Forgiving Jackson

Avon, Massachusetts

Copyright © 2014 by Jean Hovey and Stephanie Jones.
All rights reserved.

This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher; exceptions are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews.

Published by

Crimson Romance

an imprint of F+W Media, Inc.

10151 Carver Road, Suite 200

Blue Ash, OH 45242. U.S.A.

www.crimsonromance.com

ISBN 10: 1-4405-8194-0

ISBN 13: 978-1-4405-8194-6

eISBN 10: 1-4405-8195-9

eISBN 13: 978-1-4405-8195-3

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, corporations, institutions, organizations, events, or locales in this novel are either the product of the author's imagination or, if real, used fictitiously. The resemblance of any character to actual persons (living or dead) is entirely coincidental.

Cover art © 123RF/Jason Stitt 5760815

For Anna Perry Davis. We love you.

Many thanks to:

Jonathan Baggs because we didn’t know a Telecaster from a ukulele.

Milla Kennamer Averett because we didn’t know what goes on in first class on a plane.

Anna Davis because we didn’t know what a detective would ask a rape victim.

And, as always, Tara, Jess, and Julie at Crimson because we don’t know where we’d be without them.

Summer might float into Seattle, Boston, and Denver on fairy wings kissing the air with promises of happy sunshine and picnics—but in Beauford, Tennessee, it was a different story. It roared in, riding a flame-wheeled chariot, cracking its whip and laughing at heat stroke, ruined crops, and sweat-soaked bras.

Emory Lowell had tried to tell that to the bride, her mother, and eight bridesmaids when they visited Beauford Bend Plantation last winter on their trek through the South looking for a plantation wedding venue. But apparently her warning hadn’t sunk in.

“Kaylee cannot possibly get married outside in this heat!” The mother of the bride waved her hand in the direction of the white marble wedding gazebo where the rows of white chairs were already set up. Emory was pretty sure she saw sweat fly off the woman’s face.

You ain’t seen nothing yet. It’s only ten o’clock. By
I Do
time at four, it’ll be a hundred degrees.

But Emory didn’t say that, of course. She wasn’t even rattled. She had expected it, was prepared for it like she was always prepared for everything.

“Mrs. Wagman—”

“Florence. Please. We aren’t as formal as you Southerners. Every time I hear Mrs. Wagman I look around for my mother-in-law.” She took a long swig from her water bottle. “Though come to think of it, she’s the only one here I would subject to this heat.”

“Yes. Well. Florence. The heat
is
intense. And I won’t lie. It will be worse this afternoon. But we have plenty of time. We can proceed with the inclement weather plan and move the ceremony into the ballroom. It won’t be a problem. My staff has done this a hundred times.”

“But then Kaylee wouldn’t be getting married outside! She has always dreamed of getting married outside just like Scarlett O’Hara!”

Had Scarlett gotten married outside? Emory couldn’t remember. Not that it mattered. Apparently Kaylee thought she had.

“Mrs. Wagman. Florence. Have y’all”—she hesitated—“have y’all spent much time in the South during the summer?”

“We have spent
no
time in the South, in the summer or otherwise—last January being the exception, when we were looking for a wedding site. Kaylee was so set on a plantation wedding. And I have to say, Emory, though Beauford Bend is by far the most beautiful venue we considered, I wish we had chosen the one in Louisiana. It’s on the water so it has to be cooler there. Why did this heat wave have to happen now, of all times?” She fanned herself with her hand.

Tact. Don’t say I told you so.
“Actually, this isn’t a heat wave. This is pretty standard. And Louisiana would be hotter and twice as humid.”

Florence’s eyes widened. “You mean you people live like this all the time? It was
cold
when we were here before.”

Emory nodded sympathetically. “We have seasons—even snow. But summer means business. Now, why don’t you let me have this whole thing moved inside? It will be lovely.”

“Kaylee will be devastated!”

No doubt. This wouldn’t be the first devastated bride Emory had dealt with—and she knew how to deal.

“I have an idea,” Emory said like it was a new thought. “It’ll be much cooler tonight. Why don’t we go ahead with the wedding and dinner in the house but have dancing out here after the cake is served?” Florence Wagman looked interested. “The band can set up in the gazebo. I’ll have the portable dance floor and bar set up. We have large fans that can be brought out. They would be far too noisy, not to mention ineffectual, for an afternoon ceremony, but with the music, they would hardly be noticed. I could have the flowers from the ceremony brought out during dinner. We can turn on the little white lights in the trees.”

“I don’t know. Kaylee had pictured an outdoor ceremony with dancing in the ballroom … ”

“And we can certainly go ahead with that.”

Sweat ran down Florence’s neck. She pursed her lips.

“You know what? Kaylee might as well learn right now that she can’t have everything. I, for one, am not sitting out in his heat. Go ahead with that plan!” She turned to walk away.

Emory reached for the button on her headset but Florence Wagman stopped and looked back over her shoulder. “Any chance Jack Beauford is here?”

“No.” That was the only word she had. The mention of Jackson tended to shut her down.

“Any chance he might be coming home? I heard he canceled his tour after his drummer and guitar player were killed in that fire. He lives at the plantation when he’s not on the road, right? A song from him at the reception would go a long way in making Kaylee happy.”

No kidding. Who wouldn’t want a song from a Grammy-winning, heart-stopping gorgeous superstar?

“I am afraid that’s not possible,” Emory said. “This is his childhood home and he lives here when he has to be in Nashville, but he isn’t expected.”

And she hoped that was true; she hoped with all her heart that Jackson wasn’t coming here. She’d been holding her breath ever since she’d gotten the email ten days ago informing her that he was coming home and to cancel all remaining events, pay herself a year’s salary, and vacate the property. Except for security, she was to give all the staff six months’ severance pay and let them go. Security was to be left alone.

She had done none of it, nor did she have any plans to. She had gotten away with ignoring his last directive—the one he’d given her eight months ago—and there was no reason to think she wouldn’t get away with this, too.

That last directive had come right after Amelia’s funeral. Emory’s gut turned with grief every time she thought of losing Amelia, and she supposed it always would. Emory had met Jackson’s great-aunt as a teen when her new stepmother had sent her on whirlwind of self-improvement camps that included a trip to Beauford Bend to attend Amelia’s annual charm school: A Fortnight of Refinement and Training for Young Ladies.

She’d met Jackson that summer too. At the dance on the last night of charm school, he’d given her a moonlight kiss in the rose arbor—but that didn’t make her special. She wasn’t the only freshly kissed fifteen-year-old who’d left Beauford Bend with a crush on Jackson Beauford—though she might be the only one who had let that crush morph into fandom. Not that Jackson remembered any of that and not that it mattered.

What
did
matter was Emory had loved that time at Beauford Bend as much as she had dreaded coming. Unlike tennis, ballet, French culture, and cheerleader camps, she loved the dancing and embroidery lessons, the formal dining, the learning to pour tea. She loved how Amelia always said, “Honey, there’s no excuse for not knowing how to do something just because you might never use it.” But more than any of that, Emory loved how Amelia had given her refuge when she had no refuge at home anymore with a stepmother who liked to pretend she didn’t exist.

She’d spent the next five summers at Beauford Bend as a volunteer. Those summers with Amelia had made her strong. Though she had kept in touch with Amelia, Emory had not been to Beauford Bend in four years—until two years ago when she wasn’t strong anymore. She had needed refuge again and Amelia had given her a home and put her to work in her business Around the Bend: Elegant Events
.
It had been ideal—until, at eighty-two, Amelia suddenly died of a stroke.

After the funeral, Jackson and his brothers had agreed to close down Amelia’s events business. Jackson had instructed Emory to fulfill the obligations but not to book any more—and that included the charm school. And she had intended to do that. In fact, she had turned away several bookings. But then the call came from the woman who just wanted a small party for her daughter’s sixteenth birthday. It would be so easy and Jackson would never know it hadn’t been booked before—if he even bothered to ask. And then there was the embroidery guild that had been coming to Beauford Bend for a weeklong retreat for twenty years. Surely that couldn’t be considered a new booking. Besides, it had been three months since Amelia’s death and Emory hadn’t heard a single word from a single Beauford. Gabe was in San Antonio playing pro football. Rafe was riding bulls. Beau was an Army Ranger so it was anyone’s guess where he was. And of course, Lord of the Manor Jackson had an album to promote.

So things had rocked on. Emory continued to book events and she accepted applications for the summer charm school.

It seemed they had forgotten all about her, Around the Bend, and the orders to shut it down. The business paid for itself and turned a small profit. More importantly, the town needed Around the Bend. Not only did Emory hire townspeople to work events, there were businesses like the caterer, limo service, and florist that existed because of Around the Bend.

And then, there was the other reason she couldn’t close the business. If Around the Bend folded, she’d have to leave Beauford Bend, the only place she could feel safe.

She’d begun to think things could go on as they were forever.

And that might have been true if not for the fire at a Jack Beauford concert in Los Angeles two weeks ago that killed two of his band members, three of his road crew, and his manager, as well as over thirty concertgoers. A few days later the email had arrived from Jackson, the email she had ignored. Now he might be coming home.