Trent shook his head sadly.
“Doc, do you have your medical bag?” Mal asked Reg.
The chuckling Reg hoisted it up for Mal to see.
“Good. We may need you. Excuse me, fellas.” Mal left the booth and headed over to intercept Genevieve, now barreling down on Riley like a tank. When she spied his approach, she yelled, “Stay out of this, Malachi!”
The story of Riley, Genevieve, and Cletus had become the stuff of legend, and everyone in the Dog stared on, riveted.
Apparently Cliff had been told to stay out of it, too, because he was still standing at the hostess station up front. Trent saw displeasure on his face, but it was impossible to determine whether his ire was directed at Genevieve, Riley, or both.
Genevieve walked over to the smug-looking Riley and for the moment ignored him. Instead she politely introduced herself to the wary-eyed Ms. Pennymaker, who replied, “Um, pleased to meet you, too.”
Genevieve gave her a tight, fake smile before she turned blazing eyes on her ex, who had the nerve to say, “I hope you’re happy, Genevieve. Cletus and me wouldn’t be in this mess if it wasn’t for you.”
The onlookers slowly shook their heads.
The outdone Genevieve rared back and decked Riley with a punch so hard he was already out cold when he slid beneath the table and disappeared. The wide-eyed Eustasia cried out, “Riley! Honey!” and immediately ducked her head beneath the tabletop.
Reg grabbed his bag.
The seething Genevieve stood over the booth.
Trent figured that the force of the blow had probably broken her hand, but she didn’t appear hurt. Too mad, probably.
As Reg saw to the knocked-out Riley, Rocky hurried over to offer Genevieve a bowl of ice to stick her hand in. Trent glanced around, taking in the shocked but amused faces of the other diners, and wondered if other small towns in America started their mornings this way.
Lily Fontaine frowned as she sat at her kitchen table and slowly leafed through a large stack of bridal gown catalogs. The fancy designer gowns were absolutely gorgeous, but money to buy them could feed a family of four for a year. She and Trent were scheduled to tie the knot on Thanksgiving Day, so she needed a gown, but not one so pricey that she’d feel guilty wearing it, and that’s what would happen if she decided on one of the gowns featured in the glossy pages of the catalogs. Frustrated, she closed the book and pushed it aside. Her gown dilemma could be laid at the Jimmy Choo–clad feet of her good friend and employer, Bernadine Brown. With the way Bernadine had been carrying on since Lily and Trent announced they were marrying, you’d think she was the one preparing to walk down the aisle. Lily loved her boss like a sister, but Bernadine wanted to open that bottomless checkbook of hers and turn the wedding into a Bernadine Brown production, complete with doves, white horses, and a six-foot-high cake. All Lily wanted was a gathering in the school’s kiva or maybe the rec center’s auditorium, followed by an old-school reception and dinner over at the Dog. She knew that Trent wanted a small, homey wedding, too, but how to convince Bernadine? The Boss Lady was big on giving out blessings, and the fairy-tale vibe she was trying to promote was a part of that. But it wasn’t what Lily wanted, and no matter how many times she’d tried explaining that to Bernadine, the woman would just smile and suggest another pricey frill Lily might want to include.
Lily walked to the patio door and looked out at the day. It was the end of September, and fall was in the air. The grasses on the plains were taking on the rich golds and browns of autumn, and the temperatures were markedly cooler. She was sad to see the season end. It had been an eventful summer, what with Crystal’s no-good daddy, Ray, kidnapping her, and Bernadine’s ex-husband, Leo, showing up trying to win her back. In the end, Crystal had been saved, and Leo told to take a hike, only to have him show a romantic interest in Lily’s godmother, Marie Jefferson, and begin building himself a mansion over in the neighboring town of Franklin.
So far, Lily and Marie hadn’t discussed Leo. Lily supposed that had to do with the bond she shared with Bernadine. Marie probably assumed Lily was on Bernadine’s side, and frankly, she was. Had Marie met Leo under different circumstances, she’d be the first to congratulate her godmother on finally having someone who loved her in her life, but Lily had yet to be convinced that Leo did. When Bernadine refused his offer to reconcile, he’d suddenly become interested in Marie. It didn’t sit right. Still didn’t.
Lily wanted her godmother to be happy, but all she saw ahead was heartache, and lord knew, Marie had already experienced more than her share. Lily made a mental note to call her later and suggest they get together. Marie had been the best friend of Lily’s late mother, Cassandra. This semi-estrangement they seemed to be having didn’t sit right, either.
“Morning, Ms. Lily.”
She turned to see her nine-year-old foster son, Devon Watkins, entering the kitchen, and the sight of him brightened her mood. He was dressed for school in the outfit he wore every day: black suit, white shirt, blue clip-on tie. “Morning, baby boy. How are you?”
“I’m fine, Ms. Lily. How are you?”
“I’m fine, too. Did you sleep well?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He took a seat at the table and poured out a helping of cold cereal into the bowl she’d set out for him earlier. While he did that, she walked over to the fridge and withdrew a carton of milk and a bottle of orange juice. He added the milk to the contents of his bowl and helped himself to a piece of toast and a few slices of bacon. After pouring some juice into his glass, he started in on breakfast.
Lily took a seat and watched him with all the affection she felt inside. He’d been in Henry Adams for over a year now, and although he seemed to be adjusting outwardly, he continued to hang on to his shy ways, along with the suits he insisted upon wearing all day every day, and his dream of becoming the town’s preacher. He’d been raised by his now late grandmother, Willa Mae, in a small town down in Mississippi, where he’d been an ordained minister. Last summer, Lily and everyone else in town witnessed his preaching for the first time. He’d blown them away, and the public attention had been immediate. People began driving in from all over the state to hear him give the Word. There’d even been a few so-called managers wanting to sign him to contracts and take him on tour. She sent them packing because first and foremost, Devon was a child.
Lately though, the crowds had been dwindling, so she supposed the novelty had worn off. As a result, she and Devon had agreed that this coming Sunday would be his last public appearance. In a way she was glad attendance had dropped. Although she was convinced he had a gift, she was concerned he’d never be the carefree nine-year-old that he should be.
“Did you find a wedding dress?” he asked, seeing the stack of catalogs by her spot at the table.
“Not yet. They’re all too expensive, but I’ll keep looking.”
“Zoey and I want to be in the wedding.”
“And you will be. You and Davis’ll give me away, and Zoey’s going to be the flower girl.” Zoey and Devon were best friends, and Davis was Lily’s twenty-four-year-old son. He lived in California.
Devon said earnestly, “I really want to marry you and Mr. Trent.”
Lily paused over her raised glass of orange juice. “I know, baby, but you aren’t a licensed preacher in Kansas. We talked about this before, remember?”
“I do, but why can’t you and Ms. Bernadine get me a license?”
“You’re going to be in the wedding, Devon. You’ll have to be content with that. Besides, I want you to help give me away.”
His look of disappointment made her sigh with a disappointment of her own. This whole preacher business had to be resolved, but she had no idea how to make it happen. All she wanted was for him to be a real little boy, not this polite wooden rendition that reminded her of Pinocchio.
After breakfast, he put his dishes in the sink and went up to his room to get his backpack. School started in less than an hour. She could tell he wasn’t happy, but she wasn’t go
ing to change her mind about him performing the wedding.
A few moments later, he returned ready for school.
Trying not to be affected by his sad brown eyes, she asked brightly, “Do you want a ride to school, or are you and Zoey going to walk?”
“We’ll walk, Ms. Lily. Thank you.”
“Okay. Give me a hug.”
In spite of his brooding, he gave her a hug that was filled with love, and she kissed his cheek. “Have a good day.”
“You, too, Ms. Lily.”
Once he was gone, Lily pondered over him for a few seconds longer, then went to get her car keys so she could drive to work.
Chapter 2
The flat-topped red brick building where Lily worked was called the Power Plant. It had been constructed last year and held all of the Henry Adams administrative offices. Her official title was Henry Adams COO. Bernadine’s hand turned the world, but Lily’s job was to make sure that world turned efficiently and under budget. On the short drive in, she marveled at all the changes Bernadine had wrought since buying Henry Adams off eBay two summers ago. Armed with an eye-popping divorce settlement from the aforementioned Leo Brown, Bernadine had taken the sleepy, near-destitute town and turned it into a twenty-first-century showplace. She’d added roads, new buildings, and Wi-Fi sites, providing construction jobs for a community that had been economically slammed by the recession. When the initial building phase was finished that first summer, Henry Adams, founded in the mid-1880s by freed slaves, stood as the envy of every other town in the county. Newspaper articles and cable news reports chronicled Henry Adams’s rebirth and Bernadine’s unique foster child program, which centered around the five children she’d brought in from cities all over the country. They were thriving under the loving care of their new parents, and although Henry Adams seemed to have enough drama going on for three towns lately, Lily didn’t want to live anywhere else.
When she entered the eco-friendly Power Plant with its atrium and thriving potted plants, Bernadine was already in her office and seated behind her cluttered desk. No matter how early Lily arrived, Bernadine managed to beat her in. Many of the town’s residents swore the woman didn’t sleep, and Lily agreed.
She stuck her head in Bernadine’s office. “Morning, Boss Lady.”
“Hey, Lil. Morning. How are you?”
“I’m okay. You?” Lily came in fully.
“Doing fine. Have you decided which gown?”
As always, Bernadine was dressed to the nines. Expensive gray suit. Tasteful gold hanging from her earlobes, around her throat, and on her wrists. The hair was perfect, makeup, too. By society’s standards she was a big girl, but she was the classiest woman Lily knew.
“Nothing yet.”
“All those catalogs?”
“They’re too expensive.”
“Lily—”
Lily said softly, “Bernadine, look. I appreciate the blessing, but if you want to buy my gown, get me something I won’t feel guilty wearing. I’m marrying Trent July, not Prince Charles.”
Bernadine’s disappointed face reminded Lily of Devon’s as she came to her own defense. “I just want you to have a fabulous wedding.”
“And I appreciate that, but Trent and I just want nice and simple. You can save all this fabulousness for when you and Malachi tie the knot.”
Bernadine rolled her eyes. After a year of denial, she’d finally surrendered her heart to the retired veterinarian. In spite of Mal’s sometimes crazy ways, he seemed to be as good for her as she was for him, even if Bernadine did continue to hang on to portions of her denial in much the same way Devon continued to hang on to his suits and clip-on ties. “Mal and I aren’t even thinking about marriage.”
“Maybe not this second,” she teased.
Bernadine’s eyes rolled again with amusement. “Okay. Let’s change the subject. I’m flying down to Miami this afternoon. Do you want to go?”
“What’s in Miami?”
“A piece of property. The city is buying up the area, and my investment people think I should get in on the ground floor before everything gets snatched up.”
“Are you coming back this evening?”
“Yep.”
“Then sure, I’ll go with you.”
“Okay, good. We’ll leave in a little while.”
Bernadine owned a private jet, which made it easy to take quick spur-of-the-moment trips.
“I have another reason for going to Miami,” Bernadine added. “I want to show around pictures of Zoey and her mom, Bonnie. Maybe we’ll get lucky and run into someone who knew them. Hiring detectives hasn’t worked.”
When the Miami police found Zoey living under an expressway, her mom’s newspaper-shrouded corpse had been discovered there as well. Bernadine had hired detectives to try and find someone who might be able to tell them whether Zoey’d been mute before her mother’s death, and maybe more of her story, but so far nothing. She’d made contact with Zoey’s only known relative, Bonnie’s sister, Yvette, but because Bonnie had been a crack addict, Yvette wanted nothing to do with her niece. On the upside, though, no one could love Zoey more than Roni and Reg, and they provided the perfect home environment for her and her awesome musical gifts. Lily asked, “Do we have anything else on the calendar today?”
“Other than you finding a gown, no.”
“Don’t start,” Lily warned, smiling. “Find me one that’s lower than the price of the Taj Mahal, and I may just bite.”
“Party pooper.”
“That’s my name. Don’t wear it out.”
Bernadine laughed. “Go to work.”
Lily loved Bernadine very much. “I’ll see you later.”
But before she could make her exit to her office next door, Bernadine said, “When His Honor gets in, if you see him before I do, don’t let him sneak out again without stopping in to see me. I need his autograph on some construction bids.”
“Will do.”
Trent was still trying to get over Genevieve and her mighty right hand when he parked his black truck in the Power Plant’s parking lot and got out. She had broken it on Riley’s glass jaw.
Walking now toward the building, he passed Bernadine’s Baby, a bright blue Ford F-150, and Lily’s army green Chevy SUV, Nemo, which in Latin meant “no name.” The two women always beat him to work, mainly because he wasn’t as driven as they. Life in his hometown had moved at a much slower pace before Bernadine’s ownership. Back then, if he wanted to spend the day at his garage lovingly restoring his old cars and holding council meetings while Mal and Cliff and the rest played checkers and drank Tamar’s lemonade, it was allowed. Not anymore. Then again, under his rule, they’d wound up selling the town, lock, stock, and barrel, to allay a massive debt. Bernadine had the place running as smoothly as an old-school Chrysler engine, so he’d be the first to admit that her version of town leadership beat his, hands down.
However, he still chafed at being mayor. The only reason he held the office was because no one else wanted the job. Riley Curry had been mayor for decades, but when the town went broke and Riley wanted to solve the problem by having their historic town annexed by the neighboring city of Franklin, the voters booted him out. Trent was a July. His Black Seminole family had been in Henry Adams since the 1880s. When first elected, he’d felt a certain responsibility to his lineage and to the dreams of the Exodusters who had founded their small community, but now it appeared as if he might hold the office for life, mainly because no one else wanted the job.
As Trent entered the quiet building, the hushed air held the faint lingering notes of Lily’s perfume, and thoughts of her made him admit that coming to work wasn’t so bad after all.
His office suite was across the hall from the ones occupied by Bernadine and Lily. Lily’s door was open, so he paused outside it for a moment to observe her unseen. She was wearing a pearl gray twinset, and her eyes were glued to her computer screen. He loved watching her; the way she moved, the way she bit her bottom lip when she was concent
rating on something. They were sixteen when they first met at Henry Adams High. Her mom had recently passed away, and Lily had come to town to live with Ms. Agnes and Marie Jefferson. The memory of seeing her that first day at track team tryouts was still vivid. She’d been wearing a white tee and a pair of burgundy track shorts that showed off her gorgeous gams. No one knew anything about her, but when her timing lap came, she blasted her way around the track and hit each hurdle with such power and grace, Coach Bing Shepard’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head. Trent and everyone else looked on in amazement, and when she hit the last hurdle, he knew he was in love.
Over the next two years, she broke every high school track record in the book. The newspapers called her Fabulous Fontaine.
Trent walked into her office. “Morning.”
She turned from the screen and greeted him with a tender smile. “Morning, yourself—and before I forget, make sure you stop in and see Bernadine before you sneak off.”
He grinned, and they spent the next few moments silently drinking each other in. That they were back together and in love amazed them both. “The girl who punched you during the state relays senior year. What was her name?”
Lily’s eyes went cold. “Wendy Allman. I’ll never forget.”
“Bet she hasn’t forgotten you, either.”
“After the beat-down I gave her, she’s probably still cursing me to this day.”
While he chuckled, she added, “I couldn’t believe she slugged me like that.”
“You were going to win the race. She didn’t like it.”
Lily’s best track event was the hurdles, but she was also fast enough to run the anchor leg for the Henry Adams girls’ relay team. She and Franklin High’s Wendy Allman were neck and neck and stride for stride coming through the last turn. Lily began her kick and was starting to pass her opponent, only to have the frustrated competitor reach over and punch Lily in the shoulder so hard it sent her flying into the infield. While the crowd looked on in horror, Lily got up. Eyes blazing, she took off after Wendy.