Son of a Preacher Man

chapter Three


The squad car followed her all the way back into town. When she pulled into a parking spot in front of the store, J.T. flashed his lights so she waved. Her pulse was still a little erratic after seeing him at her cabin.

Holy crap, had that been a shock. He still looked good—even better than he had at eighteen. Now he seemed…honed. The muscles in his arms bulged, and he must have grown some because he definitely loomed over her, even in her heels.

Those eyes, though, they hadn’t changed a bit. They still sparkled with that mischievous glint that said, “I can do all sorts of wicked things to you. And you’ll love every one of them.”

And from what little she’d experienced, she had. God, she was getting hot and bothered just thinking about it. When he’d smiled and flashed his dimples, she was eighteen all over again, operating on hormones and emotions, thrilled to be noticed by the infamous J.T. McBride.

She still couldn’t believe he’d ended up back in Dale. But in a weird sort of way, it did make sense. He’d always had his pride, and if he felt his father’s reputation had been tarnished, he’d want to come back and make it right.

Thinking about J.T. had completely distracted her from the news Hornblower had delivered earlier that day. Thoughts of the unknown man who’d fathered her didn’t stand a chance next to seeing J.T. again. Now that she had some distance from the testosterone cloud that had fogged her brain, the questions returned in chaotic force.

Nope, still not ready to deal with that.

Nadya threw her sunglasses onto the dashboard and climbed out of the car. She’d wait until later to sort through the conflicting emotions boiling up inside her. Way later.

The smells that hit her as soon as she opened the door to the general store brought back a wealth of memories. It wasn’t a scent she could describe—it just made her happy. She and Mary Ellen had spent hours in this store, spending their hard-earned money first on penny candy, then on makeup. They’d flipped through the fashion magazines when they were supposed to be dusting the shelves and giggled when they stocked the feminine-hygiene aisle.

Mrs. Farley would let them gorge themselves on freshly made chocolate chip cookies from the cookie jar she had in the break room, and they would talk nonstop. All the memories from Dale weren’t bad. Sometimes she forgot that.

A heavily pregnant woman with a cloud of blonde hair bustled around behind the counter, stocking cigarettes in a huge display rack. Mary Ellen was just as pretty and pink as she’d been twelve years ago.

“Excuse me, but do you carry Lip Luscious Lip Gloss in Bubblegum Pink?” Nadya said as she stepped up to the counter. “I let my best friend borrow mine, and I had to leave town before I got it back.”

Mary Ellen stared at Nadya for a second then let out a squeal before she ran around the counter. “Nadya Sarov’s back at the store, as I live and breathe!” She grabbed Nadya in a hug that almost choked her. “Look at you! Don’t you look sophisticated and beautiful. And thin. You always were a skinny bitch.”

Nadya let out a peal of laughter. “You haven’t changed a bit. Well, other than the pregnancy thing. How’re you doing, Mary Ellen?”

“Oh my God. I still can’t believe it’s you right here in front of me. What are you doing in town? How long will you be here? Are you staying at Claire’s Bed and Breakfast? How’s your mama? Where are you living? What are you doing? Are you married? I haven’t seen you in forever, tell me everything.” She wiped tears away, careful not to smudge her makeup.

“I will if you give me a chance to answer.” Nadya stepped back a bit. “It’s so good to see you. I’ve missed you so much.”

She hadn’t realized exactly how much until Mary Ellen had hugged her. Sure, she’d had friends in college, and she had a wide circle of acquaintances in New York, but there was nothing like your first, best friend.

“I’ve missed you too. After you and your mama left, it was like all the fun washed right out of my life.”

“I should have been better about keeping in touch.”

“Oh, honey, I understand.” She waved her hand in front of her. “But all that’s water under the bridge. Tell me what’s going on with you now. Come on, we can sit over here so I can keep an eye on the store and we can chat at the same time. Just like in the old days.”

Mary Ellen hustled her over to a chair behind the counter and sat herself on the stool near the cash register.

“No, you should sit in the chair. How far along are you?”

“Seven hot, hellish months, but I’ve been this big forever. This is my third baby in four years, so as soon as sperm met egg I was back in maternity clothes.”

“You have two children? Boys? Girls?”

“Two boys. Billy is four and just as quiet as his father. Hunter is two and full of the devil. If God loves me, this one here will be a girl.”

“You don’t know yet?”

“No, the little stinker had its legs crossed during the ultrasound, and they won’t do another one just to discover the sex. Poop.”

“I never even asked—who’s your husband?”

Mary Ellen let out a bray of laughter. “You’ll never believe it, but I went and fell in love with Billy Michaels.”

“Get out of town!” Billy Michaels had been J.T.’s best friend and willing accomplice in most of his misdeeds. He’d been a rail-thin towhead who rarely put two words together. Nadya couldn’t wrap her brain around the picture of skinny, quiet Billy Michaels with vivacious, plump Mary Ellen. “I can’t believe your daddy let you date him.”

“He didn’t at first, but he came around eventually. After you and J.T. left, there wasn’t much for either Billy or I to do. He started hanging out at the store all the time. Everywhere I looked, there he’d be, all scarecrow scrawny and silent. Finally, I just snapped and asked him what in the hell he was doing here all the time.”

“And what did he say?”

“He said he was watching the prettiest girl in town and trying to work up the courage to ask her if she wanted to go to the church social with him.”

“Wow, I didn’t know he had it in him.”

“You’d be surprised what that boy was hiding. Which explains why I’m pregnant again.”

The mental image just didn’t bear examination. “I noticed J.T. is back as well. That must have stirred up a bees’ nest.”

“Boy howdy, did it ever. All the old gossips ’bout killed themselves trying to outdo one another rehashing the old story.” A frown crossed her face but she plowed on. “It still burns me up when I hear Orleane and Pansy Campbell spouting their lies.”

“Well, my mom was sleeping with the good pastor. I caught them right before Orleane came up the drive.”

“You did? Really? Never mind. The fact is, neither one of them were married to other people. They were adults, and it wasn’t like he was doing her on the pulpit, for heaven’s sake. If this town got all fired up every time someone got caught having premarital sex, things would never settle down. What the hell else is there to do around here?”

“But she was a gypsy, which means she was trash. You know how they all thought of me and my mama.”

“Only the ignorant, jealous ones. They just wished they looked like her. How’s your mama doing, anyway?”

A familiar pang of grief struck Nadya in the heart. “She’s passed on. Cancer. That’s why I’m back in town, tying up some loose ends.” She didn’t need to explain which loose ends.

Tears welled up in Mary Ellen’s baby-blue eyes. She clutched Nadya’s hand. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I just loved your mama. I was always jealous of you. She was so exotic and young and pretty and didn’t make you go to church every Sunday.”

“And I was jealous of your mom. She baked cookies and volunteered in the school and took you shopping in Atlanta every Christmas and Easter. How is she? And your daddy?”

“They’re both fine. Daddy retired from the Forestry Service a few years ago when they were having cutbacks. He and Mama sold the house and the business to Bill and me and moved to a retirement community in Canton. We still see them every Sunday. Oh! Are you going to be here through the weekend? Mama would love to see you. You know how much she thought of you. She always said you were smart as a whip and the hardest worker she’d ever had.”

“I don’t know yet. Maybe.”

“Are you staying at the bed and breakfast? It’s nice and all, but so pricey.”

“No, I’m staying at a hotel in Canton.”

“That’s an hour away. And along all those windy roads. Why don’t you check out of the hotel and stay with us? That way you don’t have to drive back and forth all the time, and we can have a nice visit.”

“I couldn’t. I wouldn’t want to intrude on you and Billy.”

Mary Ellen’s face fell. “I understand. If I had the choice to stay in a hotel with maid service or in a house with two kids and a dog, I’d take the hotel too.”

“But I would like to meet your boys and see Billy again. Maybe we can do dinner together soon?”

“You bet. How about tonight? No, Bill has a meeting up at the ranger station. There’s talk of a developer coming in and clearing some of the woods that border the state forest. If that happens, it’ll throw the whole ecosystem into chaos or some such.”

“Billy is a forest ranger? Really.”

“Yup, he just got promoted to supervisor.”

“That’s great.” Nadya had trouble wrapping her head around Billy Michaels as a responsible adult.

“So enough about me. What are you doing these days? You look so sophisticated. I bet you work for some big company and go out every night drinking cosmos at rooftop bars and whatnot.”

“Not quite. I’m a lawyer for a huge firm in New York City. I have a tiny apartment that costs the earth, but it’s close to work.”

“Oh, a lawyer. I can see you strutting around in front of a jury and annihilating the opposing lawyer. Is it anything like Law and Order?”

“Not quite. I actually do contract law, not trial law. It’s pretty boring. I sit in an office and read contracts all day looking for loopholes or traps. I’m one of a bunch of other peon lawyers in the firm. But I do drink martinis at a bar down the street after work some nights.”

“What about the men? Are you married? Do you have a different boyfriend for every night of the week? Please, give me something good. I’m an old, married, pregnant lady. I’ll take any scrap of excitement I can get.”

“There hasn’t been a lot of time for dating. There was a guy I was seeing for a while, but it didn’t take. He was a broker on Wall Street and just as busy in his job as I was in mine. It makes it hard to have a relationship when you’re working fourteen-hour days.”

“Well, pooh. That’s no fun. Sounds like you need to slow down some, remember your Southern roots.”

“It’s been a while, but I think I can find my inner Southern Belle.”

“Like you were ever a Southern Belle. Why, I remember when you—” The phone ringing cut Mary Ellen off mid-sentence. “Shoot, I have to get that. Don’t you go anywhere.”

Nadya moved out from behind the counter as Mary Ellen talked on the phone. It looked like she was taking down an order. The back wall of the store where there used to be a soda fountain had been remodeled, and there was a deli case and a display of baked goods that reminded Nadya she hadn’t eaten since breakfast.

“Nad? Where’d you go?”

“I’m back here by the deli. Did your mom make those cookies?”

Mary Ellen waddled behind the deli case with the order slip in her hand. “No, Mrs. Sugarfield did. I have some of the ladies in the garden club baking for me fresh every day. It gives them some pocket money and makes sure I have a steady stream of customers in the afternoon.”

“Great marketing idea. Do you run the store by yourself?” No customers had come in since Nadya had been there, but still, if Mary Ellen was manning the counter and the deli, that was a lot for one person.

“Heavens, no. I’m just covering the breaks. I have a couple of high school girls who come in like we used to, you know, to stock shelves and the like. I have two full-time employees who run the deli and bakery and work the counter. I mostly do the books and the scheduling.”

“Listen to you. Mary Ellen Farley, business woman.”

“It’s Mary Ellen Michaels, and I consider myself an entrepreneur.”

Nadya laughed again and dug in her purse for a business card. She scribbled her cell phone number on the back. “Here, call me and we’ll set up a date for dinner.”

“You know I will. When my hands aren’t full of lunch meat, I’ll text you my number.”

“I’m surprised you have any cell service way up here.”

“The town rented out some land to the cell phone companies for a cell tower. They pay a huge chunk of change every month, and we just have to ignore the ugly thing.”

“Really? I can’t believe the town council went for that.”

“Went for it? They practically did cartwheels. The money from the cell companies is about the only thing keeping Dale alive.” A frown briefly crossed Mary Ellen’s face. “But never mind all that. I’ll text you and we’ll make plans. How long are you staying in the area?”

Thoughts of Hornblower tried to crowd her head, but she pushed them away. “I not sure, but I’ll keep you posted. It was good seeing you again, Mar.”

“You too. I’m glad you stopped in.”

As Nadya got into the car, she scanned the street to see if J.T. was around. There were a few old duffers sitting on a bench under a tree and a woman pushing a baby in a stroller, but no signs of a police car. It was probably better that way. The day had been emotionally exhausting, and she still had to drive an hour back to the hotel.

As Dale faded in her rearview mirror, she was surprised to feel a pang of wistfulness. Who’d have thought she’d missed this place after all?