Where Azaleas Bloom Read online

  Flo hesitated. “I know you can’t give me details about your cases, but this wouldn’t have anything to do with Ed and Lynn Morrow, would it?”

  Helen regarded her with surprise. “Why would you ask that?” she said in a way that to Flo’s ears was answer enough.

  “I know you took her case. I also know that Sarah and Travis are worried sick about Lynn. They used to live next door, you know, in Sarah’s parents’ house. Raylene’s there now, and she mentioned a few things to Sarah. I guess Raylene gave Lynn a part-time job, and she’s been trying to have Lynn and the kids over for dinner a couple of times a week, but they all seem to think things are pretty bad.”

  “How did all this information get from Raylene and Sarah to you?” Helen asked curiously.

  “Liz, of course. Living in the guest cottage behind Sarah and Travis, she sees them all the time. They’ve become like family. Sarah confides in her.”

  “And Liz naturally mentioned it to you,” Helen concluded. “The Serenity grapevine at its best.”

  “It’s not always a bad thing,” Flo reminded her. “I know it can hurt being the talk of the town, but sometimes it lets people know when folks need help. I can’t abide idle gossip, but this is different. At least, that’s how it seems to me.”

  “I suppose you’re right.”

  She regarded her daughter intently. “So, just how bad are things? Is there anything I can do? I’ve been in that position, a single mom with nowhere to turn. If I can help, I’d like to. Liz feels the same way, but we’re at a loss about what we could do without offending Lynn’s pride.”

  Helen looked at Flo with amazement.

  “Is that incredulous look on your face about your not believing I have a compassionate bone in my body or because you’re stunned by my insight?” Flo asked wryly.

  “I guess I’m just surprised that you’d want to get involved when neither of you knows Lynn that well. It’s very thoughtful of both of you, but you’re right. I don’t think Lynn’s open to a lot of outside help right now. Admitting there are problems, even to me, is hard for her.”

  “Are you going to be able to fix this for her?”

  “I hope so,” Helen said. “I’m just afraid it’s going to take longer than I anticipated.”

  “Well, if you need backup, you can count on Liz and me. Frances, too, more than likely, if she’s feeling up to it.” Flo regarded her daughter with a grin. “At our ages, we don’t mind stirring up a little trouble, if need be. Might be fun to land myself in jail for a worthy cause.”

  Helen looked vaguely alarmed. “What sort of trouble are you contemplating?”

  “Picketing outside of Ed’s office came to mind,” Flo said eagerly. “Folks expect their insurance people to behave responsibly. A little public humiliation might go a long way toward making him shape up and do the right thing by his family.”

  Helen’s expression lit up momentarily, but then she shook her head. “Much as I love that idea, I think we’ll stick to a legal approach for now, Mom. But believe me, if I can’t get him to change his ways in a big fat hurry, the three of you are welcome to take him on.”

  Flo nodded. “Just say the word. I’m pretty good at making up protest signs, if I do say so myself. They turned out real good for that antibullying rally, and the ones Liz dreamed up in support of Laura Reed at the school were downright inspired. All those civil rights demonstrations Liz carried out years ago taught her a thing or two about effective protests.”

  “I can’t deny that the three of you played a big part in rallying public sentiment,” Helen said. “Let’s see how this plays out in court next week before we take the next step, okay?”

  “Whatever you want,” Flo said, then stood up. “I hate to leave you with the dishes, but I need to run.”

  Helen regarded her with a startled expression. “It’s still early. Don’t you want to stay and help me tuck in Sarah Beth?”

  Flo took a deep breath, then blurted, “Actually I have a date.” She held her breath, waiting for Helen’s reaction. It was pretty much what she’d expected—her daughter looked as if Flo had spoken in a foreign language.

  “A date? Since when? Who?”

  “Oh, I’ll tell you all about him next time I’m over,” Flo said breezily. “I don’t want to keep him waiting. We’re going over to Columbia dancing.”

  “At this hour?”

  “You just said yourself that it’s still early. And I’m a night owl.”

  Helen frowned. “Since when? You didn’t used to be.”

  “Because I had to be up and out the door for work at the crack of dawn,” Flo explained patiently. “Now I can stay up as late as I like.” She pressed a kiss to her daughter’s cheek. “Love you. Tell Sarah Beth good-night for me.”

  She grabbed her purse and hurried out before Helen could gather enough of her wits to do the kind of cross-examination that Flo knew was coming sooner or later. To Flo’s way of thinking, later was better.

  For all her open-mindedness about most things, when it came to her mother’s social life, Helen was downright stuffy. She had been ever since Flo had carelessly mentioned leaving a box of condoms in the nightstand beside her bed as they were driving away from Boca Raton. The poor girl had nearly had a heart attack right there on I-95! Flo hoped to avoid causing that reaction a second time.

  * * *

  Lynn dressed with extra care in the morning. She told herself it was simply because she always tried to look nice when she was working for Raylene in her upscale boutique. She knew, though, that the pink blush on her cheeks and the mascara she was applying had more to do with Mitch stopping by than it did with impressing Raylene’s customers.

  She was in the kitchen with a pot of coffee brewed when Mitch tapped on the back door.

  “Come in. It’s open,” she called out.

  He walked into the kitchen, frowning. “Do you leave that door unlocked all the time?”

  “Only when I’m expecting someone to pop in from right next door,” she said.

  “Well, it’s a bad idea,” he grumbled, clearly not placated.

  “Duly noted,” she said, amused by just how far his protectiveness seemed to go.

  His gaze narrowed suspiciously. “You’re not really paying a bit of attention to me, are you?” he asked.

  “Honestly? Not so much.”

  “I’m beginning to think you and Raylene are going to be the death of me. She refuses to wear a hard hat in a construction zone. You leave the door open for anyone to just walk in. I was taught to look out for women.”

  “And I was taught to look out for myself,” she replied.

  “Then do it,” he said with frustration.

  She regarded him with a tolerant expression. “Coffee?”

  “Are you trying to change the subject?”

  “Yes,” she said, already pouring the coffee into a mug. “Otherwise, I fear our working relationship is going to get off to a very bad start. Besides, you seem to be caffeine-deprived. That would explain the cranky mood.”

  Mitch shook his head and sighed. “You’re probably right.” He set the laptop on the table. “Is this okay for now?”

  “Sure. I’ll make room for it on my desk later.”

  “I have the printer in the truck.”

  “Looks as if the laptop will work with mine,” she said. “Let’s hold off on that till we know.”

  “Okay, but I’m bringing you supplies tomorrow—paper, ink cartridges, whatever you need.” />
  “Fair enough.”

  He took a sip of coffee, then opened the laptop and turned it on. “Pull up a chair and sit here next to me,” he said.

  Lynn dragged a chair closer and peered at the screen, trying not to notice the heat radiating from his body or the solid masculine strength suggested by all that muscle. She gave herself a mental shake. She hadn’t spent this much time noticing a man’s body in a long time. Now surely wasn’t the time to start.

  “You paying attention?” Mitch asked, amusement suddenly threading through his voice.

  She blinked over at him. “Of course. Why?”

  “You seemed a little distracted, that’s all.”

  She waved a little notebook and pen in his direction. “See. Ready to take notes.”

  “Written anything yet?”

  “So far you haven’t even opened the program.”

  He grinned. “Fair enough. It’s password-protected, okay?” He told her the password, which she wrote down. Then he walked her step by step through the billing system and the payroll program. “Make sense so far?”

  Lynn nodded. “So far, but then I haven’t actually had to use it yet.”

  He pulled several pieces of paper from his back pocket. “Notes for the billing,” he explained. “You’ll find the customers, their addresses and their account numbers in the system. Mostly people pay about fifty percent upfront, the remainder when the job’s completed. If there’s an interim bill for fixtures, that’s sent out when the expense is incurred. My fee is usually paid once everybody has signed off on the punch list that indicates all the details are done to the customer’s satisfaction.”

  “So those notes of yours indicate exactly what sort of bill I’m sending out, right?”

  He winced. “Well, in theory they should. Since I usually know what they’re for, I might not have written it down on these pages. Why don’t I do that before you get home this afternoon, make sure you have everything you need?”

  “Then I’ll just fiddle around with the system until I leave for Raylene’s this morning, see if I understand how it works.”

  “Sounds good to me. Any questions?”

  “None so far, but I imagine I’ll have plenty for you by this afternoon.”

  “Okay, then. I’ll get out of your hair. See you later, Lynn.”

  Suddenly he seemed anxious to leave, which suited her since she didn’t understand why being close to him got to her the way it did.

  “See you,” she said, determinedly focusing on the computer screen and not on Mitch.

  She knew he hesitated before leaving, but eventually he walked away, closing the back door securely behind him. Locking it, too, if she wasn’t mistaken. Even though the gesture exasperated her just a little, she couldn’t seem to stop smiling.

  * * *

  The woman was going to be trouble, Mitch thought as he walked back to Raylene’s. Oh, not when it came to the work. He had every confidence she would pick up on that with ease. No, it was this attraction simmering between them. It had always been there, for him, anyway, but thanks to Grace’s interference, he was forced to acknowledge that on some level it had never died the way he’d thought it surely had.

  As for Lynn, well, he couldn’t say with certainty what she was feeling beyond gratitude, but there’d been a moment there when he’d had the feeling she was as attuned to him as he was to her.

  His cell phone rang just before he headed into the back door at Raylene’s. Caller ID told him it was his older son.

  “Hey, Nate. What’s up?”

  “Just checking in, Dad. What’s up with you?”

  “Working, the same as always.”

  “You still building that addition for the police chief and his wife? How’s it going?”

  “It’s coming along. Did you really call just to check on my job progress, or do you need money?”

  “Dad, you give me and Luke plenty of money. Can’t I just call to see what you’re up to?”

  “Always glad to hear from you,” Mitch confirmed. “But you’ll pardon me if experience has just taught me that it’s usually a financial shortfall that earns me a call at this hour of the morning.”

  “Well, I’m solvent,” Nate assured him. He hesitated, then said, “Actually, I was thinking of coming home for the weekend. Is that okay?”

  “You know it is,” Mitch said eagerly. “You don’t even have to ask.”

  “Um,” Nate began, suddenly sounding nervous, “would it be okay if I brought someone with me?”

  Mitch stopped in his tracks. “Since you’ve hauled half a dozen friends home with no notice, I’m guessing this is a female sort of someone.”

  “Yeah. Her name’s Jo, short for Josephine, if you can believe it. Does anyone name their girls that anymore?”

  “Obviously, some parents do,” Mitch said. “I’ll look forward to meeting her.”

  “Okay, so here’s the deal. I need to know if you’re gonna freak out if she stays in my room.”

  Mitch sucked in a deep breath and lifted his eyes heavenward. “How about a little help here, Amy?” he murmured, trying to think how she would handle this. He knew as well as anyone that a twenty-one-year-old was likely to be sleeping with anyone he was dating seriously. And he had to assume this was serious if Nate wanted to bring the girl home. And yet he wasn’t sure he was quite ready to sanction such behavior under his roof.

  “Sorry, pal. Not acceptable.”

  “But, Dad,” Nate began.

  “Your mom always had firm rules about this sort of thing,” Mitch reminded him. “You knew them when you went away to college. What you do at school is up to you, but in our house guests stay in the guest rooms.”

  “It’s not like she’s a guest exactly,” Nate said. “I wanted to tell you this when we got there, but I guess I’d better do it now. We’re engaged.”

  Mitch felt the sudden, unexpected sting of tears in his eyes. More than ever, he wished Amy were alive for this moment. She’d know what to say, how to react. He, however, had to force his enthusiasm. Nate was so darn young. His life hadn’t even started yet.

  “Engaged, huh?” he said, trying to inject an upbeat note into his voice. “Congratulations, son. I mean that. I wish your mom were here. She’d be so excited for you.”

  “I know,” Nate said quietly. “It’s kinda hard knowing she’ll never get to meet Jo, give her a stamp of approval, if you know what I mean.”

  Mitch smiled. “I know exactly what you mean.” Amy had always been careful about sharing her opinion of the girls their sons had dated, but they’d known anyway. She’d been terrible about hiding her feelings. And those feelings had clearly influenced both Nate and Luke. The lousy choices had never lasted long, even though she’d kept her mouth clamped firmly shut.

  “So, now that you know about the engagement, can she stay in my room?” Nate asked.

  Mitch was still struggling with the idea of his son being ready to make such a huge commitment. The sleeping arrangements seemed minor all of a sudden.

  “How about we talk about that when you get here?” He wanted to see for himself just how committed the two of them seemed to be. Or maybe he was just trying to postpone the inevitable—admitting that his son had grown up on him.

  “Okay, Dad,” Nate said, conceding the point. “See you tomorrow night.”

  “Drive carefully.”

  “Always,” Nate replied.

  There’d been a time when Nate might have rolled
his eyes at the admonition. Luke, too. But since Amy’s tragic accident, none of them took anything for granted when it came to driving. Mitch knew one thing with one hundred percent certainty—neither of his sons would ever drive drunk. And even sober, they’d drive responsibly and defensively. He hated the way they’d had to learn that lesson, but he had to admit he was glad they’d taken it to heart.

  Now he just had to pray that Nate had taken to heart everything Amy and Mitch had taught him about the responsibility that went along with love and marriage.

  5

  “I heard she might have to apply for food stamps,” a woman shopper at Raylene’s boutique said. Her entrance set off the bell that would have let Lynn know she was there. Her voice, unfortunately, was plenty loud enough to carry to Lynn in the back room, stopping her in her tracks. Lynn knew she should make her presence known, but instead, flushed with embarrassment, she waited to see what might be said next.

  “You’re kidding!” her companion responded. “Isn’t Ed playing golf at Pinehurst or someplace like that this week?”

  Lynn felt a chill. There was no doubt at all that they were speculating about her and the financial mess she was in. How was she supposed to go out there now and wait on them? Unfortunately, Raylene had just left for the bank and Adelia was off today. She had no choice.

  She drew herself up, plastered a smile on her face and walked out front as if she hadn’t just overheard the two women talking about her. Worse, as soon as she saw them, she recognized them.

  “Good morning, Alicia. How are you? And you, too, Kelly Ann?”

  Both women, who’d been in school with her and now had kids about the same ages as Lexie and Jeremy, blushed furiously.

  Alicia recovered first. “Lynn, I had no idea you were working here,” she said.

  “Apparently not,” Lynn said wryly. Unable to stop herself, she felt compelled to add, “Unless, of course, you set out to embarrass me.”