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  “Helen went looking for Jimmy Bob herself last week. His office is closed, and he seemed to have taken off for parts unknown.”

  Ed looked so genuinely stunned by that news, Lynn almost took pity on him.

  “That’s why you were in such a dither to get in touch with me,” he concluded, as if a lightbulb had finally come on to illuminate a perplexing problem. “I came over here to tell you never to come to the office again. Noelle said you were really upset. She just about took my head off when I got back this morning.” He shook his head. “Women sure do stick together. I thought that woman would walk through fire for me.”

  Lynn hid a smile that would only get Noelle in more hot water. She couldn’t have been prouder of her, though. “Something you might want to remember, since so many of your clients are women,” she reminded him instead.

  He looked momentarily taken aback by that, but he could hardly deny that there was validity to her warning. Rather than acknowledging such a thing, though, he went back on the attack.

  “I know you took money from petty cash, too,” he accused. “That’s business money. What the hell were you thinking?”

  “That I might want to buy groceries for our children,” she said, not bothering to deny the accusation. There might not have been any proof, but she thought it might give him second thoughts to realize just how desperate the situation he’d left her in had been.

  “You get support payments,” he countered. “How are you squandering that money?”

  “I was getting support payments,” she corrected. “Those stopped, too, apparently around the same time Jimmy Bob went missing. Are you beginning to see a pattern here?”

  “Jimmy Bob wouldn’t steal from a client,” he said emphatically, though there was a hint of doubt in his eyes. “Especially me. As I said, we go way back.”

  Lynn shrugged. “All I know for a fact is that the mortgage hasn’t been paid and I haven’t had support checks.”

  “I’ll get to the bottom of it,” he said tightly. “And I’ll have a check sent over for the support money.”

  “Send it to Helen. She gave me a loan the other day.”

  “You told her about this?” he asked, looking alarmed. Obviously, he was smart enough to know what Helen could do with something like this in court.

  “What else was I supposed to do? She’s my lawyer. You were off who knows where, and I had exactly twenty-four dollars and change in the bank.”

  “You know she’s going to make a ruckus about this,” he said wearily. “Dammit, Lynn, what were you thinking?”

  She didn’t bother responding to that. She’d already explained.

  He sighed heavily, then drew himself up. “How are the kids?”

  “Scared,” she told him candidly. “Lexie’s a wreck because she knows things are bad around here. She wants to get babysitting jobs so she can help out.”

  “Good for her. She needs to develop a sense of responsibility,” he said, missing the point entirely.

  “She’s fourteen, Ed. A sense of responsibility is important, but she should not be worrying about her family being homeless if she doesn’t chip in a few dollars.” She skewered him with a look. “Not when her father is going out of town on golf vacations every other minute.”

  “So you’re saying she hates me now,” he said, clearly feeling put upon. “Thanks for that.”

  “If she hates you, it’s your doing, not mine, but I don’t think you have to worry about that.”

  “Really?”

  “You’re her dad. She adores you,” she said. “But she’s feeling very conflicted about that. She’s already cut your parents out of her life, and nothing I’ve said has changed her mind about that. If I were you, I’d spend some time with her, reassure her and Jeremy that you still give two figs about the two of them, even if you don’t care about me.”

  He wilted a bit more under her stare. “I do care about you,” he corrected softly. “I may not be in love with you anymore, but I do still care. And I never meant for things to get this messed up. I honestly wish it hadn’t turned out this way, Lynn. You didn’t deserve this. Neither did the kids.”

  She could see the genuine regret in his eyes. “I believe you mean that, but you made this choice, Ed. I wish to heaven I could figure why you weren’t willing to work on our marriage. Sure, we had problems. No relationship is perfect, but if you’d explained how unhappy you were, maybe I could have changed, maybe even fixed things.”

  He shook his head. “This couldn’t have been fixed,” he said flatly.

  “Wasn’t it at least worth trying?”

  “That’s all I did for all those years,” he said. “I tried.”

  Lynn regarded him with a perplexed expression. “Being married to me was hard for you from the beginning?”

  “I’m sorry, but yes. You wanted so much. You gave so much. I never knew what to do with all that.”

  Lynn couldn’t imagine how giving a husband all your love could be such a trial, but it hardly mattered. “That’s beside the point now,” she said, resigned to accepting his view of things. “This is where we are, and we have to figure out how to make it work with the least collateral damage to the kids.”

  “I agree, and I’ll get all these financial things straightened out. I promise.”

  There was real sincerity and at least a hint of a genuine apology in his voice, but Lynn had grown cynical about his promises. She’d believe this one when it was kept, and not a moment sooner.

  8

  When Lynn walked next door on Tuesday evening for the Sweet Magnolias margarita gathering, she was relieved to find that Helen had arrived ahead of her. Though Helen seemed to be engrossed in supervising younger women in the fine art of making margaritas, Lynn was able to pull her aside.

  “Did Ed get a check to you today to reimburse you for that loan?” Lynn asked.

  Helen nodded. “Surprised the heck out of me, to be honest. How’d you know?”

  “He stopped by the house to scold me for upsetting his secretary and for stealing from petty cash,” Lynn said, fighting a grin. “I guess I stirred up more of a hornet’s nest than I’d realized. Noelle apparently gave him quite an earful.”

  “Good for her,” Helen enthused.

  “I know. Yea, sisterhood!” Lynn said. “And when I told Ed why I’d done it, I think I could have knocked him over with a feather.”

  “No doubt,” Helen said. “He was still looking chagrined when I saw him. He delivered the check personally and assured me it would never happen again.”

  “Did you believe him?”

  Helen shrugged.

  “Me, neither,” Lynn said. “Oh, he looked shocked by what Jimmy Bob did, disappearing the way he has and not making payments, but having him as the fall guy is probably very convenient. We only have Ed’s word that he actually gave that money to Jimmy Bob in the first place.”

  “My thoughts, as well,” Helen said.

  “Any leads on Jimmy Bob’s whereabouts?”

  “Unfortunately, no. And we go to court on Friday for another hearing. I have no idea what to expect. Could be a last-minute postponement or an absent lawyer. I can tell you the judge won’t be happy if Jimmy Bob just fails to show up. Hal Cantor hates having his time wasted, especially by an attorney who should know better.”

  “That could work in our favor, couldn’t it?” Lynn asked hopefully.

  “In the long run, possibly, but short-term he’ll have no choic
e but to grant Ed a continuance. He won’t allow him to continue without legal representation. I’d like to get this settled once and for all so you can get your life back on an even keel.”

  “No one wants that more than I do,” Lynn said fervently.

  Helen glanced around, clearly looking to make sure they were still alone. “Can I ask you something? Do you know why Ed wants this divorce so badly?”

  Lynn frowned at what seemed to be an obvious question. “He doesn’t love me anymore. He’s made that plain. Earlier he all but told me I’d expected too much from him from the beginning.”

  “Is there another woman?”

  Lynn hesitated, then shook her head. “Not that I know of. To be blunt, our sex life never exactly burned up the sheets, so it’s not as if it suddenly cooled down. And even if I were the stereotypical clueless wife, don’t you think someone else in town would have dropped a hint by now? Grace usually finds out everything.”

  “Could be whoever he’s seeing isn’t local,” Helen speculated. “He has been going out of town a lot, supposedly on golfing trips, right?”

  “That’s what I’ve heard,” Lynn said. “It kinda surprised me, because Ed wasn’t into golf at all when we got married. He only took it up because of business. A lot of clients like going to the club to play. I think the day Ed joined that country club was the proudest day of his life, barring none. Not even our wedding day or the birth of our kids ever seemed to mean as much to him. He equated getting in with success. Not that it was any big surprise, since his father was a founding member.”

  Helen nodded, her expression thoughtful.

  “What are you thinking?” Lynn asked, puzzled by this whole line of questioning.

  “Nothing, really,” Helen insisted. “You know how nature abhors a vacuum. My mind’s the same way. When I’m missing a piece of a puzzle, I can’t help trying to find things that might fit.”

  Lynn had no idea what to make of that, but before she could pursue it, the front door opened and more guests poured in, including Flo Decatur. Helen took one look at her mother, muttered an excuse to Lynn and marched purposefully in Flo’s direction. Two seconds later, Flo’s eyes were flashing sparks and she’d latched onto her daughter’s arm and dragged her outside.

  “Uh-oh,” Maddie Maddox murmured in Lynn’s ear. “Somebody’s in trouble.”

  Lynn chuckled. “Really? Helen? What could she possibly have done to tick off Flo?”

  “I’m not sure, but I think it might have something to do with Helen figuring out that her mother has a boyfriend. I imagine Helen objects.” She grinned. “What I wouldn’t give to be a fly on the wall for that conversation. Two stubborn, immovable women on a collision course.”

  Lynn gave her a conspiratorial look and suggested in jest, “We could open the windows. It’s a nice night.”

  Maddie gave her a long look, then burst out laughing. “You’re going to be the perfect addition to this crowd.” She winked. “Let’s do it.”

  Lynn instantly regretted the impulsive suggestion. “I was kidding.”

  “I know, but it’s a great idea,” Maddie said. “It’s a little stuffy in here, don’t you think?” She turned to Dana Sue and Raylene for support. “Sweetie,” she said, directing her words to Raylene. “Let’s open some windows. Do you mind?”

  “Of course not,” Raylene said. “I’ll help. Lynn, could you get the ones in the dining room? I think we’ll settle down in there as soon as everyone’s here and has a drink in hand. I’ll be so glad to have the addition finished, so we can spread out, but for now the dining room will have to do.”

  At Maddie’s obviously disappointed expression, Dana Sue regarded her curiously. “What?”

  “Helen,” Maddie muttered. “On the porch with Flo.”

  Dana Sue’s eyes immediately lit up. “You wanted to eavesdrop, didn’t you?”

  “Well, of course I did,” Maddie admitted without even a second of cursory hesitation. “Don’t you?”

  “I would love to know what set Flo off,” Dana Sue conceded. “But I can wait. The second they come back inside, we’ll give them each a margarita and pry the juicy details right out of them.”

  A slow grin spread across Maddie’s face. “That’ll work.”

  Lynn shook her head, amused by the workings of their minds. “I think I’ll go open those windows for Raylene.”

  “And I’ll go help with the margaritas,” Maddie said. “The sooner we get this party started, the sooner we’ll find out what’s going on.”

  Feeling a stirring of intense loyalty, Lynn wondered if she shouldn’t warn Helen about all the speculation going on. Then, again, Helen, Maddie and Dana Sue had been friends forever. Helen had to know they were going to pump her for information the second she showed her face. And, she thought, Helen was one tough cookie. If she didn’t want them to know anything, she certainly knew perfectly well how to keep her mouth firmly shut. She’d probably kept more confidences in this town over the years than any other resident, even when her tongue had been loosened by a couple of margaritas!

  * * *

  “You’re dating Donald Leighton!” Helen’s incredulous words carried all the way into the living room, bringing conversation in there to a halt.

  “Oh, my,” Frances murmured. “Flo finally told her.”

  “About time,” Liz said. “I have no idea why she was so secretive in the first place. In this town Helen was bound to find out sooner or later.”

  Frances gestured in the direction of the porch. “Did you not hear Helen’s reaction just now? That’s exactly why Flo didn’t want to say a word. Maybe I should go out there and try to calm them down before things get any more heated.”

  Maddie stood up. “That’s okay. I’ll go.”

  She had the tone of a martyr in her voice, Lynn noticed, but she seemed awfully eager to be the one to intervene. Dana Sue immediately latched onto her hand and pulled her right back down on the sofa.

  “Stay out of it,” Dana Sue instructed. “They need to work this out for themselves. They’re two adults and, more important, they’re mother and daughter.”

  Lynn chuckled at Maddie’s obvious disappointment, but she did stay where she was.

  “So,” Sarah McDonald said in a deliberately upbeat tone, “Flo has a boyfriend. I think that’s fantastic.”

  “She’s happier than I’ve ever seen her,” Liz confided. “Donnie treats her like a queen. Why, she told me he brought her breakfast in bed just the other day.”

  Maddie groaned. “Oh, my. I hope she doesn’t mention that to Helen.”

  “Why not?” Liz demanded. “I think it was sweet.”

  “It was sweet,” Maddie confirmed. “Helen won’t be focusing on the gesture, though.”

  Liz looked perplexed for a minute, then chuckled. “Ah, it’s her being in bed that will trouble Helen.”

  “And all that implies,” Frances said, looking amused. “I thought you young women were more evolved than that. I can’t say I want to have a man in my life these days, but if Flo does, I say more power to her!”

  Lynn noticed that Maddie’s expression had turned thoughtful. Apparently, Dana Sue noticed it, too.

  “You wondering how you’d react if your mother suddenly took up with a man?” Dana Sue inquired, clearly amused.

  Maddie nodded. “She’s beautiful. She’s still a vital woman. And she certainly has opportunities to meet plenty of men at these art shows of hers. I wonder why she hasn’t looked at ano
ther man since my dad died.”

  “Maybe she has,” Dana Sue teased. “Maybe she’s just more discreet than Flo.”

  Maddie scowled at her. “I did not need to hear that.”

  Dana Sue shrugged unrepentantly. “I was just saying…”

  “Well, don’t.”

  “Or maybe your father was her soul mate,” Lynn suggested hesitantly, thinking of Mitch and Amy. Maybe some people were meant to have only one significant love of their life. If you lost a partner like that, would you ever really be emotionally ready to move on?

  “You’re not thinking about Paula now,” Raylene said to Lynn after assessing her expression for a minute. Raylene’s eyes were sparkling with merriment when she accused, “You’re thinking about Mitch.”

  The revealing remark caught everyone’s attention at once, and every single Sweet Magnolia in the room instantly shifted her focus to Lynn.

  “You’re seeing Mitch Franklin?” Maddie asked, then slowly nodded. “I can see that. He’s a terrific guy. Good for you.”

  “We’re not dating,” Lynn protested. “We’ve seen each other a few times here and there. I’m doing a little part-time work for him, that’s all. And how did this get to be about me? Let’s go back to discussing Flo.”

  Raylene shook her head. “It was always going to get around to being about you. I warned you about that.”

  Lynn sighed, resigned to a few more intrusive, if well-meant comments.

  “You think he’s still hung up on Amy, don’t you?” Maddie guessed. “He was deeply in love with her, that’s for sure. But I don’t think he’s the kind of man who’ll pine forever. And don’t they say that a man who’s been in a happy relationship usually yearns for another one, at least eventually, because he knows just how good married life can be?”

  “A nice spin,” Lynn said. “But given my problems these days, I’m not sure any man with half a brain would take me on.”

  “A knight in shining armor would,” Raylene corrected. “And that’s who Mitch is. As Maddie said, he’s a genuinely good guy—one of the few.”