CHAPTER ELEVEN
Keeneston, Kentucky
Two years later . . .
Violet was finally home. She stepped out of the airport and into the waiting taxi. It had been four years since she’d called Kentucky home. She was sure the Belles thought she would come home pregnant and ruined within a month of leaving for France, but she hadn’t. She had lost her heart in France, but she had lived and breathed her passion. However, when her meals starting turning from culinary masterpieces to home-cooked meals of fried chicken and grits, she knew it was time to go home.
“Where to, miss?”
“Keeneston, please.” Violet slid into the back seat as suitcase after suitcase was loaded into the trunk. She had no idea what to do now; she just knew she needed to go back home.
The emerald grass played along the rolling hills as they drove out of Lexington. Foals frolicked in their pastures, cows chewed on bluegrass, and new leaves unfurled toward the sun. Spring in Kentucky had always been her favorite time of year. It took thirty minutes, but soon Main Street was upon her. Fresh flowers were planted in front of every window, and the people outside painting their fences stopped to stare at the unfamiliar sight of a taxi driving through town.
“Right here, please,” Violet told the driver. The screen door opened and her mother stepped onto the porch to see who had arrived.
“Violet?” her mother asked softly. “Violet!” she yelled when she realized it really was her.
Violet smiled and felt the tears fill her eyes. “I’m home, Mama.”
Her mother raced down the steps, and they met in a tight embrace in the middle of the yard. Tears and laughter mixed with joy; she was in her mother’s arms once again.
“Oh, look at you. You’re so grown up. Of course by the time I was twenty-one, I already had you three, so I have to stop thinking of you as my little baby. It’s so good to have you back. Are you back for good or just to visit?” her mother asked as she ran her hand over Violet’s cheek.
“For good. Do I still have a room?”
Her mother laughed as more tears spilled. “You’ll always have a place here. This is your home. Now, let’s carry this luggage inside. I can’t wait to surprise your father and sister.”
Daisy closed her book and stood from the desk in the lecture hall. It was her last class of the day. It was April, and she would graduate the first week of June. She was so close she could taste it. She would be a college graduate and a wife shortly after. She and Robert had talked about it for the last year. He was making a name for himself in the advertising world, even getting a couple national campaigns. By the time Daisy graduated, Robert would have a nest egg big enough to buy a house.
She pushed open the wooden doors and stepped onto campus, breathing in the budding flowers and freshly cut grass. People walked all around her, heading to and from class. Some laughed, but despite the flowering dogwoods and daffodils, the campus wasn’t as cheerful as it had been. Everything changed in a split second one early afternoon on November 22, 1963. Shots fired in the faraway state of Texas had reverberated through their campus in Kentucky. Women had fallen to the ground in tears. Men stood rooted in shock as the news broadcast the assassination of President Kennedy.
Time had marched on, but the veil of sadness had not lifted. Instead, troops were being sent to a country halfway around the world and the shroud of the Vietnam War now covered the campus. Not just hers, but the whole country’s innocence had been lost that day, and they could never go back to how things were before.
Daisy looked up and down the street and then waved as she saw Robert pulling up. “Hi! Thanks for picking me up. Are you sure you can leave work early?”
Robert hurried from the car and opened her door for her. “It’s no problem. I actually need to talk to you about work and about us. Want to head to my place?”
“Sure,” Daisy said with a feeling of dread. “Is everything all right?”
“Actually, something pretty big has happened. It will be good for us in the long run, but I am afraid you might not want to stick it out. Let’s just talk about it when we get to my place. Tell me about your day. Are you ready for graduation?”
Daisy gave a weak smile and managed the small talk until they pulled in front of his apartment. Her palms grew sweaty and it felt as if someone were clog-dancing in her stomach. She tried to remember to breathe as Robert unlocked the door and turned on the lights.
“Here, let’s have some champagne. The situation calls for it.” He smiled as he headed for the refrigerator.
Well, that had to be good, right? Maybe he wanted to get married sooner. Whatever it was, it was killing her. “Just tell me. You’ve turned me into a nervous wreck.”
Pop
went the cork. Robert poured two glasses and handed her one. “I got a huge promotion.”
Relief washed over her. “Congratulations! Your father is making you second in command?”
Robert shook his head. He’d been battling with his father for the past year for more control over the company, but his father had been keeping him on a tight leash. “No. My campaign for that new detergent that went national, well, it caught the eye of the Pentagon. They called and want me to work with them on the war effort.”
Daisy set her glass down and shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“They want me to work on war propaganda. They need more men to volunteer to go to Vietnam. I’m headed to Washington, D.C., to work for the Secretary of Defense. My salary has been tripled, and my work will be seen all over the country.”
“You’re moving to Washington?”
“It’s just for one year. They think they can win this stupid fight in the jungle, and I’ll be back here as soon as they do.” Robert took her hands in his and looked down into her eyes. “But I have to leave in two days. I won’t make it to your graduation. I’m so sorry, Daisy.”
“I could join you after I graduate. I mean, we had talked about getting married soon. We could just speed up our plan,” Daisy said with a shaky voice. All their plans and dreams were slipping away.
“I want to, my love, but they told me I got the job because I wasn’t married. Apparently, I will just about live at the Pentagon, and I will have to travel to military bases as well.”
Her hand flew to her heart. “Do you have to fight in Vietnam?”
Robert smiled kindly down at her and shook his head. “No, thank goodness. But we can write, and I will call you every week. I had meant to give this to you under different circumstances, and I understand if you don’t want it anymore, but . . .”
Robert dug his hand into his pocket and dropped to one knee. He opened the box, and Daisy gasped at the beautiful ring.
“Daisy Mae Rose, I have loved you since I set eyes on you. You are kind, passionate, and strong. I couldn’t wish for anyone else to be my wife and the mother of my children. Will you marry me?”
Her heart sang, and she felt tears pressing for release. “I thought you said the Pentagon didn’t want a married man.”
With a sly smile he held out the ring. “Technically, I wouldn’t be married. I would be engaged. And this is my promise to you that I am yours. No matter how far away, my heart is always with you. Can you do it, Daisy? Can you wait until this war is over to become my wife? I’m sure with my advertising the American people will be behind us in no time and victory will be coming along shortly.”
Daisy smiled and then nodded. “Yes! I love you, Robert. Of course I will wait for you.”
Robert slid the ring on her shaking finger. It was too loose, but she could get it resized. It was beautiful. And it was a symbol of their love and commitment to each other. “You’ve made me the happiest man in the world today. I love you.”
Daisy flung her arms around his neck, and when he kissed her she knew she would wait forever for him.
* * *
Violet waited in the kitchen as her mother brought dinner to the dining room. She quietly snuck to the door and put her ear to it. Her sister and father had just gotten home from work and were sitting down for dinner.
“Who is coming to dinner?” Lily asked. Violet was sure Lily was gesturing to the extra plate setting on the table.
“Oh, Mom,” Lily groaned, “you’re not setting me up with another blind date, are you?”
“Would it be so bad if I did? Do you have any idea how many weddings we have been to in the past couple of years? It’s like the whole town of Keeneston is getting married except for my daughters.” Her mother paused. That was Violet’s cue.
“So what if we don’t get married? We just get to live with y’all longer,” Violet teased, walking into the dining room as if she’d been there every night for the past four years.
Lily’s eyes were comically round as she screamed and jumped up from the table. She hugged Violet so hard, Violet was worried she might not be able to breathe. When her father wrapped her and Lily in a bear hug, she felt the first tear roll down her cheek. Soon the whole family was a blubbering mess, standing in one big group hug.
“I can’t believe you’re here. Please tell me you’re staying for longer than a week,” Lily ordered and refused to let go of Violet’s hand.
“I am. I’m here to stay. I’m going to send out résumés next week to restaurants in Lexington. I’m hoping Chef Nichols hasn’t forgotten about me,” Violet told them as they finally let her take her seat at the table.
“We have to call Daisy. Does she know you’re back in town?” Lily asked as she grabbed Violet’s hand once again.
“She doesn’t. Maybe you can call her and try to get her home this weekend.”
Lily rubbed her hands together and smiled mischievously. “Subterfuge—my favorite pastime.”
Dinner was a happy blur for Violet, listening to her sister and father tease each other about work, while her mother shook her head as if this happened every night. And it probably did. She’s just missed out on it over the past four years. The rightness of being back in Keeneston hugged her. She would miss France. She would miss the fancy clothes and the fast-paced life of a top chef. But this was home. This was where she belonged.
“I’m declaring sister time,” Lily called out. She pushed her seat back from the table and grabbed Violet’s hand once again.
Her mother smiled and dabbed her eyes with her napkin. “I’ll get the dishes tonight. You girls go have fun. I’m so happy to have all my babies nearby again.”
“Come on. We’re going to be late if we don’t hurry,” Lily whispered as she pulled her out the front door and down the steps. “I hope you still have air in your tires.”
Violet watched as Lily pushed open the shed door and pulled out her bike. She disappeared again before coming back out with Violet’s purple bike from high school. “The tires are pretty soft, but it will have to do.”
“Where are we going, and why are we riding our bikes? Can’t we just take Dad’s car?”
“We are picking up Mona Crosby and our mission requires stealth, hence the bikes.” Lily grinned and Violet couldn’t help but return the smile.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Hurry,” Lily called over her shoulder.
“Why?” Violet asked as she panted after her sister.
Lily didn’t answer until after they climbed the hill on their street and left behind the cluster of large Victorian houses. As they cruised downhill and passed row after row of corn, tobacco, and soybeans, Lily slowed down to talk.
“We need to get Mona to go for a bike ride, crash her, and then you and I will head off to ‘get help.’”
“Won’t Mona be hurt? And that’s horrible to leave her on the side of the road by herself,” Violet said, aghast.
“She won’t be alone for long. Kevin Stokes gets off work in twenty minutes from the farm. He’ll be driving a pickup, perfect for putting a bicycle in the back,” Lily said with a wink and a mischievous grin.
Violet laughed as she looked at her sister. She was glowing. When Lily had told her over the phone about all the weddings she had attended and about how she had
helped
the couples along, Violet had no idea Lily had actually orchestrated their relationships.
“You seem like your old self, Lil,” Violet called out. Lily held her hands up in the air as she sped down the hill.
“Matchmaking makes me feel alive. It makes me happy to give others what I can’t have myself. It’s very rewarding to see their love spark and grow. It’s a way of experiencing love without any of the pain. Now, hurry up. There’s Mona’s house.”
“What a great idea to go for a bike ride. It’s so pleasant out here before the summer heat sets in.” Mona smiled as she pedaled between Violet and Lily. Her long blond hair was tied back in a ponytail, and she wore a bright blue scarf tied at her neck.
“That’s what I thought, too. And I thought it would be nice for Violet to see the countryside again. She’s been gone too long in France.” Lily gave her sister a wink. It was the key to cause the crash. They had just ridden down a hill and were starting to pedal uphill near the farm where Kevin worked.
Violet took a deep breath and hoped love was worth the physical pain Mona was about to experience. One thing she knew was it wouldn’t be as painful as her broken heart. Violet nodded to her sister, and they both angled their bikes toward Mona, who was pedaling unsuspectingly in the middle. Giving her bike one last push, Violet headed straight for Mona. Violet saw Lily coming from the other side and closed her eyes, knowing impact was coming soon.
“Oh no,” Mona called out a second before Violet collided with her sister. The bikes crashed head-on, and Violet opened her eyes and shot over the handlebars, straight into her sister’s surprised face.
Violet and Lily met midair. Forehead cracked into forehead, and they grabbed at each other and held on as they fell with a hard
thump
onto a pile of wrecked bikes. Lily groaned and Violet closed her eyes and tried to remember to breathe.
“Jumping Jehoshaphat! Are you two hurt?” Mona’s voice called out from above the wrecked sisters.
Violet opened her eyes to see a completely uninjured Mona standing over them. “Ow,” Violet groaned and pushed herself up to sit. “Are you hurt?”
Mona shook her head. “No, my chain came off, and I had to stop to walk my bike up the hill. What happened? You two just veered and collided at the exact same time.”
Violet saw Lily roll her eyes and barely heard the curse she couldn’t contain. “We must have popped our tires. Maybe something was in the road,” Lily said as she struggled to get up.
“Yeah, that’s it. Must have run over something,” Violet groaned as she slowly managed to stand up.
“I’ll go get help. You two just sit on the side of the road. I’ll be right back!” Mona helped the sisters to the side of the road before hurrying to her bike. Violet collapsed against the bed of bluegrass and waited until Mona had slid her chain back on her bike and pedaled off before turning to her sister.
“Of all the harebrained schemes. I have an egg on my head where you flew into me. My elbow is bleeding. And I’m pretty sure I have an imprint of a pedal permanently engrained on my hip.”
Lily kept her eyes glued to the setting sun and tried moving different body parts. “That didn’t go as I planned, but at least nothing seems to be broken. I’m more upset that Plan A didn’t work. I thought for sure this was the perfect way to get Kevin and Mona together. Every woman loves a knight in shining armor coming to her rescue.”
“What are you going to do now?” Violet asked. The sky was turning shades of blue, yellow, orange, pink, and purple.
“Plan B.”
“What’s Plan B?”
“I’ll kidnap her and send a ransom to Kevin?”
Violet was about to respond when the sound of a car engine reached them. Violet propped herself up and felt her mouth drop open. “Son of a . . . your plan worked, Lily.” Inside the truck was a smiling Kevin and a calf-eyed Mona.
“Thank goodness. I didn’t want to go to jail for kidnapping,” Lily said with relief as she sat up and watched the infatuated couple heading toward them.
Kevin finally tore his eyes from Mona and looked down at the two disheveled sisters. “Lily! Violet! What happened? By the way, it’s nice to have you back, Vi.”
“Kevin is my hero! He saw me biking down the road by myself and pulled over to offer to escort me to my destination. He told me he couldn’t live with himself if he let a woman go off into the night by herself. Isn’t he such a gentleman?”
Kevin blushed as Mona looked at him like he hung the stars and the moon. “Shucks, Mona. Any man would do the same.”
Mona reached out and placed her small hand on his muscled forearm. “And when I told him about you two, he grabbed my bike, put it in his truck, and insisted on rushing straight here to check on you two.”
Violet looked at Lily and tried not to laugh. The two lovebirds had totally forgotten about them sitting on the ground bleeding. They were lost in each other, just as Lily had planned. Well, not exactly how she had planned it, but the end result was all that mattered.
Kevin placed their bikes in the bed of the pickup and helped Lily and Violet climb onto the tailgate. Violet dangled her legs as Kevin went to open the cab door for Mona.
“Are you sure you two don’t mind riding in the back? There’s just not room for everyone up here,” Kevin asked with only a slight hint of remorse.
“Of course not. We’re just glad Mona found you,” Lily called out.
“I’ll get you home in a jiffy.”
Kevin started the truck, and Violet grabbed the side of the truck bed to hang on as he drove over the rolling hillside and back into Keeneston. “Don’t you dare tell anyone about this,” Violet warned her sister.
“We’ll be dancing at their wedding and laughing about this before you know it,” Lily said, full of cockiness. “Besides, we won’t have time to dwell on the little hiccup my plan took—we’ll be too busy on our next project.”
* * *
“What do you mean, Robert left?” their father asked. Daisy had come home, and Lily and Violet enjoyed surprising her. But the happiness quickly turned to frustration when Daisy had announced Robert had left that morning for Washington.
“It’s an amazing opportunity. As soon as the war is over, he’ll be back and we’ll get married,” Daisy said with a smile plastered on her face. She pressed her hand to the necklace she had hidden under her suit top.
“But, you’ve been together for years. It’s time to shit or get off the pot,” her father muttered, flicking the newspaper closed.
“Dad,” Daisy gasped.
“It’s true, dear. There’s no reason he couldn’t have married you before he left. Or at least set a date for a wedding. He didn’t even come to talk to your father about your future. A true gentleman would ask permission to marry you or to set a date. Instead he ran off into the night. It’s not right.” Her mother shook her head as she placed the main course on the dining room table.
“He did make a commitment,” Daisy defended as she pulled out her engagement ring.
“
Humph
,” her father grunted. “Did he come talk to us? No. Did he tell you to start planning a wedding? No. Did he even tell you when he was coming back? No.”
Lily could no longer stay quiet. “I told you not to trust him. I don’t like this at all. He’s just stringing you along.”
Violet nodded her agreement, and Daisy lost her temper. “What right do you have to agree to anything, Vi? You haven’t been around for the past four years, and you think you can waltz back in here and give me relationship advice? I’m the only one of us who even has a marriage prospect.”
“You’re right, but you’ve told me all about your relationship, and I think he’s using you. His loyalty is questionable at best, and it’s obvious he’s a social climber.”
Daisy threw down her napkin and stood up from the table. “If you all don’t like him, fine. But I’m not going to sit around as you bash my fiancé.”
With an air of righteous indignation, Daisy stomped from the room and out the front door. The sound of her car starting made Violet jump from the table. Her father reached out and grabbed her arm to stop her.
“Give her time to come to terms with our dislike of her fiancé. With him gone, she’ll discover quickly how much she depends on us for our unyielding love. Call her next week to let her know you two love her. We’ll do the same in a couple days. We’ll ride this out as a family. While family may disagree, we never abandon.”
“Yes, Daddy.” Violet sat down and took in her parents’ worried looks. “Do you think he’ll ever marry her?”
“I don’t. He’s all smiles and polish on the surface, but there’s something very calculating underneath. However, it’s something Daisy needs to discover for herself, much like you two had to,” her father told them as he cut the pork tenderloin.
Tears threatened to spill from their mother’s eyes as she passed out the plates. “It’s the hardest thing about being a parent. We have to give you enough space to learn your own lessons. She needs to learn this on her own and realize we will be here with open arms anytime she needs us.”
Violet sniffled. “Thank you for giving me space to grow and the love to know that even if I failed, you would be there.”
Their mother rushed around the table and wrapped them in a hug a second before their father’s strong arms encircled them all.