Home In Carolina

“Yeah, sure,” Annie said, walking away.

She just wished she had the slightest idea how she was supposed to enjoy anything after that bittersweet moment with Ty’s son. Worse, how was she supposed to get that little boy out of her head now that she’d held him in her arms?

The mood at margarita night was way too somber. It was getting on Helen’s nerves. Everybody was walking on eggshells, trying too hard not to say the wrong thing. And no matter how innocuous the topic, Dana Sue and Maddie couldn’t see eye to eye. They’d argued over everything from the weather to the amount of tequila that was supposed to be in the margaritas. Jeanette and Helen had been left to referee.

“Okay, this isn’t working,” Helen announced after an hour. “Let’s just get it all out there. What are we going to do about Ty and Annie?”

“Nothing,” Maddie and Dana Sue said simultaneously.

“Well, that’s progress,” Helen said. “It’s the first thing the two of you have agreed on all night.”

“We’re not going to meddle in their lives,” Dana Sue added for good measure. “That’s final.”

“Are you sure about that?” Jeanette asked hesitantly. Although both Dana Sue and Maddie scowled at her, she refused to back down. “I mean, I know I haven’t been around all that long, but those two were so much in love. It’s just a shame to have them both back home and not even speaking to each other.”

“I agree,” Helen said. “Worse is what it’s doing to the two of you. I haven’t been to a party that felt this awkward since the first boy-girl party we had back in junior high.”

Maddie flushed guiltily. “I’m sorry. I’ll try harder.”

“Me, too,” Dana Sue promised. “I just get so darn mad when I think about what happened.”

“Do you think I don’t?” Maddie erupted with feeling. “I wanted to shake my son when I heard what he’d done, but what am I supposed to do? He’s my son, and that little boy is my grandson. I love them.”

“And you should have been able to celebrate having your first grandchild with us, your best friends,” Helen said. “Instead, we’ve all acted as if Trevor doesn’t exist. That’s just wrong. None of this is his fault, and it’s certainly not yours.”

“I agree,” Dana Sue said. “If I leave Annie out of it for just a minute, I can actually be happy for you, Maddie. Having a grandchild must be so amazing.”

Maddie reached out and squeezed her hand. “Do you think I don’t understand how you must feel? We were going to have grandkids together, you and me, because my son and your daughter were supposed to give them to us. I know we always vowed not to pressure them like that. Heck, we tried our best not to talk about it ourselves. We didn’t want them to know how much we were counting on it, but we were.”

“And now it will never happen,” Dana Sue said, her expression bleak.

“That is just so sad,” Jeanette commiserated. “I still think—”

“No,” Maddie said. “We cannot meddle. It will get even more complicated if we do.”

Dana Sue stood up, grabbed the pitcher of margaritas and poured herself another one. “Anyone else?”

Maddie held out her glass. “What the hell,” she murmured.

Dana Sue poured, then grinned. “Helen?”

“Make mine a double. I have to go see my mama tomorrow.”

“Oh, boy,” Dana Sue murmured, exchanging a look with Maddie. “You didn’t say anything about that earlier.”

“Because I didn’t even want to think about it,” Helen said, explaining about the call from the hospital.

“Maybe we should go down there with you,” Maddie said. “At least one of us.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Helen said. “I can handle this. I’ll make a few calls, look at a couple of rehab places and get her settled. No big deal.”

“I don’t question your ability to cope with the details,” Maddie said gently. “It’s the compassion that concerns me. You tend to be the tiniest bit impatient, and Flo’s probably in pain and not at her best, either.”

Helen scowled at the too-accurate assessment. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Her frown deepened when she noted her still-empty glass. Dana Sue still hadn’t poured her another drink. “I’ll take that margarita now.”

“Don’t you need to go down there tomorrow with a clear head?” Dana Sue asked.

“I’d rather not,” Helen said, lifting the glass in a gesture that commanded Dana Sue to fill it to the brim.

“Flo’s going to be just fine,” Maddie said. “A broken hip will heal in no time.”

“At her age?” Helen asked skeptically. “What if it doesn’t? What if she can’t be on her own anymore?”

“Then you’ll deal with it,” Dana Sue said. “You can handle anything. We’re all in awe of you.”

“That was the old me,” Helen bemoaned. “The current me is still trying to figure out how to get a few more hours into the day. Way too many of them vanish without my having a clue where they went.”

Jeanette had been listening to the exchange in silence. She’d only recently resolved some of her own family issues. “What about bringing your mom back here to recuperate?” she asked eventually.

Helen stared at her in horror. “Bite your tongue.”

“Well, it just seems like it would be easier to keep an eye on things if she were right here in Serenity,” Jeanette persisted.

“Not going to happen,” Helen said sharply. “Her life’s in Florida now, and that’s where it’s going to stay.”

Maddie gave Jeanette a commiserating look. “Don’t mind Helen. She and her mother have issues. They get along best when there’s some distance between them.”

Unfortunately, since her reconciliation with her own parents, Jeanette wanted all of the world to follow suit. “If there are issues, what better way to fix them than to be right here together while she’s getting back on her feet?”

“Fortunately, my mother will side with me on this,” Helen said with confidence. “She was glad to see the last of Serenity.”

“But it’s her home,” Jeanette stressed.

“It’s the place where she nearly worked herself into an early grave,” Helen contradicted. “Now she’s living in style with every comfort she could possibly want.”

“You and her granddaughter aren’t there,” Jeanette replied, then frowned when Maddie scowled at her. “I’m just saying…” She sat back, looking chagrined. “Oh, never mind. It’s none of my business.”

She looked so upset by the possibility that she’d overstepped that Helen patted her hand. “It’s okay. You are not the first to think the Decatur women should be reunited in blissful harmony. I get the same thing from Erik all the time.” She grinned. “I also tell him to butt out.”

Jeanette laughed. “Well, in that case, I don’t feel so bad.”

“Have another margarita,” Dana Sue encouraged. “Then you won’t feel anything. I haven’t felt my feet for the past ten minutes.”

Maddie blinked. “Me, neither, come to think of it.”

Helen stared at the two of them. “Oh, sweet heaven, am I going to have your husbands over here yelling at me for sending you home damaged? I’d better make coffee.”

“I think it’ll take more than coffee to fix this,” Dana Sue said direly. “I’m going to take a little nap. Somebody call Ronnie and tell him we’re having a sleepover.”