“I like the way you fit in my arms,” he chuckled and then got serious. “You have a big heart that doesn’t even hear m-my stutter. Your beauty comes from the light inside you. It’s brighter than that m-moon hangin’ up there in the sky.”
Jancy’s eyes filled, and she had to blink fast to keep them from spilling over. There wasn’t a pickup line in the world that was more romantic than what Shane had said. She’d thought that she was in love before, but those relationships couldn’t even compare to what was slowly developing with Shane.
Maybe that was the secret to happiness—patience and waiting instead of jumping in with both feet and immediately having regrets.
Nettie had gone to the church to meet with her ladies’ group that Wednesday evening. The discussion on the agenda was who would donate what to the church bazaar that fall. That would take about three minutes, because each of them donated the same thing every year. The next hour would be dedicated to the newest gossip—the upcoming wedding.
Ryder and Shane had picked Jancy and Emily up at the diner as soon as it closed that evening at eight o’clock. With Nettie gone, Vicky had the too-big, too-quiet house to herself. So she carried a bottle of water to the front porch and sat down in the swing.
Back when Emily was first born and wouldn’t sleep at night, she’d spent hours on that swing, hoping that the motion would make her baby sleepy. Then when she was a little girl, they’d talked out all kinds of problems to the squeak of the old chains. As a teenager Emily and her friends giggled about boys, makeup, and clothes in the same old red swing. And now Vicky had it all to herself with nothing but memories.
The ringing of her phone brought her back to the present with a jar. She grabbed it up from beside her on the swing, saw that it was Andy, and answered on the third ring.
“Hey, how’s Nettie? Been meanin’ to call all day but got tied up in Frankston with a new oven that we’re having put in,” he said.
Vicky’s heart did a little flutter when she heard his deep drawl. Nettie had teased about her dating him—the timing was all wrong with this wedding business and a new baby on the way. It was still too much for Vicky to take in, but his voice brought a little calm into her world.
“She’s pretty much back to normal. We’re letting her make tarts, but I’m helping so that she doesn’t overdo.” Looking back, it had been like that in the hospital, too. When he was in the room, she wasn’t nearly so anxious about Nettie.
“I’m about half a mile from Pick. Want to get an ice cream at that convenience store down the road from you?”
“Not really, but you could sit on the porch with me if you’ve got time. I could use a friend tonight.” It wasn’t an all-consuming thing like she’d felt when she and Creed was together, so maybe it wasn’t anything but friendship after all.
“Be there in a few minutes.”
He was gone before she could ask if he wanted a glass of tea or a beer, so she took a chance on the latter. She’d just set a pair on the porch rail when she heard tires crunching on gravel as Andy’s truck slowly moved from the diner toward the house. She squinted against the setting sun to see Andy’s broad shoulders. In a few long strides he was at the bottom of the porch steps.
“Evenin’,” Andy said. “I could hear worry in your voice on the phone. Want to talk about it?”
She patted the space beside her and pointed to the beer. “Yes, I do. There’s a lot going on, and I’m not doing so good at processing it.”
He twisted the top off the beer and sat down. “Nettie’s okay?”
Just like in the hospital and when she heard his voice, his presence put peace into her heart and soul. Was this what an adult relationship was like?
“She’s the least of my worries.” She went on to tell him about Emily’s upcoming marriage and pregnancy. “I’m going to be a grandmother,” she said.
“How do you feel about that?” he chuckled.
“Happy. Worried. It’s not funny. Ryder is the father, and they want to get married in less than three weeks. That’s what I’m having trouble processing,” she said.
“The only thing that can change a person is love. They’ll be all right. I would have come on over sooner if I’d known you needed a shoulder.”
“I needed some time to wrap my mind around all this before I talked to anyone. The shock still hasn’t worn off,” she told him.
“Can you change any of it?”
“Not a thing,” she answered.
He sipped his beer for a few moments and then said, “Nice evenin’, isn’t it? We won’t get too many more of these. I bet this old swing could tell some stories if it could talk.”
“You are changing the subject,” she said.
“That I am. Fretting is not good for the soul.”
A friend would worry with her, let her talk circles around the whole thing, even if they couldn’t fix the problem. A best friend would help her to move past the problem and focus on something else to keep from going crazy. Andy had just proven to be the latter.
“Okay, you changed the subject, so what are we going to talk about?” Vicky took another drink from the bottle and then set it back on the porch railing.
“You.” Andy grinned, and her pulse jacked up a notch. “It’s crazy that our paths have never crossed before now. And to think it was all because of a strawberry tart.”
Vicky took a sip of her beer and set it back down. “True, even with our rival high schools. I was born and raised right here in Pick. My grandparents owned this house, and when they died they left it to my mother. I can remember my grandpa telling me stories about Pick while we ate red Popsicles out here on this swing. Then he passed away and my dad and mama moved in here when I was four. I’ve lived in this house ever since,” she said. “Lots of mileage on this swing, for sure.”
“Didn’t you move out when you got married and had your daughter?”
She shook her head. “My new husband and I were going to rent a place of our own, but we stayed here with Nettie to save some money. He died six weeks after the wedding.”
His long arm stretched across the distance and patted her shoulder. “I’m so sorry. That must have been tough. So Nettie is your grandmother?”
She didn’t see stars or hear bells and whistles, but she did like the way his hand felt. And there was a little spark there, but she attributed that to the nerves about this whole marriage and baby thing.
“No, Nettie was my mama’s distant cousin and friend. When she divorced the summer that I was seventeen, she moved in with us. Thank God! I don’t know what I’d have done without her then or now.”
“How long had she been here when your mama died?”
“A month. Nettie moved in with us in June. Mama died in June, too, leaving me this house and half ownership of the diner. I found out I was pregnant in August and was a widow by the end of September.”
“That’s too much for anyone to endure, especially a teenager.” He took her hand in his and held it on the swing between them.
It was a simple gesture, but it felt right and good. Maybe she would go out with him if he asked.