Page 9 of Honey Be Mine
Rosemary laughed.
“A farm doesn’t run itself.” Violet shrugged. “But don’t act like that’s all you’ve been up to. She’s met some fellow from Elginston.”
Rosemary listened while Jenny blushed and tried to downplay this “outsider” she was clearly smitten with. Then conversation shifted to town talk—namely the latest ruction between Nicole Svoboda and her gossip-mongering mother, Willadeene Svoboda.
Growing up, Rosemary had wondered what it would be like to have parents. Her parents had died when she was little, and her memories of them were a bit fuzzy. At the same time, she thought it would be easier to have no parents than to have one like Willadeene. Ever since she could remember, the woman’s name was synonymous with gossip and heartache and a whole lot of drama. Nicole had grown up surrounded by all the things Rosemary did her best to avoid.
“Nicole’s tough, tougher than I am.” Violet’s tone was pure sympathy. “First Willadeene was going to sell her part of the beauty shop to some private investor, now she’s trying to get Nicole to buy her out at way above market value.”
“There’s something not right about that woman.” Gramma Dot added a sugar cube to her tea. “And no one can convince me otherwise.” She used the little tongs to add another cube. And then another.
“Willadeene was horrible to Silas Baldwin, too. You know he’s an appraiser over at the bank?” Jenny waited for them all to nod. “When he didn’t assess the shop at the value she’d wanted, she went back to the beauty shop and started dragging up his divorce and how he was incompetent and a whole slew of nasty insults. I was justluckyenough to be getting my hair done that day.” There was no missing Jenny’s sarcasm.
“That’s mean.” Rosemary knew firsthand how hard it was to be on the receiving end of that sort of talk. “I didn’t know Silas was married.”
The women exchanged disapproving looks.
“It didn’t last long.” Violet shrugged.
“It’s sad when a marriage doesn’t last.” Gramma Dot shook her head. “But you young'uns have it easy. Back in my day, you had to wait until your spouse died to be rid of them.”
Rosemary almost choked on her tea.
“Mama.” But Violet hooted with laughter.
When Jenny stopped giggling, she said, “I don’t think anyone was surprised by the divorce. Libby and Kate have always been inseparable. Kate’s divorce was final, so Libby did the same. Silas was the only one that didn’t see it coming.”
“Libby?” Rosemary set her teacup down, the name instantly making her stomach churn. Now she definitely felt for Silas. “Libby Owens?”
All three Taggert woman nodded.
Other than her family and Nicole, no one knew that Libby Owens had been personally responsible for the torment and anxiety Rosemary had struggled with through her high school years. Her older sister, Kate, had been no better. The sisters had delighted in making Rosemary cry. Somehow, they’d managed to make Rosemary testing up two grades in school into a character flaw. Nothing was off-limits. From her dead parents to her braces, hand-me-down clothes, and painfully shy nature, Rosemary was an easy target. Libby had delighted in finding new ways to tear down everything about her. All she could say now was, “Poor Silas.”
“And now poor Everett,” Jenny snapped.
That grabbed Rosemary’s full attention. “What do you mean, poor Everett?” What did Libby Owens have to do with Everett?
“She’sjusthis secretary, Jenny.” Violet shot her daughter a look. “That’s all.”
“So far. She’s working him over, Mom. Telling him how she’s changed. And trying. And wanting a fresh start. I think she wants to get into his pants. Maybe even make him future ex-husband number two.” Jenny snorted. “If she keeps throwing her boobs at him, who knows what might happen.”
Rosemary didn’t like the picture Jenny was painting. Everett was a good guy—through and through. He’d always believed the best in people. While that was admirable, in this case, it could be a detriment.
“Jenny.” Violet’s eyes widened. “Give your brother some credit.”
“Mom.” Jenny shrugged. “He’s a man. Some men are helpless against the power of boobs—a power that can be used for good or evil.”
“Isn’t that the truth?” Gramma Dot nodded, sounding very grave. “I’ve used mine for both—a time or two.”
They were all laughing then. Hard. But long after tea was over and she was headed home, an all-too-familiar hollowness settled into Rosemary’s stomach. It had taken years to get over the self-doubt and loathing Libby’s torment had caused. She didn’t want to project her stuff onto Everett, but...she didn’t want to see him toyed with or hurt, either. Everett didn’t need that.
No, no. Everett would be okay. He had a good head on his shoulders. Boobs or not, Rosemary had to believe Everett was smart enough to take make the right choices for himself.
EVERETTGLANCEDATthe clock. It was almost six. He’d hoped Monday was a fluke. But today, Tuesday, proved otherwise. First, the newspaper article had flooded his inbox with interested single ladies within Lewis County and beyond. Second, his brothers had sent him a bouquet of flowers with a big Cupid balloon and a bachelorette pageant-type sash. Lastly, after sifting through a dozen messages, he’d had to tell Libby to throw any nonbusiness phone messages directly in the trash. But all of that was nothing compared to the news of a second case of vandalism.
“Here are the fliers for the emergency town meeting. I can’t believe this is happening. Here.” Libby placed a stack of fliers on the corner of his desk.
It was hard to get his head wrapped around it.
