LITMIR.BIZ

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      “That is so not possible,” Rory Sue retorted. “Bye, Mom.”

      “Bye, sweetie.”

      As she disconnected the call, Mary Vaughn resolved to find some way to make good on her promise, even if she had to start speaking to Rory Sue’s beloved daddy—and her very estranged ex-husband—to accomplish it.

      Jeanette had been avoiding Maddie all morning. She knew the subject of her involvement on the town’s Christmas festival planning committee was far from over. There was also bound to be a discussion about why Jeanette was so opposed to participating in anything related to Christmas. In fact, she fully expected Maddie to call in the big guns—Dana Sue and Helen—before all was said and done.

      When it came to something like this, the Sweet Magnolias were a team. Jeanette might be a member, but they could pull rank on her. When one of them fell out of step for any reason, the others rallied. She’d seen it happen more than once. She was dreading it. Last night’s encounter with Dana Sue had been a mild precursor to what today was likely to hold. And the more she’d thought about trying to convince Maddie to turn the project over to Elliot, the less she’d believed the suggestion would be taken seriously—especially if Maddie was matchmaking.

      “You don’t seem to be your usual perky self,” Mary Vaughn Lewis said as Jeanette smoothed moisturizer onto her throat and face.

      “Sorry,” she said, forcing a smile. “My mind’s been on other things all day.” Then she deliberately changed the subject. “How’s your daughter doing? Is she happy being back at school? She’s at Clemson, right?”

      Usually asking about Rory Sue was enough to send Mary Vaughn off and running, and today was no exception, though Jeanette could sense an underlying tension in her client as she spoke about how well her daughter was doing at college.

      “You’re saying all the right words,” Jeanette said after a minute. “But something’s bothering you. Do you think she’s unhappy?”

      “Unhappy with me,” Mary Vaughn admitted. “I won’t let her go skiing in Aspen over Christmas.”

      “Why not?”

      “Because the holidays are meant to be spent with family,” Mary Vaughn said as if it were the law.

      “Not necessarily,” Jeanette said carefully. “I mean, sometimes it’s great, if everyone gets along really well, but half the families I know are totally dysfunctional. They’d all be much happier if they didn’t spend ten minutes together over the holidays.”

      “Is your family one of those?”

      “You have no idea,” Jeanette said, then clamped her mouth shut. She’d already revealed too much. She needed to get the focus back on Mary Vaughn and her daughter. “Maybe you could go to Aspen, too. Then you’d both get what you want. You and Rory Sue would be together and she’d be able to ski with her friends. What’s really keeping you in Serenity?”

      “Tradition,” Mary Vaughn insisted. “And it would break her daddy’s heart not to have her home for the holidays. When it comes to Christmas, Sonny is all about family. So is that daddy of his.”

      “You mean Mayor Lewis,” Jeanette said.

      Mary Vaughn nodded. “I swear that man spends the entire year thinking about playing Santa for all the kids. Serenity’s Christmas festival is his very favorite thing on earth. Now that I’m president of the chamber of commerce, I’m going to have to serve on the festival committee, and I’m here to tell you it is not something I’m looking forward to. Howard and I are like oil and water on a good day, and believe me, good days are few and far between.”

      Jeanette regarded her with genuine sympathy. “Ever thought of delegating?”

      “Send some underling and imply that the festival committee isn’t the absolutely most important thing in my life? Are you kidding me? I’d never hear the end of it from Howard.”

      “Maddie wants me to represent The Corner Spa on the committee,” Jeanette admitted. “I said no.”

      Mary Vaughn’s eyes lit up. “You didn’t!” she protested. “You have to do it. You’ll save my sanity. Please, Jeanette, promise me you’ll change your mind. If we’re on the committee together, it’ll be fun.”

      Jeanette couldn’t imagine how Mary Vaughn could say that, especially knowing she’d have to deal with her former father-in-law, who was one of the most pompous residents of Serenity.

      “Maddie might let you off the hook,” Mary Vaughn continued, “but I won’t let you say no to me. I want you to commit to doing this right this second. Please. We’ll have a ball. You and me trying to keep all those stuffy old men on their toes. I know you love a challenge as much as I do. Say yes.” She regarded Jeanette hopefully, then waited.

      Jeanette sighed. “Maybe,” she said at last. It was as much of a commitment as she was prepared to make. A flat-out no, sadly, was getting harder and harder to say.

      3

      Tom had one more meeting on his calendar for Friday and then he intended to head to Charleston for a command appearance at one of his mother’s charity events. He’d promised to spend the night, but he intended to be back in Serenity first thing on Saturday so he could start looking for an apartment or a house.

      His phone buzzed. “Cal Maddox is here to see you,” Teresa chirped with her unflagging cheeriness.

      “Am I supposed to know who he is?”

      She sighed. “I’ll be right in.”

      “I didn’t ask you to come in,” he muttered, but he was talking to a dead line. His office door was already opening…and closing.

      With her short, steel-gray hair, rounded figure and penchant for flowered blouses and pastel slacks, Teresa looked as if she ought to be home baking cookies, but she ran this office with the efficiency of a drill sergeant. Right now she was regarding him with motherly dismay.

      “If you and I are going to get along, you have to pay attention when I talk to you,” she scolded. “Or at the very least, read what I write on that calendar I give you every morning.”

      Tom winced. “Sorry,” he murmured, shuffling papers until he found the neatly prepared schedule for his day that he’d barely glanced at. He’d jotted his own notes on an At-AGlance calendar. This meeting wasn’t on that.

      “Okay, here it is,” he confirmed, finding it on Teresa’s schedule. “Cal Maddox, high school baseball coach.” He stared up blankly. “Why does he want to see me? I don’t have anything to do with the school system.”

      Teresa gave him an impatient look and gestured toward the paper.

      “Regarding starting a Little League program in the town,” he read aloud.

      She nodded. “I do my job. You need to get used to my system.”

      Tom barely contained a grin. In most places he’d worked, it was the boss who got to devise the system. “I’ll try,” he promised dutifully.

      She regarded him with blatant skepticism. “We’ll see,” she said with a little huff. “Shall I send Cal in now?”

      “Please do.”

      A minute later, the coach walked in, a grin on his face. “What’d you do to tick off Teresa?”

      Tom hesitated, then shrugged. “Almost everything I do ticks off Teresa. Most recently I failed to read her notes.”

      Cal held out a callused hand, shook Tom’s, then said, “Just so you understand, Teresa’s been essentially running Serenity for the past fifteen years. You’re an interloper.”

      “She was town manager?” Tom asked, startled by the information. “No one mentioned that.”

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