Catching Fireflies(115)
“You’ve got her back?” Betty asked.
“Absolutely.”
Betty nodded. “Then we’ll see how it goes, but expulsion is not out of the question, even if he is captain of the football team. I would have thought he’d understand that after seeing Annabelle get sent off to another school and being suspended himself from playing for the rest of the football season.”
“Hopefully it won’t come to that,” Laura said. “But it was good to see Misty walk in here this morning with her head held high and her friends around her.”
Betty gave her a surprising smile. “And it was nice to see you walk in here today with some color in your cheeks. I hope it works out for you and J.C. He’s a good guy.”
“Yes, he is,” Laura said. “But it’s still early going.”
After the past few days, though, it already felt as if they were a whole lot closer to forever.
Still, she knew his history and his conviction that Fullerton men were bad bets when it came to lasting commitments. She had no idea if he’d ever be able to take the kind of leap of faith required to claim the future she was starting to want. Then again, she’d managed to overcome her past. Surely a man as smart and sensitive as J.C. could do the same.
23
After the post-school board celebration at Carter and Raylene’s house, J.C. knew he’d finally been accepted by the Sweet Magnolias, for better or worse, he thought, given their penchant for meddling.
Still, he was pleasantly surprised when town manager Tom McDonald and his cousin Travis approached him and invited him to join the entire Sweet Magnolias crowd for Thanksgiving. Tom and Travis had befriended J.C. early on, even before the other men, because they hadn’t been around during the tense days of Maddie’s divorce from Bill Townsend.
“And bring Laura along, of course,” Tom told him. “I’m sure the women are planning to invite her, but just in case, I want you both to know we’d love to have you there. You two seem to have the Sweet Magnolias’ stamp of approval these days. Young, attractive vigilantes for social justice and all that. As town manager, I can’t tell you what it means to have people like the two of you in this community. I’d like to attract more young professionals just like you.”
“Bill’s just hired a nurse practitioner who’ll be joining us soon. I think she’ll fit right in with your view of what Serenity can become moving forward,” J.C. said. He gave Tom a wry look. “As for that stamp of approval you mentioned, is that really a good thing?”
It seemed to him it came with a lot of pressure. He’d seen that in the speculative glances directed at him and Laura the other night at Raylene’s, to say nothing of Cal’s pointed cross-examination, obviously at Maddie’s behest.
Travis laughed at his skepticism. “It’s definitely a good thing,” he insisted. “Have you not heard the way Maddie and Helen have been singing Laura’s praises for how she handled the whole bullying incident? Your contribution has not gone without notice, either. You got a lot of points for the way you opened up at the rally. And the way I hear it, they’re crediting you for getting Bill to speak, as well. That did a lot toward redeeming him in their view.”
“He wanted to be there,” J.C. said. “And I know he felt every word he said very deeply. I hope they’ll finally give him the credit he deserves for turning his life around after messing up so badly.”
Travis held up his hands. “Not up to us. If it were, it would be a nonissue, but we take our cues from our wives when it comes to this sort of thing. I’m not going into battle against the full fury of the Sweet Magnolias. Helen, in particular, scares me to death.”
J.C. laughed. “She has that effect on a lot of people.”
“And yet no one can deny that she’s the best friend ever,” Tom said. “We’ve all seen that side of her.”
“Indeed,” J.C. agreed.
“Back to Thanksgiving,” Tom said. “You have to come. The tradition is to do this at Sullivan’s because the crowd keeps growing. Dana Sue and Erik do most of the cooking, the turkey, stuffing and so on, mostly because nobody wants to try to outdo them in the kitchen. Even so, all the wives contribute a dish or two. There’s enough food for an army.”
Seeing no gracious way to get out of it, J.C. finally said, “Okay, count me in. And I’ll check with Laura and let you know.”
“So, how serious are you two anyway?” Travis asked. “You’ve looked pretty tight every time I’ve seen you together. Sarah’s convinced there will be a wedding by spring.”