Free Sweet Tea at Sunrise by Sherryl Woods Page B

treated you…” He shook his head. “It makes me ashamed, Sarah. It really does.”
    Tears stung her eyes. “Thank you for saying that.”
    “I should have said it a long time ago.” They satthere in amazingly companionable silence for a long time. Eventually he turned to her. “Is it okay with you if I spend more time with the kids from here on out? I’m thinking I’ll try to come over every weekend and spend at least Friday night, maybe Friday and Saturday. I know that’s not what the custody agreement spelled out, but there’s probably a way to fix that if you don’t object.”
    “As long as you’re good to the kids—both of them—you can see them whenever you want,” she said. “I have them to myself all week long. Now that I’m working, that’s not as much time as it used to be, so I’ll want some weekends for myself, but we can work it out so it’s fair to both of us.”
    “Do we need it in writing? That lawyer of yours seems to like everything on paper.”
    “I’ll speak to her,” Sarah promised.
    Walter stood up. “Then I’ll say goodnight. I’ll be by in the morning to say goodbye to the kids.”
    She nodded, then sat there long after he’d left, wondering at the transformation. If he truly was turning over a new leaf, more power to him. But just in case this was some passing whim of his, she thought she’d leave their custody agreement just the way it was. Maybe change was possible for some people, but she feared Walter, like the leopard, wasn’t capable of changing his spots this easily.
     
    By Monday morning the word had spread that Travis McDonald had offered Sarah a job at the radio station. It was Annie who called an emergency margarita night for all of the Sweet Magnolias, young and old, todiscuss what she referred to as the insane idea Sarah had of throwing away a perfectly reliable job at Wharton’s to work at a brand-new, yet-to-be-tested radio station that could be off the air in a month.
    Because Raylene had flatly refused to leave the house, Annie had convinced the original Sweet Magnolias to come here. Now Dana Sue Sullivan, who owned the town’s fanciest restaurant, attorney Helen Decatur and Maddie Maddox, who managed The Corner Spa which all three women owned, were seated in Sarah’s living room with drinks. Jeanette McDonald, who managed the spa’s personal services such as facials, massages and manicures, hadn’t yet arrived.
    Annie, newly married to Maddie’s son, Ty Townsend, wore a worried frown on her face that even one of Helen’s lethal margaritas hadn’t been able to erase.
    “You don’t know anything at all about this man,” she reminded Sarah. “He handed you some line and now you want to quit your job and become a radio star? This just isn’t like you. What’s Walter going to think? Did you mention it to him when he was here this weekend?”
    Sarah shook her head.
    “Why not?” Annie pressed. “I’ll tell you why not—because you know he’s going to make some big stink about it.”
    “Since when do you care what Walter thinks?” Sarah retorted, her determination to do this kicking up a notch. “This isn’t about Walter.”
    “Isn’t it?” Annie scoffed. “Are you telling us that on some level this isn’t an in-your-face act designed to make him crazy?”
    “So what if it is?” Sarah said, even though Walterhadn’t once crossed her mind when she’d been saying yes to Travis. “It’s not as if I’m going to be doing something disreputable that he can use against me in court.” A sudden worry nagged at her and she turned to Helen. “Right? There’s nothing wrong with having a local talk show on radio, is there?”
    “Nothing I can think of,” Helen agreed. She faced Annie. “What really has you so worried?”
    Annie squirmed uncomfortably. “Okay, I mentioned all this to Ty when he called tonight. The Braves have been on a road trip so his calls don’t last long, and believe me, we don’t spend the time talking