“Thanks for helping out just now,” Lynn said when Gabe stopped by the bakery for a large cup of coffee before heading back to the construction site. “Adelia would never admit it, but she had to be scared out of her wits. I know I would have been if it had been one of my kids missing. I’m sure having you around kept her calm.”
“I don’t know how much help I was,” Gabe said. “All I did was drive the car in whatever direction she asked me to.”
Lynn smiled at the self-deprecating comment. “And you didn’t say one single word in all that time? Didn’t offer any support? Maybe insist she drink some tea?”
“The tea made sense,” he grumbled.
Lynn’s smile spread. He was obviously self-conscious about accepting praise for what he apparently considered to be nothing more than a neighborly gesture. She considered that very telling. Mitch had told her about Gabe’s past and how determined he was to fight his old reputation as a troublemaker. This humility was definite evidence that he was well on his way.
“Don’t make a big deal about that, or about anything I did, for that matter,” he said. “It was nothing anyone else wouldn’t have done.”
“Whatever you say,” she said, laughing. “Something tells me things are about to get real interesting here on Main Street.”
Gabe frowned at her. “Just because you and my cousin still have stars in your eyes doesn’t mean the whole world is just waiting for romance.”
“Adelia would probably say the same thing,” Lynn said agreeably. “She just got a divorce. She’s not interested in meeting anyone right now. Yada yada yada. I’ve heard it all before. Said it myself, in fact, when Mitch came along. Doesn’t mean I believe a word she says.” She regarded him pointedly, then added, “You, either. My theory is that neither of you has a clue what you really need in your lives.”
“Well, whether you buy it or not, could you stay out of it?” Gabe pleaded. “I’ve got problems enough up and down this block without adding your meddling into the mix.”
“What problems?” she asked at once, her mood sobering. “Does Mitch know?”
“Of course he knows. I haven’t been on the job long enough to make decisions without running them by him. Now, if you’ll get that cup of coffee I asked for when I first walked through the door, and maybe a few of those chocolate chip cookies, I’ll get back to work, so he doesn’t fire me for hanging out too long with his wife.”
She quickly poured the coffee and bagged his cookies, choosing a few from a tray still warm from the oven, but she waved off payment. “Just a reward for helping Adelia,” she said. “Where will you be if Mitch stops by here looking for you?”
“In the old supermarket space on the corner trying to figure out how we’re going to replace those old beams without the roof tumbling down on our heads. The termites have been living it up in there for ten years at least.”
Lynn looked alarmed. “That can’t be good. What about Chic? It’s right next door to that space. Is their ceiling okay?”
“I’ll check with Mitch, but I imagine he did a thorough job fixing up that place and this one. If there was damage, I doubt he missed it.”
Relieved, she nodded. “You’re right, of course. Mitch pays attention to details. It’s one of his best traits.”
Gabe grinned at her. “I imagine that comes in handy in more ways than one,” he said with a wink, then took off, brushing past Maddie Maddox, Helen Decatur-Whitney and Dana Sue Sullivan in his hurry.
Their arrival wasn’t particularly unexpected. Once word of a crisis spread through town, the original Sweet Magnolias were always among the first to respond. The loosely formed group of friends had grown to include many other women now, including Lynn, but these three were still its heart and soul.
“What’s his hurry?” Helen asked, her eyes narrowed. The town’s—maybe even the state’s—most prominent divorce attorney was by nature cynical and suspicious, even after several years now of being deliriously happy in her own marriage.
Lynn chuckled. “I made him nervous.”
Maddie regarded her with surprise. “How?”
“By suggesting that his willingness to jump in to help Adelia was something more than a neighborly gesture,” Lynn said.
“I knew it!” Dana Sue said, her expression smug. “All day long I was hearing gossip that Adelia and Gabe had crossed paths at Rosalina’s the other night and fireworks went off. It was Grace spreading the story, and you know how she is. She can spin a romance out of a passing glance.”
Helen held up her hands. “Hold on a minute! The latest Serenity romance alert is fascinating, but shouldn’t we be focusing on what we can do to help in the search for Adelia’s daughter? That’s why we rushed over here.”
Maddie and Dana Sue immediately looked guilt-stricken.
“Of course we should,” Maddie said.
“It’s okay,” Lynn soothed. “Selena’s safe and sound. Adelia and Gabe found her at Elliott and Karen’s house. He stopped in just now to fill me in.” She glanced at the three women, who’d been best friends since childhood. “Now who needs coffee and maybe a slice of pie while you fill me in on what you’ve heard about Gabe and Adelia?”
“I wouldn’t turn down a slice of lemon meringue,” Maddie said at once.
“Coconut cream for me,” Helen said as Lynn poured the coffee.
Dana Sue stared at the display case longingly. As she did, Lynn remembered hearing that she was at high risk for diabetes. That would be a tough diagnosis for anyone, but Dana Sue owned a restaurant and was around food constantly. She sighed now.
“I’ll pass on the pie,” Dana Sue said with unmistakable disappointment, “but I will take the coffee.”
“How about a couple of sugar-free oatmeal cookies?” Lynn suggested. “They have cranberries and walnuts. I promise they don’t taste like sawdust.”
Helen’s eyes lit up. “Ooh, those sound fabulous. Maybe I’ll have those, too.”
“Instead of pie?” Lynn asked.
“Absolutely not,” Helen replied, then hesitated. “But maybe you’d better put them in a bag. I’ll pretend I’m taking them home for my daughter.”
Maddie and Dana Sue exchanged a look.
“Want to bet they’re gone before she gets to the corner?” Maddie asked.
Dana Sue shook her head. “Why would I want to bet against a sure thing?” She grinned at Lynn. “Bring on the cookies and don’t waste a bag, okay?”
Helen patted the chair next to her. “And sit right here next to me. I want to know everything you can tell me about Gabe and Adelia.”
Lynn chuckled as she imagined how Gabe would react to being linked with Adelia all over town. He’d been grumpy enough when she’d merely hinted at a potential romantic pairing. Now that the Sweet Magnolias and Grace Wharton were alert and watching for every sighting, it was going to make him crazy. In Lynn’s opinion, a little craziness was just what he needed.
* * *
Gabe found Mitch standing on scaffolding in the middle of the construction site on the corner. Mitch was regarding the damage-riddled support beam with disgust. When he caught sight of Gabe, he climbed down.
“What’s your plan?” he asked at once, surprising Gabe.
“You don’t have one?” Gabe asked.
Mitch chuckled. “Of course I do, but I put you in charge. I want to hear yours.”
Startled by the confidence his cousin was placing in him, Gabe pulled a rough sketch from his back pocket and spread it out on a rickety old table that comprised his office space for now.
“Here’s what I was thinking,” he said, going over the drawing. “I had Ronnie Sullivan in here earlier for some cost estimates on the lumber. He says if we want a couple of steel beams, he can get prices for those, too, but we’re talking big money.”
Mitch’s expression was thoughtful as Gabe talked. He glanced up at the existing beams, then at the figures Gabe had jotted down, then nodded. “Let’s do it right,” he said eventually. “If we’re going to fix this building up, we need it to be built to last.”
“I’ll have the prices for you tomorrow,” Gabe said, relieved. He’d been cautious, but he, too, believed in getting it right, not cheap. “By the way, your wife’s expecting you. I stopped in to grab a cup of coffee just now. She might need a little reassuring about the state of the ceiling over the bakery.”
Mitch frowned. “Why?”
“It’s possible I planted a few seeds of doubt talking about all the termites,” Gabe admitted, then shrugged at Mitch’s incredulous expression. “Hey, I had to say something to get her off the topic of me and Adelia Hernandez.”
“And all you could come up with was termite damage?” Mitch said with mock exasperation. “She’s going to want to go up there and check out those beams herself.”
Gabe laughed. “I suspected as much. Where’s the trust? That’s what I want to know. You did renovate that space for her.”
Mitch shook his head. “Which just means we probably should add contractors to the list of people who need to avoid doing business with family.” He sighed heavily. “Thanks for that, by the way.”
“Anytime,” Gabe said.
Let his cousin deal with Lynn’s inquisitive nature. That was a whole lot easier on Gabe than having her pecking away at his personal life.
* * *
Adelia stood outside the nursery at Elliott and Karen’s house trying to calm her temper before she confronted her daughter about scaring her and everyone else. She needed to remember what Gabe had said about doling out hugs before discipline. She thought she’d always been pretty good at that, but today had been a real test. What she wanted more than anything was to give her daughter a good shake and ground her for at least the remainder of her school years. Fortunately, she was wise enough to know none of that was the answer to what had happened today.
When she opened the door, she found Selena sitting in a rocker with the baby in her arms and sunlight spilling over them. Even at only thirteen, she had the serenity of the Madonna about her. It was a terrifying reminder of how quickly she was growing up.
When Selena glanced up and caught sight of Adelia, though, wariness filled her eyes and she was a nervous teenager who knew she was in trouble. “What are you doing here?” she asked, her voice unsteady.
“I think the better question is what are you doing here in the middle of a school day?” Adelia responded, careful to keep the fear and temper out of her voice. “You’ve had half the town running around trying to find you, including the police chief.”
Selena had the grace to look shocked by that. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think anyone would miss me. I just skipped out on soccer. I’m no good at that, anyway.”
“And what about the classes you have after physical education? Were you planning to go back for those? If so, you’re already late.”
Selena winced. “I lost track of time,” she whispered, clearly aware that Adelia wasn’t likely to buy it.
“Seriously? You expect me to believe that?”
“I was hoping,” Selena said, her expression guilty.
“Afraid not. Put the baby down and come outside so we can talk,” Adelia said, pausing to brush gentle fingers over the baby’s soft-as-silk curls. With black hair and big brown eyes, she was all Cruz, that’s for sure.
Maybe because she knew it was inevitable, Selena did as she’d been told to do, then followed Adelia from the room. As they passed Karen in the living room, Adelia asked, “Mind if we sit on your deck for a little while? We need to talk.”
“It’s fine,” Karen said. “Would you like something cool to drink? I’ve just made fresh lemonade.”
“I’d like some, please,” Selena said at once, clearly relieved by any delay she could seize. “I can get it.”
She scampered off to the kitchen before Adelia could protest. Karen smiled. “She’s awfully eager to make amends, isn’t she?”
“Seems so,” Adelia said, then released a sigh. “I’ve never been so terrified in my life.”
Karen, who’d been reserved with her for a long time, stepped forward and pulled her into an awkward embrace. “But she’s okay. That’s what counts, Adelia. She came here, to a safe place. She didn’t run away.”
“I know and I’m more grateful than I can express for that. Did she talk at all?”
“No. I think she just wanted some space on neutral turf. She asked if she could hold the baby. She’s been in the nursery ever since.” She gave Adelia an apologetic look. “If I’d had any idea you didn’t know where she was, I would have called you immediately.”
“I know that,” Adelia assured her. “Thanks for being so kind to her.”
“She’s my niece,” Karen said simply.
Selena returned from the kitchen with three glasses of lemonade and looked at Karen hopefully. “Are you coming outside to talk, too?”
“No, sweetheart. This is between you and your mom.” She looked at Adelia. “If you need anything, let me know. I can give you all a lift home whenever you’re ready, unless you’d like to stay for dinner.”
“We’ll see,” Adelia said. It depended on how this conversation went and whether she thought she needed some backup from her brother to drive her points home with Selena. Her mom would keep the younger kids for the night, if need be.
Adelia led the way outside. She sat on a cushioned bench on the shady side of the deck, then patted the seat next to her. With unmistakable reluctance, Selena sat beside her. Adelia reached for her hand.
“Do you have any idea how precious you are to me?” she asked softly. “You’re my firstborn, Selena.”
Rather than looked reassured, Selena looked sad. “But if it weren’t for me, you might never have married Dad.”
Adelia frowned at what seemed to be an entirely out-of-the-blue comment. “What do you mean?”
“Come on, Mom. I can count. You and Dad got married because you were already pregnant with me. If that hadn’t happened, then you wouldn’t have been trapped with a man who cheated on you every chance he got.”
Adelia closed her eyes, trying to gather her composure. She’d hoped this conversation would never be necessary, but Selena had clearly overheard way too many arguments with Ernesto and the accusations that had been flung about.
“It’s true that I was pregnant when your Dad and I got married,” she confessed, then forced Selena to meet her gaze. “But you need to believe me, sweetheart. I don’t regret that decision, not for a single minute.”
“How can you not regret it?” Selena asked angrily. “Dad did.”
“No, he didn’t. Not really.”
“I heard him, Mom.”
“People say things in the heat of the moment that they don’t really mean, even your dad. But let’s focus on how I feel for now. How can I regret marrying your dad when I have you and your sisters and your brother because of that decision? The four of you mean everything to me. I may hate what’s been happening, I may be really angry at him right now, but I can’t regret being married to him, sweetheart. One of these days you’ll discover that things are never as black-and-white as we might like them to be. There’s a lot of gray in the middle. Good just happens to come with bad sometimes.”
Tears streamed down Selena’s cheeks. “I’m never getting married,” she declared.
Her determined words were as painful for Adelia to hear as her own had probably been for Elliott on Sunday night. She didn’t want her daughter’s future to be shaped by the divorce. She pulled Selena close and Selena actually allowed it, resting her head on Adelia’s shoulder as she had when she was younger.
“That’s not a decision you need to be making now,” she told her daughter. “And it certainly isn’t one you should base on what happened between your father and me. Look at your uncle Elliott and Karen and how happy they are.”
“But Karen’s first husband was a real jerk,” Selena reminded her. “So was Raylene’s. I heard all about how he abused her and then came here and tried to kill her.”
“But Raylene has Carter now and they’re expecting a baby,” Adelia reminded her. “She found real happiness this time, the kind that will last.”
“But there’s no way to know for sure,” Selena protested. “I’ll bet you thought Dad was great at first or you wouldn’t have fallen in love with him. The same with Karen and Raylene. They’re smart, too, and look what happened to them.”
“Okay, here’s what I know,” Adelia said, brushing a lock of hair back from Selena’s damp cheek. “People make mistakes. And sometimes people change. Human beings are flawed, but that doesn’t mean you should never take a risk. The important thing is that it be an informed risk, one you only take after very careful thought. And even then, if you get it wrong, you pick up the pieces and move on.”
Even as she said the words meant to reassure her daughter, Adelia realized they were very similar to the sentiment that Elliott had expressed to her. She wondered if she was any more capable of hearing them right now than Selena was.
“How do you do that, though?” Selena asked. “Move on, I mean? You make it sound easy, but it’s not.”
“No, it’s not,” Adelia said. “But you do it because you must and you do it one day at a time. Some days will be easier than others.”
“I made today harder, didn’t I?” Selena asked, real regret in her voice.
“You did,” Adelia said, unwilling to gloss over the effect her behavior had. “But I understand why you came here. Sometimes I forget that you’re not a grown-up and that all these decisions your dad and I have made affect you in ways I might not even realize. But, baby, you need to talk to me about it, not take off.” She tucked a finger under Selena’s chin and forced her to look into her eyes. “Deal?”
Selena nodded slowly. “Deal.” Her expression turned worried. “How much trouble am I in? Grounded is a given, huh?”
“Grounded is a given,” Adelia agreed. “But I imagine we can smooth things over at school, even though they have a very low tolerance for skipping classes. You’ll need to apologize to your teacher and to the principal for worrying them.”
Selena didn’t look happy, but she nodded. “Anybody else?”
“Raylene and Carter for inconveniencing them,” Adelia said. “Mitch Franklin, who dropped everything to help look for you, and his cousin Gabe, who drove me around to all the places I thought you might be, then brought me here.”
“I don’t even know him,” Selena protested. “Why did he help?”
“Because that’s what people do in Serenity,” Adelia told her. “I know you think this town is way too small and old-fashioned and that you can’t wait to get away, but the positive side of living here is that we look out for each other. We pitch in when anyone’s in trouble.”
It was something she was just coming to realize for herself, and in the past few months, when her world had been turned upside down, she’d been grateful for all the support, sometimes from the most unexpected people. Gabe Franklin, she was forced to concede, fell into that category.
* * *
Gabe stayed on the job until after eight, running the numbers Ronnie Sullivan had given him for new steel support beams until he had a proposal ready to pass along to Mitch first thing in the morning. While he’d told himself it was the responsible thing to do, he knew the real reason he was still at the construction site was to keep himself from heading over to Swan Point to check on Adelia and her daughter.
“She’s not your responsibility,” he muttered to himself on more than one occasion when he found his thoughts straying to her panicked expression when she’d first found out her daughter was missing.
For the entire hour he’d been with her, though, she’d lost control only once when what-if calamities had crept into her head. He thought he’d done an okay job of diverting her attention before she could sink into real despair. Other than that moment, she’d shown admirable strength. After his own childhood, it had been eye-opening to see how a good mother handled things.
He was about to turn out the lights, lock up and head for Rosalina’s, when the door opened and Elliott Cruz walked in. Gabe stilled at the sight of him. He’d seen the protectiveness in the other man’s eyes earlier and couldn’t help wondering what had brought him here now. A warning to stay away, perhaps? Gabe was ready to reassure him on that point. He intended to steer clear of Adelia as much as possible for his own peace of mind.
“Elliott, right?” he asked, seizing the initiative and holding out his hand. “We didn’t really meet earlier.”
Adelia’s brother looked startled, but he shook his hand.
“What brings you by?” Gabe asked.
“I came to apologize,” Elliott told him.
The statement took Gabe by surprise. “Why?”
“Because you pitched in to help this afternoon and I came on too strong and all but attacked you when you came into the gym with my sister.”
Gabe shrugged. “You didn’t have all the facts.”
“No, I certainly didn’t,” Elliott said. “Adelia would be the first to tell you, jumping to conclusions is a bad habit of mine. In my family I was the only son with three sisters. They were all older, but I took on the role of protecting them when our father died. Sometimes I’ve been known to get carried away.”
“Seems to me they’re lucky to have someone looking out for them,” Gabe said.
“Tell them that,” Elliott replied, his expression rueful. “I don’t get half the gratitude you might expect, especially from Adelia. She’s the oldest and always thought she should be protecting me.”
“That whole dynamic is a mystery to me,” Gabe admitted. “I was an only child.”
“But you had cousins, right? I thought I heard you and Mitch are related. And there are other Franklins around town.”
“Mitch and I are cousins, but we weren’t that close growing up. I might as well tell you straight-out that I was the black sheep of the family and my mom was a pariah in the family and around town. You won’t hear a lot good said about either of us.”
Elliott frowned at that. “Black sheep?” he repeated, worry back in his expression.
“Reformed,” Gabe assured him. “I haven’t gotten into a brawl in years. Haven’t really needed to since my mom died and I stopped needing to stand up for her.”
Unhappy with himself for revealing far more about his past than he was in the habit of doing, he held Elliott’s gaze. “You’ve apologized. I’ve accepted. Anything else?”
Though Elliott looked faintly taken aback by his direct words, he didn’t look away. “Just one more thing,” he said. “I saw you at Rosalina’s the other night. I saw the way you were looking at Adelia. Saw it again earlier today, in fact.”
“Look, I don’t know what you think you saw—”
Elliott smiled. “I know what I saw,” he corrected. “I saw a man who’s hungry for a woman. It’s a look I recognize, so a word of warning. Don’t start something with my sister that you have no intention of finishing. She’s feeling overwhelmed and vulnerable these days. I don’t want her hurt again.”
“Not my intention, believe me,” Gabe said, respecting the directness, even if it made him uncomfortable to be having this conversation with a man he’d barely met. “I have plenty on my plate these days. I’m not looking for a fling and I’m certainly not in the market for anything more serious.”
“If that’s the case, then steer clear of Adelia,” Elliott said. “That’s the best way I know to avoid any misunderstandings.”
Even though it was advice he’d already been telling himself to heed, Gabe took exception to being warned off. “Look, I respect the fact that you’re only looking out for your sister, but she strikes me as a woman who’s smart enough to know her own mind. I doubt she’d appreciate you running interference for her.”
To his surprise, Elliott laughed at that. “No question about it,” he conceded. “She’d be furious, so maybe it would be best if we kept this conversation just between us.”
Gabe relaxed. Despite Elliott’s tendency to come on too strong, he had to respect his intentions. “I can do that. No reason at all for us to be crossing paths except casually. I can’t imagine the topic coming up.”
Elliott looked relieved. He hesitated, then said, “I missed dinner at home to come by here. Since you’ve obviously been working late, I’m guessing you haven’t eaten, either. Feel like grabbing a pizza at Rosalina’s?”
Since he’d been planning to head over there anyway, Gabe saw no reason to refuse the overture. He figured the cross-examination and warnings were out of the way. It might be nice to have some guy talk instead of eating all alone. Eating with Elliott would sure as heck keep his thoughts from straying to Adelia, and that had to be a good thing.
“Sure,” he said.
He finished locking up, then followed Elliott to the Italian restaurant. To ensure that the conversation stayed on less disquieting topics, he asked about Fit for Anything and Elliott’s role there.
“I’m just one of the partners,” Adelia’s brother explained, describing the agreement he’d made with several of the men in town to run the place in exchange for a share. “I’m a personal trainer there and at The Corner Spa, too.”
“Sounds like a demanding schedule,” Gabe said.
Elliott nodded. “You have no idea, especially with two stepchildren and a new baby at home. Fortunately, I’m blessed with an understanding wife who has her own career. Karen’s just been promoted to sous-chef at Sullivan’s. Between her cooking and my mother’s, believe me, I need to work out even harder than most of my clients do.”
Gabe laughed. “If I keep existing on pizza, I’ll need to add a few extra workouts into my routine, too. I tell myself I’d eat healthier if I were in my own place, but the Serenity Inn will have to do for now.”
“That’s where you’re living?” Elliott asked, sounding shocked.
“I know its reputation as a place the locals go for trysts,” Gabe said. He’d known all about that when he’d been a kid, thanks to his mom, who’d been a frequent visitor. “But it’s clean and not too expensive.”
“Are you planning to look for your own place?”
“Sooner or later,” Gabe hedged. It all depended on how long it took for him to get antsy. The instant he sensed he might be starting to put down roots, it would be time to go. That was the pattern he’d established in a half-dozen other towns across the state. His motives for coming back to Serenity might be different, but there was no reason for that particular pattern to change.
“Well, if you decide you want to look at some houses or apartments, I know a couple of good Realtors. Mary Vaughn Lewis or her daughter can probably hook you up.”
“Mary Vaughn’s still around?” Gabe asked, not sure why he was so surprised. She’d been just a little ahead of him in school. It had always seemed to him that she was ambitious enough to take off at the first opportunity. She’d had her own family demons to battle back then, though she’d handled them better than he had.
“Wait a second,” he said. “Did you say Lewis? As in Sonny Lewis, the mayor’s son? That’s who she married?”
Elliott nodded. “They divorced, but they’re back together now and have a new baby, a boy.”
Gabe shook his head. The longer he stuck around, it seemed the more surprises awaited him. It was a little worrisome that he found that intriguing.