A (sorta) Southern Serenade (A Romance(ish) Novella Book 2) Read online

  But the truth was, his employees put up with their fair share of rude customers. It was part of the gig, although there were limits.

  Ms. Meyers was different.

  She’d wounded his pride.

  That she thought he was beneath her pounded on every single one of his nerves.

  She was downright gorgeous with that cute little nose, pouty lips, and trim body curved in all the right places—she would tempt any man. Reminded him of what his momma always told him. A beautiful woman is deceiving, Josh. Just ‘cause she’s pretty on the outside don’t mean she ain’t pure ugly on the inside.

  Wise woman, his momma.

  But his momma would also remind him that pride directly preceded a giant fall.

  Two

  “Did you think any more about my proposal last week?”

  Kendra pushed the overdone chicken around her plate while she tried to ignore her brother. This day had gone from fabulous to ridiculous, and Nate’s pestering was not going to improve it any.

  She never should have left Sadie to look after dinner. How many times would she have to learn that lesson before she actually listened to her own lecture?

  The woman was amazing—at most everything except cooking.

  So now her first dinner with guests—granted it was just her brother and his wife—was ruined. Her yard looked like a jungle. And she got fired from a landscaping company.

  Her. The customer. Fired.

  “Kendra?”

  She gripped her fork and took a deep breath. “So, is Mari still scheduled to get into town tomorrow?”

  Sadie put her napkin to her mouth for a second then set it back down—folded—onto the table. “Yup, driving up first thing in the morning. She mentioned that she might stop by here on her way so she could see your new place.”

  Kendra would bet her trust fund balance that a rock-hard piece of chicken now lay under that white cloth. She wasn’t mad, though. Just jealous that she hadn’t thought of that herself. She’d been fearful of hurting Sadie’s feelings.

  The idea of a visit from Mari totally brightened the evening. Sadie’s daughter and Nate’s step-daughter, now going to college at UT-Chattanooga, was an amazing young lady. In fact— “I know you’re itching to see her, but do you think she’d be up for staying with me tomorrow night? I was going to try out a new church Sunday, and it’d be nice to have company.”

  “I’m sure she’d love a sleepover at Aunt Kendra’s house. You spoil her way too much.”

  “She’s my first ever niece. It’s my job to spoil.”

  Nate cleared his throat. “Back to the proposal. Kendra—”

  The man would not let it go. The bright moment dimmed. “You already know the answer, Nate.”

  “But it’d be perfect for you. You can’t sit here all day doing nothing—”

  Pushing back her chair, she grabbed her plate. “I’m suddenly not hungry anymore.” And not because the chicken was inedible. Well, not just because of that anyway.

  “Kendy, you can’t keep running, you know.”

  Ignoring her brother, she walked into the kitchen and dropped the plate into the sink, not caring if she broke it or not. Why couldn’t he mind his own business? She was well aware of how pathetic her life was.

  Washed up, wanna-be singer/actress. Enough money that she could live in relative style the rest of her life without lifting a finger, but good grief. How depressing was that?

  Part of her wanted to give away every ounce of family money she had and be forced to live on her own efforts.

  But she knew she wouldn’t do that, although she did give away plenty every year out of guilt for even having it in the first place.

  Light footsteps sounded behind her, and Sadie deposited her own plate into the sink then turned around and leaned back against the counter, arms crossed. “Talk to me, Kendra.”

  “There’s nothing left to say. Nate thinks my life is a joke and that some desk job would cure all that ails me. I’ve heard the same thing since the day I graduated college. But I won’t do it, Sadie. I won’t.”

  “I’ve heard you say that no less than a hundred times since I’ve known you, and I respect that. But can you tell me why you are so adamant against it?”

  Because she’d seen the same thing slowly eat away at her mother. Because she refused to be eaten by the same greedy monsters that had stolen her parents from her. “I don’t want to talk about it. I’m just not a desk job kind of girl.”

  “Have you even heard what Nate has in mind?”

  Kendra shook her head. “He’s tried to set me up with a job before. It’s nothing new, I’m sure. Just a different variation of the same.”

  Sadie started loading the dishwasher while she talked. “You heard about the foundation, right?”

  Her ears perked, but only mildly, as she started rinsing dishes and handing them over. “No. Is he starting a new company?”

  “A non-profit, actually. It isn’t finalized yet. He still has to present and get approval at the board meeting next week, but he’s already pitched the idea to Uncle Mike and a few other board members, and they were all enthusiastic.”

  “What does this have to do with me?”

  Nate’s low voice answered her from where he now stood on the other side of the island. “I want you to lead the foundation.”

  Kendra’s hands stilled as her heart galloped. Lead a non-profit? A desk job, definitely. But—unlike every other proposal Nate had put in front of her in the last ten years, this one didn’t make chunks of dread convulse in her belly. “What would that involve?”

  “You’d be the chairman of the foundation’s board and visionary director. Vander Investments will still help with some of the practical stuff like accounting and what-not. We’ve never had a give-back arm of the company before, but my goal is to commit 1% of Vander’s income to be donated to the foundation every year. Honestly, I don’t have time to run it or even give it a lot of vision. I’d need you to take it and run with it. But Sadie and I have been praying about it, and we’d love to take the company Grandpa built and turn it into a legacy we can all be proud of. I think this is a good start. And I think you’re the perfect person to lead it.”

  Three

  Sunlight streaming through the blinds nudged her to get out of bed.

  She really should get up, but the last two nights had been brutal. Tossing and turning were the new sleeping, evidently.

  It was all Nate’s fault.

  You’re the perfect person to lead it, he’d said. …a legacy we can be proud of. Her brother knew exactly how to word things to take advantage of her weak spots.

  Charity causes were her thing. Over the years, she’d supported animal rescues, children’s hospitals, orphanages, scholarships, and more. She’d never seen Mom and Dad do anything good with their money, except of course if it meant publicity and even then, it was as half-hearted an effort as possible to still come out smelling like pungent roses.

  It would still be a desk job.

  Sorta.

  Nate had said she could work from home, but it would involve some travel. She’d enjoy that part, though.

  But instead of helping make money, she’d lead them in how to give it away. Something she could more than get behind.

  Was this it? The elusive opportunity she’d been waiting for to fulfill her destiny?

  How cheesy did that sound.

  Tossing aside the white down comforter, she padded to the master bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. It was Sunday, and she now faced the other choice she’d stewed over since coming to Nashville.

  Church.

  The first week in town she’d gone with Nate and Sadie. It was nice enough—but not her. At all. Plus, it was a ten-minute drive for them, but in the opposite direction from Kendra, which meant almost a thirty-minute drive for her.

  She’d come up with a million excuses to skip last Sunday—but today she would do it.

  Try out a new church.

  At least Ma
ri had agreed to spend the night and come with her. She’d already heard her up and around down the hall.

  It was more than a little pathetic that she needed help going to a new church.

  She was a big girl. Confident, strong, well-bred. This shouldn’t be so intimidating.

  Maybe if she hadn’t been so new to the whole church thing. She’d started almost two years ago after Nate and Sadie had gotten married.

  She’d been uncomfortable, especially after they’d moved to Nashville and she’d been on her own. But the church in Gatlinburg had welcomed her with open arms and shown her Jesus in every way imaginable. She’d given her heart to Christ there.

  Not all Christians were like that, though. She’d met her fair share of uppity people who thought if you didn’t live a picture perfect life, you were a sinner destined for hell and no better than the dirt on their shoe.

  She was not perfect. She’d lived most of her life convinced that God was a myth perpetuated by weak-minded people, something taught to her by her parents, her dad in particular.

  But Sadie and Nate were far from weak-minded—and they’d embraced the concept of God whole-heartedly.

  Nate had said it was like a business that was failing. They’d taken on a deep debt from the start called sin, one they had zero chance of ever paying off, that would cripple their business no matter how hard they tried. Was it weak to acknowledge they needed help? Or was the true weakness shown when they ignored their need for help in the first place, allowing the business to spiral into bankruptcy? What if an investor came along and offered to pay off the debt completely and transform the business into something beyond the owner’s wildest dreams?

  As much as she’d shunned Corporate America, the analogy had made sense. It had stuck with her the last two years.

  God had redeemed her. Invested in her life with the ultimate, priceless sacrifice, Jesus.

  The very least she could do was go to church.

  She grabbed a towel from the cabinet and turned on the shower.

  A half hour later, she put on a flirty but modest teal dress that hung around her knees. She left her hair down, letting the curls fall against her shoulders—hoping she’d fit in regardless of how dressy or casual the atmosphere was.

  Grabbing her heels, she held them in her hand as she slipped down the steps to the kitchen.

  Mari was sitting on a barstool at the island in jeans and a cute purple lacy top, her blond hair in a French braid that made her look more like a twelve-year-old than a twenty-one-year-old.

  Kendra grabbed the bread and popped a few slices into the toaster, then poured herself a cup of coffee from the pot Mari had brewed. “I thought you were going to church with me?” Please say you didn’t change your mind. Please please please.

  The younger version of Sadie just laughed and sipped from her coffee mug. “I am. I assume you’re asking because of my jeans? I looked up the dress code online. It said there wasn’t one and to expect the pastor to be in jeans. If it’s good enough for the pastor, it’s good enough for me.”

  Duh! Why hadn’t she thought of that? She’d just gotten a flyer in the mail the other day about a church just a few miles away and had decided it was as good as any to start with.

  “Maybe I should go change.”

  Mari shook her head. “You look fabulous just like that. You do need to scarf down your toast if we don’t want to be late, though.”

  The toaster popped with perfect timing. “How did you get so grown up and smart?”

  She shrugged her shoulders, deposited the mug into the sink across the counter, then hopped off the stool. “It’s the college I guess. So you can credit it to Nate and his fat checkbook that’s paying for it.”

  College scholarships. Mari was a perfect example of a girl who would put one to good use. She made a mental note about that for the foundation.

  If she decided to take the job.

  “Let me finish, then we’ll leave.”

  Mari ran upstairs to get her shoes and purse while Kendra nibbled on her toast.

  Okay, so she was going to church. It was casual. She wouldn’t be alone. Everyone would be a stranger, but that was okay. That was part of the fun, right? Meeting new people and all. If she were going to live here, she needed to socialize and build her friend base anyway.

  Church was a good place to start.

  And going one time wasn’t a lifelong commitment. Next week, she could try another one.

  It would be fine, she convinced herself.

  What’s the worst that could happen?

  Four

  Everything seemed to stop and go in agonizing slow motion.

  It was her.

  At his church.

  Walking through the lobby toward the sanctuary where he stood passing out bulletins.

  Please, Lord, just let her go through the other doors.

  “Josh?”

  His eyes snapped from the woman he’d fired—was that what they called it when it was a customer and not an employee? —to the church’s matriarch who stood in front of him, eyebrows raised in question. “Good morning, Mrs. Donalson. You look beautiful this morning.”

  The eighty-year-old woman’s cheeks blushed a light fuchsia as she accepted the bulletin he offered. Unlike most of the people milling about, Mrs. Donelson was dressed to the nines. A dark purple dress with a matching coat, a black hat that looked like it came straight from her wardrobe in the 1950s, and black heels that slowed her walk even more than age had.

  She’d told him once that she didn’t care what everyone else wore, that they were in church worshiping the Savior was all that mattered to her. But for her? She wanted to dress her best for Jesus each Sunday, and she did just that.

  “You’re just flattering me. Now, what were you staring at a moment ago like you’d just seen a ghost? I declare, I’ve never seen you so white, Joshua Damen.”

  “I—it was nothing. What about you? I know you’ve been under the weather lately. You feeling better?”

  “Fit as a fiddle. Just a little fall cold mixed with old lady syndrome. Now stop changing the subject.” She leaned close and whispered. “You were checking out the new girl, weren’t you?”

  Not at all in the way she was talking. Although he had eyes, and they’d taken in the breathtaking picture Kendra Meyers made. If he’d thought her gorgeous in yoga pants and a t-shirt, nothing would have prepared him for her in a dress. If he didn’t know her true nature, he would have been smitten. “Of course not. She doesn’t hold a candle to you anyway. Now, I think Andrew can handle bulletin duty. Let me help you to your seat.” He handed the remaining papers in his hand to the other volunteer then offered her his arm, which she took. Their steps were slow down the middle of the large auditorium, but Josh breathed a sigh of relief for the valid excuse to escape coming face-to-face with his mistake.

  Once he had Mrs. Donelson settled, he scanned the seats quickly, his gaze finally catching sight of those dark curls settled into a chair next to a younger looking blond. Pastor Taylor was introducing himself.

  Great. It was right around where he usually sat with his mom and siblings.

  There wasn’t anything to say he needed to sit beside them today, though. Church had no assigned seats.

  He’d just sit right here close to Mrs. Donelson. Make sure she had help leaving.

  Even as he thought it, he could feel God frowning at his less than pure motives for helping the elderly.

  Surely He could understand.

  Seeing Kendra at church today was not an option.

  “Oh, Josh! There you are!”

  What now? Forcing a smile, he turned to where Gracie Shepard was all but running toward him, worried lines creasing around her mouth and eyes trimmed in red. “I’m so sorry to have to ask you this. I know I’m supposed to lead worship today, but my mom just called. Dad is in the hospital. They think it was a heart attack. Chad is picking up the kids from nursery right now, but I need someone to fill in for me during worship. They are al
l songs we’ve done before. I know it isn’t your turn to lead until next week, but is there any way you could help me out? I don’t know what else to do.”

  Without a second thought, he hugged her. “Of course. Go. I’ll talk to the band and get the playlist.”

  She sniffed and pressed fingers to her eyes. “Thank you so much.”

  He released her and gave her a soft push toward the exit. “Don’t worry about it. Just go take care of your dad.”

  She turned on her heel and ran back up the aisle.

  Making his way to the small room beside the stage where the musicians gathered before each service to pray, he sent up a prayer for Danny, Gracie’s dad and an elder of the church.

  His piddly problems had quickly been put into perspective. He’d made a mistake, and now he would be forced to reckon with it.

  Because while he’d completely failed to show the love of Jesus to Kendra Meyers on Friday, he would be attempting to lead her into worship this morning along with the rest of the congregation.

  His mother would call this divine providence.

  Him? Punishment. That’s what he’d call it.

  Five

  Kendra reached down and snatched her purse from the floor and whispered, “We have to go.”

  Mari ignored her as she kept clapping her hands to the beat of the music, only glancing at her for a moment with a look that said Are you crazy?

  Yes. Yes, she was.

  For ever coming to this church.

  For not considering the possibility that he could be here.

  But then again, how would she have guessed? The man had been rude and arrogant. Not real Jesus-like material. That he attended church, much less led music—never in her wildest dreams would that have occurred to her.

  They needed to leave.

  Now.

  Elbowing her niece, she tried to scoot out behind her, but Mari pressed back, blocking her way. “What are you doing? People are looking at you.”