Chapter Seven

EMILY

Little angry goblin drummers had taken up residence inside my head. At least that what it felt like from the throbbing. Mercifully, my stomach didn’t twist itself into knots. It’d been a long time since I’d had a hangover, but not long enough that I didn’t know what was going on.

Two years. That’s the last time I’d drank that much. It was right after my divorce.

I blinked my eyes slowly open. My heart kicked up as I saw I wasn’t in my own bed, but then I realized I was in my old room at my house. I was still in my dress, but I was underneath a blanket and on top of the quilt.

Juniper peacefully snoozed beside me. She was wearing some pajamas I didn’t recognize. Mama must have had some sitting around just in case.

Just in case what? I couldn’t remember most of the previous night. I sat up slowly and rubbed my temples. The pounding in my head wasn’t helping me figure out what the heck had happened. My head had gone through worse in the past, but that didn’t help me much with ignoring the pain.

I took several deep breaths, trying to push back to my last clear memory. I recalled Lionel being a bastard, and then I remembered downing a lot of champagne. A soft groan escaped my lips. Of course that cheating bastard would be the cause of this mess.

Leaning over, I gave Juniper a little squeeze and kissed her on the forehead. I smiled down at my little angel, happy she’d remained untouched by all this ugliness. Children needed to be protected from wickedness, so I’d shielded her from the details of why we couldn’t live with her daddy anymore. Even though it hurt, it was the right thing to do.

I slowly scooted off the bed, my stomach tightening, more out of embarrassment than because of my hangover.

It’d been a long time since I’d gotten so drunk. After all, I had a little girl to worry about, and if I wasn’t in Mama’s house, I wouldn’t have dared. I don’t even know if I would have done such a thing at my own house. Here, though, I knew Juniper had at least one other person who loved her.

Not that it was an excuse. I let out a long sigh, not bothering to put on my shoes, which lay near the doorway. Shame filled me. The ugly truth was I’d gotten falling-down drunk at Mama’s special event. I only hoped I hadn’t done anything too stupid or destructive. If I went downstairs and Mama gave me the tongue lashing of all tongue lashings, I’d have it coming, and the only thing I’d be able to do is beg for her forgiveness.

My face hot, I crept down the stairs and made my way to the kitchen. Bella stood near the sink, doing some dishes.

She offered me a polite smile, though her eyes held some concern. “Have are you feeling, Emily?”

“About as well as expected,” I said, rubbing my forehead.

“There’s some lemonade, tea, and fruit in the parlor,” she said. “That should help.”

“Did I…” I trailed off with a sigh. No reason to make Bella deliver the bad news. “Never mind. Where’s Mama?”

“Mrs. Jolie is also in the parlor, Emily.”

“Thank you.”

I fought down a groan as I turned to trudge toward the parlor. I prayed Mama would at least just use cutting words instead of yelling. My head couldn’t take loud noises. I tried to think about how I might make it up to her.

I glanced down at my clothes. My rumpled dress brought new meaning to the term hot mess. I could only imagine what my hair and face must look like. It didn’t matter. I had other reasons to be embarrassed, and I figured it was kind of like a Band-Aid. Sometimes it was best to tear it off quickly.

Stepping into the parlor, I spotted Mama. She sat at her Sevier table sipping tea, a plate filled with apple slices in front of her. She looked up at me and smiled.

The look sent shivers through my body. A frown, a glare, or even a cold look I could take, but Mama smiling after I got wasted at a society party? I couldn’t begin to guess what sort of harshness she was about to visit on me. I wondered what my pastor would say if I prayed to God to protect me from Mama’s wrath.

I slipped into a chair and poured myself a glass of lemonade. Mama didn’t say anything. Instead, she just watched me, that strangely warm smile on her face like I was the most delightful thing she’d seen all morning.

One didn’t try to understand the mind of Sally Jolie. A Southern society lady like herself was not to be trifled with. She combined the tenacity of a shark with the elegance of a flower.

“I’m sorry, Mama,” I said. Might as well get it over with. I was in the wrong, no reason to dance around it.

“You’re sorry?”

“Yes, I’m sorry?”

“Whatever for, dear?”

“For getting drunk at your fundraiser and ruining it.”

“Oh, you didn’t ruin a thing.” She laughed quietly. “And lots of people get drunk at fundraisers.” She winked. “It’s part of the plan, really. Drunk donors are generous donors. Every fundraiser we run that doesn’t have alcohol, oh, I think we make half as much.”

I blinked. Had I not a made fool of myself?

“So, you’re not mad at me? At all?”

Mama looked at me like I’d gone insane. “Emily, now why on Earth would I be mad at you?”

I sipped more lemonade and shrugged. “I figured you’d be mad about what I did last night.”

“A few people talked about it, but it was mostly Amelia and a couple of others who saw. I made sure they didn’t go around talking too much.”

I winced. Okay, so I had done something. “And you’re not mad about having to tell them that?”

“No, no, no. I’m positively delighted.” She punctuated her thought with a nod. “Especially since it’s exactly what I wanted. Well, maybe not exactly, but it points in the right direction.”

I swallowed, and my palms grew sweaty. I suspected Mama was setting me up for some sort of emotional ambush. Even though I knew it was coming, I couldn’t figure out from what direction. I nibbled on my lip, trying to fight the building panic.

“Why are you so happy?” I asked.

“Why wouldn’t I be happy?” She let out a happy sigh. I was officially creeped out. “You have to understand, dear, you didn’t call me on Thursday, so I worried your date with Logan had gone poorly, and you were only waiting because you were too afraid to tell me.”

That was exactly what had happened. Did she see through that? I didn’t understand what she meant and what this had to do with whatever had happened the night before.

“Um…” was my brilliant response, “and?”

An infectious grin spread across her face. “But you obviously had hit it off even more than I expected.” She winked and chuckled. “Or was that all just from last night?” She nodded. “I didn’t think of that. It was probably all too rushed on Thursday. You needed more time to relax.” She frowned. “It’s my fault for trying to rush things, but it doesn’t matter, I suppose, because of last night.”

“Last night?” My pulse pounded in my ears, each beat sending a jolt of pain through my head. “You’re happy about what happened last night?”

“I’m not going to lie, dear. I’d prefer if you maybe hadn’t had nearly as many glasses of champagne, but I’m not going to quibble with the results, especially since it got you Logan Hawkins.” She picked up an apple slice and took a bite, watching me.

My mind raced. Logan had come to the fundraiser? If he had, I didn’t remember it. The last Logan-related memory I could pull out of my throbbing head was us hugging and parting at the café.

I picked up an apple slice and put in my mouth, wanting a little food and an excuse not to talk for a few moments. I wondered if Logan had lied to his mother about how our date went.

That didn’t seem right. Mama was acting like we were together last night. I gobbled down a few more apple slices trying to buy more time and considered my options. Asking Mama directly would be beyond embarrassing, and I liked how happy she seemed.

“Are you feeling hungry, dear?” she said. “I can have Bella get something going.”

“I think I need to go get a little cleaned up before breakfast,” I said, rising. This was good. A shower would give me more time to sober up and figure out what the heck was going on.

“You do that, dear,” Mama said. “There are some dresses in the closet you can wear.”

“Thank you, Mama.”

“No, thank you.” That frightening grin returned.

I made my way back to my room. Juniper still dozed on the bed. I decided to let her sleep. Chances were she’d been up way past her bedtime and needed the rest.

My purse sat on top of a dresser, along with my coat. I reached into my purse to pull out my phone, wondering if it held any answers to the mysteries of the previous night.

I had a single alert for a voice message. I swiped the phone open and listened to the message.

“Hello, Emily,” Logan’s recorded voice said over the phone. I could hear the slightest hint of slurred words. Mama was right. I wasn’t the only one who’d gotten drunk. “I had a great time last night, even if it was a bit wilder than I’m used to. After our date at the café, I didn’t think you were interested, but I’m glad we’ll be able to see each other again, and I think we proved we’re more than a little compatible.” He paused and sucked in a breath. “I’d really like to see you again. I think we can both agree we have great chemistry and a lot in common. How about Tuesday night? See you then.”

Wow. He was already setting up dates with me. Something spectacular must have happened the night before.

Great chemistry? I tossed my phone back into my purse and tried to figure out what that even meant. What had we done the night before? Maybe I hit on him, loudly and publicly. I didn’t want to ask Mama for more details. The last thing I needed was her thinking she needed to stick her nose even more into this business.

I sat down on the edge of the bed. Juniper stirred and rolled to her side but didn’t awaken.

Groaning, I lay back on the bed. I thought about calling Logan and telling him I wasn’t interested, but everyone seemed happy. Mama and Logan. We’d obviously connected somehow the night before.

He was handsome. A woman would have to be blind not to see that, and I might have had a hangover, but I wasn’t blind.

A woodsy scent filled my memory. Why was I remembering that now? And when had I been close enough to smell him like that?

Maybe a single date wouldn’t hurt. I mean if he could find the time, I could find the time. He’d just have to wait until I could figure out something with Juniper. Mama would probably be happy to watch her if it didn’t mess with one of her meetings.

I blinked. I’d gone from all but running away from Logan to trying to plan out how I could see him again, and all based on some mysterious conversation we had when I was drunk on champagne the night before.

Lord, help me, this was crazy.