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She opened up the advanced copy of the March issue of Florida! magazine to the story in the middle. “I came by to show you this,” she said, not caring who might see her talking to a couple of tombstones. “It’s my story on the old senior center. I hate to brag, but my editor says it’s the best thing I’ve ever written. There’s a picture of you, Buela, right here on page ninety-four. You’re playing shuffleboard, and…you look really happy.” She gently laid the magazine down on Buela’s grave, right next to Zeke’s daisies.
“I thought you might want to know that I got offered a full time job with the magazine. I was in a competition with this other guy and his story is in here, too, right after mine. His name’s Chris Dougal and they offered him the job first, but he turned them down. He’s working for Newsweek now.” Allie couldn’t help but smile at that.
“And while he did get the job offer first, my story got the cover for the magazine,” she added proudly. “So, in my eyes, I think I kind of won. But…I didn’t take the job. I decided to stay here in town. Roger Van Cleave, you remember him, don’t you, Buela? He and I are taking over the Whispering Bay Gazette. I know it’s not much compared to being on permanent staff with Florida! magazine, but I think we’re both going to be really happy.”
She glanced and waved at Tom, who was waiting patiently by his truck in the parking lot. He waved back.
“That’s Tom Donalan. And I know you remember him. We’re on our way to a basketball game at the high school. Claire is cheerleading and we don’t want to miss that. Mimi and Zeke, well, they’ve had their share of problems these past few months, but I think they’re going to be okay. You’ll keep an eye out for them, right?”
Allie took a deep breath and got down to the real reason behind her visit.
“So, back to Tom. He was my first boyfriend and well, it’s kind of freaky, but he’s actually my fiancé now.” She raised her left hand to show them the diamond engagement ring Tom had given her last night. “I know what you’re thinking. Because believe me, three months ago he was the last man on earth I ever thought I’d want to marry, but now, I can’t imagine being with anyone else. He’s the best man I know.”
Another gust of wind came through, causing the magazine to topple over. Allie bent down to straighten it and that’s when she smelled it. Jean Nate. The last time she’d caught a whiff of Buela’s perfume was that day at the senior center when she’d gone to tell Tom she wasn’t leaving town. That had been three months ago, long enough for her to be afraid that it had all been a figment of her imagination.
But now, standing here above the graves of the two women who’d been everything to her, she knew that she’d smell the Jean Nate again. Maybe it would be on her wedding day. Or the day her first child was born. Or any other time she needed her grandmother’s love. It didn’t make sense, but thank God not everything in life needed an explanation.
Excerpt from THEN HE KISSED ME
If Lauren Donalan were asked to rank the best day of her life, she’d answer hands down that it was the day her son Henry was born. She might have been eighteen and dumber than an armadillo, but she’d been smart enough to know a good thing when she saw it. Even if that good thing did wake up crying every two hours with a poopy diaper, wanting to be fed.
The worse day of her life wasn’t as easy to pinpoint. To be honest, Lauren couldn’t complain. God had been good to her. She and Henry were healthy, had a roof over their heads, and three square meals a day. A lot more than many people in the world. So, she felt a little guilty even thinking in terms of bad days. But if she had to choose among the not-so-stellar days of her life, it would be this: the day she told her parents she was pregnant (cue in hysterical crying from Momma), the day she asked Tom for a divorce (cue in her own hysterical crying), and the day she and Momma found out Daddy had Alzheimer’s (lots of crying by everyone).
If days could be measured on the pain scale, with one being the best day of your life and ten being the absolute worst, then Henry’s birth date was definitely a one and Daddy’s diagnosis day was a resounding ten.
Today had started out as a perfectly pleasant three. It might be mid-January, but living in north Florida had its advantages.
The weather was an enviable sixty degrees, with low humidity and a crystal clear blue sky. Plus, it was Saturday, her busiest day at the shop. Henry was away on a weekend trip with his dad and while she missed her son, Tom was the best father in the world, so, no worries there. The beautiful weather had brought out the tourists, and while she hadn’t exactly been swamped, she had customers, as opposed to the usual window shoppers who came in to either a) use the bathroom, or b) take a curious peek inside—because, let’s face it, any shop called Can Buy Me Love tended to attract those sorts of persons who wondered exactly what kind of love she was selling.
After nearly a year of disappointing sales, today she’d actually turned a profit. Which was nothing to sneeze at. Lauren planned to celebrate in the best way possible—by putting up her swollen feet and watching (okay, re-watching) her favorite movie, It’s a Wonderful Life.
Most people thought of it as a holiday flic, but not Lauren. She could watch it any time of the year (any time of the day, really) because there was nothing better than a young Jimmy Stewart (sigh) fighting the forces of small town corruption. Add in a glass of Chardonnay and a bowl of buttered popcorn (with some parmesan cheese sprinkled on top) and she was in nirvana.
Unfortunately, her mother had other ideas about how her thirty-year-old divorced only daughter should spend her evening.
“You didn’t forget you have a date tonight?” Momma asked, before Lauren could even get out a hello. Good thing they were on the phone and Momma couldn’t see the expression on Lauren’s face. Growing up, Momma used to warn her, “One day, your face just might freeze up that way.” It had worked all the way up to middle school. Yes, Lauren could be that gullible.
Out of habit, she smoothed out her scowl. “That’s tonight?”
“God Almighty, Lauren, do you know hard it was for me to set this up? It’s Ted Ferguson! Just the most eligible bachelor in all of the Florida panhandle. He’s a catch, and I don’t intend for you to let him get away.”
“You make it sound like he’s a prized mackerel I’m expected to reel in. Wait. Not the Ted Ferguson? The guy from Miami who tried to turn Whispering Bay into Condo World?”
Lauren had never met him, but everyone knew Ted Ferguson’s reputation. A couple of years ago, his south Florida based real estate co-op had come through town trying to buy beachfront property to build high rise condominiums. But the people of Whispering Bay, led by Kitty Pappas, a local realtor and friend of Lauren’s, had banded together and squashed the project before he was able to get it off the ground. Not that there was anything wrong with condos. Lauren was a native Floridian and smart enough to know that without tourism, the state economy would be hard pressed. But it should be up to a town’s own citizens whether or not they wanted to expand into the tourism realm, not an outsider from another part of the state.
“So he’s a little…aggressive in his business dealings,” Momma said. “He’s an entrepreneur, darling! That’s what they do.”
“How do you even know him?”
“He was at the Alzheimer’s charity event at the country club last week. And you can think whatever you want about him, but he gave a very generous five figure donation.”
Lauren sighed.
“He’s rich and handsome,” Momma said, going in for the kill. “And, let’s face it, there’s not much in the way of proper husband material around here, especially not with you being divorced and having a child. A lot of men would see that as an obstacle. And before you get your panties all twisted inside out, you know I mean that in the nicest way possible. One of us has to be practical. Tom’s already moved on, it’s time you did, too.”
Momma loved reminding her that her ex had recently gotten engaged, a fact Lauren was thrilled about. Despite being divorced, she loved Tom (in that platonic-we-share-a-son kind of way) and had even been just a teeny bit responsible for getting him and his fiancé Allie together. But just because Tom had moved on romantically, didn’t mean Lauren was ready to. She liked being single. She’d gotten married at eighteen because she was pregnant with Henry. She’d spent the first eighteen years of her life living under Daddy’s roof and then the next eleven years under her husband’s. Other than the child support Tom provided for Henry, she didn’t take a nickel from anyone, and it felt good. She didn’t need a man to complete her. She could compete herself.
“Have you even been on a date since the divorce?” Momma continued, interrupting Lauren’s Jerry McGuire-ish moment. “Of course you haven’t, or I would have heard about it. You’re almost thirty-one, sweetie, you’re looking at your best years in the rearview mirror.”
