Chapter Twenty-Three

Shopping, or doing anything alone for that matter, was not something that Jody enjoyed. She’d had Paula and Mitzi to do stuff with her until they graduated. Then Jody had moved in with Lyle. Maybe in six months or a year, she’d be more comfortable with it, but today, when she pulled out a cart alone, she absolutely did not like it.

She made a beeline toward the greeting-card display to buy a birthday card for her mother. Wanda might be a cantankerous old gal, but a person only got one mother. Jody had always sent her a card and, when she could afford it, had the flower shop take a bouquet to her.

“Well, hello!” Quincy said as he rounded the end of the toy aisle.

“Hi.” Jody glanced at a little dark-haired girl in the cart. “Who’s ridin’ shotgun with you today?”

“My daughter, Hazel. It’s my weekend, and we’re out buying food for the next two days,” he said.

“You never mentioned a daughter,” Jody whispered.

“I was waiting for our first date to tell you the story of my life,” he said.

Jody went over to the cart. “How old are you?”

Hazel held up four fingers.

“Do you like to read?”

She nodded her head so fast that her dark hair fell into her cute little round face. “Nanny readed to me, but not at Daddy’s.”

“That would be at her mother’s—she has a full-time nanny,” Quincy explained.

“Her mother?”

“Remarried,” he said.

“Will you read to me?” Hazel asked.

Jody couldn’t bear to tell the child no, but she couldn’t say yes. She quickly looked at Quincy for an answer.

“Miz Jody has things to do today. Maybe another time,” he said.

Hazel’s lower lip shot out. Her chin quivered, and tears rolled down her cheeks.

“I can’t stand to see her disappointed. It’d be easier if she threw fits, but she doesn’t. That silent weeping tears my heart out,” Quincy said. “I’ll read to you soon as we get home. You can pick out the book.”

Jody was not an impulsive person. She’d lain awake at night agonizing over moving in with Lyle for two solid weeks. When Mitzi invited her to be a partner in The Perfect Dress, that was the only spur-of-the-minute decision she could remember making. But seeing Hazel so sad turned her heart into a big blob of mush.

“I’ve got the whole day free. I’d love to read to Hazel if you don’t mind. Where do you live?” Jody said.

“I won’t turn that offer down,” Quincy said. “The directions are complicated. Why not just follow me? That would be easier,” he said. “And thank you, Jody.”

She wiped away Hazel’s tears with a tissue she pulled from her purse and said, “Don’t cry, sweetheart. I’ll go home with you and read as many books as you want me to, then your daddy can read to you after that.”

Hazel ducked her head and grinned. “ABC?”

“Whichever ones you want.” Jody hoped she wasn’t making a huge mistake.

Quincy had been right about the directions to his place. She followed him all the way to the Celeste city limits sign. At the next section-line road, he made a sharp left. In less than a quarter of a mile, the pavement turned to gravel. She was glad that she had the windows rolled up, because she drove the rest of the way to a dead end in a cloud of dust.

He might be a big oil man, but the house was far from a mansion. A rather small, long, low ranch house with a wide porch around three sides, it was painted pale yellow. Lantana and petunias bloomed in the flower beds on either side of the walkway, and the lawn looked soft and green. That meant there was a sprinkling system, because in July the unrelenting heat had already turned most of the town’s grass brown. Jody slung the door open and stepped out.

“Welcome to my home,” Quincy said as he set Hazel on the ground.

A big yellow cat came out to greet them, rubbing around Hazel’s legs and causing her to sit down with a thud on the grass. She wrapped both arms around the cat and kissed it on each ear.

“Meet Ophelia.” He reached into the back seat of the truck and picked up two bags of groceries. “She likes the cat better than me or her mother.”

Hazel shook her head. “Filly can’t read.”

“She can’t say Ophelia so she calls her Filly. Crazy thing is that I’ve got to doing the same thing. And the cat doesn’t mind. I’ve had her for ten years. Might be the only cat that’s ever been in divorce court,” he chuckled.

“I want to play outside,” Hazel said.

“You mind?” Quincy asked Jody.

“Not a bit. We can read later.” Jody sat down on the porch steps.

“It’s almost dinnertime, sweetheart. Want to help me cook?”

Hazel shook her head and carried Filly to the porch, where she sat down beside Jody. “No. Can Jody eat with us?”

“Of course she can.” Quincy bent to kiss her on the top of her head.

“She’s really articulate for a four-year-old.” Jody stroked Filly’s fur.

Quincy set the bags beside the door, then sat down beside Jody and Hazel on the porch. “She’s been like that from her first words. Sometimes she gets things a little mixed up but not often. And she’s never met a stranger, which is why I never let her out of my sight.”