“I doubt she needs reminding. Helen was always a smart woman.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, but a man can always use extra brownie points.”
“Then I’ll be sure to pass the word along,” Paula promised, shaking her head as she hung up. Aside from her closeness with her grandchildren these days, what she enjoyed most was seeing the unmistakable love between her daughter, Maddie’s friends and their respective husbands. Though her own marriage had been solid and exactly right for her, there was something about the open affection among the younger couples that filled her heart with joy.
* * *
After playing basketball with the guys and working out their own strategy for helping Laura and Betty fight Mariah’s wrath, J.C. went home, showered, pulled on a pair of sweatpants and sat down to call Laura.
“You doing okay?” he asked the minute she answered. “I hear it’s been a tough day.”
“You’ve heard about Mariah and her campaign against me,” she concluded.
“The whole thing’s ridiculous,” J.C. said. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Even an annoying gnat can make life miserable,” she countered. “And something tells me Mariah’s a whole lot nastier than an itty-bitty gnat. When I got involved in helping Misty, I didn’t expect to wind up the center of attention. Not that it would have stopped me, of course.”
He frowned at her oddly resigned tone. “You’re not really worried, are you? Because I know the guys have your back, and I thought their wives—those Sweet Magnolia women—were crusading for you, too. Weren’t you with them tonight?”
“I was, and they’re being really, really great. We decided to hold an anti-bullying rally a week from Saturday. Travis’s radio station will broadcast it live from the town square.”
“That’s great,” he said, loving the idea. “Awareness is the key to changing the way these kids behave.”
“I hope you’ll be that enthusiastic when I tell you that I volunteered you to be one of the speakers.”
For an instant J.C. fell silent.
“That’s okay, isn’t it?” she asked worriedly. “I know how much you care about this, so I thought you’d want to do it.”
“Of course I do,” he said, wondering if he’d be able to tell the very personal story about why this issue meant so much to him. He knew it was exactly the message that the crowd needed to hear. Maybe he could finally turn what had been a Fullerton family tragedy into something that led to a positive change that might affect the lives of other young people.
“Then why the hesitation?” Laura asked, snapping him back to the present. “Is it because I overstepped?”
He heard the uncertainty in her voice and knew that he was responsible for making her wonder if she had the right to any claim to him or his time.
“You can volunteer me for anything,” he assured her. “We’re a couple. If you need me, I’m there.”
Now it was her turn to fall silent. “We’re a couple?” she said eventually.
“Did you think we weren’t? I thought the other night sealed that deal.”
“But you’re so…” Her voice trailed off.
“Cautious?” he said. “No question about it, but since I met you, I’ve been feeling a little reckless.”
She chuckled. “Reckless, huh?”
“Yep. How about you?”
“I was feeling pretty daring myself,” she admitted. “At least until I found out tonight that you were spotted at my place.”
“Is that such a big deal?”
“It is when your car was also spotted in the exact same spot this morning,” she said. “Let’s just say I had some explaining to do.”
“How is that anyone’s business?” he asked, perplexed.
Laura laughed. “You are not that new to Serenity. In this town, gossip is everyone’s business, though I gather the Sweet Magnolias are pleased to have trumped Grace just this once.”
“Does it bother you?” he asked, worried that she’d fear potential damage to her reputation over what might be nothing more than a casual fling, not that either of them had defined their relationship that way.
“A little,” she conceded. “But I have to admit there’s a part of me that is very happy to finally have a social life worth talking about.”
J.C. caught the teasing note in her voice and chuckled with her. “Yeah, that’s a new one to me, too. It’s not half as bad as I expected it to be.”
“Just one thing, though, J.C.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m always going to be more concerned about what you’re thinking than I am about what people are saying.”
He considered that and thought he heard a faint need for reassurance behind the softly spoken words. “What I’m thinking is that we should continue this conversation in person. Is it too late for me to come over?”
“I think it’s the best idea you’ve had since you called,” she said without even the slightest hesitation.
“Then I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
“Great. And, J.C.?”
“Yes.”
“Bring your toothbrush and clothes for work.”
“And that’s the best idea you’ve had since I called.”
He had no idea yet where this was going, but getting there was certainly turning out to be an unexpected delight.
17
A week after everything broke at school, Misty stood in the doorway of the kitchen, openmouthed with surprise at the sight of her mother standing at the stove fixing breakfast. It was the first time she’d been up and dressed and looking like her old self in weeks, much less cooking a real meal.
“Pancakes?” Misty said, sniffing the air appreciatively.
“With warm maple syrup, just the way you and Jake like them,” her mother confirmed. “Is he up yet? I thought I heard his shower running. You two need to be out the door for school shortly.”
“Jake’s up,” Misty said. She hesitated, then added, “I was gonna ask you, though, if I could stay home today.”
Her mother turned away from the stove and studied Misty with a concerned expression. “You feeling okay?”
Misty shrugged.
Diana’s face softened with understanding. “You’re afraid of what the talk’s going to be like at school today,” she guessed, then shook her head, her expression filled with regret. “I knew I shouldn’t have let you stay home. It’s going to be all the harder to go back now, isn’t it?”
“Well, duh!” Misty said with feeling. “By now Annabelle’s had time to call all her friends and get them on her side. I’ll be, like, some kind of pariah.” She gave her mother a pleading look. “I know Annabelle getting suspended was supposed to fix things and send, like, this
