Sweet Gone South (22 page)

As he drove with Merritt in his rearview mirror, he felt calm. Behind him Lanie and Emma sang “Itsy, Bitsy Spider.” Lanie didn’t have a bad singing voice. Traffic was light. The weather was good.

And soon, he was going to have sex.

• • •

Lanie tucked a blanket around Emma and closed
Where the Wild Things Are.
Emma had surrendered to sleep about the time Max had roared his terrible roar.

“Asleep?” Luke asked quietly from the front seat.

“Yes.” It was fully dark now and she could hear Luke fiddling with the navigation system.

After a few minutes he said, “I’m going stop at the next exit.”

Lanie expected him to stop at a convenience store but he drove a little further toward civilization and pulled into the parking lot of Kroger. Who stopped at supermarkets while on the road? They would need groceries for the weekend but they were still at least three hours away. Maybe he had a fondness for supermarket restrooms.

“Do you need anything?” Luke asked over his shoulder.

“Yes. I’d like a Diet Coke, some potato chips — Lays if they’ve got them — and a banana. I’m hungry. I didn’t have lunch and I didn’t eat much dinner.”

“Oh.” He turned and wrinkled his brow. “Don’t you want something better?” He glanced at Emma. “I don’t suppose we’d want to wake her to go to a restaurant but I could get you a hamburger.” He frowned a little more. “Do you like hamburgers? I should know that.” His frown turned into a little grin.

“I do, but I just want the chips. Making a meal on chips is against the rules but you get to break the rules when you get engaged.”
And when you’re about to pretend to be good at sex so your fiancé won’t toss you over.

“Do you?” He’d turned back around so she couldn’t see his face, but there was a smile in his voice. “Do I get to break the rules?”

“No. Judges never get to break rules. You are, however, allowed to help me break rules, by getting me chips.”

He unbuckled his seat belt and opened his door. “I can make that happen. I’m a chip buyer from way back.”

After watching him stride across the parking lot, she looked at the wreath of diamonds on her finger — again. Figuring they wouldn’t see anyone, she’d taken it off the ribbon and put it on her finger when they’d been en route to Missy’s earlier. Since everyone there knew anyway, she hadn’t seen the point of taking it off. She would have never expected such a lavish ring, if she had been expecting anything. Even one of the diamonds would have been impressive, but there were
three
, each one as perfect and huge as the last. She held it up to the parking lot light. She’d never fancied herself a jewelry person, but she loved this ring. Earlier in the sunlight, it had provided her with a personal light show.

If she could just figure out a way to keep it.

Emma yawned in her sleep, put a thumb in her mouth, and shifted in the car seat. Lanie patted her stomach until she settled again. She wanted to unbuckle Emma’s restraints, pull her from the car seat and hold the child —
her
child — against her heart again. She laughed a watery little laugh.
That
would go so well for everyone — a wound-up over-tired three-year-old who’d been asleep twenty minutes. She ought to get up front with Luke anyway. It was her fault — or rather her friends’ fault — that they’d gotten such a late start. The least she could do was talk to him so he didn’t get sleepy. She quietly got out and settled into the front passenger seat. Maybe she should offer to drive, but what if she had a wreck? That would be a great start.
“Dad, you don’t know I’m engaged. You don’t know I’ve got your Cadillac SUV. You don’t know I decided to go to your house. But my fiancé just totaled your vehicle. We were almost there, and she ran it right into your house. You’re going to need a new car and a contractor.”

A knock on the window startled her. Luke stood outside, looking mildly pleased. She fumbled around and discovered she couldn’t roll down the power window so she opened the door.

“Your chips, Diet Coke, and banana, ma’am.” She looked in the bag. The Coke was cold and they did have Lays chips. The banana was a little green, but that was okay.

“Thanks!” She held up the family size bag of chips. “Didn’t they have a bigger bag?”

“You said you were hungry.”

Then his smile disappeared and he handed her a bouquet of mixed flowers wrapped in cellophane. “I know it’s too little, too late, and they didn’t have any roses. I’m sorry. I should have had some for you before, but it never crossed my mind.”

It had never crossed her mind, either.

“Thank you,” she said. “It’s a good thing you didn’t think of it. Going into the Blossom Shop would have been the worst thing you could have done. She’s sweet, but Marcia Tate is the biggest gossip in Merritt.”

He gave a little nod and went around and got into the driver’s seat.

Lanie opened her Coke and chips. She offered him the bag. “Chips?”

“No, thanks. I ate a lot of lasagna. But it wasn’t as good as yours.”

“Really? That’s high praise. Missy is the best cook I know.”

“Missy? Missy
Bragg
? I’m having a little trouble picturing that.” He swung the SUV back onto I-65.

“Not a lot of people know. She always lies and tells people she has her parties catered — like she’d trust someone else. She figures if it gets out, people would be badgering her to donate to bake sales and help at the Rotary chili cook off.”

“Ha!” Luke reached for her Coke without asking and took a drink. She liked that. “From what I saw today, Missy Bragg does exactly what she wants to.”

“Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine. I think it made you happy, but I’m not used to being thwarted by anyone except Olive and Emma.”

“Does that come from being a judge or being Luke?”

“Being Luke, I guess. Though now that I’m a judge, I always get the last word. Very satisfying.”

This was nice — easy conversation about nothing.

Luke cleared his throat. “It’s mid-morning in Japan,” he said. “I had intended to call my parents tonight after we got to the house, but I thought we’d be there by now and — well, I don’t want to take the time.”

Because it would be late, and he didn’t want to delay having sex. He might as well have said it. Her stomach contracted around the greasy potato chips and the under ripe banana.

“But I didn’t want to wait until tomorrow night, either. So I called them while I was in the store.” His voice came out in a rush.

He had called them from Kroger? And just where had this call taken place? On the chip aisle? Picking out flowers with one hand while he held his phone to his ear with the other? Or maybe among the bananas. Maybe he was distracted and that’s why he’d gotten a green one. Or even better, as he checked out
. “Yeah, Dad. I got engaged. Wait. How much did you say? No, Dad, I wasn’t talking to you. I’m buying junk food for your future daughter-in-law.”

But she didn’t say any of that.

“How did it go?” Had he wanted to call away from her hearing so that if his parents had come apart, she wouldn’t have to witness it? She was relieved and offended all at the same time.

“Fine,” he said emphatically. “They were understandably surprised but very positive. They remember you from the candy shop and they knew your grandparents.”

“That shouldn’t be surprising,” Lanie said, yet she was surprised. Luke and Emma seemed so separate from every other part of her life. “I just hadn’t thought about them knowing my grandparents.”

“I guess we haven’t had time to think about a lot of things.” He reached for her hand. “They’re going to call us about this time tomorrow night. They want to talk to you.” He gave her hand a squeeze. Was that foreplay? “I told them how much you and Emma love each other.”

But did you tell them you love me? Did they ask? Or did they assume you did, since you’re engaged to me, or assume you didn’t, since you will always love Carrie?
Wishing she hadn’t eaten those chips, she took a drink of her Coke.

“I told my dad to make sure the press release doesn’t hit until Sunday since you need to call your family and I need to call Arabelle.”

“All that sounds good,” Lanie said, a little too brightly. Then she dropped her voice and extracted her hand. “Luke, I’m really tired. Do you mind if I take a nap?”

“I don’t mind.” He put his newly freed hand on the steering wheel.

“Wake me if you get sleepy and I’ll talk to you.” She laid her head back, doubting if she would ever be able to sleep again.

• • •

It had been a long time since Lanie had been wakened by someone shaking her shoulder. She jerked away and burrowed back into her pillow — only it wasn’t a pillow. It was hard and leathery.

“Lanie, we’re here,” a quiet voice said and the owner gently shook her again.

Then she remembered.

“Oh.” She sat up and rubbed her eyes. “I slept the whole way?”

Luke stood beside her open door. “You were really tired.”

She unbuckled her seat belt and stepped out into a neatly organized four-car garage. She looked in the backseat, where Emma was still sleeping peacefully.

“I need a restroom,” Lanie said.

“Here.” Luke stepped across the garage, unlocked a door, and punched numbers into the blinking security box. “There’s one here in the mudroom. I think it’s to the right.”

“You think?”

“My parents just bought this house four months ago. I’ve only been here once.” At least she wouldn’t be having sex in a bed he had shared with Carrie.

When she came out again, Luke and Emma were gone. Figuring he had taken Emma to the guest house, she looked out the garage door to see a well-lit palm tree-edged path that led to a pretty clapboard cottage. She considered following the path but decided against it. Emma wasn’t awake for goodnight kisses.

Back in the house, she found a vase for her flowers and took in her surroundings. No little rustic ramshackle bungalow here. The huge gourmet kitchen bled into a large comfortable family room. The back wall was made up of windows with hundreds of small panes overlooking the bay. She opened the door and stepped onto the porch.

Luke came up behind her so quietly that she jumped.

“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“I was looking at the water,” she said.

“We can come back this summer and go out on the sailboat.”

Just like that, he was making plans for summers and all the seasons of their lives.

“Did Emma wake up?”

Luke smiled. “Just a little. She told Rhonda she had a new mommy.”

“I continue to be astounded that she remembers.”

“You’re not easy to forget, Lanie. Even for a three-year-old.” A cold breeze blew off the water and Lanie shivered. “Here.” Luke pulled her inside and locked the door. “I bet you’d like a bath, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes!” She hadn’t known it, but that was exactly what she wanted. “I feel like I’ve been up for a week.”

Luke, with his leather bag in one hand and her canvas one in the other, directed her up the stairs to a cream and navy bedroom that was almost as big as her apartment.

“Is this room all right?” he asked. “There are others, but this is the one I used when I was here before.” The room looked like something out of
Southern Accents
. Maybe it was.

“This is some house,” Lanie said.

Luke set his bag on the floor and hers on the luggage stand. “It was built in the twenties,” he said, “but it was updated a few years ago. My parents bought a house on the bay because my mother loves to sail. They bought this particular one because they need to entertain.”

“It’s lovely.”

Luke opened the door to the bathroom. “Here you go. I wouldn’t mind a shower myself. I’ll use the one in the master suite.” He actually blushed a little and the reality hit her anew. They were going to have sex. Tonight — right there in that antique rice bed.

“Have a good shower.” She turned and unzipped her bag. Maybe he was nervous too. That would help, though not by much.

Though the bathroom was nice with lots of white tile and glass brick, it wasn’t a glamour bath. Maybe in the twenties having a bathroom in your bedroom at all was glamorous enough. She showered, shaved her legs, and massaged citrus body lotion into her skin. She took her time flossing, brushing her teeth, and rinsing with mouthwash. She might not be like other women, but she didn’t have to go to him tasting like potato chips. After moisturizing her face, she applied some clear lip gloss and a little bronzer on her cheeks. She considered some light eye shadow, but ruled it out. Going to bed in makeup was just pathetic. And let’s face it — Bobbie Brown herself couldn’t turn her into a femme fatale.

Her stomach knotted. She’d been so sure she could fake her responses. Now she was doubtful. What if he could tell? Wouldn’t it make her look like a manipulative liar? Maybe the thing to do would be to act enthusiastic but reserved. Yes. Surely he wouldn’t assume she was abnormal just because she didn’t suggest swinging from the chandelier. She would be as eager as she could. Maybe that would be enough. As long as she took good care of Emma, ran the household well, and didn’t complain, maybe it would be enough to keep him from taking Emma from her. Maybe it would be enough that she would still get to have him.

She had three new nightgowns to choose from, but two of them were out of the question. The one Missy had bought her looked like something you’d see in a brothel — not a cheap brothel, but a brothel nonetheless. And Lucy’s gift hadn’t been much better. At first, she’d thought it might do — until she saw the cutouts. What were they thinking? Missy and Lucy had made fun of Tolly’s gift. “Where do you think she’s going?” Missy had asked. “The Amish nursing home?”

But that wasn’t fair. The mid-calf length gown was made of soft white cotton with full long sleeves, pin tucks around the neck, and ribbon closures in front. It looked like something out of a Victorian dream. When she put it on, Lanie had never felt more feminine. Too bad it wasn’t true.

It was time. Almost. She brushed her hair, got a drink of water, and folded her discarded clothes neatly. Nothing else to do but open the door. She wondered if he was out there.