by Rachel Hauck
“The event coordinator?” Susanna opened her car door.
“One can find out a lot over dinner and a boatload of compliments.”
“Gage, it’s a job. Don’t sell your soul for it.”
“We need this, Susanna. We. Need. This.”
The Butler mansion was beautiful—cut from old river stone and inlaid with a marble foyer. A crystal chandelier hung above the hand-carved mahogany staircase and damask curtains adorned the twenty-foot windows.
Susanna had been inside once before, years ago, when Mrs. Butler had invited her to join the Debutants, a social service organization. Every spring, they’d plant flowers all over the island and hold a themed cotillion on a Saturday evening.
But the opulence and marbled wealth of the mansion, the grace and affluence of the other girls applying for the Debutants, sent Susanna back to herself. Her roots. To where she belonged—playing varsity volleyball and waiting tables at the Rib Shack, her surfboard leaning against the back kitchen wall.
Then, that summer, Adam came for dinner at the Shack with his parents. They left, but he waited for Susanna in the parking lot until closing so he could ask her to the movies.
“Let the schmoozing begin.” Gage ushered her into the ballroom, alive with tuxedos and sequined gowns flowing over a gleaming walnut dance floor.
The warm air skirted around Susanna. She already wanted to leave. A passing server stuck a glass of wine in her hand, and she stepped farther into the Georgia aristocratic set, almost hankering for her surfboard and a whiff of barbecue.
Spotting a woman with a red-ribbon pin on the strap of her dress, Susanna inhaled deeply and worked her way through the crowd of guests. Let the schmoozing begin.
“Hello,” Susanna said. There were three of them—spandexed into gowns cut too tight and too low.
“Hey there,” they said, flickering glances toward Susanna.
“Do you really think he’s coming?” This from a bouffant blonde wearing a blue strapless gown. It barely contained her obvious charms. “Carlene Butler has been claiming royal roots since Nixon was president. But I’ve never seen one ounce of proof.” The woman downed the last of her wine and licked her lips. “Not one.”
“Not just roots, sugar. She’s related to the royal family.” The brunette with the red-ribbon pin snickered into her glass. “I bet the royals have something to say about Carlene Butler’s claims.”
“Hush up, y’all.” The rebuke came from a brilliant redhead in a canary-yellow gown. “Carlene is a fine, upstanding woman. Hold your gossip until we know for sure if he’s here or not.”
He who? Susanna set her wine on a passing tray of empty glasses. The last thing her bruised heart needed was the elixir of fermented grapes. She had to keep her wits about her.
The redhead bobbed her head toward Susanna. “Aren’t you Glo Truitt’s girl?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Liz Cane.” She switched her wine glass to her left hand and offered her right. “You remember me? I’m your Aunt Jen’s friend. This here is Cybil and Babe.” The blonde and brunette. “Anyway, shug. I am so sorry.” The woman pressed her hand on Susanna’s arm. “That Peters boy oughta be shot.”
Ho boy. Embarrassment perspired across Susanna’s forehead.
“Why? What’d he do?” Babe stepped close, her eyes glinting with a yearn for gossip.
“Nothing,” Susanna said. This wasn’t their business. But she was grateful that one person on the island didn’t seem to know her personal woes.
“He told her he’d found the right ring but not the right girl.”
Cybil and Babe gasped in unison and drew back, their hands pressed over their hearts.
“He did not.” Cybil’s eyes could not be wider with shock. “How in the world are you not in a million pieces?”
“Oh, my stars. I’d be completely gone … just gone.” Babe inspected Susanna as if she might find a very obvious, exposing crack. “Him a decorated marine, a war hero and all?”
“He was being honest,” Susanna blurted the confession, wishing it back because it invited more conversation. She wanted to schmooze the red-ribbon lady, Babe, about the hospital wing. Not discuss her broken love life.
“Honest?” Cybil scoffed and stopped a passing server for a fresh round of wine. She took two glasses and passed one to Babe. “There’s honest, darling, then there’s brutal.”
“But I’m not the right girl.” Stop talking, Susanna. These women were not worthy of her confession. They were strangers with a voyeuristic concern. “Babe, you’re on the hospital wing committee?”
“Shug, don’t even. We know you work for Gage Stone.” Babe peered over the rim of her crystal glass. “What’s he thinking bringing you out to kiss our grits while you’re grieving such a love tragedy.”
Oh, brother. Well, then. No flies on Babe. Susanna hunted the room for Gage and finally spied him standing with a regal, silver-haired woman wearing an elegant cream gown. Carlene Butler. He caught sight of her and waved her over.
“Excuse me.” Susanna wove through the thick crowd. There had to be no less than three hundred people in the petite ballroom. “Pardon me.” She drew up thin, trying to pass between small clusters of women.
Why were they congealing together instead of making way?
“Just let me through here …” She smiled at the backs of heads. Was something interesting happening by the entrance? Heat radiated from warm body to warm body. Susanna began to feel like she couldn’t draw a pure breath.
Have … to … get … out.
“He’s here.”
“Where?”
“Is that him?”
“Oh, my …”
Her head pounded with the force of their whispers. Who’s here? Finally, a sliver of an opening appeared amid the thicket of tuxes and gowns. Susanna broke free into a cool pocket just as three tall, dark-haired men with a palatable air of authority parted the awed guests. Susanna was pressed out of her free zone and back into the whispering heat.
“It’s not him.”
“Oh, such a shame. Are you sure?”
“By golly, it’s him. Mercy a-mighty, he’s here.”
Yeah, well, she was out. Forget Gage and schmoozing, Susanna craved fresh air. It wasn’t just the crowded hot ballroom, it was life, crowding in on her and pressing down. When her phone rang from her clutch, it was the perfect escape.
“Excuse me. Please, excuse me.” Cutting east toward the ballroom’s single-door exit, Susanna left the mysterious guests and the crowd behind. Besides, the special guests had captured everyone’s attention and all schmoozing had temporarily stopped.
Gage should’ve made better use of his dinner and compliments with the event planner and found out about the special guests. But knowing him, the only information he wanted was the names of the power players on the hospital building committee.
“Hello?” Her voice echoed in the high, domed foyer as she exited the ballroom. Her heels clicked against the sleek floor.
“Suzy, w–where are you?” Avery.
“Out with Gage. At some benefit at the Butlers’. Aves, are you okay?” Susanna left the house and stepped into a hazy pink night. At seventeen, her baby sister was athletic, smart, popular, and a bit spoiled, but the pang in her voice was more than teen melodrama. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s Daddy. He was in the kitchen working … next thing I knew, he was on the floor, holding his arm.”
“Call 9-1-1.”
“Catfish already called, but Suz, Daddy says he won’t go to the hospital, and Mama isn’t here.”
“Remind him that she’ll come back sooner or later and—”
“Daddy.” Avery’s voice came muffled through the phone. “Suzy said Mama will come back sooner or later.”
Susanna could hear her father speaking in the background.
“Okay, he’ll go.” Avery’s voice buoyed with tangible relief.
“Call me when you get on the ambulance. I’m on my way to the hospital.” She swung
around to head toward the Butlers’ massive double front doors. She needed to find Gage.
“Suz, I’m scared.”
“It’s going to be all right, Avery. Let the paramedics take care of him. You just stay calm.”
“I will, but pray. Please pray.”
Susanna leaned against a porch column and fixed her thoughts on the Healer. Her prayer was short but full of the wind from her own heart. Heal Daddy.
She could hear Avery crying and the wail of a siren through the phone.
“They’re here.”
“You go. Be with Daddy. I’ll meet you at the hospital.”
When Susanna entered the foyer again, guests were clapping, leaning and pushing forward to the front of the room.
All right, Gage. Where are you?
Smiles lit the warm faces of the guests and their dubious whispers were now filled with belief.
“Can you believe it? Right here on St. Simons Island.”
“Such a marvelous speech.”
“Brief and to the point. The way I like it.” A microphone screech pierced the air causing the guests to ooh and angle back. “Dinner will be served in fifteen minutes. Please start making your way to the dining room.”
Susanna shoved through the crowd to where she’d last seen Gage. The guests congealed at the very narrow dining hall doors. She was never going to find him in this mess.
She dialed his phone, but it went straight to voice mail.
Wait. What was she thinking? Gage’s car and keys were with the valet. Surely he would concede her emergency and bring the car around.
Whirling for the front door, Susanna took one step before running into a wall of a man.
“Excuse me, I’m sorry, but I really need to—”
“Susanna?”
She peeked up at the chiseled face of Nate Kenneth. “Nate? Hey, what are you doing here?”
“I might ask the same of you.” He smiled and bowed slightly. An electric sensation dashed through her belly. “I’m here to support the new hospital wing.”
“I came with my boss. He’s trying to win the expansion job.” She glanced back toward the ballroom. One last chance to spot Gage before she borrowed his car. He’d be mad, but when he learned the truth, he’d understand. Completely. Right? Never mind his car was his first true love.
“You look troubled.”
“I need to get to the hospital.” Come on, Gage. Where are you? I’m taking your car. “My sister called …” She faced Nate, and his steady attention nearly made her knees wobble. “My father …”
“What are you doing standing here? Let’s get you to the hospital. Come.” He unbuttoned his tux jacket and offered her his hand. “I’ll drive you.”
“No, no. I can’t ask you to do that, Nate. Thank you.” She glanced around again. “I can take my boss’s car. If the valet will give me his keys.”
“My car is right this way.” He grabbed her hand without waiting for her reply and drew her toward a dim, narrow hallway, slipping his phone from his jacket pocket. “Liam, come ’round to the car. A friend needs a ride to the hospital.”
“Nate, I can’t take you from this dinner.” She had to stretch to keep in rhythm with his long strides. “Did you hear? There’s some special, royal guest.” The carpet pile caught the tip of her heel, and she fell against his arm.
He’d stopped. “A royal guest?”
“Yeah. At least that’s what the spandex ladies were buzzing about. Some royal relative of Mrs. Butler’s.”
He moved forward again. “To whom do you think she was referring?”
“I don’t know … Hey,” she said low, “You’re from Brighton. Wouldn’t it be funny if you were their special guest?”
“Downright hilarious. Shall we get you to the hospital?”
“Never been much of a royal watcher anyway. Other than Kate Middleton, who marries a prince?”
“Precisely.”
Nate guided her through a door tucked under the stairwell and they emerged into an interior garage.
“A secret garage?” Luxury cars were lined up, facing the closed bay doors. An attendant scurried toward them.
“Can I help you, sir?”
“Open the door quickly. We’re off to the hospital.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Nate, are you sure … How did you get your car in here?”
“Ah, there’s Liam.”
A block of a man with stalwart features, appearing very uncomfortable in his tuxedo, marched toward them.
“Let’s be quick, Liam.” Nate opened the front passenger door for Susanna before climbing into the backseat behind her.
The big man said not a word but deftly shot backward out of the garage, then shifted into drive with only a passing glance at Susanna. “Southeast Medical?”
“Yes.” Behind her Nate rested a hand on her shoulder, angling against his seat belt to watch the road.
The massive vehicle rumbled forward as Liam maneuvered through traffic.
“Thank you. Both.” She had only a moment to absorb the vibe between the men. It was as if one served the other. But her phone chimed before she could finish her assessment.
“Avery?”
“It’s a heart attack, Suz. He’s so pale.” Fear blurred her sister’s words. “Are you on your way?”
“I’ll be there in five minutes.”
Nate reached around and took her hand, comforting her without a word, taking a small piece of her burden on himself.
SIX
For a man trying to recover from a heart attack, Daddy was embroiled in chaos. His room flowed with aunts, uncles, and cousins.
Avery rested her head on the bed beside him, holding his hand in hers. But Susanna watched from the corner, smiling when Daddy’s tired eyes met hers.
Typical Truitt tumult.
It’s what he always said when the family descended upon them and Mama started bossing everyone around.
“Are we eating or not?”
“Who wants to watch a movie?”
“Y’all, let’s get a round of cards going. Start a tournament.”
A perpetual organizer. If she had to stop bossing, Susanna thought her mother might just lie down and die.
At the moment, she was shoving her clipboard at cousin Zack, telling him to note his shift at the Rib Shack.
“Aunt Glo, come on.” He laughed. “I’ve not worked at the Rib Shack since my first summer in college.”
Susanna smiled. Brave soul, Zack. Taking on Mama. A parks-and-recreation director, he surfed every morning and socialized every night. His white-blond hair, sky-blue eyes, and sun-roasted skin made him popular with the women of the island.
“Can you work a ladle?”
“Yeah, I’m not stupid.”
“Then you can work the kitchen.” Mama wrote on the clipboard schedule. “Come in Wednesday at six. Get your fish-frying legs back before the Friday rush.”
“Aunt Glo …” Chuckle, snort, ha-ha, but Zack’s face said it all. He was going down. “Look, I’ve got … stuff … to …” Mama’s one-eyed glare cauterized his rebuttal. He shot Susanna a visual plea. Help?
“Don’t look at me. I don’t have the magic elixir.” If she did, she wouldn’t have given up a Christmas break trip to tour three of Europe’s most beautiful gardens—Keukenhof in Holland, Mirabell in Germany, and the Lecharran in Brighton—her senior year of college to manage the restaurant while Mama surprised Daddy with a snowy Vermont getaway.
But Susanna had seen the miracle of their healed divorce, and it’d been years since they’d gotten away together, so she’d agreed to watch the Shack and Avery. Far be it from her not to lend love a hand when asked.
Zack exhaled and fell against the wall, running his hand through his hair.
“It’s like the Borg.” Silas, Zack’s brother, popped him on the arm, laughing. “Resistance is futile.”
But Silas’s laugh was short lived.
“Silas.” Mama shoved the clipboard at him. “I’ve
got you down for Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.”
“Me?” Eyes bulging, he pressed his hands to his chest. “Aunt Glo, I’m even less experienced than Zack. I haven’t stepped into the kitchen since, like, tenth grade.”
“Fine, then you can bus tables.” Mama scribbled on her clipboard. “Your construction company isn’t bringing in much work right now.” Mama glared up at him. She knew everything. Even if she didn’t, she made you think she did. “You start bringing in some cash, and maybe Hadley will give you a second chance.”
Silas’s cheeks beamed hot. “We weren’t fighting over money.”
“Nothing is sacred, Silas,” Susanna said with a laugh. “You know that.” Not even the brokenness of her own daughter. Already “I found the right ring but not the right girl” was halfway embedded into the family lore and lingo. All because of Mama.
Silas squinted at her. “You doing okay, cousin? Since the whole, you know, Adam thing?”
“I’m doing fine, Si.” Zack and Silas were more like brothers to her than cousins. When she was little, their mama, Daddy’s sister Linda, would keep Susanna for a day or two when Daddy and Mama got into a rip-roaring fight.
“Glo,” Daddy raised his raspy voice. “Leave the boys alone. We’ve got plenty of staff to work the kitchen. Shoot, I’m only one man.”
“One man who works like five.” Mama leaned over his bed and smoothed her hand over his cheek. “It’s what got you in here, Gib. We’re lucky you only had a minor attack.”
“Just take it easy on folks,” Daddy whispered, his eyes fluttering shut.
“All right,” Mama said, “everyone out. Let’s give Gib some rest.”
One by one, the family bid Daddy good night, promising to fill heaven with their prayers. Mama motioned for Avery to come around the bed.
“Come on, baby girl. Let’s get you home. You’ve got school tomorrow.”
“Bye, Daddy.” Avery bent down to kiss him. “Sorry I called the ambulance.”
Daddy’s weak smile lit the room. “You did good, sweetie.”
“She sure did.” Mama tapped Avery on the behind as she left the room. “I’ll be back in the morning, Gib. Susanna, you too. Let’s go.”
“Stay.” Daddy motioned to Susanna with a small finger wave. “Talk … to … you.”