A Sweet Magnolias Novel

“Anybody she’s especially close to?”

Adelia immediately brightened. “Her uncle. Elliott runs that new men’s gym just off Palmetto. You know the place?”

Gabe nodded. “I just joined.”

As they made the drive to Fit for Anything, Adelia’s mind started racing. “What if—?”

The words were no sooner out of her mouth than Gabe cut her off. “No what-ifs,” he declared firmly. “She hasn’t been missing long. If she’s upset, she’ll go someplace where she feels safe.”

“But she might not be thinking clearly,” Adelia protested, her panic returning. “She’s only thirteen, Gabe. I’m afraid I’ve been forgetting that myself. I should have been paying more attention. Instead, I was so worried about my younger kids, I missed all the signs that Selena was in real trouble. I was just grateful that she was no longer rebelling against the world.”

In front of the gym, she bolted from the car practically before it could come to a stop. Inside, she scanned the room until her gaze landed on her brother. He regarded her with alarm, which grew visibly when Gabe came in right on her heels.

Misreading the situation, Elliott stepped between them. “Is this guy bothering you, Adelia?”

She held up a hand. “No, it’s nothing like that. Selena’s missing. Gabe is helping me look for her. I thought maybe she’d come here to see you.”

Elliott shook his head. “I haven’t seen her. Let me check with Karen. She’s not working today. She’s at the house with the baby.”

Adelia felt herself starting to shake as her brother made the call to his wife. Then she felt Gabe’s steadying hand on her shoulder. He didn’t say a word, just kept his hand there until the moment passed.

Elliott listened intently to whatever Karen was saying, his expression brightening. “Thanks, querida. Adelia will be there in a few minutes.” Smiling, he turned to her. “Selena’s at my house playing with the baby. Karen didn’t think to call anyone because Selena told her she only had a half day at school and swore you knew where she was.”

Adelia finally let out the breath she felt like she’d been holding for hours. “Of course Karen believed her,” she said wryly. “Selena’s very convincing when she wants to be.”

“Want me to drive you over there?” Elliott offered. “I can get one of the other trainers to take my next client.”

“I can take her,” Gabe said. He looked at her. “Unless you’d prefer to have your brother go with you.”

Adelia hesitated, then shook her head. “If you don’t mind making the drive, that would be great,” she told him. “Elliott, there’s no reason for you to miss an appointment. I can handle this.”

Elliott looked worried but eventually nodded. “You’ll be there when I get home? I want to have a talk with my niece about skipping school and worrying you.”

She smiled. “Believe me, she’ll get more than enough talking from me tonight. You can save your lecture for another day.”

Elliott nodded with unmistakable reluctance. “Whatever you think, but I will have a word with her. You can be sure of that.”

“Not a doubt in my mind,” she said, then turned to Gabe. “Let’s go. That is, if you’re really sure you have the time.”

“I have the time,” he said without hesitation.

On the way to her brother’s, Gabe called Mitch and told him they’d located Selena and were on the way to get her. After the call ended, he told her, “Mitch will speak to Carter and let him know to call off the search.”

Adelia sighed. “I should have thought to do that.”

“You have plenty of other things on your mind,” he said, excusing her. “I imagine you’re pondering a dozen different things you can say to drive home the point that what your daughter did was wrong.”

Surprised by his understanding, she nodded. “How’d you know?”

“Not because I got my share of lectures, that’s for sure,” he said. “My mom was pretty oblivious to the trouble I was getting into.” He glanced her way. “Word of advice?”

“Sure.”

“Whatever punishment you decide to dole out, and there should be one, be sure you hug the daylights out of her first.”

Adelia felt her heart tumble just a little. “You didn’t get the hugs, either?”

“Nope, which is why I know exactly how important they are,” he said as he pulled to a stop in front of Elliott’s house in a new subdivision outside town.

Adelia turned to him then. “Thank you.”

“For chauffeuring you around town for an hour? Don’t mention it. I’m just glad there’s a happy ending.”

“Not just for that,” she corrected him. “For reminding me that discipline always needs to come with a hug.”

He winked at her. “I saw you with your kids at Rosalina’s, remember? Something tells me you already knew that.”

Adelia stood in the driveway and watched him leave. She’d seen a different side of Gabe Franklin just now, one that was even more appealing than the flirtatious man she’d encountered before. Something told her this thoughtful, more vulnerable side made him even more dangerous.

CHAPTER THREE

“Thanks for helping out just now,” Lynn said when Gabe stopped by the bakery for a large cup of coffee before heading back to the construction site. “Adelia would never admit it, but she had to be scared out of her wits. I know I would have been if it had been one of my kids missing. I’m sure having you around kept her calm.”

“I don’t know how much help I was,” Gabe said. “All I did was drive the car in whatever direction she asked me to.”

Lynn smiled at the self-deprecating comment. “And you didn’t say one single word in all that time? Didn’t offer any support? Maybe insist she drink some tea?”

“The tea made sense,” he grumbled.

Lynn’s smile spread. He was obviously self-conscious about accepting praise for what he apparently considered to be nothing more than a neighborly gesture. She considered that very telling. Mitch had told her about Gabe’s past and how determined he was to fight his old reputation as a troublemaker. This humility was definite evidence that he was well on his way.

“Don’t make a big deal about that, or about anything I did, for that matter,” he said. “It was nothing anyone else wouldn’t have done.”

“Whatever you say,” she said, laughing. “Something tells me things are about to get real interesting here on Main Street.”

Gabe frowned at her. “Just because you and my cousin still have stars in your eyes doesn’t mean the whole world is just waiting for romance.”

“Adelia would probably say the same thing,” Lynn said agreeably. “She just got a divorce. She’s not interested in meeting anyone right now. Yada yada yada. I’ve heard it all before. Said it myself, in fact, when Mitch came along. Doesn’t mean I believe a word she says.” She regarded him pointedly, then added, “You, either. My theory is that neither of you has a clue what you really need in your lives.”

“Well, whether you buy it or not, could you stay out of it?” Gabe pleaded. “I’ve got problems enough up and down this block without adding your meddling into the mix.”

“What problems?” she asked at once, her mood sobering. “Does Mitch know?”

“Of course he knows. I haven’t been on the job long enough to make decisions without running them by him. Now, if you’ll get that cup of coffee I asked for when I first walked through the door, and maybe a few of those chocolate chip cookies, I’ll get back to work, so he doesn’t fire me for hanging out too long with his wife.”

She quickly poured the coffee and bagged his cookies, choosing a few from a tray still warm from the oven, but she waved off payment. “Just a reward for helping Adelia,” she said. “Where will you be if Mitch stops by here looking for you?”

“In the old supermarket space on the corner trying to figure out how we’re going to replace those old beams without the roof tumbling down on our heads. The termites have been living it up in there for ten years at least.”

Lynn looked alarmed. “That can’t be good. What about Chic? It’s right next door to that space. Is their ceiling okay?”

“I’ll check with Mitch, but I imagine he did a thorough job fixing up that place and this one. If there was damage, I doubt he missed it.”

Relieved, she nodded. “You’re right, of course. Mitch pays attention to details. It’s one of his best traits.”

Gabe grinned at her. “I imagine that comes in handy in more ways than one,” he said with a wink, then took off, brushing past Maddie Maddox, Helen Decatur-Whitney and Dana Sue Sullivan in his hurry.

Their arrival wasn’t particularly unexpected. Once word of a crisis spread through town, the original Sweet Magnolias were always among the first to respond. The loosely formed group of friends had grown to include many other women now, including Lynn, but these three were still its heart and soul.

“What’s his hurry?” Helen asked, her eyes narrowed. The town’s—maybe even the state’s—most prominent divorce attorney was by nature cynical and suspicious, even after several years now of being deliriously happy in her own marriage.

Lynn chuckled. “I made him nervous.”

Maddie regarded her with surprise. “How?”

“By suggesting that his willingness to jump in to help Adelia was something more than a neighborly gesture,” Lynn said.

“I knew it!” Dana Sue said, her expression smug. “All day long I was hearing gossip that Adelia and Gabe had crossed paths at Rosalina’s the other night and fireworks went off. It was Grace spreading the story, and you know how she is. She can spin a romance out of a passing glance.”

Helen held up her hands. “Hold on a minute! The latest Serenity romance alert is fascinating, but shouldn’t we be focusing on what we can do to help in the search for Adelia’s daughter? That’s why we rushed over here.”

Maddie and Dana Sue immediately looked guilt-stricken.

“Of course we should,” Maddie said.

“It’s okay,” Lynn soothed. “Selena’s safe and sound. Adelia and Gabe found her at Elliott and Karen’s house. He stopped in just now to fill me in.” She glanced at the three women, who’d been best friends since childhood. “Now who needs coffee and maybe a slice of pie while you fill me in on what you’ve heard about Gabe and Adelia?”

“I wouldn’t turn down a slice of lemon meringue,” Maddie said at once.

“Coconut cream for me,” Helen said as Lynn poured the coffee.

Dana Sue stared at the display case longingly. As she did, Lynn remembered hearing that she was at high risk for diabetes. That would be a tough diagnosis for anyone, but Dana Sue owned a restaurant and was around food constantly. She sighed now.

“I’ll pass on the pie,” Dana Sue said with unmistakable disappointment, “but I will take the coffee.”

“How about a couple of sugar-free oatmeal cookies?” Lynn suggested. “They have cranberries and walnuts. I promise they don’t taste like sawdust.”

Helen’s eyes lit up. “Ooh, those sound fabulous. Maybe I’ll have those, too.”

“Instead of pie?” Lynn asked.

“Absolutely not,” Helen replied, then hesitated. “But maybe you’d better put them in a bag. I’ll pretend I’m taking them home for my daughter.”

Maddie and Dana Sue exchanged a look.

“Want to bet they’re gone before she gets to the corner?” Maddie asked.

Dana Sue shook her head. “Why would I want to bet against a sure thing?” She grinned at Lynn. “Bring on the cookies and don’t waste a bag, okay?”

Helen patted the chair next to her. “And sit right here next to me. I want to know everything you can tell me about Gabe and Adelia.”

Lynn chuckled as she imagined how Gabe would react to being linked with Adelia all over town. He’d been grumpy enough when she’d merely hinted at a potential romantic pairing. Now that the Sweet Magnolias and Grace Wharton were alert and watching for every sighting, it was going to make him crazy. In Lynn’s opinion, a little craziness was just what he needed.

* * *

Gabe found Mitch standing on scaffolding in the middle of the construction site on the corner. Mitch was regarding the damage-riddled support beam with disgust. When he caught sight of Gabe, he climbed down.

“What’s your plan?” he asked at once, surprising Gabe.

“You don’t have one?” Gabe asked.

Mitch chuckled. “Of course I do, but I put you in charge. I want to hear yours.”

Startled by the confidence his cousin was placing in him, Gabe pulled a rough sketch from his back pocket and spread it out on a rickety old table that comprised his office space for now.

“Here’s what I was thinking,” he said, going over the drawing. “I had Ronnie Sullivan in here earlier for some cost estimates on the lumber. He says if we want a couple of steel beams, he can get prices for those, too, but we’re talking big money.”

Mitch’s expression was thoughtful as Gabe talked. He glanced up at the existing beams, then at the figures Gabe had jotted down, then nodded. “Let’s do it right,” he said eventually. “If we’re going to fix this building up, we need it to be built to last.”

“I’ll have the prices for you tomorrow,” Gabe said, relieved. He’d been cautious, but he, too, believed in getting it right, not cheap. “By the way, your wife’s expecting you. I stopped in to grab a cup of coffee just now. She might need a little reassuring about the state of the ceiling over the bakery.”

Mitch frowned. “Why?”

“It’s possible I planted a few seeds of doubt talking about all the termites,” Gabe admitted, then shrugged at Mitch’s incredulous expression. “Hey, I had to say something to get her off the topic of me and Adelia Hernandez.”

“And all you could come up with was termite damage?” Mitch said with mock exasperation. “She’s going to want to go up there and check out those beams herself.”

Gabe laughed. “I suspected as much. Where’s the trust? That’s what I want to know. You did renovate that space for her.”

Mitch shook his head. “Which just means we probably should add contractors to the list of people who need to avoid doing business with family.” He sighed heavily. “Thanks for that, by the way.”

“Anytime,” Gabe said.

Let his cousin deal with Lynn’s inquisitive nature. That was a whole lot easier on Gabe than having her pecking away at his personal life.

* * *

Adelia stood outside the nursery at Elliott and Karen’s house trying to calm her temper before she confronted her daughter about scaring her and everyone else. She needed to remember what Gabe had said about doling out hugs before discipline. She thought she’d always been pretty good at that, but today had been a real test. What she wanted more than anything was to give her daughter a good shake and ground her for at least the remainder of her school years. Fortunately, she was wise enough to know none of that was the answer to what had happened today.

When she opened the door, she found Selena sitting in a rocker with the baby in her arms and sunlight spilling over them. Even at only thirteen, she had the serenity of the Madonna about her. It was a terrifying reminder of how quickly she was growing up.

When Selena glanced up and caught sight of Adelia, though, wariness filled her eyes and she was a nervous teenager who knew she was in trouble. “What are you doing here?” she asked, her voice unsteady.

“I think the better question is what are you doing here in the middle of a school day?” Adelia responded, careful to keep the fear and temper out of her voice. “You’ve had half the town running around trying to find you, including the police chief.”

Selena had the grace to look shocked by that. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think anyone would miss me. I just skipped out on soccer. I’m no good at that, anyway.”

“And what about the classes you have after physical education? Were you planning to go back for those? If so, you’re already late.”

Selena winced. “I lost track of time,” she whispered, clearly aware that Adelia wasn’t likely to buy it.

“Seriously? You expect me to believe that?”

“I was hoping,” Selena said, her expression guilty.

“Afraid not. Put the baby down and come outside so we can talk,” Adelia said, pausing to brush gentle fingers over the baby’s soft-as-silk curls. With black hair and big brown eyes, she was all Cruz, that’s for sure.

Maybe because she knew it was inevitable, Selena did as she’d been told to do, then followed Adelia from the room. As they passed Karen in the living room, Adelia asked, “Mind if we sit on your deck for a little while? We need to talk.”

“It’s fine,” Karen said. “Would you like something cool to drink? I’ve just made fresh lemonade.”

“I’d like some, please,” Selena said at once, clearly relieved by any delay she could seize. “I can get it.”

She scampered off to the kitchen before Adelia could protest. Karen smiled. “She’s awfully eager to make amends, isn’t she?”

“Seems so,” Adelia said, then released a sigh. “I’ve never been so terrified in my life.”

Karen, who’d been reserved with her for a long time, stepped forward and pulled her into an awkward embrace. “But she’s okay. That’s what counts, Adelia. She came here, to a safe place. She didn’t run away.”

“I know and I’m more grateful than I can express for that. Did she talk at all?”

“No. I think she just wanted some space on neutral turf. She asked if she could hold the baby. She’s been in the nursery ever since.” She gave Adelia an apologetic look. “If I’d had any idea you didn’t know where she was, I would have called you immediately.”

“I know that,” Adelia assured her. “Thanks for being so kind to her.”

“She’s my niece,” Karen said simply.

Selena returned from the kitchen with three glasses of lemonade and looked at Karen hopefully. “Are you coming outside to talk, too?”

“No, sweetheart. This is between you and your mom.” She looked at Adelia. “If you need anything, let me know. I can give you all a lift home whenever you’re ready, unless you’d like to stay for dinner.”

“We’ll see,” Adelia said. It depended on how this conversation went and whether she thought she needed some backup from her brother to drive her points home with Selena. Her mom would keep the younger kids for the night, if need be.

Adelia led the way outside. She sat on a cushioned bench on the shady side of the deck, then patted the seat next to her. With unmistakable reluctance, Selena sat beside her. Adelia reached for her hand.

“Do you have any idea how precious you are to me?” she asked softly. “You’re my firstborn, Selena.”

Rather than looked reassured, Selena looked sad. “But if it weren’t for me, you might never have married Dad.”

Adelia frowned at what seemed to be an entirely out-of-the-blue comment. “What do you mean?”

“Come on, Mom. I can count. You and Dad got married because you were already pregnant with me. If that hadn’t happened, then you wouldn’t have been trapped with a man who cheated on you every chance he got.”

Adelia closed her eyes, trying to gather her composure. She’d hoped this conversation would never be necessary, but Selena had clearly overheard way too many arguments with Ernesto and the accusations that had been flung about.

“It’s true that I was pregnant when your Dad and I got married,” she confessed, then forced Selena to meet her gaze. “But you need to believe me, sweetheart. I don’t regret that decision, not for a single minute.”

“How can you not regret it?” Selena asked angrily. “Dad did.”

“No, he didn’t. Not really.”

“I heard him, Mom.”

“People say things in the heat of the moment that they don’t really mean, even your dad. But let’s focus on how I feel for now. How can I regret marrying your dad when I have you and your sisters and your brother because of that decision? The four of you mean everything to me. I may hate what’s been happening, I may be really angry at him right now, but I can’t regret being married to him, sweetheart. One of these days you’ll discover that things are never as black-and-white as we might like them to be. There’s a lot of gray in the middle. Good just happens to come with bad sometimes.”

Tears streamed down Selena’s cheeks. “I’m never getting married,” she declared.

Her determined words were as painful for Adelia to hear as her own had probably been for Elliott on Sunday night. She didn’t want her daughter’s future to be shaped by the divorce. She pulled Selena close and Selena actually allowed it, resting her head on Adelia’s shoulder as she had when she was younger.

“That’s not a decision you need to be making now,” she told her daughter. “And it certainly isn’t one you should base on what happened between your father and me. Look at your uncle Elliott and Karen and how happy they are.”

“But Karen’s first husband was a real jerk,” Selena reminded her. “So was Raylene’s. I heard all about how he abused her and then came here and tried to kill her.”

“But Raylene has Carter now and they’re expecting a baby,” Adelia reminded her. “She found real happiness this time, the kind that will last.”

“But there’s no way to know for sure,” Selena protested. “I’ll bet you thought Dad was great at first or you wouldn’t have fallen in love with him. The same with Karen and Raylene. They’re smart, too, and look what happened to them.”

“Okay, here’s what I know,” Adelia said, brushing a lock of hair back from Selena’s damp cheek. “People make mistakes. And sometimes people change. Human beings are flawed, but that doesn’t mean you should never take a risk. The important thing is that it be an informed risk, one you only take after very careful thought. And even then, if you get it wrong, you pick up the pieces and move on.”

Even as she said the words meant to reassure her daughter, Adelia realized they were very similar to the sentiment that Elliott had expressed to her. She wondered if she was any more capable of hearing them right now than Selena was.

“How do you do that, though?” Selena asked. “Move on, I mean? You make it sound easy, but it’s not.”

“No, it’s not,” Adelia said. “But you do it because you must and you do it one day at a time. Some days will be easier than others.”

“I made today harder, didn’t I?” Selena asked, real regret in her voice.

“You did,” Adelia said, unwilling to gloss over the effect her behavior had. “But I understand why you came here. Sometimes I forget that you’re not a grown-up and that all these decisions your dad and I have made affect you in ways I might not even realize. But, baby, you need to talk to me about it, not take off.” She tucked a finger under Selena’s chin and forced her to look into her eyes. “Deal?”

Selena nodded slowly. “Deal.” Her expression turned worried. “How much trouble am I in? Grounded is a given, huh?”

“Grounded is a given,” Adelia agreed. “But I imagine we can smooth things over at school, even though they have a very low tolerance for skipping classes. You’ll need to apologize to your teacher and to the principal for worrying them.”

Selena didn’t look happy, but she nodded. “Anybody else?”

“Raylene and Carter for inconveniencing them,” Adelia said. “Mitch Franklin, who dropped everything to help look for you, and his cousin Gabe, who drove me around to all the places I thought you might be, then brought me here.”

“I don’t even know him,” Selena protested. “Why did he help?”

“Because that’s what people do in Serenity,” Adelia told her. “I know you think this town is way too small and old-fashioned and that you can’t wait to get away, but the positive side of living here is that we look out for each other. We pitch in when anyone’s in trouble.”

It was something she was just coming to realize for herself, and in the past few months, when her world had been turned upside down, she’d been grateful for all the support, sometimes from the most unexpected people. Gabe Franklin, she was forced to concede, fell into that category.

* * *

Gabe stayed on the job until after eight, running the numbers Ronnie Sullivan had given him for new steel support beams until he had a proposal ready to pass along to Mitch first thing in the morning. While he’d told himself it was the responsible thing to do, he knew the real reason he was still at the construction site was to keep himself from heading over to Swan Point to check on Adelia and her daughter.