A Family Affair: Summer: Truth in Lies, Book 3 (20 page)

Will had told Cash how Christine Desantro’s mother drove into town in her fancy
car and uppity attitude and paid Natalie Servetti to “fake seduce” Nate, just enough so there would be pictures to make it look real. Oh, yes, real enough to destroy their marriage, which it almost did. Christine was pregnant, too. But somehow they’d gotten past it and Will said Pop Benito had a lot to do with it. Maybe Nate
was
the only one who understood how Cash felt, and maybe the pain he talked about was still too close to the surface, like a scab that would reopen with the slightest scratch.

“That was a bad deal,” Cash said. “I’m sorry.”

Nate’s expression turned dark, fierce. “I’d go through it a hundred times if it meant being with Christine.”

“I never took you for a man who loved torture.”

He touched the wedding ring on his left finger and when he spoke his voice was raw and brittle. “The real torture would be life without her.”

The members of The Bleeding Hearts Society
had gathered for their monthly meeting, but they were not thinking about Wanda Cummings’s recommendation that more fertilizer was required for the droopy impatiens outside the coffee shop on Main Street. Nor were they particularly interested in Mimi Pendergrass’s proposal for a new terra cotta planter by the post office. They were not even taken in with the deliciousness of Ramona Casherdon’s sweet rolls or Mimi Pendergrass’s signature hibiscus ice tea, the latter being a welcome relief on this extra warm summer day. No, they had other thoughts skittering through their brains, thumping in their hearts, trying desperately to sneak past their pinched lips.

What was going to happen to Cash and Tess
?

When Pop Benito invited her to the meeting, Tess had almost turned him down, but then she’d realized exactly why she needed to go. There would never be a better opportunity to say what needed
saying and Ramona Casherdon would be there. When else could she expect a face-to-face with the woman, even though her mother had insisted Cash’s aunt had a few things to tell her. Doubtful anything Tess was interested in, but Ramona wasn’t the reason Tess accepted the invitation. No, that was not it at all.

“Who’s maki
ng the lavender sachets for the Flowers and Hearts sale?” Mimi glanced over her reading glasses and waited. Wanda Cummings and Bree raised their hands.

Of course
, Bree had a question and a comment. She always did. “I was thinking maybe the thread should be lavender, too, since we’re making
lavender
sachets.” She smiled at the group. “You know, in keeping with the theme.”

“Uh-huh.” Mimi nodded. “That’s a fine idea, Bree. You and Wanda work on that.”

Bree lit up like a birthday candle and nodded.

“Now, on to the basil, oregano, and parsley.
We need twenty pots planted by next Sunday so they’ll be well past the shocky state by sale time.” Mimi pointed to Pop. “You’re in charge of these.” She winked. “And don’t forget to say your special prayers or whatever it is you do to get that basil of yours to grow like the Amazon jungle.”

Pop laughed and saluted her. “Will do.” He turned
to Tess and said in a loud whisper, “You can help.”

How did he even know if she would be here at the end of summer, when The Bleeding Hearts
Society held their annual sales event, if she didn’t know herself? Right now, she had no idea where she’d be, but before she left this building, she had to clear the air. Tess wished Christine had been able to attend today. She’d had her own share of grief with this town and the man she loved and was a source of comfort and reassurance to Tess. Unfortunately, Anna had a doctor’s appointment, which left Bree, and while Bree was a good friend and meant well, she’d never known the heartache of losing the man you loved.

When Mimi paused to let Wanda Cummings, The Bleeding Hearts secretary, catch up with her notes, Tess stood and cleared
throat. “Mimi, would you mind if I spoke a moment?”

A hush swirled about the room faster than a midsummer thunderstorm.
Wanda Cummings set down her pen. Bree gasped. Some members stopped nibbling their sweet rolls. Others gulped down their hibiscus tea. Ramona Casherdon grew very still and Pop fidgeted in his chair. No one spoke until finally, Mimi Pendergrass removed her green polka-dotted reading glasses and said, “Why, of course, dear. You go right on ahead and take as much time as you need.”

Tess nodded. “Thank you.” She looked around the room, her gaze darting over Cash’s aunt, settling on Bree, who offered a smile of encouragement. “
I’ve been running from my life for eight years: hopping planes, overscheduling, moving so fast I didn’t have time to think. Or feel. I sold lipstick and made a lot of money doing it. I’d probably still be selling it if my company hadn’t been sold and I’d gotten the boot.” She took in the surprised looks and continued. “It’s the best thing that could have happened to me because it forced me to think about my life.”

She took a deep breath and pushed out the words she’d kept inside for too long. “
You all know what happened eight years ago, and you also know how it split the town, pitting one person against another. Even relatives couldn’t agree on what was right and what wasn’t. I was the cause of much of that grief, not Cash, even though I blamed him. I should have stayed despite my grief over losing my brother, but I didn’t.” Her voice dipped, turned raw. “And I lost more than a fiancé. I lost hope and a chance for what I wanted most: a family with the man I loved. You all know I ran away from this town, but you don’t know what I did, and that’s what I want to tell you.”

“Tess!” Bree’s eyes were bright, her face shocked. “You don’t have to do this.” Her eyes grew brighter. “Please. Don’t.”

Tess offered a faint smile and said, “Thanks, Bree, but I do. I should have done this a long time ago.” She fixed her gaze on Ramona. “I took off to my sister’s, and you can all guess how that turned out. I love Riki, but she’s not good at big-picture things,” she paused. “Or consequences.”

“I don’t see how your confession will benefit anyone but provide fodder for town gossip.” This from Ramona Casherdon who locked gazes with Tess.

Ramona didn’t want her to continue? Now that was truly bizarre. The woman should have been spattering testimony to Tess’s horrible character and dirty secrets. So, why wasn’t she? Why did she look almost compassionate? Tess skipped past Ramona and honed in on Bree’s belly until her vision blurred. “When I was at Riki’s, I found out I was pregnant. I didn’t know what to do and even thought about an abortion.” She paused to let the words sink into the listeners’ heads. “I went to the clinic but I couldn’t go through with it.” She blinked, blinked again and kept her gaze on the pink cotton stretching over Bree’s rounded belly. “The next day I lost the baby. The doctors said it was an ectopic pregnancy. There were complications and I spent days in the hospital, feverish and so sick.”

Tess cleared her throat, pushed out the last painful bits of confession. “
When I went for my checkup, I was still having trouble. Pain, tenderness. It seems there was scarring and...”
Say it. Just say it
. “The doctor said I might never be able to get pregnant. So. Now you know. And I’m sure you figured out by now that Cash knew nothing about any of this until last week.” She tried to smile, but her lips wobbled and fell flat. “I think you’ve all guessed about me long enough. Still, I wanted you to hear the truth.” She nodded and eased into her chair.

Pop scratched
his head and nodded. “Where’s that leave you and Cash?”

“Yes, where does that leave
the two of you?” Wanda Cummings scooted her ample figure forward in her chair and leaned toward Tess.

What to say to that?
“Cash and I aren’t…he doesn’t…”

“He has to!” Bree’s words burst into the room in a rush of hope and
anguish. “He still loves you, I know he does. We have got to find a way to make him see how much he needs you.”

Pop slapped his hand on the table and said, “Dang right we do. I promised Lucy there’d be a wedding and on my wife’s favorite roses, there’s going to be one.”

Tess darted a glance at Ramona, held her gaze. “I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

“I heard he’s planning to stay here, set up shop with Nate Desantro,” Wanda Cummings murmured. “Isn’t that what you told me, Pop?”

Pop and his tales. Apparently he knew how to spread news faster than the
Magdalena Press.
He scratched his head again and appeared very interested in dissecting a piece of sweet roll. “I might have said something along those lines, but there’s always room for misinterpretation.”

“I know what you said.” Wanda stuck her pointy chin in the air and challenged Pop to dispute her words.

He shrugged. “So you know. That ain’t the problem now, is it? The problem is getting these kids together when hurt and pride is standing in the way. Like my Lucy always said, ‘Even love that blooms eternal runs into patches of crabgrass.’ And there you have it.” He picked up a piece of sweet roll, popped it in his mouth.

“My.” Mimi Pendergrass shook her head, making the
red-ball earrings she wore bob and dance. “I think you’ve got The Society’s support.” She slid a sideways glance at Cash’s aunt, who remained still and silent. “Or at least most of them. Answer a question for me, Tess. I know it might be a tad embarrassing but you’ve shared more today than most people do in twenty years. So, I’m going to ask you straight out. Do you love Cash? Do you want another chance with him?”

Love him?
She loved him so much it hurt when she breathed. Did she want another chance? Well, that was like asking Pop if he had an obsession with pizzelles. Tess opened her mouth to speak, but emotion suffocated the words, so she simply nodded.

“Well then,” Mimi Pendergrass picked up a pen and turned all business, “what are we going to do about that?
Anyone have a plan?”

Tess stared at Mimi, not sure she’d heard right.
The Bleeding Hearts Society was going to formulate a plan to get her and Cash back together?

Wanda Cummings let out her thoughts in a gush. “We can invite him here and take turns telling him why he and Tess should give it another go. And I’ll give testimony to the joys of being married to the same person for,” she paused and laughed, “too many years to remember.”

“Thank you, Wanda.” Mimi jotted down a few notes. “We’ll take that recommendation under advisement. Anyone else?”

Bree raised her hand and when Mimi nodded, she said, “I have old pictures of Tess and Cash. Do you think it would help for him to see them? Maybe he’d remember how happy he was?” She paused, her voice dipped. “How happy he could be again?”

No, he will not want to see those pictures or those memories
.

Ramona Casherdon’s voice split into Tess’s thoughts. “I have something to say.” The woman
met Tess’s gaze, held it. Then she did something Tess was certain she’d never witnessed before: she smiled. “Tess, I want you to marry my nephew.” The smile stretched. “You belong together and I’m sorry it took me so many years to realize it.”

“Hallelujah!” Pop stood and raised his arms above his head. “Those are the sweetest words I’ve heard in a long time. Thank you
, Ramona.” He placed his bony hands on the table, spread his fingers wide, and leaned forward. “We’re gonna get this boy and we’re gonna get him good.”

“Pop?”
Mimi’s voice said she was clearly confused with Pop’s agenda.

“Letters, Mimi. Letters. The whole town’s gonna write the boy letters on why he and Tess belong together and they’re gonna share their own love stories. Short and sweet.” He grinned, swept a hand around the table, “Or long and lusty.”

And that was how The Bleeding Hearts Society figured out a plan to reunite Daniel “Cash” Casherdon and Tess Carrick.

***

The letters began arriving two days later, handwritten in blue ink, black, red, even lime green, all addressed to Daniel Casherdon, all having to do with love and starting over. And Tess.

He counted fifteen letters in the last three days, with
three more today. What the hell was going on? Was everybody in Magdalena going to send him a letter, imploring him to make things right with Tess? It’s not that he needed reminders of his ex-fiancée because he’d been thinking of nothing else since that day in the barn when Nate confessed that living without Christine would be the real torture. Damn, that was serious stuff that could emasculate a guy if it got in the wrong hands. Except Nate didn’t seem to care who knew how he felt about his wife. Maybe because he’d almost lost her.

Well, Cash
had
lost Tess, no “almost” about it. But what if they could make it right, get that “second chance” with each other? The most peaceful moments he’d experienced in years were the times when she’d stayed with him in the cabin, sharing a meal, conversation, a bed. Paige had called twice, saying she forgave him for being so harsh with her and offering to visit whenever he liked, for however long he liked. She didn’t mention the fact that he’d run out the door calling another woman’s name. Apparently, she’d categorized that behavior under the “harsh” category and had forgiven him that, too.

Tess would not have been so generous. She’d probably have pulled out his gun and aimed it at his crotch, threatening to pull the trigger if he looked sideways at a woman. Paige was more
about seduction and bending a man to her ways, while Tess had always been about confrontation and talking first, seduction and bending later. But the time she most needed to confront and talk had been after JJ’s death, and yet, she’d run away.

Cash grabbed a letter and tore it open. What would this one say?
Who would it be from? He knew all of the senders, or at least recognized the family names. Some were heartfelt; others humorous; still others quoted poems, lyrics, and Scripture. When he received the first batch of letters, he’d almost tossed them in the trash. But then he opened one, and then another, and continued on until he’d read all of them. The sentiments stayed with him as he put a coat of varnish on a rocker or buffed out a row of spindles. These people had good hearts and they cared, rare qualities in today’s society. He unfolded a letter and read.