“Is Danny coming home again this weekend?” Willie Ron asked as she closed out for the evening and he prepared to take over.
Willie Ron Dupree was only twenty-six, but he had been working the graveyard shift for ten years to help support his disabled mother. He never talked about whatever hopes and dreams he’d had before his mother’s illness had made her unable to work. If he’d had to give up college or anything, Mary Louise had never heard him complain about it.
Willie Ron was one of the nicest guys she’d ever known, always willing to come in early if she needed to take off, always ready to listen when she had a problem. And he always asked about Danny. She wondered what he’d have to say if he knew about her pregnancy, if it would make him think less of her, or of Danny, for that matter.
“Hey,” Willie Ron said, concern in his voice. “You okay? I asked about Danny and for once you didn’t launch into a full-scale recitation of all the guy’s good points.”
Mary Louise shrugged. “Guess my mind wandered,” she said. “He should be here any minute. He was driving over from Clemson after his last class today. He promised he’d be here in time to pick me up after my shift.”
“Girl, you got that boy wrapped around your finger,” Willie Ron teased, his smile showing off a row of glistening white teeth. “No woman’s ever going to tie me up in knots like that.”
“Just wait till the right one comes along,” she goaded him. “You’ll treat her like a queen, the same way you do your mama.”
“My mama’s raised eight of us, and done a good job of it,” Willie Ron said, his expression turning serious. “She deserves being spoiled. Haven’t met anyone yet who’s her equal. Even when she was laid low by a bad heart, my mama kept her spirits up. She raised all of us to count our blessings and not be crying over things we can’t fix.”
“You’ll find someone just like her someday,” Mary Louise told him. “I know for a fact that Li’l Bit Gaines comes in here just to see you.”
If it was possible for a black man to blush, Willie Ron’s cheeks would have been flaming. “Li’l Bit just likes her nightly candy fix. She comes in here for a Snickers bar. Got nothin’ to do with me.”
“Yeah, right,” Mary Louise responded. “I know better. How many people rush out to indulge a chocolate craving after eleven o’clock at night?”
Willie Ron frowned. “Maybe instead of messin’ in my love life, you ought to be checking your lipstick before that boyfriend of yours gets here,” he said. “Though I don’t know why you’d bother since he’s likely to kiss it right off. I haven’t seen you two make it to the car yet before that man’s sneakin’ himself some sugar.”
Ignoring the taunt, Mary Louise hurried to the back of the convenience store to put on another coat of Sugar-plum lip gloss. But even as she locked the door to the restroom she kept spotless, she wondered just how much kissing she and Danny were likely to do. He’d gone into a hands-off mode the minute he’d heard about the baby. Kinda like shutting the barn door after the horse has gone, in her opinion. Seemed like they ought to be taking advantage of this time, since any fooling around they did couldn’t lead to another pregnancy. They were already in as much trouble as it was possible to get.
When she emerged from the back, Danny was standing at the counter talking to Willie Ron. She took a moment to admire the way Danny looked in his carefully pressed chinos and dark green polo shirt. It was her favorite because it made his eyes look even greener than usual. He looked like the fancy college boy he was, and she was amazed that she’d been lucky enough to be the girl he’d fallen for.
“Hey, handsome,” she called out. “Did you come straight from the fraternity house?”
“You know I’m no frat boy,” he chided, then gave her an appreciative once-over. “But you could put most of those sorority girls to shame, Mary Louise.”
It was a sweet thing to say, especially since he knew she sometimes felt inadequate because college had been beyond her family’s reach. Until she’d gotten pregnant, she’d been hoping to put enough money aside to take some classes here in town so Danny wouldn’t be ashamed of her lack of education.
“You two have big plans for tonight?” Willie Ron asked, regarding them like an indulgent big brother.
“Actually we have some talking to do,” Danny said, his gaze locked with Mary Louise’s. “I thought we could take a drive or something.”
Willie Ron didn’t look as if he believed for a second that they’d be driving around all evening, but he kept his comments to himself for once as he shooed them out the door. “I’ll see you on Monday, Mary Louise. You say a prayer for Mama in church on Sunday, you hear.”
“I always do,” she said, then grinned. “And I ask God to find you a girl worthy of you.”
“You go on now,” he said with a roll of his eyes.
Mary Louise turned to find Danny grinning at her. “You like embarrassing that man, don’t you?” he asked as she slipped her hand into his and headed for the car.
“Embarrassing him how?” she asked. “He needs a girlfriend and a life. All he does is work and look out for his mama.”
“I think he’s old enough to find his own woman.”
“But Willie Ron’s shy. He needs a nudge,” she protested as Danny held the car door for her the way he always did. His folks had taught him manners, that’s for sure. It was one of the first things she’d noticed about him.
“Don’t you think your time might be better spent figuring out what we’re going to do, instead of worrying about Willie Ron?” Danny asked, a sudden edge to his voice.
Fortunately before she could respond, he closed the car door, then went around to get behind the wheel. It was just enough time for her quick flash of temper to cool. There was no point getting into some silly argument right off the bat when they had more important things to talk about.
“I have been thinking about our future,” she said calmly. “All week long, in fact. What about you?”
He sighed. “It was the only thing I could think about. Jeez, Mary Louise, this couldn’t have happened at a worse time.”
“Well, I’m sorry as hell about that, but it’s not like I planned it, Danny.” She scowled at him and noted the faint flicker of doubt in his eyes. “You don’t believe me, do you?” she demanded in a shocked tone. “You think I planned this.” Her temper shot right back into high gear. “Well, you can just think again, Danny Marshall. This messes up some things I’d been counting on, too.”
“Such as?”
“Taking college classes right here in Charleston. I never intended to just drift along working at the Stop and Shop for the rest of my life. I might not have had the grades to win a scholarship to Clemson, but I’m smart. I have dreams, too. You should know that. We talked about them enough.”
His hands tightened on the steering wheel. “I do know that,” he said eventually. “I’m sorry. It’s just that everything is such a mess. I flunked an important math test this week because I couldn’t concentrate. I can’t help thinking that’s what it’s going to be like from now on.”
“It’ll get better once we make some decisions,” she consoled him. “It’s the worry that’s distracting you.”
“And you think that’s going to stop just because we get married?” he scoffed. “That’ll just be the start.”
His words echoed the warning Amanda O’Leary had given her and that scared Mary Louise. Desperate to reassure him—and herself—she reached for his arm, then massaged the tight muscle until it began to relax. “I swear I didn’t mean for this to