J.C.’s thoughts hadn’t strayed far from Laura all day, despite the steady parade of patients through his office. He’d just sent the last one on his way when his nurse cornered him.
“I thought you ought to know that Jan accepted Bill’s offer today. She’ll be moving to Serenity right after the holidays.”
J.C. nodded. “Bill and I discussed it before he hired her. I think she’ll be a great addition to the practice.”
Debra surveyed him with obvious disappointment. “I suppose it was too much to hope that you’d be more excited.”
He chuckled. “You know perfectly well that I was never interested in Jan. Nor is she one tiny bit infatuated with me.”
“Of course she is,” Debra scoffed. “Why else would she be moving here?”
“She told me she was anxious for a change of scenery and being part of a small community. I’m surprised she didn’t tell you the same thing.”
Debra waved it off as if it were nonsense. “Well, of course she’d say that to you. Is she supposed to come right out and tell you she’s coming because you’re hot?”
J.C. nearly choked. “She said that? Jan actually said those exact words to you?” he asked, imagining some very awkward times ahead.
Debra sighed. “Okay, no. I was hoping to give you a little push in her direction.” She studied him with a narrowed gaze. “Then there’s no doubt? You’re actually confirming all the rumors that you and Laura Reed are together?”
“We’re definitely seeing each other,” he admitted, mostly to end this absurd conversation. “Now I need to get out of here.”
“Hot date?”
He rolled his eyes. “Heavy lifting,” he said, imagining the workout ahead. Maybe a really hard workout would get the images of all these women out of his head, at least for an hour.
* * *
An hour later J.C. had barely worked up a good sweat when Cal cornered him, much as Debra had earlier.
“Got a minute?” Cal inquired, his expression somber.
J.C. turned off the elliptical machine and stepped off. “What’s up?”
“Let’s go into Elliott’s office,” he said. “I don’t want anyone overhearing this.”
To J.C.’s shock, he found Elliott Cruz, a personal trainer and one of the gym’s partners, there, along with Ronnie Sullivan, who with his wife Dana Sue, were two of the town’s business success stories. He’d opened a thriving hardware store on Main Street, and she, of course, owned Sullivan’s.
“Why am I feeling ambushed all of a sudden? Did I break a machine or leave dirty towels in the locker room?”
Ronnie chuckled. “You wouldn’t be the first, but no.”
“I just wanted you to know that there are already some people on this,” Cal explained.
“And what is this?” J.C. asked, still mystified.
“Mariah Litchfield has officially kicked off her vendetta against Laura Reed and Betty Donovan,” Cal explained. “She’s out for blood.”
The other two men nodded.
“Karen called me to fill me in,” Elliott said, referring to his wife, who worked as a chef at Sullivan’s.
“And I heard it on the street and from Dana Sue,” Ronnie added.
“And as we speak, according to Maddie, the Sweet Magnolias are gathering at Helen’s house to launch a counteroffensive,” Cal said. “Personally, if I were Mariah, I’d run for my life. I’ve seen those women in action when they have a cause they believe in.”
“Amen to that,” Ronnie said.
J.C. felt a moment’s outrage on Laura’s behalf. “Laura knows?”
“She’s at Helen’s,” Cal confirmed. “I think it was Sarah McDonald, Raylene Rollins and Ronnie’s daughter Annie who rallied the troops. They worked on the fall festival with Laura and aren’t about to let her get railroaded by the likes of Mariah.”
“Annie’s fit to be tied,” Ronnie confirmed. “I swear I always thought of my daughter as sweet, but when she gets her back up, she’s a spitfire, just like her mama.” He said it with unmistakable pride.
“Thank heaven for all of them,” J.C. said. “I should go over there.”
The three men glanced at each other and chuckled.
“Not a good idea,” Cal said. “Margarita nights are a no-men-allowed event. What we’re thinking is that we should make a few calls, get the husbands lined up, too. I assumed you’d want to help.”
“But I’m not…”
“A husband?” Cal said with a grin. “Time will tell. For now, though, your interest in one of the primary targets is good enough for you to qualify.”
“Then I’m definitely in,” J.C. said. “Where are we getting together?”
“The basketball court at the park,” Ronnie said. “We all think better while we’re working off a little steam.”
“And it keeps us from going off half-cocked and doing something before we’ve run it past the wives, who are much more civilized about these things than we are,” Cal said. “No less furious and determined, mind you. Just a little more controlled. It’s actually pretty scary to watch them put a carefully calculated plan into action.”
“It’s beyond terrifying when they’re against you,” Ronnie confirmed. “I’ve been on the receiving end of that. When they’re all for you, it’s awesome. We’re happy to provide all necessary backup.”
J.C. nodded. “I can do that,” he said. But he also intended to stand front and center when it came to publicly defending Laura and the way she’d handled this extraordinarily difficult situation. Things could have gotten far worse for Misty had Laura not intervened.
* * *
An hour after Laura made her call to Helen, every one of the Sweet Magnolias had rallied and gathered at Helen’s for margaritas and a strategy session. Laura was a little in awe as she looked around the room at the women willing to go to bat for her. She’d had a few of their children in her classes, but most were here simply because they believed in her. Amazing! It wasn’t the first time she’d realized how blessed she was to have them as friends.
“You have no idea what it means to me to know that you are on my side,” she told them. “I never would have asked you to back me up.”
“You didn’t have to,” Annie said. “You’re one of us. When somebody targets one of us, they take on all the Sweet Magnolias. Right, ladies?”
Margarita glasses were lifted into the air amid a chorus of confirmation.
Tears stung Laura’s eyes at the show of support. “Thank you.” She turned to Helen. “But do you really think Mariah’s threats need to be taken so seriously?”
“I’d rather not take chances,” Helen said. “Not that she has a leg to stand on, but if she’s the first one out there with a message and she spreads it loudly enough, there are going to be people who believe it, if they haven’t already heard the other side.”
“We could hold a rally,” Sarah said eagerly. “If we do it in the square, Travis and I can cover it live on the radio. That kind of publicity will stop Mariah in her tracks.”
Raylene lifted a brow. “Are you sure you’re not just a little bloodthirsty because you think Mariah tried to make a move on Travis?”
“I know she did,” Sarah corrected. “And I might have overreacted just the teensiest bit at the time, but that is not why I think we should do this. We want to get public sympathy on our side, and we need to do it fast. Isn’t that what you just said, Helen? This is the best way.”
Laura shook her head. “If you all want to hold a general rally against bullying in our community, I’ll be there, front and center. But not if this is going to turn into some us-against-them thing. I’ve told you before, that’s its own kind of bullying, and I don’t want to resort to it.”
“But it could be the only way to counter Mariah,” Annie argued. “Fight fire with fire.”
“And be no better than Annabelle or, for that matter, Mariah herself,” Laura insisted, shaking her head. “No. I won’t let you do it. Whatever you all want to do—and believe me, I appreciate so much you wanting to do something—it can’t be something that will make the situation worse and maybe even get Misty’s name dragged through the mud all over again. We need to remember that she’s the reason I got involved in the first place. She’s been through enough.”
“But you know she’s going to want to help,” Raylene said, “especially after the way you were so supportive of her.”
Maddie nodded. “Diana called me earlier. I know her from the spa and from school because Misty and Katie are so close. She asked me if I’d heard about what Mariah is up to and wondered how she could help. I told her I’d get back to her once we had a plan.” She gave Laura a sympathetic look. “I really admire you for thinking about Misty first, but if you ask me, it’s time now to worry about yourself. And as much as it pains me to say it, after the ordeal Betty Donovan put Cal and me through, Betty should be doing the same.”
“I agree,” Helen said. She studied Laura intently. “Are you totally opposed to Sarah’s idea?”
She considered the question carefully before responding. “Not if the theme of the rally is an anti-bullying message,” she said. “I’d even be happy to speak at something like that. I imagine Betty would, too.”
Even as she spoke, she warmed to the idea. Turning to Maddie, she said, “Your mother mentioned she might be able to convince Frances Wingate to speak to the parents about bullying.”
Helen’s eyes lit up. “That would be awesome. Is she able to do it? Frances is amazing, and there’s no one who grew up in Serenity who escaped a knee-knocking, terrifying lecture or two from Frances while they were in school.”
“I’ll say,” Dana Sue said with a shudder. “More than my share, I’m afraid.”
“Because you were rebellious,” Maddie teased.
“And you were a saint?” Dana Sue countered. “Please.”
Helen laughed. “Let’s not go there. I think we can all agree that the three of us were thorns in Frances’s side back in the day. Bottom line, she’d be the perfect person to remind this entire community of its moral compass. I’m liking this idea of an anti-bullying rally better and better, especially if we can get her help.”
Laura turned to Maddie. “Your mother said she’d work on it.”
Maddie nodded. “Then she will. I’ll give her a nudge, though I doubt it’s necessary. She seems to have taken up this cause eagerly. The activist side of her is a new one to me.”
“Well, believe me, the situation would still be out of control if it weren’t for her willingness to get involved,” Laura said, exchanging a pointed look with Helen, who nodded her own confirmation.
“Why don’t you see what you can find out from Paula tomorrow, Laura?” Helen suggested. “Tell her about our thinking and see what she thinks the odds are that Frances can help, then give me a call. We need to get right on this. Sarah, how quickly could we schedule something that you could get on the air?”
“We could do it immediately,” Sarah said. “But I’d like at least a few days’ notice so we can spread the word. We want that square packed with people who totally get that bullying is unacceptable.”
Helen nodded. “How about a tentative date for a week from Saturday? If all the pieces fall into place, would that work?”
“It would for Travis and me,” Sarah said at once. “I’ll make sure of it.”
“And we’d have time to rally teachers and parents,” Raylene said. “I’ll put Adelia Hernandez on that. She seems to snap her fingers and the parents at school fall into line to do whatever she needs.”
Helen gave a nod of satisfaction. “Then we have a plan. Laura, are you okay with it?”
“If we can stick to the plan, absolutely,” she said. “And if you’re looking for speakers who have strong feelings, ask J.C. I think he’d be a powerful advocate for the cause.”
“Or for you,” Annie teased. “Isn’t that right?”
Laura blushed furiously. “Do not go there.”
“Then that wasn’t him I saw pacing around outside your place last night when I was driving home from work?” Raylene inquired innocently. “Or his car I saw still there this morning? I’m fairly certain he has the only dark green Jaguar in town, but of course I wouldn’t want to jump to any conclusions.”
Laura sighed at the realization that with such strong support came a complete breakdown of boundaries. Apparently her entire life was fair game.
“Of course you wouldn’t jump to conclusions,” she said to Raylene, resigned to having such a personal tidbit shared with everyone. “Just please tell me you didn’t mention this sighting to Grace.”
“Heavens, no!” Raylene said indignantly. “It’s only between us girls.”
“But Sweet Magnolias have an obligation to be on top of all the hottest gossip in town,” Helen declared. “And once in a while it is very satisfying to know things that Grace doesn’t know.”
“Power to the Sweet Magnolias!” said Dana Sue, lifting her glass.
The faintly slurred comment drew a sharp look from Maddie. “You’re cut off. You know one margarita is your limit.”
“I know,” Dana Sue said sadly. “You know the pitiful truth? I’ve only had three sips of this one, and I can’t even handle that, apparently. It is a sad, sad day.”
Annie bit back a chuckle and stood up. “Come on, Mom. I’ll walk you home.”
Dana Sue’s gaze narrowed suspiciously. “Isn’t it raining out there? Didn’t a cold front move in?”
Annie nodded, her expression determinedly cheerful. “Isn’t that great? A brisk walk ought to fix you right up before Dad sees you looped.”
Dana Sue looked around unhappily. “What’s that line about a thankless child? Something about it being sharper than a serpent’s tooth to have a thankless child. It’s from King Lear, I think.”
Laura grinned at her. “Oh, sweet heaven! Not only are you right, but you’ve just given me hope that the Shakespeare lessons in my class might actually pay off years later. The kids rarely remember a thing beyond final exams now.”
Annie rolled her eyes. “I think Mom memorized that one on the day I was born. I’ve heard it often enough over the years. Good night, all. I’ll get the weakling among us safely home.”
The gathering broke up after that. Laura was the last to leave. Turning to Helen, she said, “I really don’t know how to thank you for everything you’re doing for Misty and for me.”
Helen smiled. “It’s my pleasure. There’s nothing I like more than seeing the law used to achieve good for the people who deserve it.”
“Very noble,” Laura said.
“Okay, maybe I get a kick out of retaliating against the bad guys, too,” Helen admitted, a twinkle in her eyes. “Sue me.”
“Not a chance. I’d never be foolish enough to go up against you in court.”
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow then. Let me know as soon as you hear back from Paula.”
“Will do,” Laura promised.
As she headed home, rather than being terrified about what the future might hold for her teaching career in Serenity, Laura felt amazingly reassured by the knowledge that there were a whole lot of very good people in her corner.
* * *
Paula rarely entertained. For years she’d been far too busy with her art, the traveling it entailed and the very insular life she led with her professor husband and Maddie. Only in recent years had she come to understand how isolating that had been for Maddie and how disconnected she’d felt from her own parents. Maddie’s tight bond with Helen and Dana Sue had filled the void left by her own family.
Thankfully these days Paula not only made more time for her grandchildren, but for other women, at least the few in her generation with whom she’d made a deeper connection over the years and counted as friends.
After her promise to Laura, she called Liz Johnson, rather than going directly to Frances. She knew Liz would tell her if her idea to involve Frances in this bullying matter was out of the question. Liz, Frances and Flo Decatur were thick as thieves. She knew that Liz and Flo were not only Frances’s support system, but her staunchest protectors.
They’d only recently returned from a gambling excursion to Las Vegas that had been covered with outrageous reports on the local radio station. Paula couldn’t recall the last time she’d laughed so hard. Though Vegas wasn’t her style, she’d almost wished she’d been along, if only to see the three women carrying on so outlandishly. She was half surprised that Flo, at least, hadn’t come back wed by an Elvis impersonator to someone she’d met on the Vegas strip.
Tuesday, on her third attempt, Liz answered her call, reacting with surprise to the sound of her voice. “What’s this? You emerged from isolation on a Tuesday? I never hear from you before Thursday, and then you only call to verify if I’m bringing cookies over that morning so you’ll have them for that sweet granddaughter of yours.”
“This time I’m on another mission entirely,” Paula admitted. “I need some help.” She described the situation, satisfied by Liz’s increasingly indignant gasps. “Do you think Frances would be up to saying a few words? I didn’t want to ask if it would be too much for her.”
“Her memory medicine has been helping,” Liz said. “Most of the time you’d never know she has a cognitive disorder. And if I know nothing else, Frances will be as livid about this as I am. You can count both of us in for whatever you need. Flo, too. She likes stirring things up. I wish I still had her energy, in fact. Maybe we can assign her to rally all the seniors in town.”
“Would the three of you be able to stop by here tomorrow afternoon?”
“Let me make a couple of calls and I’ll get back to you. None of us have packed social calendars these days, so it should be fine. About four o’clock?”
“Perfect. That’ll give me time to get in touch with Laura and figure out exactly what’s needed and to sneak over to Sullivan’s and try to talk Erik into selling me some thoroughly decadent cake. I seem to recall you love coconut with lemon filling. Shall I see if he can whip one up for you?”
“Just thinking about it makes my mouth water, though no one ever made one quite as good as my mother’s, rest her soul,” Liz said. “I’ll make those calls. Unless you hear from me otherwise, you’ll see the three of us tomorrow at four.”
“Thanks, Liz.”
“Don’t thank me. There’s nothing like a good cause to make me think I’m young again. See you later.”
Paula hung up, satisfied. And then she picked the phone right back up and used her powers of persuasion to get that cake for Liz. Luckily, Erik was the kind of chef who responded readily to a challenge. At the mention that no one’s coconut cake had ever lived up to Liz’s mother’s, he was all over it.
“Give me till the end of the day,” he told Paula. “I was looking for something new to put on tomorrow’s menu as the dessert special. This will be just the thing.”
“You’re a good man. What do I owe you?”
“Just tell my wife what a saint I am,” he said.
“I doubt she needs reminding. Helen was always a smart woman.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, but a man can always use extra brownie points.”
“Then I’ll be sure to pass the word along,” Paula promised, shaking her head as she hung up. Aside from her closeness with her grandchildren these days, what she enjoyed most was seeing the unmistakable love between her daughter, Maddie’s friends and their respective husbands. Though her own marriage had been solid and exactly right for her, there was something about the open affection among the younger couples that filled her heart with joy.
* * *
After playing basketball with the guys and working out their own strategy for helping Laura and Betty fight Mariah’s wrath, J.C. went home, showered, pulled on a pair of sweatpants and sat down to call Laura.
“You doing okay?” he asked the minute she answered. “I hear it’s been a tough day.”
“You’ve heard about Mariah and her campaign against me,” she concluded.
“The whole thing’s ridiculous,” J.C. said. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Even an annoying gnat can make life miserable,” she countered. “And something tells me Mariah’s a whole lot nastier than an itty-bitty gnat. When I got involved in helping Misty, I didn’t expect to wind up the center of attention. Not that it would have stopped me, of course.”
He frowned at her oddly resigned tone. “You’re not really worried, are you? Because I know the guys have your back, and I thought their wives—those Sweet Magnolia women—were crusading for you, too. Weren’t you with them tonight?”
“I was, and they’re being really, really great. We decided to hold an anti-bullying rally a week from Saturday. Travis’s radio station will broadcast it live from the town square.”
“That’s great,” he said, loving the idea. “Awareness is the key to changing the way these kids behave.”
“I hope you’ll be that enthusiastic when I tell you that I volunteered you to be one of the speakers.”
For an instant J.C. fell silent.
“That’s okay, isn’t it?” she asked worriedly. “I know how much you care about this, so I thought you’d want to do it.”
“Of course I do,” he said, wondering if he’d be able to tell the very personal story about why this issue meant so much to him. He knew it was exactly the message that the crowd needed to hear. Maybe he could finally turn what had been a Fullerton family tragedy into something that led to a positive change that might affect the lives of other young people.
“Then why the hesitation?” Laura asked, snapping him back to the present. “Is it because I overstepped?”
He heard the uncertainty in her voice and knew that he was responsible for making her wonder if she had the right to any claim to him or his time.
“You can volunteer me for anything,” he assured her. “We’re a couple. If you need me, I’m there.”
Now it was her turn to fall silent. “We’re a couple?” she said eventually.
“Did you think we weren’t? I thought the other night sealed that deal.”
“But you’re so…” Her voice trailed off.
“Cautious?” he said. “No question about it, but since I met you, I’ve been feeling a little reckless.”
She chuckled. “Reckless, huh?”
“Yep. How about you?”
“I was feeling pretty daring myself,” she admitted. “At least until I found out tonight that you were spotted at my place.”
“Is that such a big deal?”
“It is when your car was also spotted in the exact same spot this morning,” she said. “Let’s just say I had some explaining to do.”
“How is that anyone’s business?” he asked, perplexed.
Laura laughed. “You are not that new to Serenity. In this town, gossip is everyone’s business, though I gather the Sweet Magnolias are pleased to have trumped Grace just this once.”
“Does it bother you?” he asked, worried that she’d fear potential damage to her reputation over what might be nothing more than a casual fling, not that either of them had defined their relationship that way.
“A little,” she conceded. “But I have to admit there’s a part of me that is very happy to finally have a social life worth talking about.”
J.C. caught the teasing note in her voice and chuckled with her. “Yeah, that’s a new one to me, too. It’s not half as bad as I expected it to be.”
“Just one thing, though, J.C.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m always going to be more concerned about what you’re thinking than I am about what people are saying.”
He considered that and thought he heard a faint need for reassurance behind the softly spoken words. “What I’m thinking is that we should continue this conversation in person. Is it too late for me to come over?”
“I think it’s the best idea you’ve had since you called,” she said without even the slightest hesitation.
“Then I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
“Great. And, J.C.?”
“Yes.”
“Bring your toothbrush and clothes for work.”
“And that’s the best idea you’ve had since I called.”
He had no idea yet where this was going, but getting there was certainly turning out to be an unexpected delight.