Starting Over In Wickham Falls (Wickham Falls Weddings Book 9) Read online

  “Powell’s has advertised with the paper from its inaugural issue.”

  “It’s the only way we can get the word out when we put items on sale.”

  Langston speared a prawn, dipped it into the piquant sauce and popped it into his mouth. “Do you find it odd that the Gibsons would offer an eclectic menu for the cocktail hour when they’re known for barbecuing meat?”

  The owners of the Wolf Den had established a reputation over several generations of serving the best grilled, barbecue and smoked meats in Johnson County. Longtime residents had whispered about the Gibsons keeping them supplied with illegal moonshine during Prohibition, and that revenue agents couldn’t offer anyone enough money to snitch on their supplier. What went on in Wickham Falls stayed in Wickham Falls, and it was the reason he’d come back to his hometown to start over rather than remain in Washington, DC.

  “They are full of surprises,” Georgina said. “I suppose for catered affairs they like to change it up a bit.”

  “I really like the change.”

  “So do I,” she agreed. “If this place had been up when we had prom, then we probably wouldn’t have had to pay as much for our tickets or to contend with a power outage and a malfunctioning generator.”

  “My parents told me about that fiasco when they came up to New York for my college graduation.”

  “Some of the kids were talking about wrecking the place when we were told we weren’t getting a refund because the contract stated the owners weren’t responsible for power outages or acts of God.”

  Langston shook his head. “I don’t believe that would’ve gone over well with their parents who would’ve had to pay for the damages.”

  “My folks would have grounded me for life if that had happened.”

  “Speaking of your folks, how’s your mother?”

  * * *

  Langston asking about Evelyn Powell was another reminder for Georgina to move out of her parents’ house. “She’s well.”

  What she wanted to tell him was that her mother had elevated manipulation to an art form. She’d feigned not feeling well whenever Georgina mentioned going out because Evelyn feared she would meet someone and possibly have a future with him.

  “Tell her I asked about her.”

  “I will,” she promised. Evelyn always perked up when someone asked about her. “How are your parents enjoying their retirement in Key West?”

  “What can I say, Georgina. Dad just bought a boat that sleeps four. He, Mom and another couple sail down to different islands in the Caribbean to fish and shop, while using the boat as their hotel. I did ask them why they bought a bungalow when they spend most of their time on the water, and they couldn’t give me an answer.”

  “Don’t begrudge them, Langston. It sounds as if they’re having the time of their lives.”

  He affected a half smile. “I suppose I’m a little jealous because they’re having so much fun.”

  “Have you planned what you want to do once you retire?”

  “No. I haven’t thought that far ahead.” He took a sip of champagne. “What about you, Georgi? Have you figured out your future?”

  Langston shifted slightly to give her a direct stare, and Georgina sucked in an audible breath when she realized there was something in the way that he was looking at her, which made her feel slightly uncomfortable. Worldly and erudite, she wondered if he could see under the veneer of sophistication she’d affected for the fund-raiser to glimpse a girl in a woman’s body struggling to control her destiny.

  “Yes, but first I have to find someplace to live.”

  A frown appeared between his eyes. “Don’t you live with your parents?”

  When she’d met with Sasha Manning, her best friend from high school, to discuss her future, the pastry chef who’d recently opened Sasha’s Sweet Shoppe on Main Street had advised her that in order to grasp a modicum of independence, she had to move out of her parents’ house.

  “Yes. I’ve made the decision to move out and get my own place.”

  “Where?”

  “I’d prefer Wickham Falls, but if I can find something in Mineral Springs, I’ll take it.”

  Langston gave her a you’ve got to be kidding me look when he said, “How can a girl who grew up in the Falls actually consider moving to the Springs? It just isn’t done.”

  Georgina laughed, the sound carrying easily to a nearby table as several people turned to stare at her and Langston. The rivalry between the two towns had begun years ago during a high school football game when several players from Mineral Springs were charged with unnecessary roughness. The incident ended a player from the Falls the opportunity to take advantage of an athletic scholarship when his leg was so severely injured that he would never be able to compete again. Students from the Falls who dated people in the Springs were socially ostracized. It had become the modern-day version of the Hatfields and McCoys, with students in neighboring towns rather than families as archrivals.

  “I know that, Langston, but I don’t have a choice if I can’t find something here in the Falls.” Mineral Springs was larger, more populated, and there were several properties that were available for rent or purchase.

  “Do you want to rent or buy?” he asked.

  “It doesn’t matter.” Georgina had saved enough money for a sizable down payment on a house that would suit her tastes, but she was also willing to rent until she found a property where she hoped to spend the rest of her life. “You run a newspaper, so you must know just about everything that happens in Wickham Falls.”

  Langston affected a sly grin. “There are things I’m aware of and would rather not know. Have you checked with Viviana Remington? Correction. She’s now Viviana Wainwright, and her husband is the developer who’s building the new single-family homes on the Remington property. I would suggest you check with her before talking to a real-estate agent.”

  “Thanks for the tip. I’ll let you know if I find something.”

  Georgina knew Viviana Remington was a direct descendant of the infamous Wolfe family who’d owned most of the coal mines in the county and were reviled for how they’d made their fortune taking advantage of their workers. And they preferred closing the mines rather than upgrade to meet the government’s safety regulations. She was grateful to be seated at the table with Langston, because he’d given her the lead she needed to find somewhere to live before she sought out Miss Reilly, the local real estate agent.

  He leaned close enough for their shoulders to touch. “I need a favor from you.”

  She went completely still. The last man who’d asked her for a favor needed fifteen thousand dollars to cover his gambling debts. He’d been siphoning money from the sale of cars at his father’s used-car dealership to gamble, and when the accountant called to say he was coming to go over the books in order to file the corporate tax return, he panicked. Although they’d dated for almost eight months and Georgina thought she was in love with him, she ended their relationship and blocked his phone number.

  She’d wanted to believe he was different because he worked for his father who had one of the most successful used-car dealerships in Beckley, but it was apparent he was no different from the men in the Falls who equated her to dollar signs. Boys in high school vied for her attention not because they’d thought her pretty, smart, or even talented, but because she was now sole heir to a business that had earned the reputation as the longest-running family-owned business in the town’s history.

  Georgina swallowed to relieve the constriction in her throat. “What do you want?”

  Langston placed his hand over her fisted one. “Why do you make it sound as if I’m asking you to give up your firstborn?”

  “That would be easy, because I don’t have any children.”

  He angled his head. “Do you want children?”

  His question gave her pause. It had been too many yea
rs since she had been involved with a man to even consider marriage and children. “I suppose I’d like one or two somewhere down the road.”

  Langston chuckled. “Just how long is that road, Georgi?”

  She smiled. It was the second time he’d called her by the nickname kids in the Falls gave her to distinguish between her and another girl named Georgiana. “I really don’t know, because I have a few requisites before I can even consider motherhood.”

  “Does finding a husband figure in your requisites?”

  “That helps, but it’s not mandatory.”

  “So,” he drawled, “it wouldn’t bother you to be an unwed mother?”

  She scrunched up her nose. “I prefer the term single mother. If I decide to adopt a baby and not marry, I would be a single, not an unwed, mother.”

  Langston inclined his head. “Point taken.”

  “Now that we’ve settled that,” she said after a pregnant pause, “what favor do you want from me?”

  He leaned even closer, his nose brushing her ear. “Save a dance for me.”

  Georgina was shocked and relieved that all he wanted was a dance. The invitation indicated there would be music and dancing. “What if I save you two?”

  Langston chuckled. “If I’d known you were that generous, then I would’ve asked for three or maybe even four.”

  “Don’t push it, Langston.”

  He held up both hands. “Okay. Two it is.”

  Georgina didn’t know Langston well, had had very little interaction with him in the past, yet she wanted to think of him as a friend. And she’d had very few close friends in the Falls other than Sasha Manning. She and Sasha had shared many of the same classes and confided in each other as to what they wanted once they graduated school. And now that Sasha had returned to town as a former contestant in a televised bakeoff, and the ex-wife of an A-list country singer, she’d sought her out to solicit her advice as to the steps she should take to realize her dream to become an independent businesswoman that did not include the department store.

  Pushing back her chair, she rose to her feet, Langston rising with her. “Please excuse me, but Sasha just walked in and I need to talk to her.”

  Chapter Two

  Langston watched Georgina walk, and felt as if he was able to breathe normally for the first time. He didn’t know what it was about Georgina Powell that made him less confident in her presence than he was with other women he’d known or grown up with. The only other woman to have a similar effect on him he married. However, his ex-wife proved to be the opposite of Georgina, but he hadn’t known that until after they were married. And, although he found it odd that as a thirty-something young woman Georgina still lived at home with her parents, he was curious to know the reason for her wanting to change residences.

  He’d traveled the world, lived abroad for more years than he could count and had interacted with people he wasn’t certain were friend or foe. All of which served to hone and heighten his acuity when perceiving a situation. Langston did not want to relate to Georgina as a journalist, watching and waiting for a clue behind what she said, but as a man who’d found himself pleasantly enthralled with the very grown-up Georgina Powell.

  She was at least three, or maybe even four, years his junior, which meant they did not share the same classes or friends, although they’d grown up in the same neighborhood. What they had in common was their parents were business owners. His parents, both pharmacists, owned the local pharmacy, and the Powells, the department store. By Wickham Falls’ economic standards, the Coopers and Powells were considered well-to-do, but their social standing was of no import when they enrolled their children in the Johnson County Public School system. Every student was treated equally, which fostered an environment of one school, one team.

  Langston was aware that despite its seemingly picture-postcard appearance with one-and two-story homes, and two traffic lights, and being touted as one of the best little towns in the state, Wickham Falls did have a history of labor unrest that came close to rivaling Matewan’s coal-mining strikes, with months-long battles between union and nonunion workers. After the owners closed the mines, it taught the residents to depend on one another to ensure survival because of labor solidarity. And it was in the Falls that he felt more relaxed and able to recapture the peace he’d known and felt when growing up.

  The decision to resign from the cable news station, where he’d worked as a foreign correspondent, sell his Washington, DC, condo and purchase the house in Wickham Falls from his parents after they’d retired and planned to live in their vacation home on Key West was an easy one for Langston. His contemplating buying a biweekly with a dwindling circulation was much more difficult. Despite becoming an award-winning journalist, and a New York Times bestselling nonfiction writer, he wasn’t certain whether to invest in a newspaper when local papers had folded, and popular magazines were going from print to an electronic format.

  He’d approached the owner of The Sentinel with an offer and after several weeks of negotiations, Langston had become the publisher and editor-in-chief of a failing paper. He’d thrown his experience and energies into revamping the biweekly’s format, meeting several times a week with the staff to solicit their input for new ideas that would resurrect what had been a popular and necessary medium to disseminate information to the community. It had taken a year to realize an increase in circulation, and the paper’s new design, columns and highlighting of individuals and businesses seemed to resonate with many subscribers.

  Langston’s focus shifted to Georgina as she laughed at something Sasha Manning said. He hadn’t had any direct contact with her since returning. He’d caught glimpses of her whenever he went into the department store if she was summoned from the office to assist a customer or an employee. And he never would’ve suspected she had been hiding a magnificent figure under the loose-fitting smock and slacks. The generous slit in the body-hugging gown revealed a pair of slender, shapely legs and ankles in the sexy heels.

  She’s like Cinderella, he mused. During the day she went about with a bare face, shapeless clothes and her hair fashioned in a single braid; however, tonight she’d transformed into a seductress that had him and other men taking furtive glances at her.

  Langston hadn’t come back home to become involved with a woman; he’d come back to hopefully recover and heal from recurring episodes of PTSD, which had plagued him when he least expected. Spending too many years covering wars in two African countries and the Middle East had affected him psychologically. He’d gone into therapy to help cope with the nightmares, and it was only after he resigned his position as a correspondent had the macabre images decreased in frequency.

  He stood up when Georgina returned to the table. He pulled out her chair, seating her. Langston retook his seat and turned to look at the well-dressed elderly woman with bluish hair next to him when she rested a hand on his arm. Bessie Daniels had become a fixture in the town as the proprietress of Perfect Tresses hair salon. She’d begun using a blue rinse once she grayed prematurely and had earned the moniker of The Blue Lady.

  “Langston, I wanted to tell you that I like what you’ve done with the newspaper. Eddie Miller ran The Sentinel into the ground after he took over from his father. What had been a fine newspaper was filled with reprinted articles no one cared about. Trust me, Langston, we don’t mind reading about events that occurred a long time ago, but in my opinion, he was just too damn lazy to go out and gather current news to print.”

  “I’m glad you like the new format,” he said. There was no way he was going to bash the former owner of the newspaper because not only did he still live in the Falls, but Bessie was an incurable gossip and whatever he said to her would no doubt be repeated and get back to Eddie.

  “Your folks must be very proud of you, Langston.”

  He smiled. “I’d like to think they are.”

  “Please send them my best wh
enever you talk to or see them again.”

  “I will.”

  “By the way,” Bessie continued, seemingly without taking a breath, “do you know why Bruce sent his daughter when he usually comes every year?”

  Langston smothered a groan. He didn’t know why the woman was interrogating him about something she probably knew, but just needed confirmation on. “I do not know.” The four words were pregnant with a finality that he hoped she understood.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated,” came an announcement over the PA system. “Our mayor and the officers of the Chamber would like to say a few words before dinner is served.”

  “Nice timing,” Georgina whispered in his ear.

  Langston shared a knowing smile with her. It was apparent she’d overheard his conversation with Bessie Daniels. “Do you want to switch seats?” he teased, sotto voce.

  “You’re a big boy, Langston. Please don’t tell me you’re afraid of a harmless little lady.”

  He wanted to tell Georgina that the little lady was not harmless, and if the paper had a gossip column then he would’ve hired her. He’d added two new columns. “Sound Off”, in which residents could anonymously voice their concerns about any or everything they felt strongly about, had replaced the “Letters to the Editor,” and “Who’s Who” to highlight residents who have made a difference. Langston blew out an audible breath when he realized Mrs. Daniels had turned her attention to the woman on her left. He had been given a pass from the chatty woman—for now.

  * * *

  The speakers droned on, and Georgina knew why her father had tired of attending the fund-raiser; there were too many speeches, which were much too long. She realized she had to get used to it because once she became a business owner it was incumbent she support the Chamber.

  She lowered her head, hiding a smile when she saw Sasha roll her eyes upward while shaking her head. Her friend had turned heads in a chocolate-brown, off-the-shoulder dress with a revealing neckline. Georgina assumed it wasn’t only the pastry chef’s attire that had garnered attention, but also who she’d come with. Her date was the town’s resident dentist and single father, Dr. Dwight Adams. Sasha had insisted her part-time employee’s father was only a friend, and Georgina wondered, noticing the couple’s entrancement with each other, how long they would remain friends. Even given the dearth of romance in her own life, Georgina was a romantic at heart, and she silently cheered for her friend to be given a second chance at love.