Sweet Southern Hearts by Susan Schild

Author:Susan Schild [Schild, Susan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2016-11-04T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

Homecoming

As she scrabbled in the bottom of her purse for stray bills to add to the cab driver’s tip, Linny marveled again at her good luck. In these days of TSA lines and overbooked flights, she’d gotten lucky and managed to catch an earlier plane home. She’d tried to get hold of Jack to tell him not to pick her up at the airport but hadn’t heard back from him. Even if he didn’t check his phone, she was home at six p.m. instead of nine, so she had plenty of time to head Neal and him off before they made the trip to RDU.

Their dogs barked as they bounded out from behind the house. Linny called to them and grinned, showering pats on the yipping and swarming pack. They gave her doggie smiles when she rubbed them, and Linny paused to give extra love to her best man, Roy. Jack’s truck wasn’t in its usual parking space. Was he down at the barn or had he and Neal gone to run errands?

Linny took a deep breath, enjoying the familiar scents: faint whiffs of gardenias mixed with the earthier smells of horse manure and recently plowed field. So good to be home. She bumped her bag onto the front porch of Jack’s—no, their—old farmhouse and felt a shiver of delicious anticipation. All the fretting about intrusive Vera had dissolved with the passing days and all Linny could think about now was stepping into Jack’s arms. She couldn’t wait to tell him about her trip and find out all about their adventures.

As she fit the key in the lock, the door swung open without her turning the key. Linny felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. This was the second time this week a door that was supposed to be locked was open. Cautiously, she poked her head in the house and breathed in the delicious scent of warm corn bread. Linny paused for a moment, feeling almost teary with gratitude. Jack and Neal had guessed she’d be road weary and pulled out the cookbooks to make supper for her.

But from the direction of the kitchen, a woman’s voice called out, “Yoo-hoo.”

Linny froze, wondering wildly if the voice was Vera’s. Had she just moved in like a carpetbagger as soon as Linny left North Carolina? Her heart thundered.

“Y’all go wash up. Supper is almost ready!” the woman called.

Linny heard the distinctive clicking of kitten heels and sighed inwardly. The drawling trill was her mother-in-law, Ceecee. The two of them had had a rocky start, with Ceecee still being brokenhearted about Jack’s divorce from her best friend’s daughter. But once Ceecee learned the truth about Vera’s abandoning the marriage, and as she’d come to know Linny, the two women had begun forging a bond of respect and affection. Still, Linny felt slightly wary around Ceecee, as if she needed to be on her best behavior. All she wanted to do tonight was relax, not have to make conversation with anyone but Jack and Neal.

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