I’m here to tell you, though, I couldn’t understand how any woman would take up a career in seduction. If what had happened to Monique Mooney and Norma Cantrell was any indication, there was mighty little future in it. Why they’d want to flit from one man to another was beyond me. One had been all I could handle and, as we all know, I didn’t do too good a job of it.
But there were a few good things that came of Monique’s testimony. Before the day was out, Helen Stroud was driving around in a brand-new convertible, and Amy Broughton had the diamond tennis bracelet she’d been wanting. I don’t know what kind of peace offering Mildred Allen received, but Horace got moved downstairs to a room of his own, and he suddenly exhibited a little more understanding of Tonya’s divided loyalties.
Some folks said that Norma had caught Curtis Maxwell deep in the woods behind the tent and let him have it. But others were sure he’d escaped her clutches by hiding out all night in the Upper Room. Either way, he was gone by morning, lifting off in his jet plane without a hello, good-bye, or a fare-thee-well.
Emma Sue, from all I heard over the telephone and from drop-in visitors eager to discuss Monique’s revelations—and to see how I was bearing up—seemed to profit the most from the can of worms that had been opened. After LuAnne told me that Norma was taking some personal time away from her desk in the pastor’s outer office and that Emma Sue was filling in for her, I got Emma Sue on the phone.
“How are you?” I asked, not knowing exactly how to approach the subject I most wanted to talk about.
“A burden has been lifted,” she said, sounding so pious I could hardly stand it. “Oh, Julia, I’ve been so mistaken about Larry, you just wouldn’t believe. There’s no way in the world he’d look at another woman, so it was Satan who led me to distrust him. Well, and the way Norma acted didn’t help.”
“No, I guess not,” I said, still suspecting that Norma had had an eye on the pastor until a better prospect in the shape of Curtis Maxwell happened along. “Anyway, I’m glad you’ve straightened things out, Emma Sue. Suspicion is a terrible thing to live with, although there was a time in my life when I could’ve used a little.”
“Oh, I never really suspected Larry,” she said, stunning me with this sudden revision of events. “It was always Norma who worried me. She was the one I suspected, and I wasn’t wrong about her, just wrong about the one she was after. How in the world could she ever think that somebody as sophisticated as Curtis would be interested in her? But I’m not going to talk about her, because I’ve forgiven her for what she put me through.”
“That’s good of you, Emma Sue.”
“Oh, and Julia, you’ll never guess,” Emma Sue went on. “Larry’s been shown that cosmetics aren’t so bad, after all. The Lord spoke to him this morning while he was shaving, and told him that there was no harm in gilding the lily, so to speak. And,” she stopped and giggled a tiny bit, “I reminded him that it’s possible to be both sexy and saved. Don’t tell anybody I said that.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” I said, thinking,
My word, maybe the pastor does have a guilty conscience, if he’s letting Emma Sue get away with that.
And, if his conscience was bothering him, I hoped to goodness he’d have a little more compassion for other people because of it—especially people he wanted to shun for no reason in the world.
I got off the phone as soon as I could, shaken by Emma Sue’s blithe conviction of her husband’s innocence. She might no longer suspect him, but there would always be a little niggle of doubt in my mind. There was still the question of who’d been passionately moaning over Norma in the pastor’s office. It had probably been Curtis Maxwell, but it could’ve been the mayor, or the pastor, for all Emma Sue—or I—knew. But then, after my experience with Wesley Lloyd, I’m just slightly inclined to believe the worst.
N
Hazel Marie got home late Monday morning, but she didn’t stay long. “I thought it better not to send Lloyd to school today,” she told me. “I’m just dropping him off with you, so I can get a few things done in town.”
I kept my thoughts to myself, but I couldn’t keep my mouth from tightening up. Of all the times to go shopping, this was not one of them. I needed her at home where we could discuss Little Lloyd’s eye-opening experience, not off on some frivolous expedition for new shoes.
After she left, I kept watching the child, hoping with all my heart that what he’d learned from Monique and from Mr. Pickens had not turned his life upside down and against me. To my great relief, he seemed the same as ever, except for the one time I caught him giving me a long look. Probably trying to figure out where I fit in, vis-à-vis his mother and father. But he quickly smiled when he caught my eye and went on upstairs to play with Latisha. There’s something to be said for basic family values—which I had constantly instilled in him—even when that family is as uncommonly constructed as ours.
That afternoon I was in my bedroom, trying to study my daily devotions. My mind kept sliding away, though, as I relived the moment when Sam made it plain that he preferred me to Monique Mooney, even though my first husband had not.
My first husband.
I smiled at the thought, because that meant I was thinking about a second one. Glancing down at the ring on my finger, I had an even better thought: It could be that I wouldn’t have to give it back.
I put away such idle musings, when Lillian came halfway up the stairs and called to me. “Mr. Sam comin’ in the door, an’ Miss Hazel Marie with him.”
“Well, for goodness sakes,” I said, closing my devotional book and preparing to go downstairs. “How did those two hook up together?”
“Maybe they jus’ happen to get here at the same time,” Lillian said, as she left.
I hurried downstairs to find Sam and Hazel Marie in the living room, both of them smiling in a secretive way. Beaming, if you want to know the truth, which I felt most inappropriate under the circumstances.
Hazel Marie jumped up as soon as I appeared. “Miss Julia! You’ll never guess what’s happened.”
“Lord, don’t tell me any more bad news,” I said, sitting by Sam on the sofa and, without thinking a thing about it, taking his hand. “I’ve had enough of it.”
“Oh, this is not bad news. You tell her, Sam.” Hazel Marie could hardly restrain herself, she was so full of something she was about to pop. “Then I want to tell her the best part.”
“Okay,” Sam said, his eyes almost dazzling me with their shining. “I get to tell you that Mayor Beebee has withdrawn from the race.” Sam had to stop and laugh. “Citing personal reasons and saying he wants to spend more time with his family.”
“Well, I never,” I said, recognizing the trite excuse used by politicians in trouble. Then I laughed. “I don’t know whether Gladys’ll be glad to hear that or not. It’s been a blue moon since he’s spent any time at all with her.”
“Oh, but that’s not all,” Hazel Marie said, as she waved her hands excitedly. “You’ll never guess what Sam and Binkie found out. And I’m the one who thought of it, although Sam almost beat me to it.”
“What is it? I declare, Hazel Marie, you’re acting like it’s the greatest thing that ever happened.”
“It just about is!” She finally settled herself on the arm of the sofa, her face shining with expectation. “You know the property that you leased to the WWJW theme park folks? Well, it’s not yours. It’s Lloyd’s!”
“What?” I was confused. I looked at Sam. “What is she talking about?”
“The boundary lines out there aren’t properly staked,” Sam said with some satisfaction. “Nobody checked the plats in the courthouse, so Dooley’s built on land that doesn’t belong to you.”
“But,” I said, not daring to get my hopes up too far, “I signed a lease.”
“Yes, but,” Hazel Marie said, as she fidgeted with excitement, “you can’t lease land that’s not yours. Don’t you see, Miss Julia, that lease is not worth the paper it’s printed on.”
“Well, for goodness sakes,” I said, sinking back into the sofa. “And all this time I’ve been beating myself up for letting those people in, and they weren’t even supposed to be there in the first place.”
“Hazel Marie put us onto it,” Sam said, always eager to give credit where it was due. “She remembered looking over a list of Lloyd’s properties, and thought some of his acreage was pretty close to where they’re building.”
“Yes, and I got Binkie and Sam together this morning to figure it out.” Hazel Marie could hardly sit still, which didn’t help the stability of the sofa arm. “And sure enough, your property line is some two hundred yards away.” She leaned down practically in my face. “They’re building on Lloyd’s land, and we’ve already sent the sheriff to tell them they have to vacate immediately!”
I rested my head on the back of the sofa, just stunned at this turn of events. Even though the theme park looked to have come apart at the seams due to Monique’s urge to broadcast her dark deeds, I didn’t doubt Dwayne Dooley’s ability to put it back together again. But with this astounding news, he’d have to put it together somewhere else. After the events of the previous night, there wouldn’t be a soul in Abbot County who’d lease a foot of ground to him. Too many wives were up in arms.
“Why, Hazel Marie,” I said, putting my hand on her knee as a sense of peace swept over me. “I didn’t know you had a head for business.”
She wrapped her arms around her shoulders, and beamed in wonderment. “Me,
either.
”
=
Chapter 39’
Ever since Sam started all his serious talk about marriage, he’d kept me up past my customary bedtime and that night was no exception. He lingered on well after Hazel Marie, feeling exceptionally pleased with herself, left for bed.
“Did she really think of that all on her own?” I asked Sam. Not that I wanted to take anything away from Hazel Marie, but it hardly seemed the sort of thing she would ordinarily concern herself with.
“She did,” Sam said, nodding. “I’d wondered about it when I saw where they’d built, but Hazel Marie was positive they were across the line. None of us wanted to get your hopes up, though, until we confirmed it. And Hazel Marie wanted to surprise you, so she called Binkie and me, and we all went to the courthouse this morning to look at the plats.”
“I declare, Sam,” I said, sighing as I sat in the far corner of the sofa, “every time I think of that WWJW crew, I could just whip somebody.”
“Let it go, sweetheart,” Sam said. “They’ll be out of your hair before long, and you can give some thought to me. Now, why don’t you come on over here next to me? You’re about to wear me out, having to chase you down all the time.”
“Oh, for goodness sake,” I said, not moving an inch. “If you want to sit by me, just do it and quit moaning about having to exert yourself.”
Laughing, he did just that, and I settled into what had more and more become my special place in the crook of his arm. It felt especially comforting, now that my fears about his trustworthiness had been put to rest.
After a minute or two of silence in which I became increasingly aware of his heartbeat and the rhythm of his breathing, I thought it wise to say something. “If Dwayne Dooley leaves those pitiful buildings behind, I think I’ll talk to Little Lloyd about setting up a park out there. Not a theme park,” I quickly added. “But a park where children can play.”
“That’s a fine idea,” he said, his breath ruffling my hair while his hand slid up and down my arm.
“I’ll see what he says,” I whispered against his shirt. My arm crept around his waist, as I rested my head on his chest and molded myself against him.
“You’d better say something, Sam,” I said presently. “I’m about to fall asleep.”
I could feel him smiling against my forehead. “You could fall asleep here every night, Julia, if you just would.”
I let myself think about what that would be like, surprising myself with how desirable it now seemed. Far from giving the whole marriage business short shrift, as I’d been doing, I realized that the thought of nightly snuggling with him held some decided attractions. Even though I had good reason to abstain from another marriage, this one just might be worth the risk. After all, nothing of this magnitude carried either a lifetime or a money-back guarantee.
But first, he needed to know the ground rules. So I laid them out for him.
I straightened myself, took a breath, and said, “You might as well get this straight right now, so there won’t be any confusion on the subject. I am not going to put up with any messing around in any shape or form. If you ever get it into your head to do any, you just let me know and I’ll pack your bags.”
Sam’s face turned serious in a hurry. “What’re you saying, Julia?”
“I’m saying this: if the Monique Mooneys of the world start looking good to you, you can have them. I won’t stand in your way. In fact, I’ll divorce you so fast it’ll make your head spin.” I crossed my arms across my chest so he’d know I meant business. “Even though I don’t much believe in divorce.”
“You’ll never have reason to worry about me, Julia.”
“Well, you just keep that in mind. I’ve had more than my share of marital discord, and I don’t intend to put up with any more of it.”
“I promise, you won’t have to. Do you think, after all the trouble I’ve had courting you, that I’d throw it all away? Not on your life.”
“It’s not my life that’s in question, here,” I said, deciding I could do a little teasing of my own. “It’s yours that’s in mortal danger.”
Sam grinned and drew me back against his chest. “I’ll take my chances, if you’ll take a few with me.”
“I’m thinking about it,” I said, smiling. Then I sat up, overcome with a sudden vision of what lay before me. “Oh, Sam, if we did it, think of all the turmoil and upset and confusion a big wedding would cause. And it would have to be big. We know everybody in town.”
Sam’s face lit up, along with his eyebrows. “You’re sounding mighty serious here, Julia. Are you?”