Where Azaleas Bloom Read online

  New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Sherryl Woods explores the healing power of a love strong enough to join two wounded families

  Single mom Lynn Morrow is determined to put food on the table for her son and daughter. Her soon-to-be-ex-husband has failed to meet his obligations time and again—but it turns out that Ed is struggling with his own demons.

  Enter contractor Mitch Franklin, an unlikely knight in shining armor. A widower with two grieving sons, Mitch once admired Lynn from afar. Now he sees in her not only the sweet girl who got away, but a woman desperately in need of support. While rushing to the rescue of Lynn and her children comes naturally, he’s also wise enough to encourage Lynn to find her own way…hopefully straight into his arms.

  Praise for the novels of Sherryl Woods

  “Woods…is noted for appealing, character-driven stories that are often infused with the flavor and fragrance of the South.”

  —Library Journal

  “Woods always thrills with her wonderful characters, witty dialogue and warm and loving family interactions.”

  —RT Book Reviews

  “Charming characters combine to create the interfering yet lovable O’Brien family…a satisfying, heartwarming conclusion to the Chesapeake Shores series.”

  —RT Book Reviews on The Summer Garden

  “Infused with the warmth and magic of the season, Woods’s fourth addition to her popular, small-town series once again unites the unruly, outspoken, endearing O’Brien clan in a touching, triumphant tale of forgiveness and love reclaimed.”

  —Library Journal on A Chesapeake Shores Christmas

  “A whimsical, sweet scenario…the digressions have their own charm, and Woods never fails to come back to the romantic point.”

  —Publishers Weekly on Sweet Tea at Sunrise

  “Woods’ readers will eagerly anticipate her trademark small-town setting, loyal friendships and honorable mentors as they meet new characters and reconnect with familiar ones in this heartwarming tale.”

  —Booklist on Home in Carolina

  “Redolent with Southern small-town atmosphere, this emotionally rich story deals with some serious issues and delivers on a number of levels.”

  —Library Journal on A Slice of Heaven

  Also by New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Sherryl Woods

  CATCHING FIREFLIES*

  MIDNIGHT PROMISES*

  THE SUMMER GARDEN***

  AN O’BRIEN FAMILY CHRISTMAS***

  BEACH LANE***

  MOONLIGHT COVE***

  DRIFTWOOD COTTAGE***

  RETURN TO ROSE COTTAGE†

  HOME AT ROSE COTTAGE†

  A CHESAPEAKE SHORES CHRISTMAS***

  HONEYSUCKLE SUMMER*

  SWEET TEA AT SUNRISE*

  HOME IN CAROLINA*

  HARBOR LIGHTS***

  FLOWERS ON MAIN***

  THE INN AT EAGLE POINT***

  WELCOME TO SERENITY*

  SEAVIEW INN

  MENDING FENCES

  FEELS LIKE FAMILY*

  A SLICE OF HEAVEN*

  STEALING HOME*

  WAKING UP IN CHARLESTON

  FLIRTING WITH DISASTER

  THE BACKUP PLAN

  DESTINY UNLEASHED

  FLAMINGO DINER

  ALONG CAME TROUBLE**

  ASK ANYONE**

  ABOUT THAT MAN**

  ANGEL MINE

  AFTER TEX

  *A Sweet Magnolia Novel

  **Trinity Harbor

  ***Chesapeake Shores

  †The Rose Cottage Sisters

  Look for Sherryl Woods’s next original novel

  CASTLE’S BY THE SEA

  Available May 2013

  Where Azaleas Bloom

  Dear Friends,

  So many people have been hit by hard economic times in recent years, but I’ve been particularly touched by women whose dire financial situation has been tied to a divorce. I wanted to write about one woman’s determination to get her family back on solid ground…and the hero who’s just as determined to stand by her. That theme, I thought, made a perfect Sweet Magnolia story, an example of the difficult periods in life when good friends can make all the difference.

  Where Azaleas Bloom focuses on Lynn Morrow, neighbor to Carter and Raylene. So many of you have asked to read more about them and how they’re doing since their marriage. It was a great way to put them front and center again, too. As books often do for me, this one took a surprising twist at the end, a twist that only adds to the complications faced by this struggling single mom.

  I hope you’ll be rooting for Lynn and her kids and that you’ll fall just a little bit in love with Mitch Franklin, a man wise enough to let her find her own way, but strong enough to be there if she falters. Observant readers will remember that Mitch appeared in the very first Sweet Magnolia book, Stealing Home. He’s the contractor who built The Corner Spa.

  I hope you enjoy this wrap-up to the latest trilogy and that you’ll also be looking for The Sweet Magnolias Cookbook, in stores now, too.

  All best,

  Sherryl

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Epilogue

  Questions for Discussion

  1

  Lynn Morrow was at her wit’s end. Her tiny desk tucked into a corner of the kitchen was piled high with bills and her checkbook balance was a stunningly low $24.35. Not since college had she seen such a scary balance.

  The refrigerator held a half-empty carton of milk, five eggs and some rapidly wilting lettuce. There was a can of diced tomatoes in the cupboard, along with a box of spaghetti, a few spoonfuls of peanut butter left in a jar and maybe a bowlful of Cheerios in the bottom of the box. That, too, reminded her of college. But it was one thing to scrape by at nineteen, and quite another to try to do it in her forties with kids to care for.

  “Mom, I’m starving,” Jeremy announced when he walked in the door from school. It was the standard cry of her ten-year-old. “What can I have for a snack?”

  Lexie, who was right on his heels, took one look at her mother, apparently interpreted her dire expression for the near-panic Lynn was feeling, and turned on her brother. “You don’t need food. You need sensitivity training.”

  Tears sprang to Lynn’s eyes as Jeremy bolted from the room. Lately, Alexis, who was only fourteen, had spent way too much time trying to protect her mother. Ever since the divorce proceedings had been initiated, Lynn had been struggling to make ends meet. She and Ed were still in court wrangling over everything from custody of the kids to support. The temporary order in place bar
ely kept her and the kids above water and, by the end of the month, she was scraping bottom financially, even with the part-time job she’d managed to find at her neighbor Raylene’s boutique on Serenity’s Main Street.

  One of these days she supposed she’d thank Ed for providing this unexpected life challenge, but she really, really wasn’t there yet. She was spitting mad, not because he’d left, but because of the upheaval he’d left in his wake.

  She’d worked hard to keep her worries from spilling over onto the kids, but Lexie was a smart girl. She’d quickly figured out what was going on. Sometimes her overnight transformation from carefree teen into world-weary adult nearly broke Lynn’s heart. Lexie should be paying attention to her grades, maybe having her first crush on a boy, not trying to be her mother’s savior.

  Now, with her brother gone in an indignant huff, Lexie came over to give Lynn a hug. She seemed to know instinctively just when Lynn was in desperate need of one.

  “Dad’s late with the check again, isn’t he? How bad is it?” Lexie asked.

  Lynn tried to reassure her. “We’re going to be fine, sweetie. I don’t want you to worry about this.”

  “We’re not going to be fine,” Lexie retorted angrily. “How did Dad turn out to be such a huge jerk?”

  Lynn wondered about the same thing, but somehow Ed had turned into a man she didn’t even recognize any longer. He’d taken his midlife crisis to new heights. He was self-absorbed, self-indulgent and thoughtless.

  His family might not have enough money to put food on the table, but she’d overheard a conversation two days ago when it was mentioned that he was off on some expensive golf vacation, his third in the past six months. The wife of one of his business associates apparently hadn’t realized Lynn was nearby when she’d made her remarks about Ed’s latest spending spree. Or perhaps she had, Lynn thought cynically.

  “Don’t talk about your father that way,” she admonished Lexie now, albeit halfheartedly. She didn’t want her children to start hating their father, but she wasn’t quite prepared to sing his praises, either. Every single day felt like a balancing act between her own ragged emotions and her children’s needs. No matter how upbeat she pretended to be, lately it seemed she wasn’t fooling anyone.

  Lexie’s eyes filled with tears, though it was impossible to tell if she was reacting to Lynn’s stern admonition or to her own panic. “It’s really bad, isn’t it?”

  “Bad enough,” Lynn admitted carefully. She gave Lexie’s hand a squeeze. “But this is a temporary blip, sweetheart. It will get sorted out. I promise.”

  “Are we going to have to move?” Lexie asked, giving voice to what was obviously her greatest fear.

  Lynn wasn’t one to sugarcoat bad news, though she’d hoped to have a plan in place before revealing the sad truth. “More than likely,” she said quietly.

  Though she’d been counting on Helen Decatur-Whitney, who was fierce when it came to getting the best possible settlement for her clients, she also knew that even Helen couldn’t work miracles. Still, she tried to reassure her daughter. “Hopefully, Helen will be able to work this out in court before it comes to that, but I won’t lie to you—giving up the house is a real possibility.”

  “But I love it here,” Lexie protested with a sniff. “It’s a great house and my best friend lives right next door.” Then, apparently seeing something in Lynn’s face, she squared her shoulders. “But it’ll be okay.” She gave her mother a plaintive look that nearly shredded what was left of Lynn’s heart. “Won’t it?”

  “As long as you, Jeremy and I are together, it will be okay,” she vowed.

  She would do everything in her power to see that it was. Right now, though, with unpaid bills and little money, she was feeling pretty darn powerless. For a woman who’d always felt confident and in control, that was a new sensation, one she didn’t much like. Just one more thing to lay at Ed’s feet when she was doling out blame.

  * * *

  Contractor Mitch Franklin had been working on a new addition for Raylene and Carter Rollins for a few weeks now. He’d started in late fall, taken only a brief break during the holidays, and was hoping to have every interior detail finished for them in time for the annual Memorial Day party the couple hosted for all their friends. Normally, winters in Serenity tended to be mild with only a few days when the weather was too bad for construction, but this year had been a nasty exception with bitter cold and more snow and ice storms than he could remember in a lifetime here in South Carolina. While the snow and ice seldom lasted, he was still further behind schedule than he liked.

  With various other jobs he was finishing up—mostly interior work—Mitch was proud that he’d kept his crew working enough to put paychecks in their pockets. Now, though, the crunch was on to get this addition built. To keep costs in check he had his men working the usual number of hours, but he’d gotten into the habit of putting in a lot of overtime. He had a reputation for bringing his jobs in on time and he didn’t want this to be an exception.

  Of course, there were other things motivating him, as well. For one thing, Raylene was an amazing cook, who usually invited him to join the family for a meal if he was still hanging around at dinnertime. For another, his home felt way too empty without his wife, who’d been killed by a drunk driver a year ago. It had been bad enough with his two boys away at school, but with Amy gone, too, he could barely stand to be in his house even to sleep. The bed he’d shared with his wife for twenty-two years was way too cold and lonely.

  His sons were exactly where they needed to be, in college and living their lives, but he was at loose ends way more than he liked. Raylene, Carter and Carter’s younger sisters were filling a huge, gaping hole in Mitch’s life. He suspected that Raylene understood that.

  He looked up when Raylene wandered into the midst of what would eventually be a new family room with soaring windows and a spectacular stonework fireplace.

  “Thought I told you not to come in here without a hard hat,” he scolded pointlessly. To his everlasting dismay, she did whatever she liked. She’d been that way as far back as he could remember, though it seemed she’d gone a little crazy now that she’d recovered from her agoraphobia and was getting out of the house and around town again. Seemed to him that she’d gotten a little reckless.

  “I can’t help sneaking in every chance I get,” she said, looking around, her expression filled with delight. “You’re making such incredible progress, Mitch, and it really is going to be amazing. I usually don’t like to rush the seasons, but I can hardly wait for Memorial Day to have everyone over.”

  Mitch wasn’t used to people who threw parties at the drop of a hat, but he’d noticed that Raylene and her husband, Police Chief Carter Rollins, and their friends looked for any excuse to get together.

  “You talking about that Sweet Magnolia crew you hang out with?” he asked. “Didn’t you have them all poking around in here right before the holidays, some kind of celebration when that bullying situation at the high school was resolved?”

  “What can I say? That seems like eons ago and we’re a curious bunch. Maybe it’s time I invite them over for another sneak peek. They couldn’t really tell what was happening back then. Mostly it was a demolition mess with the new building materials piled everywhere. Just look at it now! You can already tell how fantastic it’s going to be.”

  He frowned at her. “Promise me you won’t have them poking around in here until I give the word that it’s safe,” he insisted, knowing h
e was probably wasting his breath. “Even if my guys are off the job, there are things people can trip over or send crashing down on someone’s head. And the electrician still has some work left to do.”

  She laughed. “I was just teasing you. I know how you hate people tramping all over your work site, myself included.”

  “Then why do you do it? Just to annoy me?”

  “Nope. I figure it’s really my work site, so I get special privileges.”

  He shook his head. “Know who you sound like? Maddie Maddox. I swear that woman almost gave me a heart attack when we were doing the renovations for The Corner Spa.” He glanced at Raylene. “You knew we did those, right?”

  “Of course. Maddie recommended you.”

  “Well, she insisted on sitting right there, practically in the middle of the chaos, the whole time we were working. Said she had things to get done. I have no idea how she could think, much less work with all that hammering and whatnot going on. It makes me a little crazy, and I’m used to it.”

  “When Maddie’s motivated, I suspect there’s not much that can deter her,” Raylene said.

  “She’s a real pistol, all right,” Mitch said, a grudging note of respect in his voice. “Truth is, I thought working for the three of them—her, Helen and Dana Sue—would be a nightmare. Whoever heard of three women agreeing on anything? Boy, was I wrong! Maddie knew what she wanted, and the other two left her to it. Never before knew Helen to let someone else take charge like that.”

  “They’re a great team,” Raylene agreed. “They inspire me, and they’re the best friends in the world.”

  “Friends are important, all right,” Mitch said. “I should have done a better job of keeping in touch with mine. With Amy gone and the boys away, I really regret that. I don’t much like hanging out with my crew. It blurs the lines, if you know what I mean. Still, they’ve been there to back me up since Amy was killed. There are good people in this town.”