Rest in Peach Read Online Free Page A

family’s business, it seemed I had enough to worry about without throwing a man into the mix. However, as things started to settle, I began to rethink that decision. Then, just when I started to come around to the idea of Cade McKenna and me as a couple, he took a construction job up in Macon. Too good of a deal to pass up, he’d said. He was gone for most of the winter, proving true that old saying about absence and the heart growing fonder. Because, by the time he returned, my heart was more than willing. Only thing was, something had shifted between us again. I’m not sure what happened in Macon, but Cade came back a different man. But I figured winter, and whatever happened during it, was over and he was back. I didn’t want to push him, maybe just nudge a bit. Since hiring him to help renovate my shop, we’d been spending more time together than ever, not that this was (exactly) why I’d hired him—he was great at his work. He’d come back around in his feelings eventually. I was sure of it.
    “Here they come now,” Mama said. She hastened over to meet them halfway, looping her arm in Hattie’s as she chatted. Despite her three-inch heels—her Sunday best—my mama still looked petite next to Hattie, who was blessed with the perfect height and a figure suited for modeling swimsuits.
    “No, no need to bring anything but yourselves,” Mama was saying. “I’ve fixed enough chicken to feed an army.” That was true. I woke first thing that morning to the smell ofchicken frying. Mama had been at the stove in her robe and slippers, turning chicken in a large cast-iron skillet. And that was after she’d already deviled a couple dozen eggs.
    I greeted my friends with a hug, letting my arm linger on Cade’s while I asked Mama, “Will Daddy and the hands be joining us?” Much to her disgust, when peaches were on, Daddy didn’t break for anything. Not even church.
    “Well, they have to eat, don’t they?” she answered, pursing her lips and craning her neck to check out the line of churchgoers still shaking the preacher’s hand. “Did I see Pete Sanchez in church this morning?” she asked Hattie with mischievous gleam in her eye. “Because we could invite him, too.” Hattie flinched at the mention of Pete’s name, but before she could muster an answer, Mama flitted on to something else. “Oh, there’s Ida and the kids. I’ll just go over and remind them about lunch.” She handed me the car keys. “Be right back. Get the air going, will you?”
    As soon as she was out of earshot, I turned to Hattie. “What’s going on?”
    “What do you mean?”
    Next to me, Cade tensed and shot me a warning look. I ignored him and pressed on. “The way you reacted when Mama mentioned Pete. What’s up?”
    Bristling, she raised her fingertips to her temples and shook her head. “I’d rather not go into all that right now. Actually, you’d be doing me a favor if you never mentioned that man’s name again.” Hattie was quickly working herself into a frenzy.
    Cade blew out a long breath and took a step backward.
    “I thought things were going so well. What happened?” I was shocked. Hattie adored Pete. They were perfect for each other. Things were getting serious between them, or at least so I thought.
    “I’ll tell you what happened . . .” she started, but fromsomewhere within the depths of her shoulder bag, Tim McGraw started crooning a sexy tune. “Oh, shoot! This sure the heck better not be Pete calling me again.” She dug around in her bag, extracting her cell and checking the display. Her brows furrowed as she raised the phone to her ear. “Mrs. Busby? . . . What?” Mrs. Busby’s voice sounded frantic over the other end. Hattie gasped. “Oh, sweet Je— Did you call the police? . . . I’m on my way.” She disconnected and stared at us with round eyes, the color draining from her face.
    “What is it, sis?” Cade asked. But Hattie only shook her head in response before turning and