Secrets over Sweet Tea Read Free Page B

Almost the worst grade you could get. Bad news—unless you made your living off those who flunked out.
    He saw all sides of divorce—the ugly, the uglier, and the ugliest. One of his current clients was convinced his estranged spouse had just killed his dog. The man had come into his office sobbing, certain the dog had been poisoned. The vet was doing a necropsy now. That was a new one for sure. It never ceased to amaze him how minuscule the line was between love and hate.
    Zach’s legs burned as his feet pressed harder into the unforgiving concrete of the sidewalk. He ran down First Avenue and rounded the corner onto Church Street. A large moving truck sat on the opposite side of the road. More new neighbors, it looked like.
    Franklin had become an attractive place to live for people from both coasts. Nissan’s decision to relocate its entire California operations to middle Tennessee a few years ago had helped the lagging economy, but not by much. Finances were tight for a lot of people these days. Even divorce attorneys.
    Zach ran past the first few townhomes that sat at the corner of the neighborhood—his neighborhood now. Thebrownstones at First and Church looked historic, but the entire community was actually less than a decade old, built to blend in with the quaint downtown. He stopped at a fenced courtyard and opened the gate. A large iron fountain flowed just as it had when he’d left it earlier that morning. The brick walkway and four park benches that circled the fountain pretty much made up his front yard.
    Caroline had fallen in love with this “urban development” from the moment construction began back in 2005. The houses were at peak market value then, way past Zach’s budget. But Caroline was determined to own one. He resisted for two years, though it cost him a few trinkets in between. Then the market dropped a little and he relented. But he’d bought too high nevertheless, and he was still trying to figure out how to pay for his wife’s dream house.
    He paced the courtyard for a few minutes with his hands on his hips, sweat dripping from his brow as he tried to slow his breathing. He raised one hand and rubbed at his face, the weekend growth rough against his palm. He walked toward the front steps and leaned against the wrought-iron rail. It was already warm beneath his touch. There were days when he wondered if Tennessee even knew how to cool off.
    He turned the handle on the wood-and-etched-glass door and reentered his three-story world. He found the twins perched at the kitchen counter eating cereal.
    “Morning, Lacy.” He leaned down to kiss her cheek.
    She swatted at him. “Gross, Dad. You stink.”
    Joy held up her hand before he even got near her. “Don’t even think about it, Dad.”
    He laughed. “Good morning to you too. Where’s Mom?”
    “She’s on the phone, I think,” Lacy answered.
    “Want me to fix you some French toast?”
    Joy dug a spoon into her cereal for one last bite and then hopped off the barstool. “We’ve got to go get ready.”
    Lacy followed quickly. “Yep. See you, Dad.”
    “Hey, I love you.”
    “You too, Dad!” Joy hollered. He was almost certain that Lacy grunted as she headed for the stairs.
    He grabbed a water bottle from the refrigerator and headed upstairs. He could hear Caroline going at it with someone over the phone. The peacefulness of his morning was obviously over.
    “Well, you didn’t fix it.” She stood in the middle of the bathroom floor and scolded as if talking to a six-year-old. “It still isn’t working. So I want someone over here today, and I don’t want some four-hour time slot that you think you might be able to honor. I want to know exactly when you will be here. I am just as busy as you are, and if this isn’t fixed by the end of the week, I’m calling the Better Business Bureau.”
    Zach leaned against the counter. When he left his wife sleeping early this morning, she had looked so peaceful and serene that he almost