Heartbreak, Tennessee (23 page)

He took two steps to
stand above her, close enough that Amber could smell the whiskey on his breath.

“Funny, huh? I was
good enough for her when there was something she wanted. Hell, maybe she
figures she can do better now. Maybe she’s right. But I don’t plan on letting
her find out. If she leaves me, I’ll make sure that both of you regret it for
the rest of your lives.”

He stopped, letting
the weight of his words sink in, and leaned even closer. “I’ll ruin her,” he
whispered inches from her ear. “I’ll never give her another cent, and I’ll fix
it so nobody else does either. You understanding me?”

Amber struggled to get
air into her lungs, her eyes wide with shock and horror. She nodded dumbly, his
words sinking into her like bullets.

“Don’t see him again,”
he reiterated. “That’s the bottom line. It might be tough for a while, but he’ll
get over you. You might think what you got is special. But trust me, he’ll get
over you quick enough.

“In a way it’s a
shame,” he added, leaning down to place a nicotine-stained, work-hardened hand
on her shoulder. “You’re a damn fine-looking woman. Just like your mama.”

The sun was sinking
into the trees at the edge of the shore when Amber finished her story. She hadn’t
looked at him while she spoke, her voice soft, breaking only once or twice as
she relayed the events of that night.

Listening, Mac felt
the present slip away. The beautiful afternoon, the rocking of the boat were
forgotten as Amber spoke. His hands gripped the wooden seat of the boat tighter
and tighter, and he leaned forward, absorbing her every word even as he wanted
to cry out in anguish.

It was as though he
had gone back in time, and was watching everything take place as an observer,
powerless to stop it. She hadn’t forgotten anything. Every detail, the watery
yellow light of the filthy office, the smells of whiskey and sweat and oil, the
feel of Pete’s fingers digging into her flesh—came to life in her words.

She didn’t spare Mac
anything. Not this time. All those years ago, she’d tried to tell him without
hurting him more than she had to, and instead he had sent her away, sentencing
her to a punishment she’d never earned.

When she was finished,
she folded her hands in her lap and stared at them. Mac sought his voice,
managed only a hoarse whisper. “God forgive me,” he said. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. Any
of it. And I didn’t tell you this today to hurt you,” she added, eyes darting
up. “I—I never want to take away from what was good in Pete.”

“That son of a bitch,”
Mac said, hands clenched tight. He longed to crash his fists into the side of
the boat to somehow relieve the tension and anger building inside. “I wonder if
he ever had any idea how many lives he ruined. When I think about your mother—”

Amber sighed. “You
know, I think she once loved him. At the start, anyway, when she thought there
might be a life for them together, some day. But after everything happened...I
don’t think she could live with herself after I left. She must have known I
would never leave you, leave
her
unless something terrible had happened.”

Mac shook his head
slowly. “It seems so—unjust, somehow, that no one will ever know what she
was thinking.”

“I’ve accepted that. In
my heart I believe my mother just ran out of reasons to keep trying, and found
peace the only way she knew how.” Amber placed a hand on Mac’s forearm. Her
touch steadied him, took some of the force out of his anger. “You had to know
the truth,” she said. “And now you have to let it go, as I have.”

“You told me that he
threatened you. I can’t—I can’t forgive myself for not taking you more
seriously.”

“There’s no way that
you could have known.”

“I just always thought
it was because of my mother. That she put him up to it.”

“I let you think that,
don’t you see?” Her hand on his arm gripped tighter. “I couldn’t bear to tell
you about...Pete, and I thought maybe there was a chance you’d come with me
anyway.”

“It should have been
enough.” Regret and shame ripped through him. “You asked. That should have been
enough. I just wasn’t strong enough.”

“You were young,”
Amber said softly. “We both were. Barely adults, and I asked you to throw
everything away to be with me. I asked you to run away, but I didn’t tell you
the whole story. I wasn’t fair to you.”

“It would have been a
small price to pay,” Mac said bitterly. “I lost you, lost everything, just so
he could—”

“He was desperate,”
Amber said. “It doesn’t excuse him, but—I think in his own way he was
driven by love. I think he couldn’t bear to imagine life without my mother.”

Mac said nothing for a
moment, remembering the woman who had always been so kind to him.

“You never told her?”
he finally asked.

“No,” Amber said
softly. “I wasn’t really thinking that night. I wrote her a note, just told her
I loved her. I took all my money and walked to the bus station, and waited
until five in the morning for the bus to Nashville. When that bus pulled out of
town, the sun was on its way up, and I just kept trying to forget that I was
leaving you and Mama behind. I found an empty seat and fell asleep leaning up
on my suitcase. And when I woke up in the middle of nowhere, I realized that
there was no turning back.

“I did call Mama a few
times,” Amber added. “I missed her so much, it hurt. She was always so happy to
hear from me, but I felt so ashamed, and we never talked about what had
happened. She just begged me to come home, and I kept promising to come for a
visit, but I was waiting until—”

Her voice broke. “If I
could change one thing,” she said, “I wish I’d seen my mama again, just one
more time. But I wanted to wait until I’d made something of myself, until I
wasn’t living in a filthy basement room with just a hot plate, making a few
dollars an hour scrubbing toilets. And I wanted to wait until the thought of
you didn’t leave me feeling like I wanted to die. Thing was, that time never
seemed to come.”

Mac reached for her,
cupping her face in his hand, forcing her to look at him.

“I would give anything
to change what happened,” he said, “but I can’t. And I don’t deserve to ask
this of you, but I’m going to ask anyway, since my life seems not to be worth a
damn thing without you in it.”

Amber’s dark lashes
fluttered against his thumb, and a tremor went through him. “Be with me, Amber,
please. I love you, and even though I can’t figure out why, I think you still
love me.”

He knelt down before
her in the boat, the motion sending them rocking gently in a circle, and
clasped her hands in his. His eyes sought hers, and finding strength and love
in their depths, he found the words he needed.

“Marry me, Amber. I’ll
go anywhere, do anything to be with you. I’ll move to Nashville if you like. I
can—”

“Yes,” Amber said,
interrupting him. “Yes.”

It took a minute, but
as the words sank in, his heart finally resumed beating. Mac wrapped his arms
around Amber tightly and nearly capsized the boat, their laughter and tears
ringing out the good news as night began to fall on the lake.

EPILOG

“Charlene, what in
heaven’s name are you doing here already?” Amber stopped her nervous pacing as
her friend strode over and gave her a hug. “The ceremony’s not for another
hour!”

Charlene shrugged,
setting a paper bag down on the stone bench. “I had a feeling you’d forget to
eat, so I had Lucille fix us a few of her double chocolate donuts. And I
brought you a decaf, too.”

Amber made a face,
rubbing her stomach gingerly. “I know I should eat something, but somehow the
thought of a donut isn’t doing much for me.”

“Trust me,” Charlene
replied cheerfully, “donuts are a certain cure for morning sickness. It always
worked for me.”

“Did someone say
donuts?”

Amber looked in the
direction of the speaker, shielding her eyes against the sun that was making
its way up into the morning sky. Sheryn was making her way carefully up the
courthouse steps, holding the hand rail to maintain her balance in four-inch
heels.

“Well I declare,
Sheryn, you look positively tasteful today,” Amber teased.

Sheryn looked down at
her navy linen suit and frowned. “Well, it’s not every day my best friend gets
crowned mayor. I thought I ought to dress conservatively for the occasion.”

“Trust me, there’s no
crown involved,” Amber said. “Just a lot of hard work, from what Mac tells me.”

“Hey, isn’t that
nepotism, or something?” Sheryn asked, helping herself to a donut. “You getting
your husband’s old job?”

“Well, remember, they
weren’t quite married yet when she was elected,” Charlene said.

“Speaking of dates,
and timing, and so forth,” Sheryn said, a crafty look settling into her pretty
features. “When exactly is my God-baby due?”

Amber sighed and
rolled her eyes. “The little one’s expected in November. It’s a honeymoon baby,
okay? Honestly, you’re terrible.”

“Yeah, there must be
something in the air out on Boone Lake,” Charlene said. “I still can’t believe
old Cheapskate didn’t take you to Paris or something.”

“Staying here was fine
with me,” Amber said softly. “To be honest, I just wasn’t ready to leave after
finally settling in back here for good.”

“Yeah, that’s all fine
and good for
you
,” Sheryn grumbled. “But
half of Nashville had to come all the way out here for the wedding. I think
they must have booked up every hotel room within fifty miles, and you
still
can’t get a bottle of mineral
water or a decent pastrami sandwich anywhere. I don’t know how you stand it. And
now here I am again. I swear, I think I could make this trip blindfolded.”

“I hope not,” Amber
said in mock horror. “‘Cause then you’d miss all those Dairy Queens on the way.”

Sheryn gave her an
exasperated look. “Amber, I do believe that first trip to Heartbreak was the
biggest mistake I ever made. Why, if I’d known I’d lose you to a local yokel,
and see my first God-daughter raised in a backwater little speck on the map—”

“Now just who are you
calling a speck on the map?” Charlene demanded good-naturedly.

“And what’s this about
a God-daughter?” Amber added. “You know it’s too early to tell if the baby will
be a boy or a girl.”

“Well, of course it’s
a girl,” Sheryn said impatiently. “Since I’ve already bought her practically an
entire wardrobe. Here, open this.”

Amber accepted the
pretty box and pulled away the wrappings and pastel tissue. “Oh, it’s simply
gorgeous,” she breathed. Nestled inside was a beautiful white lace christening
gown.

“I had them use the
lace from your wedding veil,” Sheryn said, clearly pleased with herself.

“Oh, Sheryn, I love
it,” Amber said, replacing the wrappings carefully.

“You ladies look
lovely!” a voice boomed. Mac, flanked by Gray and Charlene’s husband Ed, were
struggling to carry a long folding table up the steps.

“What on earth is
that?” Sheryn demanded, ignoring her husband’s greeting.

“Got to feed folks if
they’re going to come out at nine o’clock on a Saturday morning,” Ed called
cheerfully.

“I didn’t want to
spoil the surprise,” Charlene said, blushing. “Ed and I and a bunch of us are
going to serve breakfast after the ceremony.”

Overwhelmed by the
generosity of her friends, Amber gave each a peck on the cheek. “I can’t
believe all you’ve done for me.”

She’d felt nervous
earlier in the morning, even though her speech was well-rehearsed. After all,
Mac had predicted that nearly everyone would turn out for the event. “Hell,
just about every soul in town showed up when I was sworn in,” he’d said. “And I’m
not one tenth as pretty as you.”

Now, with her friends
around her, she felt much better. The day promised to be beautiful, and she was
spending it with the people she loved.

As the men set the
table down and joined them, she accepted a kiss from her husband.

“You look pretty
wonderful in a suit and tie,” she said.

“Hey, you’ve seen this
old thing before,” Mac said, giving the tie a tug.

“Yes, once—at
our wedding.”

“Well, it brought us
luck then, didn’t it?” he said, bending to steal a second kiss below her
earlobe. “Mmmm,” he added. “Got plans for later on?”

Amber swatted him
away. “Hey, don’t forget, this is the mayor you’re messing with.”

“Not yet,” Ed called. “Not
for another half hour or so.”

“What are you going to
say in your speech?” Gray asked.

“What do you think?”
Mac said, clapping Gray on the shoulder. “She’s going to talk about how she’ll
dedicate herself to the job. Yup, for my wife work will be a top priority,
coming second only to the needs of her adoring husband.”