Waking Up In Charleston

“What?”

“I get to have free rein to meddle in your relationship with Caleb.”

Amanda gave her a horrified look. “I don’t have a relationship with Caleb.”

“You will when I’m through,” Maggie said cheerfully. “Enjoy your evening.”

She was gone before Amanda could formulate a reply. This wasn’t good. Not good at all. Maggie meddling all on her own would be bad enough, but if she brought the romantically irrepressible Nadine into it—and she very well might—who knew what mischief they could stir up for Amanda and Caleb?

Caleb took in Amanda’s flushed cheeks and too-bright eyes and tried to figure out what had brought on this sudden attack of nerves. It couldn’t be because he and Mary Louise were the first official guests at her new home. Amanda had grown up entertaining for Big Max. She’d been hosting dinner parties for Charleston’s power brokers by the time she was thirteen. So why was she fluttering around the living room, fussing over a plate of cheese and crackers and a couple of soft drinks?

He captured her hand as she was about to take off for the kitchen once again. “You okay?” he asked.

“Fine, just fine,” she said too cheerfully. She turned to beam at Mary Louise. “Just let me get some napkins and we can talk.”

“There are napkins on the table,” Caleb pointed out.

Her good cheer evaporated. “Oh, of course there are. What was I thinking?” She sat down on the edge of a chair. “Mary Louise, why don’t you tell me a little bit about you and Danny?”

Mary Louise, who’d been tense ever since Caleb had picked her up and hadn’t said a word on the ride over, launched into a dreamy description of their relationship. If it had been written down, it would have been punctuated by hearts and flowers.

Amanda grinned at the romantic picture the girl was painting. “Then you’ve been in love with him practically forever?” she summarized.

Mary Louise nodded. “That’s why I don’t understand what all the fuss is about us getting married a little sooner than we planned.”

Caleb was about to explain when Amanda asked, “What’s Danny studying at Clemson?”

“Architecture,” Mary Louise said.

“Is he excited about it?” Amanda asked.

“He loves it. Who could live around here and not care about all these historic old buildings? He really wants to find ways to preserve them.”

“I have a couple of friends who do historic preservation work,” Amanda told her. “It requires a real passion and understanding to do it right. How are you going to feel if Danny has to give that up?”

Mary Louise looked startled. “Why would he have to give it up?”

“Supporting a family means bringing in a paycheck and putting food on the table,” Amanda explained. “It means doctors for you and the baby. It means paying rent for someplace to live.”

“I can work,” Mary Louise said staunchly.

“For a while,” Amanda agreed. “What about once the baby comes?”

“We can manage,” Mary Louise insisted.

Just then Larry, Jimmy and Susie raced in from the backyard demanding Amanda’s immediate attention. In Caleb’s opinion, their timing couldn’t have been better.

“Mommy, they wouldn’t let me swing on the swing,” Susie said, tears rolling down her cheeks. She cast an accusing look at her big brothers. “They’re mean and I hate them!”

“Susie!” Amanda said. “You do not hate your brothers.”

“Do, too,” she said with a sniff.

“She’s just a big ole baby,” Jimmy countered.

“Am not,” Susie retorted.

Before the battle could escalate, Amanda scooped up Susie, then directed a forbidding look at the boys. “Come with me,” she said.

“I can take them,” Caleb offered.

“Not this time,” Amanda said tersely, heading to the back of the house.

“But it’s not fair,” Jimmy wailed just before one bedroom door slammed shut.

“They were being mean,” Susie repeated, her voice thick with tears. “How come I have to go to my room?”

Caleb couldn’t hear Amanda’s murmured reply, but then a second door closed. She came back, looking faintly harried.

“Sorry. Where were we?” she asked Mary Louise.

“I was telling you that Danny and I can figure all that out,” Mary Louise said, though her gaze seemed to be drawn in the direction of the unmistakable sobs coming from down the hall. She looked shaken.

“You’ll need to get used to that,” Amanda told her mildly. “Kids cry, especially babies. It’ll make it tough for Danny to study, at least at home. Next thing you know he’ll either have to drop out of school or spend all his free time in the library so he can keep up with his classes.”

Mary Louise reacted with dismay. “It’s one little baby,” she protested.

Amanda smiled. “You have no idea what a ruckus one little baby can create, especially if he or she happens to be colicky. Jimmy didn’t let me get a decent night’s sleep for months.”

“Didn’t your husband help?”

“Some, but he was working. He needed his sleep, just the way Danny will need his if he’s going to keep up with his studies.” Amanda’s expression turned sad. “Bobby and I fought all the time during those months.”

“How come?” Mary Louise asked.

“He thought I ought to be able to do something to stop the crying. It was like he was accusing me of being a bad mother. It tapped into every one of my insecurities, so I lashed back.”

The memory still seemed to touch a raw nerve and Mary Louise seemed to get that. “How old were you when you got married?” she asked.

“I was nineteen, just a year older than you,” Amanda told her.

“But your husband wasn’t in college, right?” Mary Louise said, seizing on some slim difference between him and Danny. “He was working.”

“Right. He was getting his business off the ground. He was gone all the time, so everything at home was up to me.”

“If you were in love, though, I’ll bet it was worth it,” Mary Louise said, her expression hopeful.

“In many ways, yes,” Amanda agreed. She exchanged a look with Caleb. “But I won’t lie to you, Mary Louise, the exhaustion and stress pretty much sucked the romance right out of it. Bobby and I were lucky, though. No matter how tough things got, no matter how many fights we had, we stuck together. We both knew we didn’t have anybody else to fall back on. We had to make it work. It might have been easier, though, if we’d waited.”