her hands with glee. Seeing the color change always seemed to brighten her day.
“Whoo, look at all that pretty shiny.” Bunny surveyed the display with a satisfied nod. “This looks real nice, Tally. Ace will approve.”
Tally grinned at her uncle. “I hope so. How’s he feeling today?”
“Better than yesterday. The wedding brought out his inner control freak, and he just plain overdid it.”
Tally raised her eyebrows. “Inner control freak?”
“The man can’t delegate to save his life, and when he finally gets to see his baby girl get married? Yeah, I didn’t have a hope that he’d take a back seat to the planning.” Bunny chuckled. “What is that look?”
“You went to school with Mom, right?”
“Yes, your mother and I met in Sunday school at the Methodist church. Why?”
Tally ran her finger along a seam in the beadboard paneling. “I was just wondering . . .”
“Because . . . ?” Bunny teased. “Come on, girl. Spill it.”
“I’ve been asked out on a date, and the fellow who did the asking is a bit older than I am.”
“Ah.” Bunny cocked his head at the woman fidgeting in front of him. “I’m sixteen years younger than your uncle Ace.”
“Was there ever a problem?”
Bunny barked a laugh. “Oh, honey. Tongues were waggling up and down the mountain when we got together. I mean, everyone knew Ace was gay, and they kind of ignored it because he was the best pergola builder in North Georgia, but when he hooked up with a twenty-two-year-old army veteran, oh yeah, that got people’s attention. I think folks didn’t know what to be more outraged about—the age difference or the man love—so they just ignored everything. We’ve been together for twenty-six years and actually still love and like each other, which is a hell of a lot more than I can say about a lot of these so-called traditional couples.” He leaned on the display case. “So who is this older man who’s asked you out, hmm?”
“Well, Chad Bryson asked me out—”
“Girl, Chad Bryson’s asked everyone out,” Bunny scoffed. “You need to stay away from that man.”
“Oh, I know that. I’m not dumb. But there was this whole thing with Chad, and Robbie Mac kind of swooped in and saved the day, and long story short, I’ve got a date with him on Friday night.”
“Robbie Mac? As in Robert McFerrin?”
“Yeah, him.” Tally gave him a slightly embarrassed grin. “I haven’t been on a date with someone other than Greg in fifteen years. Am I crazy to do this? I’ve already canceled on him once, and he just asked me out yesterday afternoon.”
Bunny drummed his fingers on the countertop. “How much do you know about Robbie Mac?”
Tally chewed on her lip. How much did she really know? “I know he’s a widower. That he’s a single dad and his daughter is adorable and seems really happy. That he owns an orchard and a distillery. He seems nice. He’s funny.” She shrugged. “I mean, I know more than I would if I’d picked him up in a bar.”
“Since you have so much experience picking up men in bars.”
She glared at him. “Don’t be sassy.”
A rare grin split Bunny’s face but faded as he grew contemplative. “Robbie Mac . . . is a complicated man. He was a few years behind us in school, but I know he and Cal Harper were notorious troublemakers. And heaven forbid I be judged by my high school persona, but that boy who got caught skinny-dipping with the sheriff’s daughter doesn’t seem to be far below the surface of the man who seems t
o be working his way through the ranks of Hemlock Creek’s single ladies.
“What I mean to say is that he has a certain reputation. Becca—that was his wife—seemed to tame him, to calm down that bootlegger’s wild kid. After she died . . . well, let’s just say I’ve heard the ladies talk about Robbie Mac’s . . . attributes . . . because they seem to consider me one of the girls in regard to gossip since they just flap their gums indiscriminately.”
Tally didn’t really know what to do with that information. She knew Rob was charming and handsome and seemed to know everyone in town, but she didn’t quite know what to think about his knowing everyone in town. That little tidbit dumped out a whole box of anxiety that Tally wasn’t at all prepared to examine, at least not yet.
“Oh God, I’ve screwed this up. Shitfire.” Bunny’s usual scowl deepened. “Tallulah, you need to trust your gut, and don’t listen to what your old fart of an uncle says. Or anyone else, for that matter. There’s nothing else to do except gossip in a town this size.”
“Yeah, I realized that after Mom and Tobias had their little stare-down at the Hemlock Creek Tavern opening. I mean, I’d heard some comments when I showed up—‘That’s Liddie Hopewell’s girl’—though I didn’t think much about it. But you’d have thought Mom and Tobias got down and dirty in the middle of the bar, the way people reacted.”
“Well, people were talking about them for years after she left, and then when she came back for her daddy’s funeral, and brought you with her, it started again.” Bunny rubbed the back of his closely shorn head. “Yeah, gossip is a competitive sport in Hemlock Creek and Owltown. I just want you to be prepared for it.”
“Thanks for the warning, Bunny. You’ve given me some things to consider.”
Bunny’s jaw worked, but he didn’t comment further. He just nodded and slipped out of the small vintage shop after patting Tally on the shoulder, leaving her to her thoughts.
She knew people talked. She’d noticed the way folks clammed up when she and Chloe were out and about, and she’d definitely noticed the looks they’d received those first days when they’d done some quick math. Not that young mothers were uncommon around here. Tally actually had been shocked at how blasé people were about teenage mothers, which both saddened her and made her angry at herself for being judgmental when she definitely didn’t have a leg to stand on.
The main thing she worried about with this whole dating endeavor was the impact on Chloe. Her child had a tendency to keep her emotions bottled up, and with as much turmoil her life had been in for the past six months, Tally was keeping a close eye on her. Would people judge her daughter for her mother dating a man with a playboy reputation? For dating, period, when she wasn’t divorced yet? When she’d asked Chloe about how she felt, the girl had just shrugged and commented on how much she liked Lily.
Boy, this dating stuff was a lot harder than people let on.
“Dammit. Why did Haley pick this week to discover boys?” Rob stalked around his living room. For all his teasing about Tally backing out of the date, he was going to have to cancel, all because his babysitter fell prey to the kissing disease.
“Haley knows about boys. She loves them,” Lily piped up, her face scrunched up in confusion.
“That’s the problem, Lilybelle. I think she likes boys too much.” He stopped and faced his daughter. “You should never kiss a boy, okay? Actually, you should never kiss a girl either. Boys or girls. No kissing. Got it?”
“I can’t kiss you?”
“No, honey. You can kiss me. You can always kiss your daddy. Let’s change the rule: you can only kiss your daddy. At least for right now.” He nodded at her and grinned, but she still looked skeptical.
“When can I kiss other people?”
“When you’re older. Like thirty.”
“Okay, Daddy.” Lily gave him a look that had him envisioning her teenage years, and he thought he might throw up.
“Finish your second lunch, Lily, while I make a telephone call.”
Rob slipped into his rarely used study and closed the French doors. While he listened to the line ring, he hoped Tally answered so he wouldn’t have to leave a message.
“Hello?” She sounded breathless.
“Hey, Tally.” Rob couldn’t help but grin to himself at her flustered response to his greeting. He listened to her babble for a bit, and when she seemed to have either stopped her blather or to maybe just take a breath, he broke in with, “I gotta cancel tomorrow night.”
He thought he heard her teeth snap together. “You have to cancel?” she parroted.
“Yeah, this is going to sound completely made up, but the babysitter just got diagnosed with mono.”
“Oh dear. That’s unfortunate. Hopefully, she had a good time getting it.” Tally snickered, and Rob found himself laughing with her.
“I’m really sorry, Tally. I was looking forward to our ‘just dinner.’ ” He bit his tongue at the suggestion that she bring Chloe over and they could cook out and hang around, because that seemed like way too much for a first outing.
“Oh, I was, too.” He heard her sigh.
“We’ll reschedule for sometime in the future, okay?”
“Sure, Rob. Um, have a nice evening.”
“You, too, Tally.” He hung up the phone and tossed it onto the desk. “That’s a bummer.”
His mama would say it was a sign, and he would scoff at her but secretly believe. What he needed to do now was get distracted, because otherwise he was going to overthink the whole thing.
Rob made his way back toward the kitchen, calling, “Lilybelle, baby, where are you?” when he didn’t see her at the kitchen table.
“Right here, Daddy.” Her little head popped around the corner. “I was putting my plate in the dishwasher.”
“Clean plate club?” He arched an eyebrow at her.
“Clean plate club!” Lily beamed at him and showed him the bare plate.
“Excellent. Go get your shoes on, baby girl, because we are gonna go see Saffy and her crew.”
Lily stood up straight, her eyes wide, and then bolted out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Oh yeah. Nothing that a fancy chicken and pygmy goats couldn’t cure. Well, except for mono.
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Tally clicked off the phone and slipped it into the apron she wore while working at The Backward Glance. Just two days before, she would have been doing silent cheers about Rob’s cancellation, but now? Now she was looking forward to their “just dinner” and was even feeling small flickers of outright excitement, only to get clam-jammed by a virus.
Bunny, who was walking through the shop, backtracked when he saw her expression. “Why the glum face?”
“Robbie Mac canceled on me.” She shrugged a shoulder. “But it’s fine. I was going back and forth about canceling myself, so.” She shrugged again.
“This is not because of what we talked about earlier in the week, is it? Because I’m going to feel really bad if it is.”
“No, not really.”
Bunny bent down to where their eyes were level. “Look me in the eye and say that again, Tallulah.”
Tally rolled her eyes. “Okay, maybe at the beginning of the week. But then I got over myself and decided this would be a great way to maybe dip my toe in the dating pool.”
“Ah, that’s more like it. Good. Don’t listen to me, because I’m just as gossipy as the old biddies at Scuppernong’s Café. But let’s move on to a serious topic: What was his excuse? Was it plausible? Reasonable?”
“He said the babysitter got diagnosed with mono. Who gets mono?” Tally asked the universe.
“Teenagers get mono, I bet.” He made an exaggerated kissy-face.
“Oh Lord. Yeah, I bet that’s right.”
“You bet what’s right?” Chloe came around the corner and dropped her book bag behind the makeshift counter.
“Your mother was just asking who got mono these days.”
“Oh, Josh Durbin and Haley Parris
have mono right now,” Chloe remarked matter-of-factly. “And so does Jackson Ludwig.”
“Oh boy,” Tally muttered.
“I know. Intrigue.” Chloe wiggled her eyebrows. “But wait. How did you know someone had mono?”
“I’m guessing that Haley is Robbie Mac’s babysitter, because he just postponed our dinner date because his babysitter isn’t available given she has mono.”
“So he can find another sitter.”
“Apparently, he can’t.”
Chloe rolled her eyes and huffed an exasperated sigh through her teeth. “You’ve got access to a babysitter.” Tally frowned, confused, and then Chloe stomped her foot, making the glass in the display cases rattle. “Duh, Mother. Me! I can babysit. It’s not like Lily doesn’t know me.”
“Well, shoot. I didn’t even think about that.”
“Obviously.” Chloe pursed her lips and shook her head at her mother. “Unless you didn’t really want to go out.”
“I really did want to go out, Miss Smarty-pants.”
“Then call him and tell him that I’ll babysit. No-brainer, Mom. He can bring Lily over when he picks you up.” Chloe groaned. “Do I have to tell you everything?”
“Well . . . I was planning on meeting him at the restaurant.” Tally tugged on her apron sash. “Hmm.”
“ ‘Hmm’ yourself, Mom. It’s not a date if he doesn’t pick you up.”
“Oh, it wasn’t a date. It was just dinner.”
Chloe pointed a finger at her mother, but Bunny interjected, “You said it was a date.”
“Yeah, that, Mom.”
“Oh my God, I cannot win with you two. Okay, I will call him back and ask him if he wants to go along with this new plan.” Nervous again, Tally puffed her cheeks and blew out her breath. “Okay. Yeah. What are you two looking at?” Her voice sounded a little shrieky, even to her. Calm down, Tally.
“I’m not looking at anything. Sheesh. I’m gonna go rearrange the books.” Chloe darted into another room.
“This is my signal to take off as well.” Bunny was barely managing not to laugh. Tally narrowed her eyes and pointed an accusing finger at him. He fled the building, and Tally could hear him cackling as he went out the door.