Tansy fretted.
Lamont Elliot wasn’t due to return from his fishing trip for two more days, and the waiting was agony. Beck’s dad had talked to Lamont over the phone, and he’d agreed to the sale, but with all this thinking time, she worried Pops might change his mind.
And she was absolutely, one hundred percent sure Beck wasn’t done fighting it. Their last few encounters had been civil. More than that. But he’d made his feelings about the house very clear.
To the casual observer, Beck came off as laid-back and easygoing. She knew him better than that casual observer, though, and when he got his teeth into something, he put a bulldog to shame. He’d no doubt argue with his grandpa about the sale, and maybe he’d win. After all, he was an Elliot. His feelings would and should carry a lot of weight.
Still, she’d hold fast to her dreams. Refusing to believe the sale wouldn’t go through, she drew up plans in between working on the wedding cakes for Magnolia House’s brides while her mom and Gracie did gardening and household chores. The only way to keep her sanity was to stay busy.
* * *
Tansy was trying her best to cajole a pouting Gracie to eat her green beans when the doorbell rang.
“Mom, can you get that?”
“I certainly will.” Her mom’s heels tapped across the wood floor. “Lamont, how nice to see you! Come in, please. How was the fishing?”
“Absolutely great. Caught one this big.”
Her mother chuckled. “I’ll just bet you did, and if I ask Earle, he’ll back you up and tell me about the one he caught. My guess? It’ll be a foot or two bigger than yours.”
Lamont’s hearty laugh echoed in the house.
“Who’s that, Mama?” Wide-eyed, Gracie scooted off her chair and hurried to Tansy’s side, clutching the leg of her slacks.
She stood and hitched her daughter up onto one hip. “He’s the man who owns that beautiful house we’re gonna buy, sweetie.”
Strangely shy, Gracie hid her face in her mom’s neck as they walked into the living room.
“Mr. Elliot!”
“Tansy, honey. Come here and let an old man give you a hug.”
She did just that, Gracie squirming between them.
“And who are you, young lady?”
Peeking at him, she said, “Gracie Bella Forbes. I’m this many years old.” She held up four fingers.
Lamont laughed again. “Is that right?”
She nodded bashfully.
“Well, you sure are a cutie. I like that skirt.” He pointed at the purple tulle ballerina skirt Gracie had insisted on wearing to dinner.
“Me too.” Gracie ran a hand over the skirt and picked up one end to hold out to him, her shyness forgotten. “It’s tickly.”
The old man rubbed the skirt between his thumb and forefinger. “Does it bother you?”
“Nope, it’s my favorite.”
“You’ve got good taste. So does your mama.” He met Tansy’s eyes. “Heard you’re in the market for a house.”
Her heart hammered.
Before she could answer, her mother asked, “Would you like some iced tea, Lamont? Coffee?”
“No thanks, Rexanna,” he boomed. “Judy had dinner ready when I got home.” He patted his stomach. “Afraid I overindulged, but that woman’s chicken pot pie is the best there is. On top of that, she had a loaf of homemade bread right out of the oven.”
“Your son married one of the best cooks in the Low Country. Tansy, how about you?”
She shook her head. “I’m good.”
“I think I’d like a cup of coffee.” She reached her arms toward Gracie. “Why don’t I take my grandbaby to the kitchen to help and you two can talk?”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“You’re welcome.” The little girl now in her arms, Rexanna turned to Lamont. “Don’t be makin’ yourself a stranger now. Have a seat.”
The big man dropped onto the sofa and nodded toward the other end as Rexanna and Gracie left the room.
Tansy sat down, then blurted, “You know Beck is against this, don’t you?”
Oh, sweet Jesus! She could have cut out her own tongue. That was hardly the way to sweet-talk him into selling to her, but there it was. The elephant in the room.
He nodded. “Understood. My wife and I raised our children there. It was a happy home, but it hasn’t been since I lost my Elsie. I want it to be happy again.” He leaned toward her and laid a worn and gnarled hand on her cheek. “If I’m not misreading those beautiful eyes, I don’t think you’ve had all that much happiness lately, either. We’ll see if we can change that. For you and the house.”
She couldn’t stop the tears. “I love you, Mr. Elliot.”
He wrapped her in a warm, comforting hug. “I love you, too, sweetheart. I…”
He didn’t have to finish. He’d hoped she’d be part of his family—so had she.
“I want you and that sweet little girl to make that house your home. Stanton tells me you’ve agreed to my price with no quibbling.”
“It seemed fair.”
“It is fair. Thing is, the family have all settled into their own homes. Nobody jumped at it when I offered it to them.”
“Beck would now, just to keep me out of it.”
“He might, but since he’s already refused once, I’m holdin’ him to that. His own little place suits him fine.”
She nodded. “He’s upset with me, Mr. Elliot. He probably will be with you, too.”
He patted her hand. “Don’t you worry about my grandson. He’ll come around.”
“I hurt him.”
His eyes grew sad. “You did, sweetie, you certainly did. I can’t argue that. Not a single one of us, though, gets to rewrite our history. It is what it is, and we take it from here.”
A single tear trickled down her cheek, and he thumbed it away.
“And, Tansy? Call me Pops like you used to.”
Sniffing, she nodded. Elsie Elliot had been one lucky woman to have shared her life with this wonderful man.
She thought of Emerson. Would he have wiped away her tear?
She nearly snorted. Hardly. He’d have reminded her she wasn’t a pretty crier and that her nose and mascara were running. Then he’d go out and lose a week’s salary at one of his illicit backroom gambling clubs and blame it on her.
Beck? During their years together, he’d wiped plenty of her tears. During her father’s funeral he’d been a rock and had given her the strength to endure those awful days. Then she’d stabbed him in the back.
She brought herself back to the here and now.
“I’ll talk to Kemper and get the legal wheels rolling. That is if you’re certain you want to buy the old homestead.”
“I do.”
He held out a hand, and they shook.
“You’ve got yourself a home, missy.”
“Thank you.” She hesitated. “Pops.”
She threw her arms around him and savored the moment, then pulled away.
“My guess is it’ll take a little time to get all the legal rigmarole out of the way.” He dug in his pocket and came out with a key. “Take this. That way if you need some measurements or whatever, you can get inside the house.”
“I can’t take your key.”
“Sure you can.” He took her hand, turned it palm up, and dropped the key in it. Curling her fingers over it, he said, “There you go. The house belongs to you now. Take good care of her.”
* * *
The next couple of weeks veered close to insanity. The bride and groom gushed over the Vegas wedding cake and the Elvis groom’s cake. The vintage wedding cake stole everyone’s breath, and the bride cried. Before the debris from those weddings had even been cleared, Jenni Beth handed her three more cake orders.
How did they all keep up?
Every time she visited Magnolia House, Tansy caught herself studying the cameras Beck had placed around the estate. Jenni Beth had told her about what happened—or, at least, what she suspected. Why in the world would anyone go through her files? It made no sense.
Then there was her new house! Even with a cash closing, there were reams of paperwork. Kemper Dobson, the Elliot family’s attorney since the dawn of time, had handled all their legal needs over the years. Because of that, he was able to expedite things.
Since he’d done a lot of work for her parents over the years, too, Tansy trusted Mr. Dobson and let him take care of everything.
And the key Mr. Elliot had given her? She was close to being ashamed of how many times she’d used it. Sometimes alone, sometimes with her mom or Coralee. Her aunt was working on a sign for her: Tansy’s Sweet Dreams.
A few afternoons and early evenings, she’d simply gone inside and sat in the middle of the living room floor or out on the back patio, unable to believe this incredible house belonged to her. At least it would, as soon as she signed on the dotted line and handed over the check—the check funded by her father.
Her chest tightened. She missed her dad with her whole heart. They’d shared a special bond. When she’d received that phone call at college telling her he’d died, she’d lost it.
Her world had never been, would never be, the same.
Enough of that. Her dad would want her to look toward the future rather than back at the past.
Speaking of the past. She’d been so sure she’d hear from Beck, if only to argue with her some more. It wasn’t like him to take this lying down, and it made her nervous.
Today she and Gracie had driven to a little antique shop on the outskirts of town. One of the things she’d packed in her SUV and brought with her to Misty Bottoms was her teacup collection. A fragile cup and saucer trimmed in gold, with gorgeous red roses splashed across them, had caught her eye when she and Emerson had been first married.
She’d bought it.
After that, everywhere she went, she added a teacup and saucer to her collection. She’d kept them boxed up in the closet of one of their extra bedrooms. Now? She’d use them to serve her customers. But she’d need more, and that meant hitting all the area shops. She grinned. Tough job, but somebody had to do it.
She and Gracie bought six that day, one with tiny bluebirds darting across the china. Another bloomed with pale-blue forget-me-nots. A black-and-white teapot had come home with them, too. She’d start watching for cups to go with it.
About a mile from the house, Gracie gave in to the yawns and fell asleep. Tansy lifted her eyes to the mirror and smiled at the sight of her daughter, rosy cheeked, head slumped to the right, and hoped happy dreams kept her company.
Tansy had had a whopper of a dream last night, with Beck playing the starring role. When she’d awakened this morning, she’d half expected to find him there, cuddled into her, his arms around her. Instead, she’d been the bed’s sole occupant.
Would she sleep alone forever? She hoped not. Even after Emerson, the romance of Magnolia House and her brides wasn’t lost on her. She wanted a shot at the dream again.
When they reached her mom’s, Tansy carefully carried the still-sleeping child inside. A finger to her lips warned her mom.
After she had Grace tucked in, she found her mom on the back porch, two glasses of iced tea waiting.
“Good trip?”
“The best.” She shared what they’d found. “I’ll wait till Gracie wakes to bring them inside. Right now I’ll take these few minutes to relax with you.” She sank onto one of the wicker chairs and rested her feet on the footstool.
“Good, because there’s something I want to talk about.”
Tansy sat up straighter. “Everything okay?”
“Absolutely.” Rexanna sipped her tea. “I’d like to have a welcome-home party for you, honey.”
“My comin’ back isn’t really a cause for celebration, Mom.”
“It is to me.”
“Who do you intend to invite?”
“I haven’t made a list, but I thought we should have all your friends and a few of mine. We’ll invite some children for Gracie to play with, too.”
“Jenni Beth?” Tansy asked.
“Of course.”
“Cole?”
She nodded.
“Cricket and Sam?”
Her mother smiled. “Aren’t they the cutest couple?”
“They are. What about Cricket’s cousin?”
“Who?”
“Beck.”
Her mother started to nod. “Oh. No, I don’t suppose that would be a good idea.”
“Me, either. But all of Beck’s friends would be here?”
“Oh dear.”
“Oh dear is right, Mom. We can’t have a party. It would be too awkward.”
On a reluctant sigh, Rexanna agreed. “I suppose that’s true, but it doesn’t seem right. I’m so happy to have you back. It feels like we should do something.”
“Tell you what.” She leaned toward her mother. “Why don’t we have a girls’ day?”
Her mother threw up her hands. “Perfect. We’ll still have fun, but skirt the Beck issue. What do you have in mind?”
“Let’s make it Sunday, so no one has to take off work, and since the weather’s so beautiful, how about a tea party right here in your backyard?”
“With hats.”
“Big, gorgeous hats. We can use my teacups. I’m not sure I have enough pots, though.”
“We can round up some, and I’m sure Coralee has a few,” her mom said. “Let me worry about that.”
She went inside and came back with a small notebook and a pen. Heads together, they fussed with the list.
“Instead of sending invitations, why don’t we do phone invites instead? It’ll be more personal.”
“Agreed. You want to make the calls or should I?” Rexanna asked.
“Why don’t we divide them up? It’ll go faster that way. You know we’ll have a few who want to chat.”
“True.” Mom took her half and went inside to start calling.
Tansy pulled out her cell. She’d squeeze in a few before Gracie woke. Before she made the first, she closed her eyes for a few seconds, felt the gentle warmth of the autumn day on her face.
She and Gracie were exactly where they needed to be.