Third Time's the Charm

by Liz Talley

  “She’s going to want one,” Henry said. His gaze roamed over her. Sunny wore a pair of yoga pants, a warm fleece jacket, and tennis shoes that had seen better days a year ago. She’d applied makeup and put curlers in her hair since she wanted to make a good impression as an organizer.

  “A dog? Or a cat?” She’d been meaning to ask Henry about adopting Fancy, but something inside her still held back. She wasn’t sure why. So each time she bit her tongue.

  “Probably both,” Henry said, casting a glance toward where his daughter had sunk to her knees to pet the animals through their crates. Grace was already doing a hard sell. “How are you this morning? Not going to run?”

  “Not a runner.” She eyed his no doubt expensive running gear and running shoes. “You run?”

  “I did a marathon three years ago, but nothing more since then. Bucket list.”

  “Ah,” she said, trying not to stare at his flat stomach and toned thighs. Why couldn’t Henry be balding and fat like everyone else’s former high school boyfriend? That would have been so much easier to deal with. But, no, Henry had to be even better looking now, with gorgeous hands, golden-brown eyes, and a body to drool over. And he smelled like morning rain and sex.

  Not sex.

  Do not think about sex and Henry.

  “Well, I suppose we should mosey over to the start line,” he said.

  “Yeah, before you end up with all the rescue animals.” She nodded toward Katie Clare.

  “Right.” He paused and then went to fetch his daughter. “Do you want to come sit with us for the bachelor auction and picnic? We have plenty of food and plenty of room on our blanket.”

  Her first inclination was to say yes, but her sister had arrived with the family she worked for, and Sunny hadn’t been able to spend much time with Eden. Besides, spending time outside of the rescue work with Henry seemed… dangerous. She didn’t want to like him any more than she already did. Because, like it or not, her heart didn’t always communicate well with her head. And she already knew the sexual energy was there. One simple strike of the match and she’d be on him the same way she’d been that evening in his construction trailer. “That’s really nice of you and your children, but Eden came in with the family she’s been nannying for, and I need to spend some time with her.”

  “Oh yeah. Of course,” he said, managing a smile. But she could read Henry Todd Delmar like a book. He was disappointed. He wanted her to sit with him and his family. And why? That would only cause more talk than there already was. But deep down she knew why he wanted her there with him. She just didn’t want to acknowledge it. Because that was the most dangerous thing of all.

  “See you around.” She sank back into her chair, determined to not give in to the desire to sit beside the first man she’d ever loved.

  “Yeah, have fun today,” he said, walking toward his daughter.

  Sunny distracted herself by picking up her phone and double-checking her messages. She had none. Her mother had been sidelined for the day after having shown her butt yesterday at Sal’s pizzeria. Somehow Betty had gotten wind that Eden was in town and had talked Vienna into taking the van into town. Betty had essentially tattled on Sunny to Eden and then proceeded to say ugly things to the wheelchair-bound child whom Eden took care of each day.

  Sunny had never seen her younger sister so angry or disappointed in their mother. Sunny had told Betty she couldn’t go to the egg hunt and picnic. Betty hadn’t spoken to Sunny since. It had been very awkward assisting her mother with the restroom and bathing while not speaking, but both she and Eden had things preventing them from mommy-sitting. Plus, after being such a pill, Betty deserved to eat mac and cheese and watch reruns.

  For the next hour, Sunny handed out brochures, took the pups on walks designed to attract potential adopters, and chatted with those interested in volunteering. All the while, families around her laughed, compared Easter egg finds, and ate homemade potato salad and barbeque. Across the blanketed square, she spied her sister laughing with her two best friends from high school, Rosemary and Jess. They looked about as happy as three thirty-year-old women could. And then the talk of the town, hunky Clem Aiken and Sal’s sister, strolled past her, essentially wrapped in each other’s arms. Jealously wriggled around inside her, a feeling almost as bad as she’d had on Valentine’s Day.

  The great alone. She was totally living it.

  After her shift ended, she texted Eden that she had a headache and went back to her mother’s house. She didn’t have a headache, but she couldn’t stomach any more of the happy spring weather and the reminder of what she didn’t have in her life. Her mother was asleep in her recliner and didn’t move an eyelash when Eden slipped inside. Scooping up Fancy, Sunny tiptoed back to her room, stripped out of her jeans, and snuggled under the covers with her dog.

  No, not her dog.

  But as Fancy rubbed her head against Sunny’s chin and curled against her shoulder, Sunny decided to pretend the fuzzy canine did indeed belong to her. For now.

  With a soft sigh, Sunny closed her eyes and fell into hard sleep.

  And then woke to someone banging on her door.

  At the sound of the knock on Sunny’s bedroom door, Fancy leaped up, hackles raised, issuing a low growl in her throat. Sunny struggled to sit up, blinked to clear her bleary eyes, and stroked the dog.

  “It’s okay, girl. Shh.”

  “Sunny?” her sister Eden called from the other side of the door.

  “What?”

  “Can I come in please?”

  Sunny reached for the lamp on the bedside table and clicked it on, illuminating the almost dark room with weak light. “Sure.”

  Eden opened the door. Standing behind her were Rosemary Genovese and Jess Culpepper.

  Sunny pulled the covers she’d kicked off over her bare legs. “What’s going on?”

  Her sister edged into the room. “Uh, well, it’s kinda weird—”

  “No, it’s not,” Rosemary said, slipping into the room and plopping onto the bed much like she’d done when they had been teenagers intent on bugging the crap out of Sunny.

  Fancy shot off the bed and slid underneath, her claws scrabbling against the floor.

  “What’s wrong with your dog?” Jess moved into the space and leaned back against the wall holding the posters of 311 and NSYNC. Jess was taller with loose limbs and curly brown hair. She looked like she could whip a gal’s ass on the basketball court, but she’d never been much of an athlete. She’d recently started dating the once-upon-a-time geekiest guy in Morning Glory. Ryan Reyes had grown into a stud-muffin with a doctorate and a six-pack.

  “It’s not my dog. I’m just fostering it. You lookin’ for one?”

  “Nope.” Jess shook her head, making her curls dance.

  “So what’s the deal, gals?” Sunny asked, pushing her tangled hair back and patting the spot beside her. “Come on, Fancy. It’s okay.”

  Fancy peeked out, checked out the surroundings, and then hopped onto the bed. The dog curled into a circle and studied the intruders warily.

  “Sure looks like she’s your dog,” Jess said with a quirk of her lips.

  Eden sank onto the bed, elbowing Rosemary over. Sunny’s sister was small, dark with haunting blue eyes that made Sunny a little nervous at the expression in them. “So, I don’t know if you remember me telling you about the bracelet Lacy left us?”

  “Vaguely. It was part of the money she left y’all? Doing something courageous or something you’ve never done?” Sunny narrowed her eyes at her sister. Eden was acting weird. Like she was about to get dental work done or something.

  “Yeah, she had this charm bracelet she loved.” Eden held up a Vera Bradley ditty bag. Or Sunny assumed it was Vera Bradley since it was brightly colored and swirled with paisleys.

  “And once we did what we’d chosen to do with her money, we were supposed to put a charm on the bracelet and pass it on to the next person. See? I put on the Empire State Building,” Rosemary said, grabbi
ng the bag and jerking open the strings. The bracelet slid into her hand.

  Jess took it from Rosemary. “I added this flip-flop.” She tossed it to Eden.

  “And I added this dancing shoe earlier today. I got an audition in New York City, and I’m leaving in a few days.” Eden’s blue eyes flashed with something more than excitement. Regret? Pain? Sunny assumed it had something to do with the dynamic New Orleans businessman who couldn’t seem to keep his eyes or hands off her sister.

  “That’s great, E. You’re doing what you’ve always wanted to do. Broadway’s all yours now.”

  “I don’t know about that, but I’m going to give it a go. It’s my one shot.”

  “Yeah, but I don’t understand why y’all are showing me this bracelet,” Sunny said.

  The three friends looked at each other.

  “So, well, the last thing Lacy wanted us to do was, uh, give the bracelet to someone.” Rosemary glanced at the bracelet Eden still held in her hand.

  “Okaaaay,” Sunny said, tiring of the game they played.

  “We’re giving it to you,” Jess said.

  “Why?”

  Both Jess and Rosemary looked at Eden.

  Eden swallowed. “Well, she wanted us to give it to someone who needed it.”

  “I don’t need a bracelet.”

  “Well, it’s not about the bracelet, per se.” Eden looked at Rosemary and then at Jess. She wasn’t getting any help from them. Rosemary picked at some nonexistent fuzz, and Jess seemed to find Sunny’s old bulletin board with high school pictures of sudden interest. “It’s more about the sort of person we have to give it to.”

  Sunny lifted an eyebrow.

  Eden held out the bracelet. It dangled, charms making a soft clink. “You see, Lacy believed in destiny or something like that. Or maybe it was more like she believed in the power of love. Her bracelet and the money she gave us was about giving us something we didn’t have.”

  “Okay, but I’m still confused why I’m involved,” Sunny said.

  “The last thing she said in the letter was after we completed her bracelet we had to give it to someone who had… no hope.” Eden said the last bit softly, an apology.

  No hope.

  The words sat there, fat and ugly like an old bullfrog in the mud.

  Sunny stared at the bracelet and then lifted her eyes to her sister. Eden looked quickly away. “And you think I have no hope? Is that what you’re saying?”

  Rosemary ran a hand over the worn coverlet. “Look, we thought of you because I had this dream. I mean, I saw you in my dream and you were all alone by a pond, and well, there was some other stuff too.” She glanced at Eden, her eyes begging for help.

  “We just think you’re the person who’s supposed to get the bracelet,” her sister said.

  “Are y’all batshit crazy?” Sunny ignored the bracelet her sister had extended toward her. “Dreams and hocus-pocus and… Shit, coming in here and saying I’m hopeless? What the hell?”

  “Don’t get mad, Sunny. It’s a good thing. It might bring you some luck,” Rosemary said, reaching toward Sunny as if she wanted to deliver an encouraging pat.

  Sunny knocked her hand away. She was mad. How dare these three little twits barge into her room, wake her from a good nap, and insist she take a stupid bracelet because she was hopeless? God, is that what everyone thought about her?

  Her mother’s words about her being empty wafted back to her. You’re empty like me.

  Maybe that was how everyone saw her. Poor Sunny. First Henry screwed her. Then life screwed her with a dead husband and broken womb. And now she has a temporary job and is taking care of her bitch mother. Oh, not to mention she’s trying to renovate a crappy house that likely wouldn’t sell for over seventy-five thousand dollars. Hell, yeah, she was freaking hopeless.

  Sunny batted the bracelet and it flew into the corner, smacking into the wall behind the suitcase that stood waiting for her escape to something better. “I don’t want your damn charity. Or that stupid bracelet. I’m not without hope, you assholes.”

  “Sunny, that’s not what we meant—” Eden began, moving toward her.

  “Oh, it’s not? You said Lacy wanted you to give the bracelet to someone with no hope. You just gave it to me.”

  “Or tried to,” Jess piped up unhelpfully.

  “What? Is Lacy’s ghost going to magically make me happy? Is there, like, a secret wish attached? What’s the deal here?” Sunny asked.

  Jess shrugged. “We’re just trying to do this for Lacy.”

  “News flash. Lacy’s dead. Why would you do something like that to a very much alive me?” Sunny heard her voice catch and wanted to kick her own ass for showing any weakness.

  All three women looked traumatized but said nothing.

  “We weren’t trying to hurt your feelings, Sunny,” Rosemary finally said, rising from the bed. “Sorry if that’s how you took it.”

  Sunny wondered how in the hell she was supposed to take it. How did one react to being told they were the most pathetic person someone could think of?

  “Maybe we should go,” Jess said.

  “You think?” Sunny drawled, heavy on the sarcasm. She wished their stupid words hadn’t hurt her. But they had. Their action was like poking a pin into an overinflated balloon, releasing anger and pain that Sunny had tried to ignore. “Go. Out. You’ve completed your great commission to find the most hopeless.”

  “Sunny,” Eden said, her voice and eyes pleading.

  “Get the hell out, E.” Sunny threw back the covers and stood, not caring that she wore only a T-shirt and red lace thong. She gave her sister a hard look and pointed toward the door.

  Eden left, taking Rosemary with her.

  Jess lingered. “Don’t be so hard on your sister. Wasn’t her idea.”

  “But she did it,” Sunny said, pushing the tall brunette out the door and closing it.

  Sunny stood for a moment, looking at Fancy who lay with her chin between her paws. The dog thumped her tail and watched her with sherry eyes filled with adoration. Fancy seemed to offer an apology.

  Walking over to the pup, Sunny ran her hand over the dog’s coat but couldn’t find the calm the act normally brought her. She glanced at the suitcase. The bracelet had fallen somewhere behind it, and the stupid thing could stay there for all Sunny cared.

  Screw them and their idea she was hopeless. Screw her mother too. Sunny wasn’t empty.

  Grabbing her jeans, she headed to the bathroom. Eden and her friends were in the living room talking to Betty. Good. Sunny needed some space. She pulled her hair into a ponytail, washed her face, and stalked back out. Then she put Fancy in the dog crate, tugged on her boots, and grabbed the keys to her motorcycle.

  Eden looked slightly alarmed when Sunny stomped into the living room.

  “Stay with Mom a while. I need a ride.”

  “But I have to—”

  Sunny silenced her sister with a go-to-hell look.

  “Fine.” Eden didn’t look happy, but tough stuff. At this point, her sister owed her a little reflection time. Or time to deal with the anger threatening to spill out of her and break her apart.

  Sunny pulled on her helmet, fired up the hog, and backed out of the driveway. She wanted to punch someone… or just drive until she hit the Mississippi state line. And never look back. Her body burned, her throat ached with unshed tears, and the old recklessness that had landed her in the arms of a good-looking Marine in a Memphis bus station years ago raised its head inside her. Sunny tore out of Grover’s Park like the devil himself was after her.

  Heading out to the old country roads where Henry had taught her to drive, she increased her speed and leaned into the curves. The power thrumming beneath her thighs and butt seeped into her, and she became one with the machine. All the hurt and anger tied itself into knots again. She had to control her emotions. Take it out on the ribbons of road before her.

  “Fuck them,” she whispered into the graying day, ignoring the tears tri
ckling toward her ears.

  The full moon snuck into the horizon, hovering as the dying sun turned the opposing sky brilliant shades of melon and rose. Newly green fields sped past, dark forests casting gloomy shadows onto her path. Eventually her heartbeat slowed, but the anger and hurt refused to be crammed back into the abyss inside her.

  So Sunny kept riding, trying to lose herself in the Mississippi twilight.

  Eventually she came to Henry’s parents’ place, a big old stone house that looked right out of a Gothic romance. The iron gates were parted in invitation, and her bike seemed to turn in on its own accord.

  Sunny slowed as she came to the carriage house sitting to the side.

  Henry had told her he had yet to build a house on some property he’d purchased, and instead stayed in the carriage house that his parents had converted to an apartment years ago. She’d been there with him once. They’d snuck up to make out on an old tweed couch a caretaker had abandoned long ago.

  Why was she here?

  She shook her head. She should turn her bike around and go back home.

  But she didn’t.

  Because Sunny hurt and she needed something. Someone. She killed the engine and parked the bike to the side of Henry’s big truck. This was probably a dumb idea. After all, his kids were with him, but he’d always been so good at talking her through things. They were friends, weren’t they?

  She squeezed her eyes closed.

  Lie to herself all she wanted. She knew why she was there. She needed Henry even though she didn’t want to need him.

  She rang the bell, thankful the entrance was on the side hidden from the main house. For some reason, it felt safer. Like she needed to hide her vulnerability.

  The door opened and there was Henry, barefoot with his button-down shirt opened to reveal a trim stomach and lightly furred chest. He had a pencil tucked behind his ear and a pair of readers perched on his nose. He looked about as sexy as a man could look.

  The confusion in his eyes cleared when he saw her. “Sunny, hey.”

  “Hey. Are your kids here?” she asked, tucking her helmet beneath her arm.