She eyed him warily as he actually got out and held the door for her, something few other men she’d met bothered to do anymore.
“It’ll also give you plenty of time to gloat,” she said as she settled onto the luxurious leather seat, which she was forced to admit was more comfortable than her own.
He grinned. “I hadn’t planned to, but I can if it’ll make you feel better.”
“No, please don’t,” she said.
Once he’d spoken to the driver of the tow truck, he climbed back behind the wheel of his car. “You okay?”
“Just annoyed,” she said. “There’s no telling how long it’ll take to get the car fixed.”
“I’ll give you a loaner, no problem,” Sonny said.
She frowned at him. “Why are you being so nice?”
He frowned at the question. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“It just seems weird, given all the water under the bridge. I mean, I know we agreed to get along when Rory Sue’s home for Christmas, but this is above and beyond.”
His gaze leveled with hers. “Why’d you call me if you were anticipating nothing but grief?”
She fidgeted for a minute before admitting, “Because I knew I could count on you.”
“Well, there you go,” he said. “Good ol’ Sonny Lewis to the rescue, as always.”
Mary Vaughn heard an unexpectedly bitter note in his voice. She’d upset him, which was the very last thing she’d intended. She’d thought she was paying him a compliment. She reached over and covered his hand, which was gripping the steering wheel too tightly. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
She thought about it. “I don’t know. Maybe for everything I put you through.”
“Don’t,” he said harshly, shaking off her hand. “Don’t apologize when you don’t really even know what it’s for.”
She sat back and stared straight ahead, her stomach churning at the realization that she’d inadvertently hurt him yet again. Every few minutes, she stole a glance at him. His jaw was set, his mouth turned down.
“I really am sorry,” she whispered.
He muttered an oath, then glanced her way. “Don’t beat yourself up. You know, I go along thinking I’ve put all the pieces of my life back together, that my life is really good. Then it hits me that you still have the power to cut right through me. I don’t like it, Mary Vaughn. I don’t like what that says about me.”
“It says more about me,” she returned mildly. “That I would keep doing things to hurt you when you’ve been nothing but wonderful to me our whole lives. I don’t like feeling that thoughtless and selfish, either.”
He didn’t respond, didn’t jump in to tell her that she wasn’t either thoughtless or selfish, as he might have done in the past. He let the words just hang there, undisputed. It hurt, but she couldn’t deny the truth of what she’d said and obviously he wasn’t willing to do it anymore, either.
“Do you think it’s possible to change?” she asked. “I mean, old as we are, do you really think a person can stop bad habits?”
“Sure,” he said at once. “At least, I want to believe it’s possible.”
“Me, too.”
He turned into the lot at his dealership. The anger and vulnerability vanished behind his more familiar smiling mask, no doubt for the benefit of his employees and any customers who might be around. “Come inside and I’ll get you set up with that loaner.”
“You don’t have to do that,” she said.
His scowl returned. “Don’t be an idiot. You need a car. I have cars. It’s as simple as that. It doesn’t have to get complicated.”
“Okay, then,” she said briskly. “I’ll pay you, of course.”
His scowl deepened. “You’re testing my patience, Mary Vaughn.”
“Lunch?” she suggested, instead. “Dinner? Can I at least do that?”
He looked as if he was waging an internal war with himself, but he finally sighed and nodded. “Lunch would be great.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Sure, why not?”
She grinned at his evident reluctance. “I promise to make it painless,” she said lightly.
“Don’t go making promises you can’t keep, sugar. I’ll see you tomorrow at noon. Sullivan’s? Or do you feel like driving over to that diner you used to like for some real Southern cooking?”
“You’d probably rather have a burger at Wharton’s,” she said.
“Under other circumstances, yes,” he agreed.
“You mean with anyone other than me.”
“You have to admit, the whole town will be speculating if we walk into Wharton’s together, including my father.”
“It won’t be the first time I’ve stirred up gossip,” she reminded him. “I can handle it if you can.”
He regarded her speculatively, then shrugged. “Okay, then. Wharton’s it is.”
Satisfied, Mary Vaughn gave him an impulsive peck on the cheek, then walked out. She wasn’t entirely sure what had just happened between her and Sonny, but suddenly it felt like a whole lot more than agreeing to some kind of thank-you lunch.
* * *
The next day Mary Vaughn sucked in a deep breath, then walked into Wharton’s and marched straight to a prime booth right in front of the window. If she and Sonny were going to have this little get-together in gossip central, they might as well be in plain view. Hiding in back would only stir up more speculation.
Grace Wharton arrived before Mary Vaughn could slide all the way into her seat and studied her with undisguised curiosity. “Don’t see much of you in here at lunchtime, at least not all by yourself,” she said as she set a menu on the Formica-topped table.
“Someone’s joining me,” Mary Vaughn said, oddly reluctant to admit that it was Sonny. She was the one who’d claimed not to give two figs about stirring up gossip, but all of a sudden she wondered if it wasn’t a bad idea. For one thing, as Sonny had reminded her, Howard was a regular here at lunchtime, along with several of his cronies. At least at Sullivan’s most of the lunch customers were day-trippers who’d read about the restaurant in one of
