The Chocolate Garden (Dare River Book 2) (36 page)

Mama looked over at her, and Tammy could have sworn there was smoke and fire emanating from her mama now.

“Tammy, what do you think? Would you be willing to tell the police what Sterling did to you? I expect the boys in the Meade police department would take you to the woodshed, Sterling. Didn’t you graduate from high school with the sheriff, Tammy?”

If it came down to it, she would tell the police what had happened. She realized she was strong enough for that now, and that realization helped her find her voice. “Yes, I did, Mama. Duane was always real nice to me growing up. Let’s call him, shall we?”

A part of her danced inside, elated by how her words had claws.

“Yes, let’s. Shame, Sterling will probably be disbarred if word gets out. And I can’t think of a single person in town who’d want to be represented by a wife beater.”

Sterling held up a hand and hustled back to his desk, shoving files into his briefcase. “No, that’s not necessary. Dammit it all to hell, I’ll leave. Are you happy now?”

“Delighted,” Margaret drawled, staring him down. “Right now would be ideal, honey.”

Like a bully who’d been beaten up by the bigger kid on the playground, Sterling tucked his tail between his legs and hurried out.

“And good riddance,” Mama said, releasing Tammy’s hand. She pulled her jacket down to straighten it, the only sign the situation had ruffled her feathers.

Tammy wanted to fall onto the couch and just sit a spell. Let everything inside her settle. Her emotions were boiling like water on the stove.

“Are you all right, sweetheart?” her Mama asked, reaching out a tentative hand to caress the short curls near Tammy’s face.

“I think I’m in shock,” she murmured, as much from the altercation as from the loving touch of her mama.

“Let me see where he hurt you,” her mama whispered, and Tammy inched back her shirt a little more and looked down.

The skin was already red and swollen, and there were fingernail marks dotting her skin like someone had taken a stapler to her.

“Oh, dear God,” her mama breathed out. “I’m so sorry, Tammy. So terribly sorry. Please forgive me for not believing you.”

Tears filled her eyes, and her mama’s arms wrapped around her. Mama started humming, and in those chords, Tammy could hear the same melodic pull of Rye’s voice. Funny how she’d never thought of his musical ability coming from their mama.

In the quiet office, her mama held her, and she held her back. Something new and promising flowed between them, and in that moment, Tammy knew all wasn’t lost in their relationship.

“I’m sorry for what I said earlier,” her mama whispered. “I don’t think I can bear to lose another child.”

As the tears fell, she whispered back, “I forgive you, mama.”

“I would never betray my own flesh and blood. Please believe that.”

Even though everything pointed to her mama, in her gut, Tammy knew she was telling the truth.

“Well now,” Mama said after another squeeze, pushing back and dabbing a finger at her own teary eyes.

“I’m glad you came, Mama,” Tammy said in a soft voice. She couldn’t bear to think about what would have happened otherwise.

Her mama smiled slowly, a rare, genuine one. “Me too, honey. I know you likely need to head out, but would you let me take you to lunch? I’d really like to hear about you and my grandchildren and Amelia Ann…and even Rye and…Tory.”

Her request spoke volumes about the effort she was making, and Tammy had to meet her effort.

“I can take a later flight,” she told her.

Her mama pulled her jacket down, like she was composing herself. “I know we have a lot of fence-mending to do, Tammy, but I love y’all and those children. And I miss them. I promise to…be different.”

Different.
Tammy sat with that for a moment. All her life, everyone in her family had always been asked to be
different
than how they truly were, and here her mama was doing the same.

“Mama, I don’t want you to be untrue to who you are,” she said gently. “I only wish you could be a little kinder and more accepting of all of us.”

Her mama looked down and took a deep breath like she was battling for control. “I know I’m a hard woman, Tammy. Your daddy hasn’t minced words about it lately. I’m sorry for hurting you and the others. I was only trying to do what I thought was best for you, what I was raised to believe.”

At that, she put a hand on her mama’s arm. When Mama looked up, there were tears in her eyes.

“I know, Mama.”

“I was only trying to give you a stable life, but I forced you to marry a monster. Oh, Tammy. I can’t apologize enough.”

There was genuine regret in her mama’s eyes, and it was the most vulnerable she’d ever seen her. “Let’s just be glad I’m not with him anymore, Mama.”

“I thought…I wanted you and your kids to have a permanent home, not like how mine was growing up when Daddy left us for that woman.”

No rehashing of the past was going to change things, so Tammy said, “I know that, Mama. And while everything might not be perfect between us, we have to start somewhere.”

She and Rye had come such a long way in working out their differences and becoming close. Maybe she and Mama could do the same.

“Let’s go to Sandra Lee’s Café for lunch then. I’ve missed her chicken salad.”

“It’s the best in town,” her mama said, and she had to clear her voice.

As she and her mama walked out of her ex-husband’s office, Tammy could only marvel at how the people in her life continued to surprise her.

Chapter 40

Lunch with Mama had awkward silences in parts, and certainly Betty Shifley and Kitty Ann Whitlow and a few of the other patrons stared at them and whispered as they enjoyed their chicken salads. Yet Mama held her head high, and once they were done, she took Tammy around to talk to the various women, telling them how delighted she was to have her beloved daughter return for a visit. Just like she’d done in Sterling’s office, Mama was standing up for her, and even though her heart started pounding faster as they scanned her new clothing and hair with disapproval, her mama’s support made it bearable.

She showed Mama pictures of Annabelle and Rory and received only compliments, something as unique as a cool front during a Mississippi summer. The other unusual guest at lunch was Mama’s occasional silence. For once, she listened to Tammy, either because she wasn’t always sure what to say or because she’d heeded Tammy's words.

The sunlight felt good on her face when she stepped out of the café, and the throbbing in her collarbone almost curled up into a ball under that healing light. The pain was duller after taking an ibuprofen from Mama’s purse at lunch.

“Well, now,” her daddy drawled from where he was standing under the awning of the barber shop. “It’s quite a sight to see y’all together.”

As Tammy rushed over to him, Daddy held out his hands. She grabbed them, and he wrapped his arms around her.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was going to be in town, Daddy,” she whispered.

“I know why you’re here, sugar,” he whispered back. “Seems you might have found some answers.”

Even though they were out on a public street in downtown Meade, where anyone could overhear them, Mama stepped closer and gazed at her husband.

“I didn’t have anything to do with what you’ve likely heard about, Hampton,” she told him, and Tammy noticed her head wasn’t held as high now.

“I expect there’s truth in that, Margaret, otherwise y’all wouldn’t have been having lunch just now,” her daddy responded. “It’s a mighty encouraging sight, I must say.”

Her eyes seemed to soak in his features. “I’m going to make amends, Hampton. You have my word on that.”

There was warmth and pain and a whole lot of vulnerability in Daddy’s smile. “I’m happy to hear that, Margaret. Now that you’ve finished lunch, Tammy, do you have time for coffee or a piece of pie with your old man?”

She thought of the new flight time she’d arranged and calculated the drive. “I could sit a spell with you before I have to be in Jackson.”

“Good,” he responded.

Mama pulled on the bottom of her jacket. In her eyes were so many questions, but she made a valiant effort to smile. “It was good to see you, Tammy. Please give the grandbabies sugar for me, and tell Rye, Tory, and Amelia Ann that I’m…” She stopped as though she had no idea what to say. “Please send them my deepest apologies for my behavior and tell them I hope they will be willing to…let me tell them that myself, either in person or over the phone, whatever is most comfortable for them.”

Since Tammy wasn’t sure how that request would be received, she just gave her Mama a smile and said, “I will pass along the message.”

Her siblings would have to decide for themselves what they wanted to do.

Mama opened her arms and then retracted them like she wasn’t sure Tammy would welcome a hug. Since she knew Mama wasn’t a hugger, Tammy took a step to meet her halfway. Mama patted her, her body stiff, like she wasn’t used to being held. But Tammy had learned how to give a warm hug, and she did her best to stay in the moment without jumping away from the awkwardness.

When they parted, Mama had tears in her eyes again. “Thank you, Tammy.”

The gratitude for everything that had passed between them this morning welled up like an over-filled bucket. “Thank
you,
Mama.”

“It was good to see you, Hampton,” Margaret said.

Word of their divorce must have sent shockwaves through Meade, and Tammy had the urge to look through the café window to see if anyone had fainted from shock to see them talking on the street. It sure beat the matinee at the Meade Movie House.

Daddy took Tammy’s hand. “It was good to see you too, Margaret. You look years younger today.”

And her mama did. Softer, more vulnerable—and more unsure of herself than ever.

“Thank you. Y’all have a nice visit together.” Then she firmed her shoulders and walked to her car.

“That woman always did know how to make an exit,” Daddy murmured. “Now. How about we go somewhere the gossips in town won’t bother us and you fill me in on today’s events? I had four people call and say you and your Mama were having lunch—that’s how I knew where to find y’all—and I was told you paid a visit to Sterling’s office before that. Seems he high-tailed out before y’all left.”

Telling Daddy what had transpired wasn’t going to be easy, but he deserved to know, not just because she needed to stop hiding the truth of what Sterling had done to her, but because of how Mama had plumb shocked her silly.

“That sounds like a good idea.”

A while later, she was on her way back to Jackson, and even though the air was hot and muggy, she rolled the window down, wanting to feel the force of the wind on her face and hair. Perhaps it could blow away all the bad memories she’d experienced and relived today, cleansing her brand new.

She called Rye, not wanting to put it off any longer. She wasn’t sure if Daddy had called him to prepare him. Daddy was livid about the attack in Sterling’s office, and she’d had to plead with him to leave it be since leaving town in disgrace was the worst punishment she could imagine for her ex-husband. As a compromise, Daddy had taken her back to his office to photograph her horrible bruise, saying he would write out a statement of the events after she left. He was even planning to interview Mama. If Sterling didn’t leave town, they would make good on their threat to approach the police.

Tammy didn’t want to involve the law and hoped Sterling would leave Meade of his own volition. Leaving his practice, his town, his house, and potentially losing his fiancée over it would be punishment enough. Involving the law would drag her back into the past when all she wanted to do was move forward.

Her call with Rye was as volatile as she’d feared, and she was glad she’d told him to put Tory on speaker phone so she could share her news with them both. Tory helped her talk her brother down, convincing him that destroying Sterling’s life in Meade was a superior revenge. When she told him she was convinced Mama wasn’t the leak, her brother didn’t want to listen at first. But after she shared what Mama had done for her in Sterling’s office, he went mute and finally uttered, “I’m not disbelieving you, Tammy, but I want more proof. I’m going to keep our source on Gunner. Hopefully she’ll manage to get a name from him.”

Arguing with him to let sleeping dogs lie didn’t get her anywhere, so she finally caved. If she hadn’t been in Meade today, if she hadn’t seen Mama stand up to Sterling like that and refuting her accusation about the leak, she wouldn’t have believed her either.

When they said goodbye, Rye told her they would all sit down as a family to talk through what to do about Mama when he and Tory came home next week for a few days during a break in the tour.

She called Amelia Ann next, and was grateful when her sister immediately called her back, likely sensing something was wrong. Her sister expressed the same outrage about Sterling and disbelief about Mama’s abrupt turnaround. But there was another thread in her voice Tammy couldn’t put her finger on. She shook it off. Everyone in her family naturally had strong feelings about what had happened in Meade, and she figured her sister was dealing with them in her own way.

Once she had hung up with Amelia Ann, she called John Parker to talk to the kids. She said nothing about her day other than to promise she would tell him about it when she came home. Her voice was raw now, and she had to dash away cleansing tears as Annabelle and Rory told her all about their new swimming pool and how John Parker had made them banana, honey, and peanut butter sandwiches for lunch.

After clicking off, she let the silence in the car help her settle.

Today she’d faced down the two people she’d let control her life for years. Nothing had gone as she’d expected. But she was delighted at the outcome.

It gave her the strength to take the next step. If she could face down her own demons, she could face down her children’s too. It was time to show them how to take back their power from the bad man—all the way. Tammy Hollins, formerly Morrison, didn’t need anything or anyone to cushion life for her anymore.