Joanne Rock - Promises Under the Peach Tree

“Can I just ask you one more thing?”

Absolutely not. Breathing the same air as him was killing her.

“What?” She gripped the heart-shaped locket around her neck, a present Gram had sent her when she’d finished her college program on a scholarship.

“Did your grandmother say if she’s had a falling-out with my mom?”

Nina released a pent-up breath. The subject was safer—for her, at least. Mrs. Finley’s moods had always made her family walk on eggshells around her. Nina had witnessed a few episodes in the years she and Mack had dated, but never anything like the argument they’d had the night she’d left Heartache. Left Mack.

“No. Gram just mentioned that your mother is sticking close to home even more since your father’s death, which I was very sorry to hear about. Your dad did so much for this town.” Not only had Mr. Finley been mayor for longer than anyone else in the history of Heartache, he’d been a genuinely nice man.

“Thank you. We all miss him.” Mack swallowed hard before he glanced toward his mother’s house. “And Mom misses him the most, of course. Scott’s been having a tough time even getting her to her doctor appointments lately, and she’s stopped having Ally overnight on the weekends. I’m debating where to stay for the next couple of weeks while I help Scott with the Harvest Fest.”

He didn’t need to spell out the difficulties of staying with his mother. He’d been as anxious to leave Heartache as Nina, and most of his reasons had revolved around his mother.

“You’re really going to pitch in with the event?” She remembered other Harvest Fests. Especially the Harvest Dance at the end of the festival each year. The year she left, she and Mack had been voted the king and queen, their straw crowns ridiculous and fun. The whole night had been sweetly magical beneath a twirling, pumpkin-shaped disco ball.

She’d told him she loved him that night.

“It’s a lot for Scott to manage on his own. Especially now, when—” He shook his head.

“Is he okay?” She’d been close to the whole Finley family once, as she’d spent half her time at his house during senior year. “I mean, he’s not ill or anything?”

“No. Nothing like that.” He pressed a palm to his forehead for a second and then lowered his hand, but he still looked...pained. “His marriage is going through a rough patch. The tension in the house has been making Ally act out, too. It’s been a tough few months for their family.”

“Really? I’m sorry to hear it.” That news came as a shocker. Scott and Bethany Finley had been the town’s golden couple even before Nina left Heartache. He ran the family construction business and building-supply store. She’d taught preschool and volunteered at the local nursing home. They were solid. Happy. Then, anyway. She’d kept her distance from the Finley family in general on the intermittent weekends she’d visited her grandmother.

But Nina could appreciate the havoc that feuding parents could wreak on a kid. Her heart ached for what Ally must be going through.

“Divorce is painful.” Mack straightened. “I don’t want either of them to go through that.”

Right. Because he knew what it was like.

Another old pain that ached anew.

“It’s kind of you to try and spare them that hurt.” Her arms felt heavy and wooden as she finally opened the truck door. One foot on the running board, she pulled herself up into the driver’s seat and steeled herself to acknowledge Mack’s marriage. “For what it’s worth, I was sorry to hear about you and—” she fought to keep her voice even “—Jenny.”

She stared out the windshield for a long moment, not sure she could look him in the eye. She sensed his gaze on her, though. And it made her feel...

Too much.

“Thank you.” He stood beside the pickup window and pounded his fist gently once, twice on the open sill. “You should call her sometime. I’m sure she’d enjoy hearing from you.”

Nina shoved the key in the ignition of the old Ford and started it up. The mayor’s son had just taken his Nice Guy Act too far, because that was not going to happen.

“Jenny made it clear to me years ago that she blames me for Vince’s death on graduation night, the same as plenty of other people in this town. So if there’s one thing I’m certain of, it’s that your ex-wife doesn’t ever want to hear from me again.”

She didn’t bother saying goodbye. They’d already said it enough to last a lifetime.

CHAPTER TWO

MACK WATCHED THE ancient blue pickup barrel away, Nina’s words still rattling around in his head.

Mack’s best friend had been hitting on Nina after a graduation party. Nina had called him out on it—making a scene in front of Vince’s girlfriend, Jenny, and the rest of their friends. Mack knew it was because Vince had gotten friendly once too often with Nina. But to the rest of their friends, her reaction had been harsh. Especially when they learned that afterward, Vince had taken off in Mack’s car and crashed into a steel bridge support, dying instantly.

For a couple of hours, people had assumed the body was actually Mack’s, working his bipolar mother into a state that eventually led to a brief hospitalization. It had all been...pure hell. Mack had been pulled in every direction, everyone in his life had needed something from him.

Meanwhile, Nina had dealt with it by speeding up her timetable for leaving Heartache. She packed her bags and took off. He hadn’t blamed her. But how could he have gone with her, considering the fragile state of everyone is his life? His mother. Vince’s mother. Vince’s girlfriend, Jenny. But Nina had never forgiven him for choosing them over her.

A screen door across the street slammed. Boots strode along pavement in an even, purposeful rhythm. Mack yanked his gaze from his mother’s house to see Scott heading toward him, two beers in his hand.

“You okay?” Scott asked as he approached, pressing one of the longnecks into Mack’s palm.

“Positively crappy.” He snapped the top off his beer and indulged in a rare drink. As an occasional bartender at his Nashville club, he cleaned up enough sticky alcohol at closing time to make him stay away from the stuff most days.

Today was not most days.

“That about sums it up.” Scott tapped the bottom of his drink against Mack’s. “I take it Mom didn’t bother answering the door?”

Mack shook his head. “They left the pie on the side porch. I’ll bring it in when I go say hello.”

“Mom doesn’t always answer for Bethany anymore, either.” Scott shrugged. “I’ve been meaning to ask her doctor about it, but she cancelled her last appointment.”

His mom had been quiet lately, not saying much when he phoned her. But he hadn’t realized she’d retreated to this extent. She’d always been happy to see Daisy Spencer.

“I noticed you and Nina exchanged a few words before she left.” Scott took a long drink and waited for information Mack had no intention of sharing. “You want to talk about it?” he asked finally.

“God, no.” Mack had kept his feelings for Nina Spencer locked down for a lot of years. He wasn’t about to break the seal on it now. He was here to help Scott. “I think we can only handle one woman-problem at a time.”

“It might be too late for me, brother.” Scott sat his beer at the base of the red oak tree and leaned a shoulder against the bark.

Tall and rangy, the firstborn Finley was a natural leader. Smart and capable, Scott had always been good at coming up with things for his brothers to do outside the house when their mother was having a bad day. He’d taken over Finley Building Supply Store when their father first ran for mayor so the old man could focus on the town’s problems. Mack often felt guilty that Scott had taken on so many family obligations while Mack lived in Nashville, away from the daily drama.