Tansy, her auburn hair curling wildly, breezed into Magnolia House an hour later, unannounced.
“I can’t believe you came!” Jenni Beth threw herself at her friend.
After a long, heartfelt hug, Tansy said, “I can only stay a couple hours. I promised Emerson I’d be home tonight, but I had to see you, to be part of this in some small way. You have to be so excited.”
“I am.” Jenni Beth tipped her head and studied her friend. “Do you ever call him anything else?”
“Who?”
“Emerson. It’s so formal. Does he have a nickname?”
“Are you kidding?”
She shrugged. “Where’s Gracie?”
“I left her with Grandma. The two had big plans for the afternoon.”
Tansy’s smile didn’t quite reach her emerald eyes. When they’d hugged, Jenni Beth swore she felt Tansy’s ribs, she was that thin.
“I’m sorry I was short with you on the phone.” Tansy shrugged. “It wasn’t a good day.”
“Tansy, can I do anything to help?”
Her friend stiffened. “I came to help you, not the other way around.”
“I know, but…”
She shook her head. “I’m fine.”
Liar, liar, pants on fire. Jenni Beth bit her tongue. She couldn’t push. If and when her friend wanted to share, she would. Until then, Jenni Beth would have to bide her time. That didn’t mean it would be easy, though.
“So what do you need done?”
“Are you up for a little last-minute weeding?”
“You bet.”
“I left some gloves on the table out back. I’ve been after it all week, so this is kind of touch-up. Together we should finish in no time.”
“I’ll get them,” Tansy said.
Jenni Beth picked up the pruners she’d laid down when Tansy had driven up. As she straightened, she saw Beck round the corner of the house and, literally, collide with Tansy.
Uh-oh.
Beck reacted as though he’d been threatened him with a bucket of scalding water. Hands in the air, he backed up. Without a single word, he shot off in the opposite direction.
Tansy stood without moving, but Jenni Beth swore her shoulders sagged.
Jenni Beth closed her eyes. Why couldn’t these two, who’d loved each other, at least be friends?
When Tansy returned with the work gloves, they set off for the rose garden. Beck’s name didn’t come up in their conversation.
Ruthlessly searching out even the smallest weed, Tansy said, “I can hear the questions in your head, Jenni Beth, so let me lay it out there. Emerson and I are still together, but our marriage isn’t good. We fight all the time. We haven’t slept together in—” She gave a half-laugh. “It’s been so long I couldn’t even tell you.”
“Why don’t you leave? Nobody would blame you.”
“I—”
The crunch of tires had them both turning.
Tansy rested a hand on her friend’s. “Please don’t say anything about this to the others.”
Jenni Beth crossed her heart.
Cole slid from his truck, and Tansy ran to greet him. He swept her off her feet in a huge bear hug.
“Gosh, it’s good to see you, Tanz.” He reached behind him and shut the truck door, meeting Jenni Beth’s gaze over their friend’s head. “I brought that arbor I was tellin’ you about, sugar. Why don’t you come take a peek and see if it’ll work?”
“I wondered where you’d disappeared to.” She moved to the back of the truck as he jumped into the bed to lift the white latticed arch.
“It’s perfect.” She clapped.
He jumped out, and without thinking, she gave him a big kiss. Red-faced, she stepped back.
Tansy sent her a mischievous grin. “So that’s the way the wind’s blowing.”
“It’s more of a storm most of the time,” Cole said. “Your friend here has a real temper. And, boy, can she hold a grudge.”
“That’s so not true,” Jenni Beth argued.
“Yes, it is,” the other two said together.
She stuck out her tongue.
“There’s maturity for you,” Cole said. “I have somethin’ else to show you. If you approve, I’ll hang it today.”
Jenni Beth watched as he reached into the backseat and withdrew a long, blanket-wrapped bundle. When he uncovered the wood and wrought-iron sign, she simply stared at it. Words deserted her.
Magnolia Brides, in elaborate script, had been engraved into the wood. Magnolia blossoms formed the dots over the i’s. The wrought-iron bracket suited it perfectly.
“What d’ya think?”
“Cole, it’s incredible. I love it.” She launched herself at him. “It’s real, isn’t it? Magnolia Brides is real.”
“It is. You want me to hang it by the carriage house door?”
“Yes. Oh yes!” She laughed, raising her hands to her cheeks.
“First, though, let me get this arbor in place. Tanz, this isn’t heavy, but it’s kind of awkward. Why don’t you grab one end, and we can carry it out to the garden while Jenni Beth admires her new sign.”
As they moved off, Beck came back toward the front of the house. “There are a couple small things I’d like to finish. I know you don’t want any more mess till after tomorrow’s wedding, but I promise to keep out of your way.”
“It’s fine. The sooner all this is done, the better.”
“Anything else you need right now? For tomorrow?” He hitched up his tool belt.
“Nope.” She showed him the sign. “Isn’t it wonderful?”
“It is. You want me to hang it?”
“No, Cole’s going to. It amazes me, but I think we’re good. I desperately wanted a tent in case the weather turns bad or someone needs shade, but no matter how I crunch the numbers, I can’t find a way to justify the cost.”
“Why didn’t you say somethin’? I’ve got one at the lumberyard that should be large enough considering Stella’s small group.”
She shook her head. “I can’t afford it, Beck.”
“I’ll put it on your tab. When this place is rollin’ in dough, we’ll settle up.”
“Beck—”
“Nope. No arguing with me about it. The thing’s packed in a box doing nothin’ but takin’ up space. Might as well get it out and dust it off.”
She grinned and threw herself into his arms, giving him a hug and a big smooch.
Cole felt Tansy tense beside him. He understood her feelings exactly. The sight of his girl in another man’s arms didn’t go down very well. The fact she hadn’t admitted yet that she was his girl made no difference.
And Tansy and Beck? Man, those two had themselves some history. How had their lives—all of them—derailed so badly?
Voice carefully neutral, he said, “Doesn’t mean anything, Tanz. She does that all the time. With everybody.”
“I know. It doesn’t matter to me, anyway. I’m a married woman, remember?”
The sadness in those big beautiful eyes just about cut him off at the knees. “Come on, sugar, it’s all gonna be okay.” A finger beneath her chin, he pleaded, “Don’t you dare cry. I can deal with almost anything but a woman’s tears. They destroy me.”
Her chin quivered, but she sent him a watery smile. “Let’s stand this trellis up and see how it looks.”
“Deal.”
They’d no sooner finished than his phone chirped.
Jimmy Don. Cole listened as he walked back toward Jenni Beth. Finished, he pocketed his cell.
“That was the sheriff,” he said.
“Did Richard confess?”
“He’s dancin’ around it right now. Jimmy Don probably won’t be able to charge him with much more than mastermindin’ the vandalism, but Thorndike played fast and loose with moral and ethical codes. All things considered, I imagine we can renegotiate that bank loan of yours and have your bottomland removed as collateral.”
“He wanted my land even before I went in, didn’t he?”
“Yeah. You got sucked into a game of dominoes, sugar. You owned the land, your folks were in financial trouble and always dealt with his bank. Richard knew it was only a matter of time till you came in for a loan. You’d have to give up the one asset you had.”
“What if I hadn’t gone to him?”
“He’d have made it work somehow or another. When the mob’s squeezin’ you, you do whatever it takes. You threw a wrench into his plans by refusin’ to sell him the land outright.”
Cole dropped onto a stone bench and pulled her down beside him. He’d already filled Tansy in on their morning, and she sat in the grass beside them.
“How’s Pia tied into this?”
“Her dad. Word is he has ties to the family, if you know what I mean. Kind of a Gotti-wannabe. My guess is that Richard’s more afraid of D’Amato than of jail time, so I doubt he’ll roll on him.”
“Why would he get mixed up with someone like that?”
“Jimmy Don’s been pokin’ into that. Turns out our bank president likes to gamble. He’s probably into D’Amato for a huge hunk of change. Following Gloria’s hunch, Jimmy Don contacted Coastal Plains’ headquarters, and they’ve already got a team on the way from Savannah.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, wow. He probably dipped in the till to stall D’Amato until he got his hands on your land. And that might earn him some jail time.”
“This will give them something to talk about at Dee-Ann’s,” Tansy said. “Who said Misty Bottoms was a quiet little town?”