by Mae Nunn
“Yes and no,” Sarah answered. “Yes, things are serious between Cullen and me. But if he stays in our lives it will make us a stronger family. He will never take me away from you and your sisters. I promise.”
“Will you tell him what I did?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Because if Cullen knows, then both of you will think I’m dumb, or can’t be trusted and need to be treated like a child.”
“I don’t feel that way and neither will Cullen. In fact, I’m fairly sure he’ll be in favor of grown-up punishment since you’re mature enough to handle it.”
“So you’re not going to lock me up in the woodshed like Grandpa claims he did when you were a kid?”
Sarah laughed at her daddy’s constant but empty threat.
“He never did any such thing, but mostly because just the idea of that dark, old shed was enough to keep me on the straight and narrow. No, I won’t send you to the woodshed, and you’re not going to be confined to your room or even the apartment, either. This offense calls for something public.”
Carrie’s eyes flew wide. “You’re not going to make me stand on the corner wearing one of those shaming signs, are you?”
“That’s actually not a bad idea, but no. Community service is more along the lines of what I had in mind.”
“Community service? Like picking up trash on the side of the road?”
Sarah wished she had a camera handy to capture the expression of distaste on her daughter’s face. It was equally charming and horrifying. She had to impose a sentence that would fit the severity of the crime but not scar a thirteen-year-old for life.
“Your service won’t be quite that public, but I assure you it will be appropriate and you’ll never want to repeat it.”
“I realize I don’t have any right to ask for a favor at the moment, but could we keep this a secret between you, me and Cullen? Could you please not tell Meg and Hope?”
“I wouldn’t dream of tarnishing your sterling reputation as their big sister. Besides, I’m sure when the time is right you’ll give them the benefit of your lesson learned.”
“Because that’s what sisters are for?”
“And because you love them almost as much as I love you.”
* * *
WHILE HE WAITED on his morning coffee to brew, Cullen stood on the patio watching Rocket romp in the wet grass and listened to Sarah as she recounted her past few hours over the phone.
“Girls in general, and your girls in particular, are a constant source of amazement to me,” he admitted as he shook his head.
“Well, Carrie is quite concerned over how you’ll react to what she did.”
“That one is a free spirit but I’d never have expected she’d break out of Shawshank at thirteen.”
Sarah’s laughter coming from his cell phone was a morning rainbow after the stormy night that had kept Rocket anxious and whining.
“I wouldn’t exactly compare our household to a high-security prison, but after this I may have to install bars on the windows, do a bed check and keep the place locked down till morning.”
“Carrie really cares about what I think, huh?”
“It’s a fact.”
“You’re not making that up?”
“No, sir.”
“That warms my heart,” he confessed as a surge of love for Sarah’s daughter coursed through his soul.
“It’s interesting that you focused on your warm-fuzzies instead of the fact that my thirteen-year-old was out on the town in the middle of the night.”
“I’d hardly call the Kilgore Sonic ‘out on the town,’ and aren’t you glad to know our police are kind enough to pick up young’uns and get them home safely?”
“I am. But what she did was dangerous and she’s got to be punished in a way that she will never forget.”
“She’s already grounded because of last semester’s grades, isn’t she?”
“Yeah,” Sarah snorted. “For all the good that’s done. I told her this called for community service. Got any creative ideas?”
Cullen snapped his fingers as an idea struck.
“As a matter of fact I do.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“Miss Nancy is always in need of volunteers for odd jobs on campus. Knowing her she’ll drag the library’s old card catalog out of the archives, dump it out on the floor and make Carrie reorganize the whole thing.”
Sarah’s laughter echoed again and his pulse raced in response. The woman was not only in his heart, she was in his blood.
“Can we trust Miss Nancy to keep it to herself if we explain the reason for Carrie’s volunteering?”
“Miss Nancy doesn’t ask questions, she just puts you to work and checks in every couple of hours to make sure you’re still breathing.”
“And if you’re not?”
“Then she throws a sheet over you and calls Merle in to clean up the body.”
“Sounds perfect. How much time should Carrie serve for this crime?”
“Hmm... Let’s do the math. Slipping out of the house at night. During a thunderstorm. At thirteen. To meet a boy! Even with the best of intentions I’d still say that’s forty hours of penance.”
“Will you talk to Miss Nancy for me today?”
“I’ll do better than that. I’ll be at your house at nine o’clock to pick up our little purple-haired perpetrator and escort her to the warden myself.”
“Cullen Temple, you are too much fun.” Sarah giggled. “How did we get along the past couple of years without you?”
“Those are kind words and I appreciate hearing them more than you can possibly know.”
“Enjoy them because I’m not sure you’ll hear many kind words from Carrie this week.”
“Did she happen to say why she made such a big decision on her own?”
“Yes, she did. But I’m going to leave it up to Carrie to tell you that herself.”
“Well, we’re going to commute together for the next five days so she’ll have plenty of opportunity to spill the beans.”
“After this week is over she’s gonna wish I’d locked her in my daddy’s woodshed instead!”
“Given the option, I’d elect that one, too!”
* * *
“LET’S GET MOVING, GIRLS,” Sarah urged her brood.
“Mama, I just got back to sleep,” Carrie grumbled.
“Cullen will be here in twenty minutes, and you need to be dressed so you are ready to go with him.”
“Go where?” Her tone was surly, probably for the sake of her sisters, but Carrie threw off the covers and climbed out of her bed just the same.
“To the university. You’re going to help him with a project this week.”
“Are we going, too?” Meg’s face was hopeful.
“Not this time, pumpkin.” Sarah ruffled Meg’s hair, which was almost the same orange color as her own. “Grandma’s expecting you and Hope today.”
“I’m bored at Grandma’s,” Meg complained.
“Me, too,” Hope chimed in. “She stinks at cards and she ran out of macaroni and construction paper last week.”
“Grandma’s not a bad card player, you’re just especially good at Crazy Eights.”
“That’s true,” Hope agreed with a grin.
“And if you girls hurry and get ready we can stop on the way and pick up some more art supplies. Before you know it, summer will be over and you’ll be back in school, so let’s enjoy hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa while we can.”
“We? Are you going to stay with us today?”
“No, I’m expected at work later, but I can spare a couple of minutes for a cup of coffee from Grandma’s fancy machine.”
“What should I wear to the university?�
�
Carrie returned, fresh faced and looking interested. She probably expected she’d be hanging out with the college girls in the student center. Sarah wished she could be a fly on the wall when Miss Nancy took charge of her new volunteer for the week. She’d have to remind Cullen to call as soon as Carrie was delivered into the hands of Miss Norment the Torment.
“From what I’ve seen on campus, you can choose anything from your Goodwill wardrobe and you’ll fit right in.”
“Cool.” She selected jeans and a T-shirt and started to turn toward the privacy of the bathroom to dress when she hesitated. “Mama, can I still use my makeup?”
Sarah suppressed a smile. It was enough that the kid was going to be on a chain gang all day. She should at least be allowed the luxury of eyeliner and lipstick.
“Thanks for asking, but we have a deal through the end of the summer and nothing’s changed. Go ahead.”
Carrie fairly skipped from the room. It would be interesting to see how cooperative she’d be at the same time tomorrow...and the day after and the day after that. Sarah should warn Cullen to expect some arguments, but he was a grown man and he could handle the flip-flop emotions that came with a thirteen-year-old-girl.
Yeah, right.
By nine-thirty, Sarah had waved goodbye to Cullen and Carrie and was at her mother’s kitchen table savoring a foamy cup of cappuccino. She sat in the same ladder-back chair at the same oak table where she’d shared meals with her parents for her entire life, which made it hard not to consider just how many years that represented.
“Mama, I can’t believe it’s almost my fortieth birthday.”
“Tell me about it. The only thing worse than turning forty is having a daughter who’s turning forty,” Margaret quipped.
Sarah poked her bottom lip out, pretending to pout.
“Oh, you know I’m just teasing.” Her mother plopped a couple of shortbread cookies on a saucer and slid them in front of Sarah. “They say life begins at forty and I think that’s gonna be true for you, sweetie.”
She reached across the scarred table and rested a warm, soft hand atop Sarah’s.
“Cullen Temple is a good man.”
“I wish Daddy felt the same.”
“Oh, please.” Margaret waved away the comment. “Don’t pay any attention to that old fool. If he had his druthers it would still be 1960 and Eisenhower would be in the White House. Your daddy wouldn’t come into the twenty-first century if I tied him to his John Deere tractor and dragged him.”
“Still, it would be nice if he’d get to know Cullen for himself and not for his grandfather’s reputation.”
“That’ll happen soon enough. So what’s all this about Carrie going to the university with Cullen today?”
Sarah hated withholding information from her mother but she’d promised Carrie to keep the situation between the two of them and Cullen. Besides, the details would send Margaret Callahan into a ring-tailed hissy fit. Sarah silently swore that if there came a day of payback when one of her girls should make the same decision on her behalf she would understand and let it go.
“Cullen mentioned that with the wedding next weekend Miss Nancy could use a hand. So Carrie’s going to spend the week helping out in the office.”
“That’s admirable. Our girl is becoming a young woman and it’s good she’s thinking of others now because pretty soon she’ll be all wrapped up in herself.”
“It’s not exactly an altruistic situation. When Carrie agreed to help out all week at the university she didn’t know she’d be Miss Nancy’s minion.”
“Oh, well, that’s different.” Margaret chuckled. “You better hope that by Friday she’s only a minion and not a flying monkey.”
* * *
THAT AFTERNOON, CARRIE climbed into Cullen’s SUV and slammed the door.
“How was your first day of community service?” Cullen asked, preparing for a teenage outburst.
Instead of the grimace he was expecting Carrie graced him with a charming smile.
“Actually, not too bad. Miss Nancy’s pretty cool.”
“Seriously?” He stopped short, his hand still poised to put the key in the ignition. “The two of you didn’t butt heads?”
“Not at all.” The girl’s charcoal-rimmed eyes glowed with confidence and accomplishment. “We got along great and she even asked me if I wanted a part-time job when school starts again. She’s going to retire next year and there are a lot of loose ends that have to be tied up before she and Merle can set sail.”
“Set sail?”
“Yes! They’re planning one of those world cruises that stops in London, Athens, Singapore, Sydney, you name it. How awesome is that?”
Cullen leaned his head against the seat. He needed a moment to digest this news. In all these years, nobody had gotten the inside scoop on Miss Nancy—himself included. But in one day this girl had come away with more details than he’d gleaned after a dozen years on campus with the cantankerous woman.
“Miss Nancy also told me all about the wedding plans for this weekend and showed me the list of things she still has to do before Saturday. She said I was a blessing in disguise and she has you to thank.”
“My goodness,” was the best response Cullen had to offer in his bewildered state.
Maybe when he finished his research on family dynamics he’d study adolescent behavior. He hadn’t been one himself for a very long time, but he didn’t remember having the skills back then to charm the likes of a Miss Nancy Norment. Then again, she was one of a kind, and he’d never known anyone of any age, other than Merle, who could lay claim to such a talent.
“I’m extremely proud of you,” he complimented Carrie.
“For reals?” Her brows furrowed together.
“For reals. You spent the day in the lion’s den and lived to tell the story.”
“Oh, please.” She scrunched up her face. “Miss Nancy is a sweetheart and I can’t wait to come back tomorrow and get to work on her wedding details.”
“You remember your mother and I are invited to the ceremony, right?”
“Of course. Miss Nancy said I could come if I wanted to, but we already have plans with Nana Alma and the wedding party is really for older people like you and Mama.”
“Ugh!” Cullen clutched at his chest with both hands. “For such a low blow that shot went straight to the heart.”
Carrie’s cheeks flushed pink.
“You’re not old-old, like Grandma, just older-old, like my teachers.” She tried to apologize. “You know what I mean.”
“I’m afraid I do and I resemble that remark.”
Cullen started the engine, navigated the busy parking lot and turned the SUV toward home.
“Can I ask you a question?” Cullen tried to sound nonchalant, though his armpits were nervously damp as he approached an important subject.
“Sure.”
“Are you okay with us? With me and your mama? That we’re dating? Getting so close and all, if you know what I mean?”
“I get it, Cullen. I’m not stupid, despite what I did last night.”
“Not to change the subject, because I want to talk about it some more, but since you brought last night up... Why did you go off like that without talking to your mother?”
“She didn’t tell you?”
He shook his head. “She said that was up to you.”
Carrie stared at the road before them and seemed to consider that news. He hoped she appreciated hearing that her mother had kept a confidence, even from him.
“I figured it was time I started making decisions on my own.”
“Independence is good, but you’re only thirteen. Why would you want to cut the apron strings so soon?”
“Meg and Hope were so little when our daddy died that I’m not e
ven sure they remember him.” She turned glistening eyes to Cullen. “I remember everything. Mama looks at you the way she used to look at him. But it’s different. There’s no sadness.”
“I love your mama, Carrie.”
“She loves you, too, I can tell. So I figured I had to grow up and take care of myself so she’d have more time for you. I don’t want her to be sad anymore.”
Cullen felt a lump of emotion the size of Dallas form in his throat. He glanced in the rearview mirror, switched on his emergency flashers and pulled to the side of the road. He held his right arm out in invitation. Carrie moved in and hugged him as tightly as her seat belt would allow.
“Honey, I will never take your mama away from you and your sisters. You’ve suffered enough loss, we all have. If I’m fortunate enough to be a part of your life, then I intend to bless you, not steal from you.”
“Do you really mean that?”
“With all my heart. But I’m new at this family stuff and I’m gonna need lots of help. Will you be my coach?”
“If you’ll keep coaching me in baseball, I’ll coach you in fatherhood.” She extended her hand to shake on it.
“It’s a deal.” He gave her his hand.
She already had his heart.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“IT’S A PERFECT evening for a wedding,” Sarah murmured to the summer sky as they stepped out Cullen’s front door on Saturday and headed for his SUV.
As she admired the ocean of blue above their heads, he took full advantage of the opportunity to admire the beautiful picture she made in her colorful, calf-length sundress with the skinny straps across her bare shoulders. The ruffled skirt brushed the tops of the tall, oxblood leather classics that Cullen had buffed to a gloss, an accomplishment considering the mileage on the pair of boots.
“What are you doing back there?” she asked, realizing he hadn’t left the front step.
“Sarah, darlin’, I’m enjoying the view of you in that dress,” he drawled.
She made a full twirl that caused her skirt to flare and then settle softly against her legs. He loved the fact that she was curved in all the right places and comfortable in her fair skin, never fretting because she wasn’t rail-thin or the color of a tanned deer hide.