The Sweetgum Ladies Knit for Love (10 page)

“Who in the world are they?” Annabeth asked.

Rev. Carson moved to greet the newcomers. The taller man looked every bit as arrogant as he had when he’d entered the five-and-dime demanding a fountain pen. Maria sighed. He hadn’t exactly demanded the pen in so many words, but everything from his facial expression to the way he set his shoulders demonstrated that he was accustomed to getting his way. Maria watched as he shook hands with the minister, his expression guarded. His friend’s face, though, appeared as open and eager as it had in the store that day. The stylishly dressed woman bore a marked resemblance to the cheerier of the men—his sister, no doubt-but her facial expression mirrored the taller man’s arrogance.

“That’s James Delevan,” Annabeth said unexpectedly. Maria turned her head in surprise to look at her friend.

“How do you know that?”

“They were in the bakery last week, at least the two men were.”

Maria made a wry face. “They came in the five-and-dime too. I’m surprised they’re still here.” More surprised than Annabeth could know. Maria thought the pair wouldn’t be back in Sweetgum for a good while. They were as interested in keeping the sale of the Munden farm secret as Maria was.

“Look. Rev. Carson is introducing them to your sister,” Annabeth said.

Daphne stood at the minister’s side, smiling and extending her hand. The blond man shook it vigorously, grinning from ear to ear. The arrogant one said something and shook her hand as well. The woman, though, simply nodded and grimaced, though to give her the benefit of the doubt, she might have been trying to smile, Maria thought. She chuckled. The stranger’s obvious snobbery was not going to get her very far in Sweetgum.

“The line for the food has gone down. Let’s go get our plates,” Annabeth suggested.

They stood and tipped their chairs up too before heading back across the room. It took several long minutes since both women stopped to chat with their friends and acquaintances. Maria supposed she was glad she’d decided to come after all. Since her father’s death, she’d spent every evening at home, sitting on the porch swing with a book or puttering in her greenhouse. She needed to socialize more.

They had almost made it to the food line when Rev. Carson intercepted them, James Delevan in tow. Maria went to grab Annabeth’s sleeve, but her friend slipped away.

“I think Mr. Hale’s waving me over,” Annabeth said as she disappeared. Maria groaned in frustration, then squared her shoulders.

“Good evening, Maria. Glad to see you.” Rev. Carson patted her shoulder. “James, may I introduce you to Maria Munden? Her family owns the five-and-dime on the square.”

“Miss Munden.” He nodded, almost deep enough to be a slight bow, as arrogant now as he’d been when he came into the store. He made no mention of their previous meeting, however, and she determined not to do so either.

“I’ll leave you two to get acquainted,” Rev. Carson said, his attention caught by something on the other side of the fellowship hall.

He stepped away from them, and Maria fought back a sudden wave of panic. She was no naive girl overawed by a wealthy stranger from out of town, she reminded herself sternly. Over the years she had learned how to deal with all kinds of people. There was no reason she couldn’t deal with James Delevan.

“How are you enjoying your time in Sweetgum?” She fixed a polite, if somewhat disinterested, expression on her face and waited for his answer.

“It’s been pleasant.”

Pleasant?
Who in the world talked like that anymore? He was so stiff he might as well have gone straight to the funeral home instead of stopping at the church dinner.

A flush of shame hit her as she realized what she’d been thinking and how disrespectful it was, not only to her father but also to Nancy St. Clair and Frank Jackson.

“I’m surprised to see you here,” she said. “We don’t normally have many visitors at these potlucks.”

“Evan and I met Rev. Carson in town today. He invited us.”

“Will you be in Sweetgum much longer?” she asked him,
and then she realized her question might be taken two ways. “I mean—”

“We’ll be here at least another week.”

Why?
Maria wanted to ask, but she couldn’t. Secrecy had been a condition of the sale. She could only hope that nothing had happened to thwart their plans or derail their purchase of the Munden farm.

“And your lady friend?”

“Evan’s sister. She’s going back to Memphis in the morning.”

There was a lengthy silence while she waited for him to introduce another topic of conversation, but he merely stared around the room. She wanted to ask him why he hadn’t simply introduced himself that first day at the store. Surely he had connected Munden’s Five-and-Dime with the purchase of the Munden farm.

“Where are you staying while you’re here?” she finally asked.

He arched an eyebrow at her, as if to suggest she was prying. “At the bed-and-breakfast on the edge of town. Sugar Mill, I think it’s called.”

“Sugar Hill.” She couldn’t resist correcting him. “A lovely place.”

“It’s fine.” But she could hear the implied criticism.

“It’s not a five-star hotel.”

“Definitely not.”

Maria took a deep breath, sucked in her cheeks, and contemplated biting her tongue. The man was colossally arrogant.
Honestly, it was a wonder there was room for anyone else in the fellowship hall given the size of his ego.

She nodded toward the buffet. “You should help yourself before all the good stuff is gone.” Her polite suggestion was the nicest way she knew to get rid of him.

From his superior height, he looked at the long tables pulled end to end and covered with casserole dishes, bowls, and platters. “There’s enough cholesterol here to—”

“I suppose you’re right,” she said in her blandest tone. “Excuse me, but I think my mother needs me.” With a short nod-as close a concession to good manners as she could make at the moment—she melted away, leaving Mr. James Delevan to contemplate the deficiencies of a church covered-dish supper. And herself to wonder why an arrogant stranger should bother her quite so much.

Later, after everyone had eaten and Rev. Carson had given a short devotional, Maria stood behind one of the large round posts that dotted the fellowship hall at regular intervals. The posts, however awkwardly placed, served the utilitarian purpose of holding up the second and third floors of the education wing. Almost two feet in diameter, they were large enough to conceal a grown woman. She was hiding from Henry Hale, the organist, who looked determined to ask her out yet again. She’d been avoiding his attentions for the better part often years, but Henry was not easily discouraged. The fact that he lived with his
mother and wasn’t in any hurry to move out gave him the leisure to be persistent.

“Come on, James. Surely you can find someone here to talk to.” The voice came from the other side of the pole. She recognized it as belonging to James Delevan’s friend, Evan. Maria froze. She looked around for means of escape, but if she moved now, the two men would surely see her.

“I think you have found—and monopolized—the only decent conversationalist in the room,” James replied. His friend had been talking to Daphne whenever Maria happened to look their way. She couldn’t see James Delevan’s expression, but she heard the censure in his tone.

“James, someday your arrogance is going to backfire on you.”

“I’m not arrogant.”

His friend chuckled. “I can’t wait to see you get caught in your own net.”

“Well, it’s not likely to happen in a sleepy backwater like this.”

“What about Daphne’s sister? She’s nice. Seems intelligent.”

“A little old for me. I’d rather spend the rest of the evening in my room at that excuse for a bed-and-breakfast doing Sudoku. Or watching reality television.”

Maria felt the flush of embarrassment rise from her midsection until it suffused her throat and then her face.
A little old.
Well, that was what she got for eavesdropping. What had she expected him to say? That he’d been fascinated by her?

Maria did not have a false sense of pride. She had long ago
accepted that her looks were average and her possibilities for marriage nonexistent, Henry Hale excepted. But she hadn’t expected others, particularly strangers, to discuss those facts quite so openly And certainly not at a covered dish supper.

She turned to walk away before either of the two men became aware of her presence, but as she did, she bumped into Annabeth, whose eyes were dancing with laughter. Maria suppressed a groan. She hadn’t been the only one to overhear the conversation.

Annabeth grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the pole, back toward the table where they’d eaten. She pushed Maria into a chair and flopped down beside her.

“Well, I never,” she said between giggles. “Of all the nerve…”

Maria felt hard-pressed to figure out what Annabeth found so funny about the conversation. But after a moment, her sense of humor got the best of her, and she felt the corners of her mouth curve upward into a smile.

“My mother always told me not to listen at keyholes.” She thought of the old-fashioned doors in the family home and how she had spent a good deal of time as a child with her ear pressed to the openings. That warm remembrance, though, brought with it a dash of icy reality. Soon that home would no longer be hers.

“Well, you certainly don’t have to worry about acquiring an unwanted admirer,” Annabeth teased. “Mr. Delevan is dead set against you, Maria.”

“The feeling is mutual.”

Someone loomed at her elbow, and with a start Maria looked up to see the very man they were discussing.

“Sorry to interrupt. Would you mind if I joined you?” he asked in his stiffly formal manner.

“Actually we were just about to go help clean up,” Maria said, leaping to her feet and dragging Annabeth with her. “But feel free to sit here.”

Annabeth cast her an admonishing look, but Maria refused to acknowledge it. Yes, she was being rude, but James Delevan didn’t deserve to receive any better than he dished out.

“Of course. I’m sure you’re needed.”

She thought she saw discomfort in his dark eyes but decided she was imagining things. He would be relieved to have her disappear into the kitchen.
A little old for me.
She wouldn’t want to contaminate him with her ancientness. Which probably wasn’t even a word, but Maria didn’t care. She yanked Annabeth’s arm and headed for the kitchen at breakneck speed.

Bad enough that the man was helping Evan Baxter take away the farm she’d loved so much. She wouldn’t allow him to take her dignity too.

Esther entered her bedroom that evening and slipped off her shoes. Her feet ached from spending the day in three-inch heels, but she’d had little choice. Church in the morning. A tea for the garden club at Maisie Shifley’s in the afternoon. She’d had to retrieve the dog from the animal hospital, since his wounds were finally healed enough for them to release him. Then the covered dish supper at the church. And when she’d finally arrived home, she’d found that the dog had dug up every one of her azalea beds. Her first instinct had been to find a rolled-up newspaper and discipline the beast, but when she looked at him and saw the bare places where the vet had shaved him so his wounds could be treated, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Instead, she fed him his dinner and then left him to his own devices in the kitchen after securely latching the baby gate that would keep him in that room for the night.