With her heart heavy as a sack of stones, Suzanna climbed into the car and started for Barston. She took the back roads and drove so slowly that the cars behind her began honking their horns. Wrapped in worry, she paid no attention and continued at a snail’s pace. When the line of traffic passed Becker’s Farm, old man Becker removed his hat and stood with his head bowed as he would for a funeral procession.
When she spotted the school, her eyes filled with tears. She imagined Gregg, wearing his tweed jacket, carrying his satchel briefcase, smiling as she drove up. That was yesterday. Today he might look at her the way he’d looked at Homer Portnick, his expression somber, his eyes unflinching as he asked why.
She turned right on Verbena and pulled alongside the curb. She was late. Hopefully he’d hurry out, jump in the car, and they’d be off. Gone before there was a need for introductions or questions.
The door to the house swung open before she’d turned the ignition off. An obviously pregnant woman stepped out, gave a wave, and started toward the car.
Ginger.
She was younger than Suzanna expected. Her hair was cut short and tucked behind her ears, her skin a pale ivory, her face freckled and without makeup. As she neared the car, there was no flicker of familiarity, just a warm, friendly smile.
Suzanna sat with both hands plastered to the steering wheel and made no effort to move. Ginger reached out, grabbed the handle, and pulled the door open.
“You must be Darla Jean,” she said. “Gregg told us you were coming.” She leaned in, gave Suzanna a one-arm hug, then kissed her cheek.
“I’m supposed to pick Gregg up here.”
“I know, but the guys are still working out back. Come on inside, I’ve made some sandwiches and a pitcher of lemonade.”
Suzanna shook her head. “I’d better not. My grandmother’s expecting me back and—”
“Don’t worry, Gregg called her.”
“Called Grandma Ida?”
“Uh-huh. He explained that putting the porch set together was taking longer than they’d expected and asked if she’d mind you staying for dinner.”
Angling her legs to the side, Suzanna tentatively stepped out of the car. “Grandma was okay with that?”
“Absolutely,” Ginger replied. “She said to stay as long as you like, and she’ll make sure Annie brushes her teeth before she goes to bed.”
Apparently not sensing Suzanna’s resistance, Ginger took hold of her arm and tugged her toward the house.
“I have been absolutely dying to meet you,” she said. “Gregg has been talking my ear off about you and that darling little girl of yours. He told me that you’re from Florida, and I said, well, now, if that isn’t a coincidence…”
Suzanna’s back was stiff as a ramrod as she moved one foot in front of the other. Her chest felt as though it was caving in on itself, and there was no way to escape. Her breath caught in her throat, and she felt a trickle of perspiration roll down her back.
When she heard the sound of Gregg’s laughter coming from the back yard, desperation took hold of her, and she said, “Please let’s not talk about Florida. I hated it there. All that heat and humidity…”
Ginger stopped, turned to Suzanna with a wide-eyed expression, then laughed out loud.
“You can’t imagine how glad I am to finally meet someone who agrees with me. For the past three years all I’ve heard is what a paradise it must be. Not for me. If I sit in the sun for a half hour, I’m blistered. Why, if it wasn’t for having Mama there, I’d never go back.”
Suzanna released a long slow breath and smiled.
As it turned out, Ginger was from Miami and she’d never even heard of Sun Grove.
“Is that on the east or west coast?” she’d asked.
“Neither,” Suzanna replied. “It’s in the middle of nowhere.”
For the remainder of the evening, that was the last mention of Florida.
After a quick tour of the house, they sat in lawn chairs under a shady oak. Then once the men finished assembling the outdoor furniture, they gathered around the redwood table with one leg that was still a bit shaky. Gregg folded a piece of cardboard and wedged it beneath the wobbly leg.
“We’ll look at fixing that tomorrow,” he said, then eased himself into the chair alongside of Suzanna.
The hours flew by as they sat and talked. The last rays of sunlight disappeared in a burst of pink and red; then the sky darkened and stars twinkled overhead. The things Suzanna had worried about never came to pass. There were no questions, no red flags, just friendship and conversation. She told about living with Ida and discovering the love of a grandfather she’d never known, then pulled back and let the others do most of the talking.
The men spoke about the repairs yet to be done on the house, and Phil repeatedly thanked Gregg for his help. Ginger was full of chatter about the baby due in December and the job she had just resigned.
“Cavalier’s Couture,” she said. “It’s a darling little shop. I loved it there and I couldn’t ask for a nicer boss than Colette Cavalier, but since this is our first baby I wanted to stay at home with her—”
“Or him,” Phil interjected with a laugh.
Ginger nodded sheepishly. “Or him. At least for the first few years.”
“You won’t regret it,” Suzanna said, then went on to tell how she’d spent the first seven years with Annie and was glad to have done so.
“I’m not saying every day is a picnic, but being there for your child’s first word, first step, first day of school, well, those are things money can’t buy.”
She didn’t mention Earl or how he’d refused to let her get a job.
You’ve got no car and no way to get around, he’d said, and that was the end of that. If she wanted to be with Annie, she’d have
