Sweet Tea At Sunrise

Chapter Two

Sarah was jittery as a june bug all day Saturday. Walter was on his way over from Alabama to see the kids—well, to see Tommy, anyway—and it was the first time he’d been here since she’d started working at Wharton’s. She imagined he’d have plenty to say about that. Waiting tables in a local diner didn’t fit the Price definition of a suitable career. They hadn’t even wanted her to make use of her degree in education, as if teaching at the local elementary school would be beneath a member of such a lofty family.

Worse, Grace had been in a bind this morning, and Sarah had agreed to cover an extra shift, so she wouldn’t be at the house to break the news herself. She’d left it to the sitter and Raylene. She figured that could go one of two ways. Walter would shrug it off as one more irrational decision she’d made, or he’d come flying over here to try to drag her back home where he thought she belonged.

She was clearing tables after the breakfast crowd, getting ready for the bigger than usual Saturday lunch rush in less than an hour, when she saw Walter’s gasguzzling luxury SUV pull up to the curb. Even without seeing the driver through the tinted windshield, she knew it was Walter because most people in Serenity had adapted to the economic times with more practical cars. She sighed and prepared herself for battle.

She wasn’t surprised when he pulled Tommy out of a car seat in back, but when he also emerged a minute later with Libby, she thought maybe her imagination was playing tricks on her. Walter never willingly took Libby anywhere, claiming he didn’t know how to handle babies. That might have worked when she was six months old, but it had stopped being an effective excuse now that she was nearly two. She saw Raylene’s hand in this. For a woman who was jumpy around strangers, she was a fighter for those she cared about. She must have come out of hiding to shame Walter into taking both kids.

“Mommy, Daddy said we could have pancakes for breakfast,” Tommy announced excitedly, pushing his way inside and heading right for her. “Is it okay, even if we already ate?”

“It’s fine with me,” she assured him, casting a wary glance toward Walter, who was trying to slow his pace to Libby’s. Once she’d learned to walk, Libby’s independent streak had kicked in, and she never wanted to be carried anymore except when she was exhausted. Walter’s expression radiated frustration, but to his credit he hadn’t just picked her up or tried to rush her. Maybe he’d already discovered that was a sure way to get her to throw a tantrum.

Sarah met his gaze. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” she said, trying to gauge his mood.

“I wasn’t expecting to find you working in a place like this, either,” he said as he settled Libby in the booth next to Tommy. “I think we should talk about that.”

“Not while I’m working,” she said firmly, keeping her expression cheerful but unyielding. “What can I get you to drink?”

“Coffee for me,” he said. “Milk for the kids, I guess. Tommy, you said you want pancakes, right?”

“This many,” Tommy confirmed, holding up two fingers.

“How about one, and then we’ll see,” Sarah said. “Libby, you want a pancake, too?”

“She’ll make a mess of it,” Walter immediately protested.

“Not if you give it to her in little pieces,” Sarah said. “I’ll be back in a minute with your drinks.” She escaped to the kitchen before she asked him why he’d brought them here if he was so worried about any messes they might make. She already knew the answer, anyway. Lecturing her was evidently his top priority.

When she returned with her ex’s coffee and milk for the kids, he frowned at her. “Sit down so we can talk, okay? There’s nobody in here.”

“There will be soon, and I need to have the tables set up,” she said. “Once I’m finished with that, if there’s time, we can talk.”

Just then Grace emerged from the kitchen, recognized Tommy and Libby and apparently guessed the identity of the man with them. “Honey, you go ahead and take a break,” she told Sarah. “I can finish up with the booths, and I’ll bring those pancakes out when they’re ready.”

“You don’t need to do that,” Sarah protested. “You’ve been on your feet all morning. You’re the one who should be taking a break.”

“It’s okay. I’ve had a lifetime to get used to that. I’ll bring you a glass of sweet tea, too,” Grace insisted.

Sarah sighed and sat down, crowding into the booth next to her ex-husband. There wasn’t nearly enough room to keep as much space between them as she’d like to. Reluctantly, she met his stormy gaze. She could barely recall what it had been like to have those bright blue eyes light with pleasure at the sight of her.

“You wanted to talk,” she said mildly. “Now’s your chance.”

“Okay, then, what I want to know is if you’re working here just to embarrass me?” Walter inquired in a strident tone that carried all the way to Grace, who was placing setups on the counter. She whirled around and gave him a hard look.

Aghast by Walter’s rudeness, Sarah regarded him incredulously. “You’re the only one embarrassing you,” she said in a low voice. “What I do in Serenity is no reflection on you or your family. We’re not married anymore.”

“But it suggests I’m not paying you enough in alimony and child support,” he said.

She had to try hard not to laugh at his twisted but all-too-typical logic. “No, it suggests that I want to work and contribute to my own family’s well-being.”

Walter was clearly exasperated by her reply. “Then why not teach? Isn’t that what you were always claiming you wanted while we were married? Day in and day out, I heard about how you were wasting your college degree.”

“In case you haven’t checked a calendar, it’s almost the end of the school year,” she said, clinging to her patience by a thread. “I’ve put in an application for next year, but it’s too soon to know if there will be a position open.”

“Well, you could wait until you hear before taking a job like this.”

Sarah shook her head at his demeaning tone. “Do you happen to remember what I was doing when you and I met at college?”

“Waiting tables,” he admitted grudgingly. “But we were kids then.”

“And it’s still a perfectly respectable job,” she said. “You weren’t such a snob back then, Walter. In fact, you seemed happy enough when I could give you a free burger and fries. Has living in the shadow of your family turned you into the kind of man who can’t appreciate hard work, no matter what it is?”

She already knew the answer. Working for his father and living close to his family had changed him from the independent, fun-loving man she’d fallen for into someone she no longer even recognized. Every time he opened his mouth to criticize her, the words she heard were an echo of something either his mother or father had said about her. And nothing they’d ever said had been good.

He winced at her accusation, but for once he didn’t bother trying to defend himself. “Okay, okay, I just hate to see you wearing yourself out when you don’t need to. You couldn’t keep up with the kids when you were home all the time. Now they’re probably running wild because you’re too exhausted to chase after them.”

She doubted this had anything to do with consideration for her, but she pretended he was sincere. “Thanks for worrying, but I’m managing just fine.”

“Well, you look like hell.”

“Thanks so much,” she said wryly, then forced a smile. She refused to rise to the bait of one dig after another. She’d finally learned it wasn’t worth arguing with Walter, especially in front of the kids. She turned her attention to Tommy. “So, what do you have planned with your dad for today?”

“Daddy and me are gonna play catch,” Tommy said eagerly. “Right, Daddy?”

“Right,” Walter said, his eyes lighting up as he looked at his son. There was no mistaking his love for the little boy who looked just like him, with the same blue eyes and sun-streaked brown hair.

Their crooked smiles were exactly alike, too. Every time Sarah saw that smile on her Tommy’s face, she thought about the man she’d fallen in love with, the one it seemed no longer existed.

“And Libby?” Sarah prodded.

“Play, too,” Libby insisted, her adoring gaze on her daddy, who plainly was less than thrilled with the idea.

“That’ll be fun,” Sarah enthused.

“Yeah, it’ll be a barrel of laughs,” Walter said.

Sarah regarded him with dismay, and he had the grace to look sheepish. He ruffled Libby’s golden curls. “Who knows, you could turn out to be the first girl to play in the majors.”

Over my dead body, Sarah thought, but kept the thought to herself. If the outrageous idea gave Walter a rare moment of rapport with his daughter, who was she to ruin it?

Just as Grace brought the pancakes for the kids, a few of the Saturday regulars started straggling in.

“I have to get back to work,” Sarah said, leaving Walter looking flustered as he tried to deal with Libby’s pancake and her demands for more syrup.

“Sure, abandon me in my time of need,” he grumbled as she rose, but for once there was a spark of his old sense of humor in his eyes.

That glint made Sarah’s heart catch. Walter Price had been handsome, no question about it. He still was, for that matter. But it was his sense of humor that had captivated her. When that had died, driven out by his demanding father and exasperating mother, she’d lost all hope for their marriage. That didn’t mean she couldn’t hope that one of these days he’d find himself again.

When Travis walked into Wharton’s for lunch on Saturday, he noticed that Sarah seemed to be operating on autopilot. She never once met his gaze while taking his order. Nor did she respond when he told her she was looking mighty fine today.

He watched her as she went through the motions of handing out meals, writing tickets and making change, barely exchanging a word with any of the customers. She looked as if she were a million miles away. Wherever she was, it seemed to be an unhappy place.

Travis liked a puzzle as well as the next person, but he’d always figured the quickest way to figure one out was to ask what you wanted to know. When Sarah brought him a tuna sandwich instead of the chicken salad special he’d ordered, he snagged her hand.

“Hold on, sugar. I ordered the special.”

Jerking her hand away, she looked down at the plate on the table as if seeing it for the first time, then blushed furiously. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know where my head is.”

“You’ve been looking distracted ever since I came in,” he said, choosing his words carefully. Something told him she was one harsh word away from coming unglued. “Is there a problem?”

“Not really. I just made a mistake, that’s all.”

“Never seen you make one before.”

“If you only knew,” she said with an edge in her voice. “I’ll get your chicken salad and be right back.”

Travis decided to let her go. When she returned with his meal, he tried again.

“You know what I’ve been thinking?” he said, then went right on before she could walk away. “I’ve been sitting here thinking about how much I miss that smile of yours.”

She regarded him skeptically.

Travis nodded. “That’s the gospel truth,” he assured her. “I count on that sunny smile. It makes people feel real welcome.”

She frowned at his comment. “Sorry. It’s not on the menu today.”

“Any particular reason?”

Her frown deepened. “Why are you making such a big deal about this? Everyone has a bad day from time to time.”

“Because it always bothers me when I see a woman looking so unhappy.”

“So, what? You think you have to rush in and play Sir Galahad?”

He grinned. “Something like that. It’s a curse, but that’s just the way I am.”

Her lips twitched slightly, as if she were fighting a smile. “Eat your lunch, Sir Galahad. I’m busy.”

“Really?” he said with an exaggerated look around. He was the only customer left.

She blinked as she realized the same thing. “Oh.”

“I hope everyone didn’t slip out without paying,” he said with feigned worry.

She did smile then, albeit with obvious reluctance. “You going to pick up their tabs, if they did? In the interest of putting a smile on my face?”

“Absolutely,” he said. “Or you could just sit down here and talk about your troubles.”

“With you? A total stranger?”

“Now, that’s not quite right. I thought you and I had been getting to know each other for days now.”

“I don’t even know your name.”

“Well, I know yours, Sarah. Mine’s Travis. Travis McDonald.” He held out his hand. Schooled with good manners, she took it, but released it almost immediately.

“McDonald?” she repeated, recognition obviously dawning as the name registered. “Any relation to Tom, our town manager?”

“He’s my cousin,” he admitted, then smiled. “Now, see, we’re practically old friends. You can tell me anything.”

“I thought men hated listening to women pour out their problems,” she said, studying him curiously.

“Really? I’ve found it’s the best way to get to know a woman. If you don’t listen to what’s going on in her life, how are you supposed to know how to make her happy?”

“And making women happy is what you do?”

He laughed at the innuendo in her tone. “Not in that way, sugar, though we could probably work something out.”

She stared at him for a beat, clearly uncertain whether he was joking or not. Finally, she chuckled. “You’re outrageous.”

“Just one of the words I’ve heard used,” he admitted. “Sit, and I’ll tell you some of the others.”

“But I thought you wanted to talk about me,” she said, feigning disappointment.

Travis laughed. “That’ll work, too.”

“Sorry. I really do have to get back to work. As soon as I get this place back in order, I need to get home to my kids. They’re always upset when their daddy goes back to Alabama.”

“You’re divorced,” he concluded.

“Yes, and a single mom of a girl who’s not quite two and a boy who just turned four.”

“No wonder you look a little shell-shocked. That’s a heavy load to be carrying.”

Her gaze narrowed. “You don’t like kids?”

“I love kids, as a matter of fact. I’m just saying I know how demanding it is to raise a couple of them on your own.”

“Now how would you know a thing like that?” she asked with blatant skepticism.

“Because my mama did it with me and my two sisters. My daddy, bless his heart, was worthless when it came to parenting. He was good for three things, as near as I could tell, writing checks, chasing women and telling the rest of us how badly we were screwing up.”

“He sounds like a wonderful role model,” she said wryly. “Are you thinking of following in his footsteps? You certainly have the sweet talk down pat.”

The suggestion that he might be anything like his daddy offended Travis deeply, but she had no way of knowing that. “I certainly do hold him up as an example,” he said slowly, holding her gaze. “Of what not to be.”

She blinked at the heat behind his words. “Okay, then. Good for you.” She stood up hurriedly. “Nice talking to you, Travis McDonald.”

“You, too, Sarah,” he said with more sincerity than she’d managed.

He watched her walk away, wondering at the fact that he was still fascinated despite all the complications screaming at him to stay far, far away.

Mary Vaughn Lewis couldn’t recall a time in her life when she’d been happier. When she’d married Sonny Lewis the first time, she’d been after respectability and security. He was the son of the town mayor and owner of a successful car dealership. Married to Sonny, she’d believed no one would ever look down on her again or bring up her less-than-respectable family.

They’d divorced because he’d tired of her taking him for granted. Or maybe because he’d tired of being second best to Ronnie Sullivan, who’d never even given her a second glance despite her very best efforts to catch his attention. It was hard to say just why Sonny had lost patience, but the divorce had been a shock just the same. She’d never envisioned Sonny leaving her. The one constant in her life had been his adoration from the time they’d been teenagers.

Only after they’d been apart for a while had Mary Vaughn realized what a treasure Sonny was. She’d found herself drawn to him in a whole new way. The passion that had been methodical the first time around had been rekindled into something that stunned her with its intensity. In their forties, they were like two kids who couldn’t get enough of each other.

As much as this new side of their relationship thrilled her, it was seriously cutting into her career as a real estate agent. She’d realized she was well and truly hooked on her new husband when she chose running home for a mid-afternoon quickie over showing houses or closing a deal. Her schedule, once packed with appointments she refused to change, was now subject to her husband’s timetable and the sudden impulses that might strike either one of them.

Which is why she was at home and breathless when she had a call from Travis McDonald inquiring about real estate downtown. Though she had no intention of stopping what she was doing, she couldn’t keep herself from listening to his message. Since moving a property on Main Street or anywhere in the vicinity was rare, she yanked the sheet up to her chin, pushed away Sonny’s roving hand and took notice, grabbing the phone out of its cradle before he could hang up.

“I have a few properties that might suit your needs,” she immediately told the man on the other end of the line. “When would you like to look?”

“How’s this afternoon?” he said, sounding eager. “I could meet you in a half hour.”

“A half hour will be perfect,” she said at once, ignoring Sonny’s resigned expression. She settled the details, hung up the phone and turned to her husband. “Five minutes to dress, another five to get there. That leaves us twenty minutes. You up to the challenge?”

Sonny grinned. “You ever know me not to be?” he said, already reaching for her.

A half hour later, Mary Vaughn’s hair was a bit more tousled than usual, her cheeks a little pinker, as she pulled her Mercedes to the curb. Even so, a glance at her watch told her she was right on time. Just one more incidence in her life when Sonny hadn’t let her down.

At the end of May there was a frenzy of speculation in Wharton’s when a SOLD sign appeared on the window of an empty space on Azalea Drive, just across the street from Town Hall and on the other side of the square from Wharton’s.

Once occupied by a small newsstand that had sold magazines, cigarettes and Coca-Cola in bottles out of an old-fashioned red cooler, it had been empty for several years. The dingy front window had been covered over with curling brown paper, the once-green door was now faded and the rolled up awning was so dry-rotted it would probably crumble if anyone dared to open it.

For once, no one seemed to be able to pry even a tidbit of information from Mary Vaughn, who was usually only too eager to tell the world about the local real estate sales, especially those she’d made herself.

“Sorry, I’ve been sworn to secrecy,” she told Sarah and Grace when they ganged up on her one morning when she stopped in to pick up a cup of coffee to go.

“Since when has that ever stopped you?” Grace grumbled with a huff.

Mary Vaughn didn’t take offense. “The buyer paid full price to keep my mouth shut. What can I say? Money talks.”

“Well, you’d think whoever it is would want to set off some free word-of-mouth,” Grace said. “Must not have much business sense.”

Mary Vaughn grinned at Sarah. “Maybe we should talk about something else. I’m hoping Rory Sue’s going to move back home. Maybe she could get together with you, Annie and Raylene sometime. I think once she sees there are some young people still around, she’ll feel more positive about settling in Serenity, instead of heading over to Charleston. Sonny and I are just sick, thinking about her so far away. And you should hear her granddaddy going on and on about it. Howard’s beside himself.”

As if Charleston were at the other end of the earth, Sarah thought. In her opinion, it wasn’t quite far enough. Still, she fibbed, “We’d love to see her.”

The truth was, Rory Sue had always thought she was better than any of them, Raylene included. It didn’t seem to impress Rory Sue in the least that Raylene was the only girl in town who’d had a full-blown debutante season over in Charleston, thanks to her well-connected maternal grandparents.

Like her mama, Rory Sue thought she was hot stuff because of her family, the most powerful one in Serenity. That Howard and Sonny Lewis were big fish in a very tiny pond didn’t seem to faze her. It had also apparently escaped her notice that her maternal grandparents—Mary Vaughn’s mama and daddy—were less than noteworthy. More like notorious for their frequent drunken brawls, if the truth be told.

“Then I’ll be sure she gets in touch,” Mary Vaughn told Sarah, picking up her coffee and heading for the door.

“Don’t be coming back in here till you have some news you can share,” Grace called after her, not entirely in jest.

“We’ll find out what’s going on soon enough,” Sarah consoled Grace when Mary Vaughn just waved.

“Not good enough. I pride myself on knowing things first,” Grace replied. “I don’t understand all this secrecy unless it’s going to be one of those shops that sells sex toys or something like that.” Her expression turned thoughtful. “Maybe porno movies, though we have an ordinance against that, I think.” She shook her head sorrowfully. “If it’s not something that’s going to cause an uproar, why would the owner want to keep it a secret?”

Sarah bit back a laugh because she knew Grace was serious. “I’m not sure there’s a huge market for selling sex toys in Serenity,” she said. “And if I were ever to consider such a thing, I certainly wouldn’t put the business right here in plain view in the middle of downtown, where it’d be bound to stir up trouble. There are plenty of back alleys where a place like that might be able to operate in peace.”

“Well, some people don’t have your good sense,” Grace grumbled. She stirred a straw around in her sweet tea, her expression despondent. Eventually she turned back to Sarah. “Maybe you could talk to Jeanette, see what she knows.”

“Why Jeanette?”

“She’s married to the town manager, isn’t she?” Grace said, clearly warming to the idea. “If anybody knows what’s going on, Tom does. He’s the one on this big campaign to bring new business into downtown Serenity.”

“Good point,” Sarah conceded. “I’ll ask her when I go over to The Corner Spa later.” Of course, Jeanette hadn’t been all that forthcoming about her husband’s cousin, even when directly questioned by Annie, so apparently she knew how to be more discreet than the typical Sweet Magnolia. They were all pretty quick to share everything.

“If you find out anything, you call me, you hear,” Grace commanded. “Don’t be waiting till morning to let me know.”

“I’ll call,” Sarah promised, then noticed Grace looking out the window again. Her expression had brightened considerably.

“Now that’s real interesting,” Grace said. “Just look across the street, why don’t you?”

Sarah followed the direction of her gaze. There, wearing yet another pair of snug, faded jeans and a tight black T-shirt, was her mystery man, Travis McDonald himself…and he was walking right into that empty storefront as if he owned the place.