Surrender to Love (9 page)

“I think he likes you,” Carson commented.

“Well, the feeling is mutual.” She scratched behind the dog’s ears and he adoringly leaned against her.

“I’d forgotten that your daughter said you were a doctor. What is your field of expertise?”

“Actually, I learned about bandaging dogs and what have you on my grandparents’ ranch out in Kentucky.” She steered the question in another direction.

“Oh, really? So you’re a country girl turned city?”

“Not really.”

“Dad, I want to be a veterinarian,” Bobbi suddenly declared.

Carson only smiled. Last week she was going to be a racecar driver. “Well, I think that is an admirable decision.”

Bobbi beamed with pleasure as she turned to Julia. “Is Robin up yet?”

“Yes, she’s inside eating breakfast. She should be finished about now.”

“Is it okay if she goes to church with us?”

Julia hesitated. “If she’d like to go, then I guess it’s okay with me.”

“Are you sure?” Carson picked up on her reluctance.

“Sure,” she said, realizing that she welcomed anything that would delay their talk about David until she’d at least figured out what she was going to say.

“Great.” Bobbi ruffled Champ’s fur, then rushed inside the Georgia Inn.

“Looks like I owe you one for taking care of Champ, here,” Carson said.

“Please, after all you’ve done? I’m hardly the one to be indebted to. How old is Champ, anyway?”

“Twelve. He was my wife’s pet. She rescued him from the shelter.”

Julia observed his sudden melancholy.

“You’re thinking about her.” It was a statement as much as a question.

His gaze lifted to hers. “Sorry about that. Once I thought I’d never see her again or never hear her laughter. But each time I look at Bobbi, I see Karen’s smile and hear her laughter.”

“That is so beautiful.”

He blushed with embarrassment. “You must think that I’m being dramatic.”

“I think that you’re a man who loved his wife. I don’t see anything wrong with that.”

“What about you? I don’t think I’ve once heard you talk about your husband.”

Julia’s gaze dropped. “There’s nothing really to tell.”

Carson watched her as she tightened her jaw and seemed to withdraw from him without moving a muscle. “Forgive me. I didn’t mean to pry.”

“It’s okay. I guess I started it.” She smiled weakly. “Let’s just say that I haven’t been as fortunate as you in love.”

“You never know what tomorrow may bring.”

Their gazes locked as they absently caressed Champ’s wavy, golden coat.

And that was the scene Lilly saw when she walked out to the truck. She cleared her throat.

Carson and Julia jumped guiltily away from Champ.

Lilly gave them a knowing smile. “I just came out here to ask you, Carson, whether you and Bobbi were riding with us to church?”

He looked at his watch. “Uh, yeah…well, I need to take Champ home first. So why don’t you take Bobbi with you and I’ll meet you all there?”

“Sounds good to me.” She looked at Julia. “Bobbi said that Robin could go with us. Are you sure I can’t persuade you to come along?”

Julia couldn’t remember the last time she’d attended church. Her situation being what it was, it was probably a good idea if she went, but instead she said, “I think I’ll pass this time. I need to take care of a few things today—make some calls.”

“Oh,” Lilly said in a voice filled with disappointment. “Our bake sale is around one o’clock. We’re trying to raise some money for the church. The church isn’t too far from here, just down on Main Street. I’d love it if you’d drop by.”

Julia was a little incredulous at the woman’s inability to take no for an answer, but she smiled all the same. “I’ll try.”

“That’s all one can ask. I’ll leave directions on the table in the foyer. Trust me, everything in town is really within walking distance.” Lilly looked back to her brother. “See you at church.”

He nodded, then watched as his sister entered the inn before he turned his attention back to Julia. “Please don’t feel pressured about coming. My sister can seem a bit…forceful at times.”

She smiled. “A bit?”

They exploded with laughter.

“I see you’ve learned a lot about my sister in a short time.”

“I’ve always been a fast learner. Besides, she’s been wonderful to Robin and me. After I sort out a few things maybe I’ll take her up on joining you guys at the bake sale.”

Carson winked at her. “Then I’ll look forward to seeing you there.”

A warm rush rendered Julia tongue-tied, but she managed to nod. Even after Carson had pulled away from the inn, Julia wondered at her body’s traitorous reactions to the man. And more important, what was she going to do about it?

J
ulia stood on the porch of the Georgia Inn and waved to Robin as she rode off with Lilly, Rick and Robin’s new friend, Bobbi. It had probably been just luck that she’d managed to pack a couple of dresses for her daughter to wear.

When she turned to look down the road at the row of houses, she saw more people dressed in their Sunday finest. Again she was touched by the town’s simplicity of life. Carson’s assessment of the town rose from her memory:
Everyone is a part of one big family
.

Julia smiled. Maybe Moreland was the perfect place where she could just disappear. After all, who’d suspect that she lived here? She had no relatives or friends here. One of the things that troubled Julia the most about her situation was the fact that she wouldn’t be able to practice medicine again.

Her gaze fell to the wooden porch as depression flooded Julia’s emotions. Being a doctor was more than a job. It was who she was. It was as much a part of her as the color of her eyes.

She swore under her breath and cursed the day she’d ever laid eyes on David Lawson—Mercer—whatever his real name was.

She remembered the first time they’d met. They were in a jewelry store. He was trying to get an estimate on something or other while she was there to pick up a watch she had had repaired.

Even now, she could remember his extraordinary confidence and charm. He’d made it impossible for her to reject his offer of dinner and a movie.

Maybe it was his overt confidence or charm that had won her over. Or maybe it was just the fact that she’d grown tired of her life consisting only of patients and her then-five-year-old daughter’s dance classes. She didn’t remember which, but in the end she had accepted his invitation to dinner. And in six months she had been swept up into a whirlwind wedding. Six months after that, she realized that she’d married the wrong man…again.

It was the first time Robin had ever visited such a small church. Had it not been for the fact that Bobbi had promised her a game of football after the bake sale, she wouldn’t have come now. When she first entered the church the beautiful colored windows mesmerized her, especially the large one that was directly in the center of the church.

Bobbi tugged her arm. “Are you all right? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.” Bobbi turned and followed the direction of her gaze. “What’s the matter, you’ve never seen a picture of Jesus before?”

It was her new friend’s condescending tone that pulled Robin from her reverie. She turned narrowed eyes in Bobbi’s direction. “Don’t be silly. Of course I have.”

“Girls,” Lilly leaned down and interrupted. “Go and sit down while Rick and I finish talking to Sister Betty.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the girls responded, then did what they were told.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” Lilly said under her breath. She turned and faced Sister Betty. “I’m starting to believe that the poor thing has never attended church before.”

Sister Betty shook her head in pity. “Where is the girl’s mother?”

“She’s back at the inn. I swear, for a minute there yesterday, I thought we were going to have to rush her to Baptist Memorial Hospital. I was convinced she had a bout of pneumonia.”

“What happened?”

“Didn’t I tell you? Carson was coming home for dinner Friday night and saw a car broken down on the side of the road….”

Meanwhile, Bobbi directed Robin to the first pew, where an usher handed them programs.

“Why do we have to sit so close?” Robin asked.

“Aunt Lilly always sits here. She claims that she doesn’t want to miss a thing. But I suspect that she wants to rub it in Sister Arlene’s face that she married Uncle Rick and not her.”

Robin laughed. “Who is Sister Arlene?”

“She’s the choir director. Don’t worry, you can’t miss her. She’ll be the first to testify, the first to get the Holy Ghost and the first to pass out on the pulpit.”

Robin frowned. “Pass out?”

“Just wait. You’ll see.”

Sister Betty covered her mouth in dismay. “That sounds awful. And you say you don’t know their last name or where they come from?”

“I don’t. That doesn’t mean Carson doesn’t. Which brings
me to another suspicion of mine. I think there’s something between the two of them.”

Sister Betty’s brows rose.

Rick stepped up and placed his hand on his wife’s shoulder. “Honey, we need to get to our seats. Service should be starting soon.” He turned his politician smile on Sister Betty. “See you after the service.” With a firm grip, he directed his startled wife down the aisle.

“Rick, what has gotten into you?” she demanded in a hushed tone.

“You know how I feel about you gossiping, especially with Sister Betty. She holds even less water than you,” he said curtly, but the hint of a smile on his lips belied his anger.

“You embarrassed me,” she insisted.

“I did no such thing.”

When she opened her mouth to protest further, Rick looked up and waved to someone across the way.

“Oh, look, honey. It’s Sister Arlene. Doesn’t she look nice this morning?”

Lilly clamped her mouth shut and turned in the direction of her old nemesis.

The women cast assessing glances at each other, then exchanged plastic smiles.

“Low blow,” Lilly murmured under her breath. “Low blow.”

The service went just as Bobbi had predicted. Sister Arlene led the choir, and she had a solo in each selection. Then there was the sermon, which was fascinating to Robin because of the way the minister made his voice rise and fall. He’d also told everyone to go to different books in the Bible before some could even find the last one. When it came down to testifying, Sister Arlene was the first to stand. And when the music started up again, she started acting strange until she fell across
the stage and some nice lady covered the choir director’s exposed legs with some type of cloth.

Robin couldn’t wait to tell her mother about everything she’d seen. And when it was all over, she was surprised to see that Bobbi’s father had joined them.

“So how did you like it?” Bobbi asked in a low whisper at the end of service.

“I liked it,” Robin responded with a smile. “When I get home, I’m going to ask Mom if we can go to church every Sunday.”

Julia took her time getting ready for the bake sale. During her time alone, she had the chance to think and reflect. While they were stuck in Moreland, she needed to make the best out of a bad situation. She concluded that she would hold off on telling Robin about David. It just didn’t feel like the right time.

While most of the townspeople were at church, Julia took her time walking through downtown Moreland, following Lilly’s handwritten instructions. The place really had put her in mind of Mayberry, except here the majority of the population was African American.

Julia couldn’t help but notice how beautiful the day had turned out to be. She drew near the church as a throng of people filtered out.

A short while later, Robin bounded out of the building behind Bobbi. She stopped when she spotted her mother, then raced in her direction.

“Mama!”

Julia spread her arms wide to encircle her daughter.

“Mama, can we go to church when we get back home?”

Stunned, Julia nodded. “If you’d like.”
That’s if we ever go home.

“Great.” Robin turned and bolted out of her arms and back toward Bobbi.

Meanwhile, Carson walked up to Julia. “I’m glad you decided to come.”

“Looks like I should have also attended the service, judging by my daughter’s excitement.”

“Perhaps next time?”

Julia caught the twinkle in his eyes and hesitated. “Perhaps.”

He laughed, and she found the sound infectious.

Lilly approached them with a smug smile that literally wiped Julia’s from her face.

“I sure hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Lilly said.

“Nope,” Carson answered. “I was just thanking Julia for coming to our little bake sale.”

“Of course, I would love to lend a helping hand if you need it.”

Lilly waved her offer off. “That won’t be necessary. That’s why I enlisted two strapping men.” She wrapped her arm around Carson’s waist for emphasis.

“I guess she means me.” He laughed, then leaned over to kiss her forehead. “But I’ll do anything for my little sister.” He kissed her.

Lilly frowned and wiped her face. “Don’t be fooled. He’s just kissing up because his birthday’s soon.”

“Got my eye on this nice tool set down at Andy’s Hardware Store.” He winked at Julia.

Julia laughed as they all walked back toward the church. Once there, Lilly made a point of introducing her to what seemed like the entire church congregation, while Julia overindulged in chocolate.

However, the one person who didn’t seem too thrilled to see her was the reverend’s daughter, Sheri Higginbotham.

“Julia, how nice it is to see you again,” Sheri said with what appeared to be a tight smile.

“Likewise.” Julia watched with mild amusement.

Sheri looped her arm through Carson’s, a definite sign of possession, and ignored his puzzled look. “Did you enjoy the service?”

“Actually, I didn’t attend the service. I came to enjoy the bake sale. Only I think I had one too many cupcakes.”

Sheri gave Julia a withering glance.

“Humph,” Lilly cut in, planting her hand on her healthy hips. “Let me guess. You have good genes.”

Julia laughed awkwardly. “No. I usually work out five days a week.”

“You won’t get any complaints from me,” Carson said.

Sheri tugged his arm and silenced him with a damning look.

Julia looked at Lilly, who looked ready to explode with laughter.

But through it all, Carson looked uncomfortable with Sheri clutching his arm for dear life.

“Mama.” Robin raced up to her. “Is it okay if I go and play football with Bobbi?”

“In a dress?”

Robin laughed. “Of course not. We’re going to walk back to the inn and change first.”

“Well, I’d hoped to talk to you this evening.”

“Please, Mom. Just for a couple of hours?”

Julia was amazed by her daughter’s excitement. “All right. But I want you back in time for dinner.”

“Thanks, Mom.” Robin kissed her mother and hurried off.

“You got yourself a little angel,” Lilly commented, watching the girls run down the sidewalk.

“That I do.”