“He wanted to be there,” J.C. said. “And I know he felt every word he said very deeply. I hope they’ll finally give him the credit he deserves for turning his life around after messing up so badly.”
Travis held up his hands. “Not up to us. If it were, it would be a nonissue, but we take our cues from our wives when it comes to this sort of thing. I’m not going into battle against the full fury of the Sweet Magnolias. Helen, in particular, scares me to death.”
J.C. laughed. “She has that effect on a lot of people.”
“And yet no one can deny that she’s the best friend ever,” Tom said. “We’ve all seen that side of her.”
“Indeed,” J.C. agreed.
“Back to Thanksgiving,” Tom said. “You have to come. The tradition is to do this at Sullivan’s because the crowd keeps growing. Dana Sue and Erik do most of the cooking, the turkey, stuffing and so on, mostly because nobody wants to try to outdo them in the kitchen. Even so, all the wives contribute a dish or two. There’s enough food for an army.”
Seeing no gracious way to get out of it, J.C. finally said, “Okay, count me in. And I’ll check with Laura and let you know.”
“So, how serious are you two anyway?” Travis asked. “You’ve looked pretty tight every time I’ve seen you together. Sarah’s convinced there will be a wedding by spring.”
J.C.’s nervousness rocketed off the charts. “What is it about this town that everybody thinks they deserve inside information on every relationship in Serenity?”
“The pools at Wharton’s are a big incentive,” Travis said, clearly not joking. “That money adds up fast.”
J.C. turned to Tom. “Surely there’s some law around here about gambling.”
“Oh, I’m sure there is,” Tom agreed. “Do you want to tell Grace about it? Besides, I think all this meddling is part of our civic charm.” He grinned at J.C. “So, answer the question. How serious is this?”
J.C. thought of how quickly and hard he’d fallen for Laura despite every well-honed defense mechanism in his arsenal. “I think maybe she ought to know if it’s serious before either of you do.”
Both men hooted at the evasive response.
“Oh, boy, he’s down for the count,” Travis exulted, giving his cousin a high-five. “Told you so.”
J.C. gave him a resigned look. “I don’t suppose I could convince you to keep that to yourselves, could I?” He might be down for the count, but he still wasn’t sure what he intended to do about it.
“You want us to keep a secret from our wives?” Tom inquired with feigned horror.
“Yes,” J.C. said flatly.
Travis’s gaze narrowed. “For how long?”
“Until Thanksgiving,” J.C. said on impulse.
The date seemed appropriate. He’d been fighting the depth of this attraction for a while, but that was the past talking, not the present. Maybe it was time to leave the past where it belonged—behind him—and lock in the biggest blessing to ever come into his life.
* * *
Laura debated long and hard with herself before coming to the conclusion that there was one last thing she had to do to put the entire bullying incident behind her. In the spirit of Thanksgiving and with her heart open to forgiveness, she found herself driving over to the Litchfields’ on the day before the holiday. She’d heard that Annabelle would be going away to a small girls’ school in Charleston right after the long Thanksgiving weekend.
She rang the bell on the brick Colonial house and waited nervously. It wouldn’t have surprised her to have the door closed in her face, but when Mariah opened it, she merely stood there in openmouthed shock.
“You!” Mariah said. “How dare you come here after what you’ve done?”
“Could we talk?” Laura asked. “Please.”
For a moment, it looked as if Mariah would shut the door, but instead she eventually stepped aside to allow Laura to come in.
“Come to gloat?” Mariah asked as she showed the way into a living room that had been carefully designed as a showcase rather than a room to be enjoyed. There wasn’t a speck of dust on any surface. Every picture hung precisely straight on the walls, and not one single object seemed out of place. All gleamed from recent polishing.
Laura sat on the edge of an antique Queen Anne sofa chosen to reflect status, rather than for comfort.
“I’m so sorry you think that’s the kind of person I am, that I would come here to gloat about what has been a tragedy for so many young people in this town,” she said.
“Then why are you here?”
“To see how you and Annabelle are coping with all this. No matter how it seems to you, I know how much you love your daughter and how devastating all of this has been to your plans for her future.”
Rather than responding to the olive branch Laura was attempting to hold out, Mariah’s gaze narrowed. “Annabelle’s future is not over, not by a long shot, despite your best efforts to destroy her.”
Laura sighed. “I never wanted to destroy anyone, Mariah. I wanted her to wake up and realize that what she was doing to Misty was wrong. I wanted you to see that young people need guidance, not a free pass. Everyone in Serenity has always shared your dreams for Annabelle. She’s amazingly talented. But that doesn’t mean she’s better than everyone else or that her actions don’t need to have consequences. I honestly hope she’s going to be a better person because of what’s happened.”
“Really?” Mariah said scathingly. “That’s what you hope?”
“It is,” Laura said, holding her gaze with an unblinking gaze of her own.
Suddenly Mariah seemed to crumble before her eyes. She buried her face in her hands. “I had so many dreams for her, so many hopes,” she whispered tearfully. “I know everyone thought I was pushing her, making her do this to make up for my own dreams getting shoved aside when I got pregnant, but it wasn’t about that at all.”
“Tell me,” Laura said, honestly wanting to understand.
“From the day Annabelle first stood in church and sang
