The Liar

Her mind just emptied, every thought—past, present, future—flooding away as sensation flooded in and swamped her. Her body went limp even as it leaped to life. Her head spun in long, lazy circles as if she’d had just a sip too much of good wine.

She smelled soap and skin and the hyacinths in the whiskey barrel across the sidewalk. And heard what she realized later was the hum of pleasure in her own throat.

He let her go as smoothly as he’d taken her. His eyes stayed on hers again, watchful.

“I thought so,” he murmured.

“I . . . just . . .” She realized she couldn’t quite feel her feet, had to fight the urge to look down to make sure they were still there. “Have to go.”

“See you later.”

“I . . . Fingers on noses, Callie.”

Callie put her fingers on her nose. “Bye, Griff. Bye!”

He waved as Shelby closed the door, hooked his thumbs in his pockets when she walked around to the driver’s side. And couldn’t stop the grin when she staggered, just a little.

He waved again when, after some fumbling, she started the engine, pulled away.

Yeah, definitely the best hour of his day. He couldn’t wait to do it again.

•   •   •

SHE DROVE HOME with extra care. She really did feel as if she’d had a bottle of wine instead of a glass of Coke with her pizza. And that hum kept wanting to come back to her throat, a kind of echo to the butterflies dancing around in her belly.

Callie started nodding off on the short drive home, the excitement of the day taking its toll. But she perked up again, a little on the hyper side, when Shelby parked.

She’d let her daughter run down again, she thought. It wouldn’t take long. And she had to be coherent, put all this business aside. She didn’t have time for flutterings or hummings.

Shelby didn’t have to do much more than listen as Callie frantically relayed the details of her date to her grandparents.

“And we’re gonna have an ice cream date on Saturday.”

“Is that so? Well, this sounds pretty serious.” Ada Mae shot Shelby a speculative look. “Maybe your granddaddy should ask this boy his intentions.”

“And his prospects,” Clayton added.

“I’m their chaperone,” Shelby said cheerfully. “Oh, I saw Johnny Foster. Didn’t have much time to talk to him as they were busy. He’s the one who tossed the dough. He made the magic pizza, right, Callie?”

“Uh-huh, and Griff said I can ride a dragon, and he’s going to kill the . . . what is it, Mama?”

“I think it was a fangbeast.”

“He’s gonna kill it dead, and then we’ll get married.”

“That must’ve been some pizza,” Clayton commented.

“You can be the king, Granddaddy, and Gamma’s the queen.” She ran in circles around the room, twirling, jumping. “And Clancy can come, too.” She threw her arms around the old dog. “And I’m going to wear a beautiful dress, then it says kiss the bride. It tickles when Griff kisses, doesn’t it, Mama?”

“I—”

“Does it?” Now Ada Mae wore a smug smile.

“Uh-huh. When is it Saturday, Mama?”

“Soon enough.” Shelby caught Callie on the fly, gave her a spin. “Now we’re going up. You need your bath before you go dreaming and getting married to handsome princes.”

“Okay.”

“Go on up, put your clothes in your hamper. I’ll be two seconds. She had the best time,” Shelby said when Callie ran for the stairs.

“How about you?”

“It was nice. He’s so sweet with her. But what I wanted to tell you both is right before dinner, I got a call. The house sold.”

“The house?” Ada Mae looked blank for a moment, then plopped down in a chair as her eyes filled. “Oh, Shelby, the house up North. I’m so glad. I’m so glad of that.”

“Happy tears.” Shelby pulled out one of the tissues always in her pocket. “I did the same. It’s such a burden lifted.” She turned into her father when he stepped over, folded her into his arms, rocked her side to side. “I thought I knew how much it weighed, since I’ve been carrying it. But now that it’s lifted, it was heavier than I thought.”

“We can help you with the rest of it. Your mama and I talked it over, and—”

“No, Daddy. No. Thank you so much. I love you.” She laid her hands on his cheeks. “I’m doing it. It’s going to take a while, but I’m doing it, and doing it feels good. It balances out, some, all the times I just let things go, stopped asking questions, let somebody else take care of everything.”

She leaned against him, smiled at her mother. “And the worst of it’s behind me now. I can deal with what’s ahead. I’m so grateful to know if it gets too heavy again, I can ask.”

“Don’t ever forget that again.”

“I swear it. I’ve got to get my baby in the tub. I had a good day,” she said as she pulled back, hauled up her bag. “I had a real good day.”

Once she’d tucked Callie in, she sat down with her spreadsheet. She should probably wait until settlement, but she thought she had every right to be optimistic. When she balanced the sheet with the sale, she shut her eyes, just breathed.

It was still a painful debt, but oh God, she’d cut it down to size.

The worst, she thought again, was over. And what was ahead?

She lay back on the bed, called Emma Kate.

“How was pizza?”