Secret Lives of the Kudzu Debutantes (48 page)

“I'm not surprised,” Lavonne said, “after that blowout at his mother's house. I mean, how much humiliation can one guy take?”

“Don't tell me you feel sorry for that asshole,” Eadie said. “He's only getting what he deserves.”

Grace said, “Hey, that's my half-brother you're talking about.”

No one knew what to say to this. They hadn't asked Grace about her relationship with the Broadwells. They figured she needed time to come to terms with it before speaking about it openly.

“And don't tell me he wasn't in on Virginia's little kidnapping and land fraud scheme from the beginning,” Eadie said.

Nita shrugged. “Maybe,” she said. She didn't care about any of that now. She was happy and that was all that mattered.

Lavonne poured everyone some more tea. She leaned back in her chair and looked at Nita. “So how're things with you and Virginia?”

Nita helped herself to the brie. “She dropped the custody suit, of course. I've agreed to let Whitney see her, but only if I'm present. She and Redmon are coming for Christmas dinner. I believe in letting bygones be bygones. Up to a point.”

“You're a hell of a lot more forgiving than I am,” Eadie said. “I know she's turned over a new leaf and everything but I still wouldn't let her within ten feet of my child.”

“I thought you admired Virginia,” Lavonne said.

“Yeah, well, admiring her from a distance and welcoming her into the bosom of my family are two very different things. You might admire a grizzly bear in the zoo but that doesn't mean you'd bring it home for tea and cookies.”

“She's trying hard to change,” Grace said. They all looked at her. “I talked to her a few days ago. She's agreed to counseling. We think it might be the best way to rebuild our relationship.”

“Damn,” Lavonne said.

“Good luck with that,” Eadie said.

“I think that's sweet,” Nita said.

The sky darkened into evening. A damp mist hung over the yard. Lavonne got up to light some candles.

“Just tell me one thing,” Eadie said to Grace. “When did you find out about Virginia being your mother? And how?”

Grace shrugged and looked at her hands. “I'm an investigative journalist,” she said. “It wasn't all that hard. I knew I'd been adopted. My parents never tried to hide that from me, and for a long time it just wasn't important. But when I turned forty-eight, I started thinking about it. All the time. I wanted to know who my real parents were and I wanted to know why they
gave me up. My parents told me everything they knew and I kind of worked backward from there.”

“So you've known for a couple of years?”

“No. I found out the truth a few weeks before Nita's wedding. It was a shock, I can tell you. It took me a while to assimilate. Everyone knows Virginia and I never got along too well. And I had no idea about Hampton Boone until the day of Virginia's pre-Thanksgiving throw-down.” She looked at Eadie and grinned. “That was a complete shock.”

Lavonne patted her on the shoulder. “Well, you seem to be handling it all pretty well,” she said.

“I'm adjusting,” Grace said. “Virginia's asked me to come over next week when they air the
Gracious Southern Living
holiday segment. She says she needs me there for moral support.”

“Does she have any idea what exactly it is they're going to air?”

Grace shook her head. “She has no clue,” she said.

Eadie snorted. “Well, it might be interesting. You know that producer, Carlin, called me to talk about filming a segment on next year's Kudzu Ball. She thought it might be just the kind of thing their viewers want to see.”

“Hell,” Lavonne said. “Maybe we should pitch it to the networks as a new reality series.”

Nita giggled and put her hand over her mouth. Eadie looked at Lavonne and grinned. Grace chewed a cracker and gazed at the twinkling Christmas lights, still thinking about her newfound mother.

“I mean, I'm not saying Virginia and I are ever going to be close,” she said. “There's no telling what kind of relationship we'll be able to forge through counseling. My feeling is, if we can get to the point where we can sit in a room without physically assaulting one another, that's a good thing.”

“I think that's the best you can hope for with Virginia,” Eadie said.

“You have to take love where you can find it,” Nita said, smiling and looking around the table. “It's not always pretty.”

There was a scent of wood smoke in the air, rolling in with the fog. The lights of the neighborhood houses glowed cheerily. Distantly, the strains of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” wafted on the cool damp air.

“Speaking of love,” Eadie said to Lavonne. “Have you decided whether or not to run away to the south of France with Joe?”

Lavonne sighed and looked at the Christmas lights. “I don't know,” she said. “We're such good friends and I'm kind of scared to ruin that. What if
we hate each other after living together a month? What if it turns into a relationship like the one I had with Leonard?”

“You've got to get back in there, Lavonne. You can't be afraid of what might happen. You have to go for it.”

“Well, I know I can't stay for six months. Not with my business and the girls coming home for summer break.”

“If you're over there long enough, you'll learn to speak French.”

“Hey, will you teach me how to curse in French?” Eadie said. “I've always wanted to do that.”

There was a sudden thunderous knocking on the front door. They all jumped and looked at one another. Eadie frowned. “Joe?” she said.

Lavonne shook her head, rising. “He's still in Chicago.”

“Maybe it's Christmas carolers,” Nita said.

“If it is, send them back here,” Grace said.

They waited, listening for Lavonne's footsteps as she crossed the kitchen and into the front room. She opened the door and a deep, masculine voice said, “Evening, ma'am. I'm Officer Tater Hogburn. We've had a complaint about a disturbance coming from this residence, something about some vodka-crazed women and a troupe of high-flying circus midgets.”

It was Trevor doing his best redneck accent.

“Well, good evening Officer Hogburn, come on in. The midgets were just leaving.” Lavonne grinned and stepped back so he could enter. “Eadie, get your clothes on,” she said, swinging her head over her shoulder. “You've got a visitor.”

But she was too late. Eadie had already jumped up and was running for the door.