Honeysuckle Summer. Sherryl Woods

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      “It’s a small sacrifice to make to have a healthy baby,” Raylene scolded. “And by the way, I am so not a princess.”

      “Did you or did you not have a debutante ball in Charleston?” Sarah asked. “I seem to recall you looking like a princess in a fairy tale that night. You showed us the pictures often enough.”

      Raylene winced. It seemed like a million years ago when her grandparents had talked her into that. That she’d gotten all caught up in the social whirl and lost focus about what really mattered in life still amazed her. She’d been persuaded to go to private school for her senior year and had lost contact with her friends.

      Recently, the best part of coming back to Serenity had been finding herself surrounded by people who didn’t put on airs, live by a calendar of parties and fund-raisers, and who were totally grounded. Her friends here—Sweet Magnolias and beyond—were real. She understood the difference now and valued it.

      “To my very deep regret, I did have a coming out season,” she conceded.

      “There’s nothing wrong with having a big, fancy party,” Helen soothed. “In my day, I loved any chance to get dressed up and put on a pair of kick-ass shoes.” Her expression turned mournful as she held out feet clad in expensive flats. “These days I can’t stand up for more than two seconds in the kind of high heels I always loved.”

      “Tonight is not about how much you miss your Manolos and Jimmy Choos,” Maddie teased.

      “I was just trying to point out to Raylene that parties aren’t necessarily bad,” Helen countered.

      “They are if you start thinking those kinds of events are the most important things in life,” Raylene said. “I was so determined to make my mother and grandparents happy, I forgot what mattered to me. And let’s not forget that was the night I met Paul Hammond and sealed my fate with that louse.”

      Paul had been older, a medical student, in fact, but he’d come to the party as a date for a plain Jane cousin whose partner had bailed on her. He’d spent the entire evening flirting with Raylene, whose own dull date was the grandson of friends of her grandparents.

      By the end of the evening she’d been smitten, and despite the difference in ages, her grandparents and even her mother had encouraged the match. Her father had clearly disapproved, but he hadn’t gone against his wife’s wishes. She and Paul had married soon after she turned eighteen, while he was serving his medical internship.

      The stress of his demanding training had been the excuse for all the times he’d lost his temper with her. After a while he hadn’t bothered with excuses for what began as verbal attacks and escalated over time into more violent behavior.

      The marriage had been a horror show, all the more terrifying because on the few occasions when she’d tried to tell her mother what was happening, her fears had been dismissed. She’d been told she was overreacting, and that all marriages hit rough patches. Too many times she’d been reminded of all the advantages that would come with being married to a successful doctor from a prominent Charleston family. Her relationship with her mother had been permanently damaged by Raylene’s discovery that she couldn’t count on her mother when it mattered.

      Not wanting to dwell in the past, Raylene shook off the memories and took another sip of her margarita. “Let’s not go there,” she said as the others nodded readily and lifted their glasses.

      “I propose a toast to Raylene and a brighter future,” Sarah said. “Do you mind if I tell them about tomorrow?”

      “What’s happening tomorrow?” Helen asked.

      “Dr. McDaniels is coming here to determine if I have a panic disorder of some kind that keeps me from leaving the house,” Raylene told them. “I guess we’ll find out if I’m nuts or just lazy.”

      “You’re not either one,” Sarah said fiercely. “Stop saying things like that.”

      “I agree,” Dana Sue said, crossing the room to give Raylene a hug. “I’m so glad you’re finally seeing her. She was a godsend to Annie, wasn’t she, sweetie?”

      Annie nodded. “I’d probably be dead if not for her. I still rely on her guidance from time to time when I get scared that I’m falling into my old eating pattern. Fortunately, right now, I seem to be eating all the time. And nursing Meg seems to keep me from gaining an ounce.”

      Any mention of Annie’s baby was enough to make Raylene feel a deep sense of sorrow for the baby she’d lost. Even though she’d only been in her first trimester, the baby had already been real to her. When she’d started bleeding and had miscarried just days after one of Paul’s beatings, it had been worse than anything else she’d suffered at his hands. The only blessing that had come from that awful tragedy was that she’d finally found the strength to leave him and end her marriage.

      Annie gave her hand a squeeze, her expression sympathetic. Though Raylene had never mentioned losing her child to Annie, she knew Sarah had probably told her. It was one secret she was relieved not to have to talk about herself.

      “Your turn will come,” Annie whispered. “I know it.”

      Raylene regarded her sadly. “I’m just glad to be here with friends. I don’t need miracles.”

      “But you deserve one,” Annie insisted. “And something tells me one is just around the corner.”

      When Raylene saw the sheriff’s cruiser pull to a stop in front of the house, her heart climbed into her throat. She thought of Annie’s words the night before and had to choke back a laugh. Surely this wasn’t the miracle Annie had had in mind for her. She knew what the man now identified as Carter Rollins thought of her. Travis had told Sarah of their conversation, and Sarah, fit to be tied, had told Raylene after last night’s Sweet Magnolias gathering.

      She watched as he crossed the front lawn with long strides and a look of purpose on his face. Was it possible he’d found some crime with which to charge her? Could he do that without Travis and Sarah wanting him to? She barely resisted the desire to grab the phone and call Helen for advice before opening the door to him.

      Instead, though, she stood tall and waited. One thing she knew all too well was how to put on a facade when she was feeling scared or out of her element. She’d put on more shows in public during her pitiful marriage than any actress in a Broadway production. The minute the doorbell rang, she swung open the door and offered him her brightest smile.

      “Deputy Rollins, I wasn’t expecting to see you again so soon. Did you stop by to check on Tommy and Libby?” she asked, seizing the initiative. “They’re taking their naps right now. I can assure you they’re in their beds, right where they belong. Laurie, the babysitter, is in the den.” She leveled a knowing look directly into his eyes. “Feel free to check if you don’t believe me.”

      To his credit, he flushed ever so slightly. He removed his sunglasses, revealing hazel eyes with emerald flecks. He fiddled nervously with the glasses. “Actually I was around the corner on a call and thought I’d come by to offer you the apology I think I owe you.”

      “Oh?”

      “I misjudged you the other day,” he admitted, looking uncomfortable.

      “Did you really?”

      His СКАЧАТЬ