Читать книгу Sweet Tea At Sunrise - Sherryl Woods, Sherryl Woods - Страница 10

Sarah did not want her life changed. Not like that. She sat on the stool at the counter in Wharton’s staring at Travis McDonald as if he’d suddenly sprouted two heads. He’d said some pretty outrageous things to her over the past few weeks, but this was the craziest.

“You can’t be serious,” she said. “Me? On the radio?”

“That’s what I said.” He seemed undaunted by her shock.

“Not a chance,” she told him, dismissing the idea as ridiculous. “I wouldn’t have a thing to say.”

“You have plenty to say in here,” Travis said. “At least to everyone else. You have this easy way that gets people to open up. That’s what I want you to do on the air.”

“Why?” she asked, bewildered. “I mean why me?”

“Because I’ve been watching you. You know how to draw people out, make them laugh, get them to reveal themselves. You’ll be a natural at this, Sarah. I guarantee it.”

She studied him suspiciously. “So you want me to embarrass people in town on the air?”

“I never said that,” he replied with exaggerated patience. “I said you had a way with people.”

“Well, if I’m so good, how come you never answered a single one of the questions I asked you? You’ve been coming in here for what, a month now? And I don’t really know much more than your name and that you’re Tom’s cousin.”

“And that I own the radio station that’s going to make you a hometown celebrity,” he reminded her.

“Well, it took until today for me to find out about that,” she said. She waved off the comment. “But that’s not what matters, anyway. I haven’t gotten to know one personal thing about you.”

He grinned one of those slow, sexy grins that made her toes curl. “Because I’m a hardcase,” he drawled. “But I’m sure you could find out anything you want to know if you put your mind to it.”

Sarah scowled at the remark. “Don’t you imagine there are plenty of hardcases around? For all you know, you’d have nothing but dead air for a couple of hours every day. There’s nothing worse on the radio than a host who’s run out of questions and a guest who’s clammed up. I can’t just sit there and chatter away about nothing.”

“Sure you can. I’ve seen you do it in here every single day. And if things get really quiet, you can always pump up a Toby Keith song.”

“I prefer Kenny Chesney,” she replied, mostly to be contrary.

“Fine. You’ll play Kenny Chesney. And if you’re as bad at this as you’re predicting, you’ll have time for some George Strait and Trace Adkins, too.”

“You’re not taking me seriously. I can’t do this to people I’ve known all my life,” she argued.

“All you’re going to do is bring these friends of yours into the studio when they have a story to share or an event to promote,” he explained. “You’ll chat about it, get people excited, make them want to come. And say some celebrity comes into town, you’d get to interview them.”

“We don’t get a lot of celebrities in Serenity.”

“Because there was no radio station for them to visit to get publicity. Now there will be. It’ll be my job to make sure all these fancy New York or Nashville publicists know that we’re looking for guests.”

She studied him with a frown. “Did you see Field of Dreams a few too many times, maybe get the crazy idea if you build it, they will come?”

Travis laughed. “Personally I was a bigger fan of Bull Durham. My mama used to watch that on DVD at least once a year. I think that’s why I grew up wanting to play baseball.”

Distracted for a moment from the bigger issue, she asked, “And did you? Play ball, I mean?”

“For a while,” he said, though his expression shut down. “So, what do you say? I can promise you’ll make more money than you do here.”

Though Helen had seen to it that Walter was generous, Sarah was not getting so much money in alimony and child support that she could afford not to consider a higher-paying job. It was just that this particular job was so far out of her comfort zone, it scared her to death. Since her marriage, she’d been even less likely to take chances than she might have years ago.

Which is all the more reason to say yes, a voice in her head nagged. Do something outrageous for once, something risky and new. Find out what you’re really made of.

“I was hoping to start teaching in the fall,” she said, clinging to the one last objection that made any sense.

“Well, I suppose if this doesn’t work out the way I think it will, you could always do that,” Travis said. “Unless, of course, you’ve already made a commitment to the school.”

She shook her head. “No. I don’t even know if there’s going to be a position available.”

“Then why trade a sure thing for something that might not happen?” he asked, then leaned a little closer and coaxed, “Come on, Sarah. Think how much fun the two of us can have starting this together.”

He made it sound tempting and far more intimate than any job offer that had ever come her way. Helen would probably have a lot to say about the legalities of mixing business and personal agendas, but Sarah wasn’t sure this really qualified as any kind of potential sexual harassment when right this second it felt so good.

She lifted her gaze to meet his sea-green eyes and slowly nodded, even though her heart was climbing into her throat and her palms had turned clammy. Unfortunately, she couldn’t be entirely certain if that reaction was due to fear about the job or pure terror at being drawn into the world of Travis McDonald, who seemed to do disconcerting things to her common sense.

Raylene had dinner on the table when Sarah got home. The kids were in the backyard playing catch with Walter, who appeared to be showing admirable tolerance for Libby’s ineptitude.

“He’s making progress,” Raylene noted after handing Sarah a glass of sweet tea. “I hardly had to do any arm-twisting at all today to get him to include Libby. The way she toddles around after him, hoping for just a tiny bit of attention, breaks my heart.”

“I know,” Sarah said. “Has he said anything about his plans? When’s he going back home? He’s never hung around this long before.”

“He hasn’t said anything to me,” Raylene told her. “I get the feeling he has something on his mind, though. Maybe you should find out what it is.”

“My mind’s on overload as it is,” Sarah said, sitting down at the table with her glass of tea. “I don’t think I can take on Walter’s problems.”

Raylene regarded her worriedly. “What’s wrong?”

Sarah shook her head. She needed to absorb all the implications of this agreement she’d made with Travis before she laid it all out there for everyone else to pick apart. “I’ll tell you later. I don’t want to bring it up while Walter’s around.” Heaven knew what he’d think of the crazy idea of her going on the radio. He might be okay with it, but she could hear his mother raising a ruckus about how unseemly it would be. She hadn’t been able to completely eliminate the strident criticisms that came no matter how hard she’d tried to make peace with the woman.

“You sure?” Raylene asked.

“I’m sure. Let me get those three in here and cleaned up for supper.”

She walked to the back door and called out to them.

At the sound of her voice, Walter glanced up and gave her an unguarded grin that reminded her of the way he’d looked at her back in college whenever she surprised him by stopping by his dorm or, later, his fraternity house. It was a sexy, all-male smile that had once made her heart catch. Now her reaction paled in comparison to what the most innocent glance from Travis did to her. Not that many of Travis’s glances were all that innocent, when she thought about it.

When Walter came inside, he leaned down and planted an impulsive kiss on her cheek that had her scowling.

“What’s up with you?” she asked suspiciously.

“I just had a good day, that’s all. Spending time with the kids without worrying about turning right around and heading home has been great. The Serenity Inn’s not such a bad place, either.”

Sarah immediately went on the defensive. “I know you think it’s ridiculous to waste money on a hotel, but there’s no room here.”

“Hey, I wasn’t being critical. The inn’s fine.”

She regarded him curiously. “You’re being awfully agreeable this weekend. What’s that about?”

He hesitated, then said, “Maybe if there’s time after supper, we could talk some. I’ll tell you what’s going on.”

“Okay.”

The meal was surprisingly pleasant. Nothing the kids did seemed to faze him, not even when Libby knocked the top off her sippy cup, sending milk in all directions. In fact, he didn’t utter one single criticism of Sarah or the kids. He even mustered up a couple of sincere-sounding compliments for Raylene’s cooking. It wasn’t like Walter at all, or at least the Walter of recent times.

As soon as they’d finished bowls of ice cream with fresh peaches, Raylene offered to give the kids their baths.

“I’ll do that,” Walter said, stunning Sarah.

Raylene waved off the offer. “Let me. You can help Sarah with the dishes. That’ll give you two some time to catch up.”

Before Sarah could object, Raylene shooed Tommy and Libby from the kitchen.

“Well, that was subtle,” Sarah said, oddly disconcerted at being left alone with her ex-husband.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was matchmaking,” Walter said. “But she’s pretty much made it clear that she’s against a reconciliation.”

Sarah’s mouth dropped open. “Reconciliation? Where’d that come from?”

“I’m just saying she seems to be against it,” he said defensively. “Not that I’m looking for one or anything.”

Something in his eyes told Sarah that wasn’t entirely true. “Okay, that’s it,” she said decisively. “Leave the dishes. We need to talk. Grab a beer or tea or something and we’ll go outside.”

As soon as they were settled on the patio, Walter looked around, clearly trying to avoid her gaze.

“Mind telling me why the subject of a reconciliation came up?” she finally asked. “I might have initiated the proceedings, but you couldn’t wait to be divorced.”

He didn’t respond immediately. Eventually he sighed, then said, “I had a confrontation with my dad the other day.”

She still wasn’t following. “So, what? You want to get back together to spite him?”

He frowned at her sarcasm. “No, it just got me to thinking about why we split up.”

“We split up because you showed no respect for me and you let your parents get away with bullying me,” she said flatly.

“I know.”

He spoke so softly that at first she wasn’t sure she’d even heard him correctly. “You’re admitting it?” she asked incredulously.

He shrugged. “I have to. It’s the truth.”

She sat back in shock. “Well, I’ll be. That must have been some confrontation.”

“It just made me see a bunch of stuff in a different light,” he said. “I know it’s too late for us. Not even you with your soft heart can forgive all the things I did to you.” He gave her a wistful look. “Can you?”

“Probably not,” she admitted.

“You left a little wiggle room in there,” he noted.

She leveled a look into his eyes. “I didn’t mean to. Look, Walter, if you finally see what a controlling man your father is, that’s great, but I don’t want any part of that life again. I’m trying to get a handle on who I am, and until I figure that out, I don’t want any man trying to shape me into what he thinks I ought to be.”

“I understand. You sure did get more than enough of that from me. When I think back on some of the things I said, the way I treated you…” He shook his head. “It makes me ashamed, Sarah. It really does.”

Tears stung her eyes. “Thank you for saying that.”

“I should have said it a long time ago.” They sat there in amazingly companionable silence for a long time. Eventually he turned to her. “Is it okay with you if I spend more time with the kids from here on out? I’m thinking I’ll try to come over every weekend and spend at least Friday night, maybe Friday and Saturday. I know that’s not what the custody agreement spelled out, but there’s probably a way to fix that if you don’t object.”

“As long as you’re good to the kids—both of them—you can see them whenever you want,” she said. “I have them to myself all week long. Now that I’m working, that’s not as much time as it used to be, so I’ll want some weekends for myself, but we can work it out so it’s fair to both of us.”

“Do we need it in writing? That lawyer of yours seems to like everything on paper.”

“I’ll speak to her,” Sarah promised.

Walter stood up. “Then I’ll say goodnight. I’ll be by in the morning to say goodbye to the kids.”

She nodded, then sat there long after he’d left, wondering at the transformation. If he truly was turning over a new leaf, more power to him. But just in case this was some passing whim of his, she thought she’d leave their custody agreement just the way it was. Maybe change was possible for some people, but she feared Walter, like the leopard, wasn’t capable of changing his spots this easily.

By Monday morning the word had spread that Travis McDonald had offered Sarah a job at the radio station. It was Annie who called an emergency margarita night for all of the Sweet Magnolias, young and old, to discuss what she referred to as the insane idea Sarah had of throwing away a perfectly reliable job at Wharton’s to work at a brand-new, yet-to-be-tested radio station that could be off the air in a month.

Because Raylene had flatly refused to leave the house, Annie had convinced the original Sweet Magnolias to come here. Now Dana Sue Sullivan, who owned the town’s fanciest restaurant, attorney Helen Decatur and Maddie Maddox, who managed The Corner Spa which all three women owned, were seated in Sarah’s living room with drinks. Jeanette McDonald, who managed the spa’s personal services such as facials, massages and manicures, hadn’t yet arrived.

Annie, newly married to Maddie’s son, Ty Townsend, wore a worried frown on her face that even one of Helen’s lethal margaritas hadn’t been able to erase.

“You don’t know anything at all about this man,” she reminded Sarah. “He handed you some line and now you want to quit your job and become a radio star? This just isn’t like you. What’s Walter going to think? Did you mention it to him when he was here this weekend?”

Sarah shook her head.

“Why not?” Annie pressed. “I’ll tell you why not—because you know he’s going to make some big stink about it.”

“Since when do you care what Walter thinks?” Sarah retorted, her determination to do this kicking up a notch. “This isn’t about Walter.”

“Isn’t it?” Annie scoffed. “Are you telling us that on some level this isn’t an in-your-face act designed to make him crazy?”

“So what if it is?” Sarah said, even though Walter hadn’t once crossed her mind when she’d been saying yes to Travis. “It’s not as if I’m going to be doing something disreputable that he can use against me in court.” A sudden worry nagged at her and she turned to Helen. “Right? There’s nothing wrong with having a local talk show on radio, is there?”

“Nothing I can think of,” Helen agreed. She faced Annie. “What really has you so worried?”

Annie squirmed uncomfortably. “Okay, I mentioned all this to Ty when he called tonight. The Braves have been on a road trip so his calls don’t last long, and believe me, we don’t spend the time talking about the local news. When I mentioned the radio station the other day, it was the first he’d heard that Travis McDonald was settling here. Anyway, it turns out Ty knows him, or knows of him, I guess I should say. He says he had a real reputation as a ladies’ man when be played for Boston. A couple of Ty’s teammates have known Travis ever since he played in the minors. He called me tonight to fill me in on all this.”

Sarah’s mouth gaped. “Travis played for the Boston Red Sox? You’re kidding me!”

“You didn’t know that?” Maddie asked, looking surprised.

Sarah shook her head. “He said he’d played ball for a while. He didn’t say anything about playing in the majors. I figured he was maybe on some farm team for about a minute.”

“It was a little longer than a minute, according to Ty,” Annie said. “It was long enough to make an impression on a lot of women in a lot of cities.”

“Well, so what?” Sarah said, even though she was disconcerted by the news. “It’s not as if I’m going to date him. I’m just going to work for him. Besides, maybe he’s reformed and wants a chance to start fresh. Ty did.”

Annie winced at the reminder of her husband’s well-publicized exploits with women. He’d wound up with a son during that wild phase of his life. Trevor, in fact, was living right here with Annie while Ty was on the road with the team.

Before Annie could respond, though, Jeanette breezed in. “Sorry, I’m late. Are you talking about Travis? He just told me he’d hired you, Sarah. Congratulations!”

Maddie, Dana Sue and Helen turned on her.

“Just how well do you know him?” Dana Sue asked, radiating suspicion. “I know he’s Tom’s cousin, but you’ve never even mentioned him.”

“Haven’t I?” Jeanette asked with a shrug. “He’s been staying with us. He wanted us to keep it quiet when he first got here. He’d had his fill of publicity.”

“Did you know about the radio station?” Helen asked.

Jeanette nodded. “Of course.”

“And you never said a word,” Maddie said with a shake of her head. “What kind of Sweet Magnolia are you?”

Jeanette chuckled. “One who can keep her mouth shut,” she suggested.

“Which is not a recommendation, as far as I can tell,” Helen said. “We’re supposed to be up on all the big news in town.”

“And now you are,” Jeanette said readily. “So, what’s the emergency? Why are we all here?”

“Because some of us think Sarah’s nuts for taking this radio job, especially to work with a man with the kind of reputation Travis apparently has,” Annie told her. “No offense.”

“None taken,” Jeanette said. “But how can he possibly have any reputation when he just got to town a few weeks ago?”

“Ty,” Maddie said succinctly. “Word on the road is that Travis was a real player with the ladies when he played ball in Boston.”

“Oh, so what?” Jeanette said, dismissing the assessment as unimportant. “Sarah’s an intelligent woman. She’s not automatically going to fall under his spell. Besides, if you want an opinion based on personal observation, rather than gossip, I think he’s kind of sweet.”

Sarah tried to reconcile that impression with her own. It didn’t fit. Now Travis as a player? That fit him perfectly. But fair warning ought to be enough.

“Okay, I suppose I could back out,” she told them. “But the truth is that I want to do something that stretches my limits, something fun. Waiting on tables at Wharton’s doesn’t qualify. And, if I’m being totally honest, neither does the idea of teaching kids their ABCs. I majored in education because it was a solid, safe career choice.”

Raylene, who’d been silent up until now, nodded. “I think she should go for it. Sarah needs to prove to herself that she is so much more than that little Stepford wife Walter and the Prices wanted her to be.”

“Amen,” Sarah said.

Annie still looked concerned, but eventually she nodded, too. “Since I’ve been telling you ever since you got back to town that you’re much more intelligent and talented than Walter ever gave you credit for being, I suppose I can’t take it back now. Go for it.” She shot a dire look toward Jeanette. “If Travis gets out of line, the rest of us will have your back.”

Sarah laughed at the protective note in her voice. “I don’t think you need to worry about that. Somebody who’s a player when it comes to women isn’t going to take a second glance at me.”

Dana Sue reached over and squeezed her hand. “Oh, sweetie, don’t sell yourself short. Obviously, he already has.”

Rory Sue’s visit home had been an exercise in frustration for Mary Vaughn and Sonny. She had no job lined up. Nor did she seem all that concerned about finding one. She’d flatly refused to consider anything Mary Vaughn or Sonny suggested about moving back home. Her opinion of Serenity seemed to be summed up in one oft-repeated word: boring. Mary Vaughn was at her wit’s end. Sonny was even more exasperated.

“You’d think raising one child, especially a girl, would be easier than this,” he said as he and Mary Vaughn climbed into bed on Sunday evening after their precious little girl had headed back to Charleston to spend more time with her friends.

“I’m sorry we never had the boy you wanted,” Mary Vaughn told him. “But you have to admit, there’s something about a girl and her daddy that’s special. Sometimes I felt like an outsider when you and Rory Sue would team up.”

“That was true when she was nine or ten, but once she reached her teens, she didn’t have much use for either one of us.”

“And then we hit her with the divorce,” Mary Vaughn recalled. “She never entirely forgave me for that.”

“I’m the one who asked for a divorce,” Sonny said. “I told her that repeatedly.”

“But she knew you never would have filed for it if I hadn’t done something wrong.”

“Well, we’re back together now, just the way she always wanted. It’s not going to feel right if she’s living somewhere else. It’d be nice to be a family, at least for a little while longer,” he said wistfully. “One of these days she’s going to get married, and then things will change forever. I want her to be happy, but I can’t say I’m looking forward to that day.”

“It’s a funny thing,” Mary Vaughn said, “but when she was away at college and you were gone, too, I still didn’t feel like one of those empty nesters you read about. It all felt so temporary. Then, sure enough, you and I got back together, but without Rory Sue under the same roof, it doesn’t feel quite right. I finally see what all those articles I read were talking about. It’s like a piece of us is missing.”

“Exactly what I was saying,” Sonny said. “So, how do we get her home?”

Mary Vaughn considered the question thoughtfully, or as thoughtfully as she could with Sonny beginning to lazily caress the curve of her hip.

“I think we have to give her a little more time at her friend’s place in Charleston,” she finally conceded. “You know she’s not job-hunting the way she should be, or if she is, she’s finding out just how tough things are out there.”

“I guarantee she’s not too worried about it,” Sonny admitted. “She knows we’ll keep supporting her for as long as it takes.”

“That’s the thing. We can’t do that,” Mary Vaughn said, figuring it was going to be up to her to take the tough line. Sonny was putty in their daughter’s hands. “We have to give her a deadline. At the same time, I’ll give her an alternative.”

Sonny’s gaze narrowed. “What alternative?”

“She can come home and work with me.”

“Why not with me?” he said at once. “She’ll inherit that car dealership one of these days. Despite what’s happened to the auto industry, we’re still doing well. She ought to at least know the basics of running it.”

“Can you see Rory Sue getting excited about selling cars? All she cares about is driving the latest, fanciest car on your lot. And given today’s market, she’s not going to make the kind of money she’s expecting with that high-priced degree of hers.”

“And she will in real estate?”

“She will working with me,” Mary Vaughn said confidently.

Sonny finally nodded. “Okay, then, we have a plan.” He met her gaze. “Now I have a few ideas of my own.”

Mary Vaughn reached for him at once. “Why, Mr. Lewis, I do believe we’ve been thinking along the same lines.” Even as she settled into her husband’s embrace, she was struck by reality. “You do know, don’t you, that if she comes home for good, we’re going to have to start behaving ourselves around here. No more skinny-dipping in the pool, for one thing. No afternoon quickies in the middle of the living room.”

Sonny looked into her eyes, but it wasn’t alarm or even dismay she saw there. It was excitement.

“You’re taking that as a challenge, aren’t you, Sonny Lewis?”

A grin spread across his face. “You know, I am. The fear of getting caught could add an interesting edge of danger to these trysts of ours.”

She laughed. “I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure how much more excitement I can stand.”

His touches became more intimate. “Why don’t we experiment a little and find out?”

Before she could reply, Mary Vaughn completely lost her train of thought. Whatever she’d been about to say couldn’t possibly be more important than the way Sonny made her feel whenever he put his mind to it. And lately, to her delight, he’d been putting his mind to it quite a lot.