Czytaj książkę: «A Sweet Magnolias Novel»

CHAPTER ONE

Adelia watched with her heart in her throat as the moving van pulled away from the crumbling curb in Swan Point, one of the oldest and, at one time, finest neighborhoods in Serenity, South Carolina. With moss-draped oaks in perfectly maintained yards backing up to a small, man-made lake, which was home to several swans, the houses had been large and stately by early standards.

Now, though, most of the homes, like this one, were showing signs of age. She found something fitting about the prospect of filling this historic old house with laughter and giving it a new lease on life. It would be as if the house and her family were moving into the future together.

Letting go of the old life, however, was proving more difficult than she’d anticipated. Drawing in a deep breath, she turned to deal with the accusing looks of her four children, who weren’t nearly as convinced as she was that they were about to have an exciting fresh start.

Her youngest, Tomas, named for his grandfather on her ex-husband’s side of the family, turned to her with tears streaming down his cheeks. “Mommy, I don’t like it here. I want to go home. This house is old. It smells funny. And there’s no pool.”

She knelt down in front of the eight-year-old and gathered him close, gathered all of them close, even her oldest, Selena.

It was Selena who understood better than any of them why this move had been necessary. While they all knew that Adelia and their father had divorced, Selena had seen Ernesto more than once with one of his mistresses. In a move that defied logic or compassion, he’d even had the audacity to introduce the most recent woman to Selena while he and Adelia were still making a pretense at least of trying to keep their marriage intact. His action had devastated Selena and it had been the final straw for Adelia. She’d seen at last that tolerating such disrespect was the wrong example to set for her three girls and even for her son.

“I know you’d rather be in our old house,” she comforted them with a hitch in her voice. “But it’s just not possible. This is home now. I really think you’re going to love it once we get settled in.”

She ruffled Tomas’s hair. “And don’t worry about the funny smell. It’s just been shut up for a few months. It’ll smell fine once we air it out and put fresh paint on the walls.” She injected a deliberately cheerful note into her voice. “We can all sit down and decide how we want to fix it up. Then you can go with me to the hardware store to pick out the paint colors for your rooms.”

The girls expressed enthusiasm for the idea, but Tomas remained visibly skeptical.

“What about the pool?” he asked sullenly.

“We can use the town pool,” Selena said staunchly, even though there were tears in her eyes, too. “It’s even bigger than the one at home, and our friends will be there. And since we’re living so close to downtown now, we can walk to the bakery after school for cupcakes, then stop in and see Mom at work. Or go across the green to Wharton’s for ice cream.”

Natalia sniffed, but Adelia saw a spark of interest in her eyes.

“I like ice cream,” eleven-year-old Natalia whispered, then nudged Tomas. “You do, too.”

“Me, too,” Juanita chimed in. Until the divorce Adelia’s nine-year-old had been boundlessly enthusiastic about everything, but this was the first sign in weeks that her high spirits were returning.

Tomas continued to look unconvinced. “Will Abuela be able to find us here?” he asked doubtfully.

“Of course,” Adelia assured him. Tomas adored her mother, who’d been babysitting him practically from infancy because of all the school committees on which Adelia had found herself and, more recently, because she was working at a boutique on Main Street. “She helped me to find this house.”

Amazingly, for once, her mother had kept her lectures on divorce to herself and professed to see all the positives in the new life Adelia was fashioning for her children. She’d told stories about the days when the elite in town had lived in Swan Point. There had been lavish parties in this very house, she’d reported to Adelia. She’d stuck to focusing on the possibilities in the house and the quiet, tree-shaded neighborhood, not the negatives.

Her mother’s support had actually given Adelia the courage to move forward. To her surprise, Adelia had recognized that even in her early forties, she still craved her mother’s approval. It was one of the many reasons she’d waited so long to end her travesty of a marriage.

“Can we still go to Abuela’s house for cookies?” her son pressed.

“Absolutely,” Adelia said. “You can go every day after school if you like, the same as always.”

Though he was starting to look relieved, a sudden frown crossed his face. “What about Papa? Is he going to live here, too? He won’t like it, I’ll bet. He likes our real house, same as me.”

Selena whirled on him. “You know perfectly well he doesn’t live with us anymore. He’s not coming here. Not ever! He’s going to live in our old house with somebody else.”

Adelia winced at the disdain and hurt in her oldest’s voice. Ever since she’d realized that her father had been openly cheating on Adelia, Selena had claimed she wanted no part of him. Her attitude had hardened even more when she’d overheard Ernesto describing her as her mother’s child in a tone that made clear he wasn’t complimenting either one of them.

Adelia had even spoken to a psychologist about this rift between father and daughter, but the woman had assured her that it wasn’t unusual for an impressionable teenager—Selena had just turned thirteen—to react so strongly to a divorce, especially when Ernesto’s cheating had been so public and when he’d shown no remorse at all once he’d been caught. In fact, he’d remained defiant to the bitter end, so much so that even the judge had lost patience with him.

At Selena’s angry words, Tomas’s eyes once again filled with tears.

“Enough,” Adelia warned her daughter. To Tomas and the younger girls, she said, “You’ll still be able to see your father whenever you want to.” Like Tomas, Natalia and Juanita looked relieved, though they carefully avoided looking at their big sister, clearly fearing her disapproval. That was yet another rift she’d have to work on healing, Adelia concluded with a sigh. Ernesto certainly wouldn’t make any effort to do it.

As hurt as she’d been and as much as she’d wanted to banish Ernesto from her life forever, she’d accepted that her kids deserved to have a relationship with their dad. It would be selfish of her to deny them that.

Besides, she’d had enough explaining to do to the rest of her rigidly Catholic family when she’d opted for divorce. Then, to top it off, she’d insisted on moving out of the huge house on the outskirts of town that Ernesto had apparently thought was reasonable compensation for his infidelity. Her sisters had been appalled by all of it—the scandal of Ernesto’s cheating, the divorce and the move. Keeping her children away from their father—however distasteful his behavior—would have caused even more of an uproar.

Not that Adelia cared what any of them thought at this point. She’d made the only decision she could make. Her only goal now was to make this transition as easy for the children as possible. She’d do it with as much cheerfulness as she could possibly muster. She might not even have to fake it, since on some level she was actually eager for this fresh start.

For now, though, she forced a smile and looked each of them in the eye. “I have an idea,” she announced, hoping to turn this difficult day around.

“What?” Tomas asked suspiciously.

“I think we all deserve a treat after such a long day.”

“Pizza?” Natalia asked hopefully.

Adelia laughed. Natalia would eat pizza three times a day if she were allowed to.

“Yes, pizza,” she confirmed.

“Not here, though,” Tomas pleaded, wrinkling his nose in distaste.

“No, not here. The dishes aren’t unpacked,” she said. “We’ll go to Rosalina’s. I’ll call your uncle Elliott and see if he and Aunt Karen would like to join us with Daisy, Mack and the baby.”

This last was offered especially for Selena, who adored her uncle and who’d become especially close to his adopted daughter, Daisy. Adelia might not intend to keep Ernesto away from his children, but Elliott was the male role model she really wanted in their lives. Her younger brother was loving, rock solid and dependable. She’d be proud to see Tomas grow up to be just like him. And she desperately hoped her girls would eventually find men like him, too.

Once the decision to divorce had been made, Elliott had overcome all his own strong objections to offer her the support she’d desperately needed. She owed Karen for bringing him—and even her mother—around. Her own sisters continued to treat her as if she’d committed a mortal sin.

The prospect of pizza at Rosalina’s with Uncle Elliott and his family wiped away the last of the tears, and Adelia took a truly relieved breath for what seemed like the first time all day. Her family was going to be all right. There might be a few bumps along the way, thanks to her determination to shed any of her own ties to Ernesto, but they would settle into this new house.

And, she concluded with new resolve, they would turn it into a real home, one filled with love and respect, something that had been in short supply with her ex-husband.

* * *

Gabe Franklin had claimed a booth in the back corner of Rosalina’s for the fourth night in a row. Back in Serenity for less than a week and living at the Serenity Inn, he’d figured this was better than the bar across town for a man who’d determined to sober up and live life on the straight and narrow. That was the whole point of coming home, after all, to prove he’d changed and deserved a second chance. Once he’d accomplished that and made peace with his past, well, he’d decide whether to move on yet again. He wasn’t sure he was the kind of man who’d ever put down roots.

Thank heaven for his cousin, Mitch Franklin, who’d offered him a job starting on Monday without a moment’s hesitation. Recently remarried, Mitch claimed he needed a partner who knew construction so he could focus on his new family. He’d taken on a second family just as he’d started developing a series of dilapidated properties on Main Street in an attempt to revitalize downtown Serenity.

Gabe had listened in astonishment to Mitch’s ambitious plans as he’d laid them out. Despite his cousin’s enthusiasm, Gabe wasn’t convinced revitalization was possible in an economy still struggling to rebound, but he was more than willing to jump in and give it a shot. Maybe there would be something cathartic about giving those old storefronts the same kind of second chance he was hoping to grab for himself.

“You’re turning into a real regular in here,” his waitress, a middle-aged woman who’d introduced herself a few nights ago as Debbie, said. “Are you new in town?”

“Not exactly,” he said, returning her smile but adding no details. “I’ll have—”

“A large diet soda and a large pepperoni pizza,” she filled in before he could complete his order.

Gabe winced. “I’m obviously in a rut.”

“That’s okay. Most of our regulars order the same thing every time,” she said. “And I pay attention. Friendly service and a good memory get me bigger tips.”

“I’ll remember that,” he said, then sat back and looked around the restaurant while waiting for his food.

Suddenly he sat up a little straighter as a dark-haired woman came in with four children. Even though she looked a little harried and a whole lot weary, she was stunning with her olive complexion and high cheekbones. She was also vaguely familiar, though he couldn’t put a name to the face.

There hadn’t been a lot of Mexican-American families in Serenity back when he’d lived here as a kid, though there had been plenty of transient farmworkers during the summer months. For a minute he cursed the way he’d blown off school way more often than he should have. Surely if he’d gone regularly, this woman would have been on his radar. If there had been declared majors in high school, his would have been girls. He’d studied them the way the academic overachievers had absorbed the information in textbooks.

Instead, he’d been kicked out midway through his junior year for one too many fights, every one of them justified to his juvenile way of thinking. He’d eventually wised up and gotten his GED. He’d even attended college for a couple of years, but that had been later, when he’d stopped hating the world for the way it had treated his troubled single mom and started putting the pieces of his life back together.

He watched now as the intriguing woman asked for several tables to be pushed together. He noted with disappointment when a man with two children came in to join them. So, he thought, she was married with six kids. An unfamiliar twinge of envy left him feeling vaguely unsettled. Since when had he been interested in having a family of any size? Still, he couldn’t seem to tear his gaze away from the picture of domestic bliss they presented. The teasing and laughter seemed to settle in his heart and make it just a little lighter.

When his waitress returned with his drink, he nodded in the woman’s direction. “Quite a family,” he commented. “I can’t imagine having six kids. They look like quite a handful.”

Debbie laughed. “Oh, they’re a handful, all right, but they’re not all Adelia’s. That’s her brother, Elliott Cruz, who just came in with two of his. He has a baby, too, but I guess she was getting a cold, so his wife stayed home with her.”

Gabe hid a grin. Thank heaven for chatty waitresses and a town known for gossiping. It hadn’t been so great when he was a boy and his promiscuous mother had been the talk of the town, but now he could appreciate it.

“Where’s her husband?”

The waitress leaned down and confided, “Sadly, not in hell where he belongs. The man cheated on her repeatedly and the whole town knew about it. She finally kicked his sorry butt to the curb. Too bad the whole town couldn’t follow suit and divorce him.” She flushed, and her expression immediately filled with guilt. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that, but Adelia’s a great woman and she didn’t deserve the way Ernesto Hernandez treated her.”

Gabe nodded. “Sounds like a real gem,” he said.

In fact, he sounded like a lot of the men who’d passed through his mom’s life over the years. Gabe felt a sudden surge of empathy for Adelia. And he liked the fact that his waitress was firmly in her corner. He suspected the rest of the town was, too, just the way they’d always stood up for the wronged wives when his mom had been the other woman in way too many relationships.

Funny what a few years could do to give a man a new perspective. Back then all he’d cared about was the gossip, the taunts he’d suffered at school and his mom’s tears each time the relationships inevitably ended. He’d witnessed her hope whenever a new man came into her life and then the slow realization that this time would be no different. His heart had broken almost as many times as hers.

Still, he couldn’t help thinking about all the complications that came with a woman in Adelia’s situation. He had enough on his own plate without getting mixed up in her drama. Much as he might enjoy sitting right here and staring, it would be far better to slip away right now and avoid the powerful temptation to reach out to her. Heaven knew, he had nothing to offer a woman, not yet, anyway.

“Darlin’, could you make that pizza of mine to go?” he asked his waitress.

“Sure thing,” Debbie said readily.

She brought it out within minutes. As Gabe paid the check, she grinned. “I imagine I’ll see you again tomorrow. Maybe you’ll try something different.”

“Maybe so,” he agreed, then winked. “But don’t count on it. I’m comfortable in this rut I’m in.”

She shook her head, then glanced pointedly in Adelia’s direction. “Seems to me that’s just when you need to shake things up.”

Gabe followed the direction of her gaze and found the very woman in question glancing his way. His heart, which hadn’t been engaged in much more than keeping him alive these past few years, did a fascinating little stutter step.

No way, he told himself determinedly as he headed for the door and the safety of his comfortable, if uninviting, room at the Serenity Inn. He’d never been much good at multitasking. Right now his only goal was to prove himself to Mitch and to himself. Complications were out of the question. And the beautiful Adelia Hernandez and her four kids had complication written all over them.

* * *

“Looks as if somebody has an admirer,” Elliott commented to Adelia. Though his tone was light, there was a frown on his face as he watched the stranger leaving Rosalina’s.

“Hush!” Adelia said, though she was blushing. She leaned closer to her brother. “That is not the sort of thing you should be saying in front of the kids. The ink’s barely dry on my divorce papers.”

Elliott laughed. “The kids are clear across the restaurant playing video games. You’re only flustered because you know I’m right. That guy was attracted to you, Adelia. I recognize that thunderstruck expression on a man’s face. I wore it a lot when I first met Karen. I saw it in the mirror when I shaved. It happened every time she crossed my mind.”

Adelia smiled at the memory of her little brother falling hard for a woman no one in the family had approved of at first simply because she’d divorced a deadbeat husband. Elliott had fought hard to ensure that they all came to accept Karen and her kids and love them as much as he did. After her own marital troubles, Adelia had come to admire her sister-in-law’s strength.

“You were a goner from the moment you laid eyes on her, weren’t you?” she said.

“No question about it,” he said. “I still am, and I don’t see that ever changing. I want that happily-ever-after kind of love for you.”

“Maybe someday,” she said, not really able to imagine a time when she’d be willing to risk her heart again.

Elliott nodded in the direction of the door. “So, any idea who your admirer is?”

“Stop calling him that,” she ordered, blushing again.

“Just calling it like I see it,” he teased. “And it’s nice to see some color in your cheeks.”

She gave him a mock frown. “Don’t make me sorry I called you tonight,” she scolded. “There are some aggravations I can’t avoid, but you’re not one of them.”

He grinned. “You needed me here to help you corral those kids. And don’t even try to pretend that you didn’t enjoy the way that man was looking at you. You’re not just a mom. You’re a woman. You’ve seen far too little of that sort of appreciation in recent years.”

“That may be so, but I’m not even remotely interested in dating anytime soon,” she repeated emphatically, though she knew she was wasting her breath. Her brother loved getting under her skin and he’d just found a new way to do exactly that.

“You didn’t recognize him?” he persisted, proving her point that he didn’t intend to let this drop. “You work right downtown. You’re involved in every activity in the school system. You see people all day long.”

She shook her head. “I’ve never seen him before. He must be new in town.”

“And Grace Wharton hasn’t sent out a news bulletin?” he asked, only partially in jest. Grace, who ran the soda fountain at the local drugstore, prided herself on knowing all the comings and goings in town and being the first to spread the word. “Or are you just pretending that you missed the latest edition?”

Adelia tried a stern look that on rare occasions worked with her kids. “Drop this, please. There’s been enough turmoil in my life these past months to last a lifetime. These days I’m a mom first and foremost. I need to get the kids settled in our new house and on an emotional even keel. That’s my only focus for now.”

“You’re still a vibrant, attractive woman,” Elliott reminded her, clearly undeterred by her expression or her words. “You deserve to find a man, the right man, who’ll appreciate and respect you in a way that Ernesto never did.” His expression darkened. “I still wish you’d let me teach him a lesson about mistreating my big sister.”

She almost smiled at his zealous desire to stand up for her but didn’t because she didn’t want to encourage him. “I dealt with Ernesto. Thanks to Helen Decatur-Whitney, he’ll be paying for his misdeeds with those generous support payments for the kids for years to come. Every penny is going in the bank. They’ll have enough money tucked away to attend any college they choose when the time comes.”

“I still don’t get why you refused any alimony,” Elliott told her, his frustration plain. “The man owed you, Adelia. You have a business degree, but you never used it so you could concentrate on being the perfect wife and mother. Who knows what you might have achieved by now if you’d started a career after college?”

“Being a wife and mother was the career I chose,” she told him. “I don’t regret that for a second. Now that I’m a single mom, I’ll put just as much energy into working and being a good parent. Being independent is important to me, Elliott. I need to know I’m in control of my life.”

“I’m just saying that Ernesto’s money might have made it easier,” he argued.

“Don’t forget that Helen got enough money in a lump sum to pay for the new house and to keep our heads above water for a year, longer if I’m careful. I’m making decent money at the boutique, especially since Raylene made me the manager. I want to show my girls they can grow up to take care of themselves.”

“I guess that’s an admirable goal,” he said, though his tone was doubtful.

She smiled at him. “Isn’t that what your wife did after her husband left her with a mountain of debt? Karen made a life for herself and her kids. It was a struggle, but she persevered. That’s one of the reasons you fell for her, because she was strong in the face of adversity.”

“I suppose.” He grinned. “But then she found me and now it’s my mission to take care of her and our family.”

“Funny,” she said. “Karen seems to think you have a partnership.”

Her brother winced at the reminder. “Sorry. Apparently the Cruz macho tendencies die hard.”

“As long as they die,” she told him. “But I’ll leave it to Karen to teach you that lesson.”

Elliott frowned. “How did we get off track and start talking about my marriage? We were talking about you and that man who just walked out of here after giving you a thorough once-over.”

“While the idea of any man staring at me appreciatively is a welcome change,” she conceded, “I’m not looking for a relationship now. Maybe never. How many times do I need to say that before you believe me?”

Elliott looked dismayed rather than convinced by her response. “Don’t let what Ernesto did shape the rest of your life, Adelia,” he said fiercely. “Not all men are like that.”

“You’re certainly not,” she agreed. “And for that I am eternally grateful.” She touched his cheek. “I imagine Karen feels the same way. She must count her blessings every night.”

“Most nights,” her brother corrected with a grin. “At least when she’s not exasperated with me for one thing or another, like forgetting about that whole partnership thing, for instance.”

“Yes, I can see how you might test a woman’s patience,” she told him. “As a boy you were certainly a pest.”

“Gee, thanks.”

She patted his cheek again. “Don’t fret, mi hermano. We all wind up loving you just the same. Even though this conversation is making me a little crazy, I know you mean well and I love you for caring.”

Elliott’s expression suddenly sobered. “Adelia, promise me something, okay?”

“Anything.”

“If a man comes along, you’ll leave yourself open to the possibilities. I’m not talking about the man who just left here, but any man.”

“Any man?” she echoed, amused.

“After I’ve checked him out thoroughly,” he amended.

“Now that sounds much more like the overly protective brother I know and love,” Adelia said.

“Promise,” he repeated.

Though she couldn’t imagine it would be a promise she’d have to keep, at least not anytime soon, Adelia nodded. “Promise.”

Just then the pizza and the kids arrived at the table simultaneously and, thankfully, further conversation was impossible.

Time and time again, though, she found herself glancing toward the door and thinking about the man who’d cast a lingering look in her direction. Whether it was the openly appreciative way he’d studied her or her brother’s teasing, she felt the oddest sensation stirring deep inside. It was a sensation she hadn’t anticipated and didn’t especially want, but it felt a whole lot as if she might be coming alive again.