LITMIR.BIZ

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Isn’t that reason enough?” She stuffed another spoonful of bread pudding into her mouth. She’d already eaten more than she should have. All that sugar was beginning to make her feel a little queasy.

      “If you’re that opposed to serving on the committee, I know Maddie won’t force it,” Dana Sue reassured her. “But maybe you should tell her why.”

      Jeanette shook her head. If she explained, she would have to dredge up way too many painful memories. “It’s not something I want to talk about. Can’t we leave it at that?”

      Dana Sue studied her sympathetically. “You know Maddie is a mother hen. She’ll worry if she doesn’t know the whole story, and she’ll nag you until she knows what’s going on. My advice is, just spill it and get it over with.”

      “No,” Jeanette said flatly. “You guys hired me to run a day spa. Christmas was never part of the deal. If it’s going to turn into this huge issue, maybe I don’t belong here.”

      “That’s ridiculous!” Dana Sue said, her expression alarmed. “Of course you belong here. We love you like a sister. You are not going to leave just because you don’t want to serve on the town’s Christmas festival committee. Maddie will figure something out. Maybe Elliot can do it. Or one of the other employees.”

      Jeanette’s eyes brightened at the mention of the spa’s top-notch personal trainer. “Elliot would be good. Now that he and Karen are together, he gets all mushy about every holiday on the calendar.” She warmed to the idea. “Plus, he’d be great at climbing ladders and doing all the physical stuff that’ll need to be done. Not to mention what excellent eye candy he is. All the women in town will be volunteering to serve on the committee.”

      “Good points,” Dana Sue said with a grin. “Be sure to mention them to Maddie. Now, why don’t I get you a real dinner. The catfish is especially good tonight.”

      Jeanette shook her head, shoving away the half-empty bowl of bread pudding. “I’m stuffed.”

      “And feeling better?” Dana Sue asked.

      “A hundred percent better,” Jeanette confirmed. “Thanks, Dana Sue.”

      “Anytime,” she said as she slid out of the booth. “But before you make a final decision about this whole committee thing, there’s one thing you should probably consider.”

      Jeanette froze. She’d thought the matter settled. She’d go to Maddie, recommend Elliot for the job and that would be that. She eyed Dana Sue warily. “Oh?”

      “The new town manager will be running the committee.”

      “So?”

      “He was in here with the mayor the other night,” Dana Sue told her. “He’s a real hottie.” She grinned. “And I hear he’s single.”

      Jeanette’s gaze instantly narrowed. “Is that what this is about? Are you and Maddie matchmaking?”

      “Wouldn’t dream of it,” Dana Sue replied innocently. “Just reporting what I know so you can make a fully informed decision.”

      “I’ve made my decision,” Jeanette said emphatically. “And I’m not looking for a man. You’ve just given me one more reason for saying no to this.”

      Dana Sue smiled knowingly. “I seem to recall Maddie saying those exact words not long before she walked down the aisle with Cal. Helen’s protests were even more forceful right before she married Erik. And I was pretty fierce about declaring I had zero interest in remarrying Ronnie. Just look at us now.”

      Jeanette blanched. “But I’m serious.”

      Dana Sue chuckled. “So were we, sweetie. So were we.”

      After the mistakes she’d made in choosing men, Jeanette’s life had been refreshingly calm lately. Peaceful. She liked it that way. She really did. Oh, she might envy Maddie, Dana Sue and Helen their solid relationships, but guys like theirs were few and far between. And she knew for a fact they weren’t the kind she attracted.

      She gave Dana Sue a stern look. “Stay out of my love life.”

      “I wasn’t aware you had a love life,” Dana Sue responded.

      “Exactly my point. And that’s the way it’s going to stay.”

      “Famous last words,” Dana Sue said as she walked away.

      “I mean it,” Jeanette called after her. “I do.”

      Dana Sue merely waved. Even though Jeanette couldn’t see her face, she knew the other woman was smirking. She resolved then and there to take up drinking margaritas like the rest of the Sweet Magnolias. Then the next time she had a crisis, she could head for a bar instead of straight into a hornet’s nest of sage advice and friendly meddling.

      2

      Tom was still seething over his meeting with the mayor when he left the office and headed for the Serenity Inn. The prospect of a long, empty evening in his hotel room held little appeal. He needed some exercise, something so strenuous that it would drive all thoughts of that ridiculous conversation from his head.

      On his way to his room, he stopped at the front desk and asked Maybelle Hawkins if there was a health club in town. She frowned at the question.

      “Well, now, there’s Dexter’s Gym, but I’ll tell you the truth, the place is a dump. I hear Dexter has real good equipment over there and once in a while he slaps a fresh coat of paint on the walls, but that’s the extent of any renovations he’s done in the past thirty years. Men don’t seem to notice, but the women complained for years, for all the good it did.”

      “So Dexter’s Gym is my only choice?” Tom wasn’t averse to the smell of sweat or even a shabby decor, but he questioned whether a place like that would keep its equipment in good repair, despite what Maybelle said. “I thought I’d read something in a regional magazine about a place called The Corner Spa.”

      Maybelle’s eyes lit up. “Now that’s another story,” she said. “Just walking through the door is a soothing experience. The owners took an old Victorian house at Main Street and Palmetto Lane and turned it into something special. I haven’t used any of the fancy machines, but I’ve had a facial and a mud bath. Mud! Can you imagine such a thing? To tell you the truth, though, I never felt better.”

      Tom nodded. “Sounds like the perfect place,” he said. He seemed to recall that the article had been equally glowing.

      “It is, but you can forget about it,” Mabel said, an oddly triumphant glint in her eyes.

      “Why is that?”

      “It’s only open to women. After all those years of pleading with Dexter to fix his place up, they finally have a place of their own.”

      “You’re telling me that The Corner Spa discriminates?” he said, his ire stirring. “And nobody’s sued?”

      Maybelle gave him a blank look. “Why would they? It’s a spa for women. You men have had your private clubs and private golf courses for years. Now a few women get together and open something just for women and you want to sue? Give me a break.”

      Tom winced. His father had belonged to several of those private, men-only clubs, in fact. That wasn’t the point, though. This was a business, supposedly open to the public.

      “Come on,” he said. “You know it’s morally wrong, probably illegal.” He’d have to research that, look into those law books his father had bought in the hope that Tom would one day open his own law office in Charleston, actually use the law degree he’d earned.

      Maybelle didn’t seem the least bit impressed with his argument. “You’d have to take that up with one of the owners, but I’ll warn you about that. Helen Decatur’s the smartest attorney in town. Nobody with any sense goes against her.”

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