Liz Talley - Sweet Southern Nights

Eva reached deeper into the last black garbage bag councilwoman Hilda Brunet had dropped off at the church and pulled out a pair of heels she was certain cost the same as her new flat-screen TV. “Don’t let Jake hear you call his MeeMaw a battle-ax.”

“Ooooh,” Fancy said, forgetting about MeeMaw Mollie and snatching the shoes from Eva’s hand. She snuck a peek inside the shoe. “Manolo. I might buy these myself.”

“They look like they’d hurt your feet.”

Fancy laughed. “Well, honey, sometimes we must suffer to look a little taller and thinner. I’m willing to make that sacrifice.”

“You’re a preacher’s wife. Aren’t you supposed to be above lust?”

“I’m pretty sure Paul didn’t know the relationship between women and shoes when he talked about the sins of the flesh,” Fancy joked. Then she twisted her lips. “I’m teasing, you know. I don’t have to have Manolo shoes. I’m content with what I have. But they would look great with my black skirt and the sequined sweater I bought on sale at Chico’s.”

“Well, if they match, you should go for it. It is, after all, for charity.”

“Right!” Fancy snapped her fingers before giggling. “I knew you’d validate me, Eva.”

Eva smiled at Jake’s mom. Like her son, she kept things light and fun. Always joking, cajoling, fattening people up with her “special” recipes, which was code for “a lot of butter.” Fancy was the mother Eva never had.

“That’s me. Validator.”

Fancy motioned toward her daughter, Abigail. “Hey, Abi. Eva wants to be called Eva the Validator.”

Abigail pushed back dark hair with the cool swoosh of silver. Eva always thought Abigail looked dramatic...and a little like Cruella de Vil. “Why? Is she in charge of validating parking or something? I thought it was free.”

Fancy giggled at her joke. “No, she just validated my purchase of your cousin’s shoes. Look.”

She held them aloft and Abigail rolled her eyes. “Mom, you’ll break an ankle in those. I’m not ready to change your diaper yet.”

Fancy frowned. “As if I’d let you change my diaper. Jakey will take care of me, won’t you, honey?”

Jake had been walking by, carrying a large box filled with kitchen items. “Whatever you need, Mama.”

“See?” Fancy said to Abigail, propping a hand on her hip.

“She wants you to change her diaper,” Abigail called after him.

“I’m out,” Jake said.

“Wait a minute, I changed your diaper until you were nearly three. You owe me, buster.”

Jake set the box down and grinned, “I’ll get married and put that in the prenup. My wife will have to give me foot massages and learn how to make good cornbread, throw a baitcast reel and change my mother’s diaper.”

Abigail snorted. “Good luck with that, Neanderthal.”

Eva chuckled, happy to be with Jake’s family. They were so normal, and they loved each other so much that the goodness spilled over and splashed onto those around them. Eva had never had that sort of family life, and ever since she’d moved to Magnolia Bend it was something she’d lusted after. Should have made her pathetic—her accepting any opportunity to be part of their family—but she couldn’t help herself. The Beauchamps were just plain fun.

“Can you believe this, Eva? My own children pawning me off on some poor unseen, unknown woman. God help the girl who marries Jake. He’s always been difficult. You know, when he was a baby, he refused to crawl because he didn’t like the way the carpet felt on his knees. And he spit out his peas...and squash. Still won’t touch green peas. And—”

“Mom, stop giving her ammunition,” Jake said, pulling a pot and toaster out of the box and setting them on the table. Abigail immediately sped over and started helping him, pointing to this table and that, brooking no argument. Abigail was the general of the family.

“She doesn’t need ammunition. She knows you,” Fancy said, setting the shoes aside.

Eva didn’t validate that particular observation because lately she wondered how well she really knew Jake. After Thursday night’s soft-spoken rebuke of her assessment of him, she had a feeling something had changed.

Or maybe deep down under the facade she presented to him—his bud, his comrade, the person who helped him pick out what to wear on dates—she wanted something to change.

But regardless, on a personal level for her, everything had changed. Mostly because she was about to become a mother.

To her six-year-old stepbrother.

That was why her half brother, Chris, had stopped by at Ray-Ray’s. Their stepmonster, the surviving widow of Eva’s father, had been arrested Wednesday night for possession, solicitation and child endangerment. The dumb-ass had left Charlie home alone overnight while she went out, got high and then got busted for prostitution. After Claren sobered up enough to remember she had a kid, the police went to her apartment and found Charlie with a neighbor, crying and wearing dirty clothes. CPS stepped in, placing him in a temporary foster home, after contacting Claren’s elderly parents in Ohio. Finally, a foster care worker called Chris, but because he was scheduled to spend a month in France doing research on some cross-pollination genetics thing with roses, he couldn’t step up to take Charlie. So that left...

Yeah.

She had to be in court at nine o’clock Monday morning when Claren appeared before the judge. But before that, the CPS agent would be coming to her house for an inspection and background check on Sunday so she could take temporary custody of Charlie.

Eva had no experience in taking care of a child, but what option did she have? She couldn’t leave her own flesh and blood with strangers, especially since poor Charlie had been saddled with a crazy-assed mother. Plenty of challenges lay ahead, including a schedule that wasn’t ideal for playing at being a substitute mother.

She felt totally lost.

She wanted to talk about it with someone other than Chris. Normally, she’d confide in Jake, but he didn’t know anything about being a parent, either. He bought his nephews and nieces totally inappropriate gifts like fireworks and giant chocolate candy bars. Fancy would be perfect to talk to, but Eva felt embarrassed about how craptastically screwed up her family was—she had two half brothers from two different mothers, not to mention her own mother had been married three times, too.

Monroes weren’t the luckiest when it came to love.

“I need to find my sweet husband and ask him a few questions about the schedule for tomorrow,” Fancy said, wadding up the black garbage bag and tossing it toward the trash barrel sitting on the perimeter of Burnside Hall. “Can you finish with this table?”

“Sure,” Eva said.

“Jake, come help Eva. I have to find Dan,” Fancy ordered, already heading toward the large double doors that led to the offices of the First Presbyterian Church of Magnolia Bend. Jake had been slumped against the wall, tapping on the phone. He looked up, his forehead crinkling.

“She said to go help Eva,” Abigail told him, returning her attention to tagging the kitchen items she’d commandeered from Jake.

Jake pocketed his phone and started toward Eva. He wore an old workout shirt that had a tear in one sleeve and a pair of athletic shorts that showed off his toned thighs, still tanned from summer days on the lake. He looked absolutely yummy...as usual.

“I don’t need help, so if you want you can go out and see if Matt needs some?” Eva said, rearranging the shoes on the rack below the table.

“Nah, it’s hot out there.” Jake grinned, picking up a pair of sensible flats. “Hey, Abi, I found you some new shoes. Think Mrs. Crofton donated these because they were too nerdy. Right up your alley.”