A New Attitude

by Charlotte Hughes

  “In the meantime, I happen to know a few people in this town who owe me favors. I’m sure they’d be more than willing to help with your cause.”

  Wearing looks of amazement, Marilee and Winnie followed the woman down the sidewalk. Soon they’d been promised donations from a variety of shops, including Betsy’s Florist. There Marilee purchased a small bouquet. “For Esmerelda Cunningham,” she told Winnie. “She’s been in the hospital.”

  Winnie looked astounded. “You’re taking her flowers after the way she talked to you?” When Marilee nodded, Winnie shook her head. “You know, it’s people like you that make the rest of us look bad.”

  THAT EVENING WHEN MARILEE arrived at work, she headed straight to Jack’s office to drop off her purse. Jack looked up from his desk and greeted her warmly. “What time should I pick you up tomorrow?”

  “How about I just meet you here, say, around noon?” Marilee said. “It’s on the way.” He nodded, and she turned, almost bumping into Gertie, who had come into the room carrying her own purse. The woman didn’t speak, just turned around and left.

  Marilee looked at Jack. “I have one question to ask. Is there anything going on between you and Gertie Johnson?”

  “I tried to be friends with Gertie,” Jack said, looking surprised, “but she wanted more than I was willing to give. I suppose she’ll hold a grudge for the rest of her life.”

  “Thank you for telling me, Jack. I needed to know.” She smiled. “See you tomorrow.”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  ON SUNDAY, MARILEE ROSE at dawn and started baking. By the time Winnie came downstairs in her maternity jeans and a white cotton shirt, Marilee had managed to get a half-dozen cakes baked and cooling on racks.

  “Smells good in here,” the girl said.

  “I figured I’d better get started, so we have enough cakes and pies for the bake sale.” She poured chocolate chips into a large bowl of cookie dough. She had tripled the recipe, so it was difficult to stir.

  “You’re going to freeze them, right? I don’t need any sweets sitting around.”

  Marilee grinned. “Yes, I’m going to freeze them. I don’t need the temptation either.”

  “Are you going with us to the garage sales this morning?” Winnie asked.

  “I can’t. I already have plans.” Marilee held her breath.

  Winnie stuck her finger in the cookie dough and tasted it. “What plans?”

  “I’m attending a play in Charleston.”

  “That’s nice. Will you be home for dinner?”

  “No.”

  “Okay.”

  Marilee waited for more questions and was surprised when they didn’t come.

  Winnie faced her. “I have a favor to ask, but I don’t expect you to answer right away, and if you don’t want to do it, I’ll understand.”

  “I’m listening,” Marilee said, wondering what it could be.

  “On my last doctor’s visit, he asked if I planned to take childbirth classes.”

  “And?”

  “I’d really like to, but I need a coach.”

  Marilee smiled. “Are you asking me to go into the delivery room with you?”

  Winnie nodded. “Only if you want to.”

  Marilee threw her arms around the girl’s neck. “I’d love to! When do we start the classes?”

  “Gee, Marilee, I wasn’t sure you’d want to do it.”

  “Of course I do. I’m going to be her aunt, after all.”

  Winnie looked touched. “The classes won’t begin until the end of November. We’ve still got about six weeks, but I have to go ahead and sign up. We can take one class a week for six weeks or go to two full Saturdays. I was sort of hoping to do it on Saturday if you can manage, to get it over with sooner, you know? You’d still have plenty of time to get ready for work.”

  “Saturday will be fine.” Marilee smiled again. “This is going to be so exciting.”

  “I plan to have my baby naturally. No pain medication whatsoever. I don’t even want them to give me an aspirin.”

  “It’s entirely up to you, Winnie, but you certainly don’t have to decide right now.” The doorbell rang. “They’re here.”

  Marilee wondered if Clara would show up.

  Clara and Ruby came into the kitchen. Marilee stood there, a smile frozen in place as she tried to assess if the two had made up.

  “You’ve started baking,” Ruby said, sniffing the air.

  “She’s not going with us to the garage sales,” Winnie said. “She’s going to a play in Charleston.”

  Ruby and Clara looked at Marilee. “A play?” Ruby asked. “In Charleston?”

  “That’s right.”

  All three continued to stare as Marilee dropped dough onto cookie sheets. When it was obvious that no information was forthcoming, Clara spoke. “Winnie, may I have a word with you?”

  The girl shrugged. “Sure.” They went into the living room.

  “I hope you don’t mind if I help myself to a cup of coffee,” Ruby said. “My old percolator is on the blink this morning.”

  “Of course I don’t mind.” Marilee eyed her closely. As Ruby passed by Marilee, she formed an O with her thumb and forefinger to let her know everything was okay with Clara.

  Clara and Winnie returned to the kitchen a few minutes later, just as Nell walked through the back door. She glanced at the cakes. “You’ve been busy this morning.”

  “Marilee’s going to a play in Charleston,” Ruby blurted.

  “Good for you!” Nell said. If she was curious, she didn’t show it. Instead, she looked at the others. “Is everybody ready?”

  Clara stood there with her hands folded primly. “Before we go, I would like to apologize to everyone. I’ve been such a grouch lately.”

  “Oh, don’t be silly, dear,” Nell said. “We all have bad days.”

  Winnie patted Clara on the back. “I’ve already told you everything’s cool. I know you didn’t mean what you said yesterday.”

  Marilee gave Clara a hug. “You’re among friends. We’ve all been through hard times, and we’re always going to be there for one another.”

  “Tell them the rest, Clara,” Ruby prodded gently.

  Clara looked down at her feet. “Well, I’ve been having a few problems. Female problems,” she added. “My doctor says I’m in full-blown menopause. I’m on estrogen, but I have awful mood swings.”

  “Aren’t you a little young for that?” Nell asked.

  “My mother went through menopause in her late thirties. The doctor said that’s probably why I’m going through it early.”

  Marilee gave her a sympathetic smile. “I wish you had shared this with us earlier, instead of keeping it to yourself.”

  “It’s not easy for me to talk about things,” Clara said, “but I feel better now that it’s out in the open. I just feel so tense and irritable all the time, but I promise I’ll try not to take it out on everybody.”

  “Now, you just listen to me, dear,” Nell said, reaching for a piece of paper and scribbling on it. “There’s absolutely nothing I don’t know about menopause, and I’ve probably got a few books on the subject since I never throw out anything. Here’s my phone number. You call me, and we’ll talk it out over coffee. I’ll look for my books in the meantime.”

  “Thank you, Nell,” Clara said. “I’d love to talk to someone about it.” She paused. “Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, I have a little bit of good news. I drove by Blessing Home yesterday after Ruby dropped me off at my house, and you’ll never believe what I found. Seems some of the citizens have decided to help out after all. There’s a whole stack of lumber out front, and Fred Bean left his business card taped to the front door, saying he would be glad to look at the electrical work. Not only that, there’s a truckload of bricks and plywood from Benson Contractors.”

  Nell beamed with pleasure. “I knew my Sam would come through for us. I overheard a telephone conversation he had with Bobby Benson on the telephone. Not that I was eavesdr
opping, you understand. ‘Course, Bobby doesn’t do anything unless he benefits. He’ll expect us to list him as a contributor in the newspaper.”

  “We have no problem with that.” Clara said. “It may encourage other donations.” She paused. “Once I saw all that lumber, I just started crying when I thought of how discouraged I’d been over the whole thing.”

  Marilee continued dropping dough on a cookie sheet. “That’s understandable. We’ve been working on this for several months now. I’m just as antsy as you are.”

  “It still doesn’t excuse my behavior, but I decided I’d like to join all of you when you go to the Pickford Inn. It is time I learned to loosen up and have a little fun in my life. We can go in my car, if you’d like.”

  “That’s wonderful,” Nell exclaimed.

  Winnie looked impatient. “Okay, now that that’s settled, let’s get out of here. If we don’t hit the garage sales early all the good stuff will be gone.”

  They filed out the door a few minutes later. Marilee was still thinking about Clara when the telephone rang. Esmerelda Cunningham spoke from the other end.

  “What do you want now?” the woman demanded.

  Marilee blinked. “I beg your pardon?”

  “Why did you bring me flowers? Are you trying to soften me up so I’ll give you something else for your charity event?”

  Marilee wondered why the woman was so suspicious. “You’ve already given us a very nice donation, Mrs. Cunningham. We don’t expect anything else. I dropped the flowers off because I’d heard you were in the emergency room the other night. I hope it’s nothing serious.”

  The woman grunted. “Simple indigestion, but Dudley insisted I have a doctor look at me. He gets worked up over the smallest things. And I don’t trust this hospital one iota, let me tell you.” She paused. “Well, thank you for the flowers, but it really wasn’t necessary.” She hung up without another word.

  Marilee hung up as well. She wondered why it was so difficult for Esmerelda Cunningham to accept gifts, and why the woman had so much trouble being friendly. She glanced at the clock. Seven-thirty. She had plenty of time before she had to meet Jack at the Pickford. She finished the cookies, cleaned the kitchen and considered making a couple of pound cakes. Instead, she decided to sit down with a pen and paper and start planning Winnie’s surprise baby shower.

  She’d been tossing the idea around the last couple of days, considering what she would serve, whom she would invite. She would love to have invited Winnie’s friends, but she had no idea who they were or if they existed. Surely one of them would have called the house by now. The whole thing was strange, but Marilee would never ask the girl and risk embarrassing her. Nevertheless, Marilee often wondered if Winnie’s friends had backed off when they’d discovered she was pregnant. No matter what, she was determined to see that the girl had her baby shower.

  AT EIGHT O’CLOCK THE DOORBELL rang. Marilee wiped her hands on a dish towel and made for the door. She found Sam standing on the other side. He looked too good for words.

  “I’m here to take you to breakfast.”

  “Breakfast?”

  “You know, the first meal of the day. Actually, it’s the most important meal.”

  “Well, I—” She glanced around the living room and fidgeted with her hands.

  He grinned. “You can’t think of a good reason to turn me down, can you?”

  She blushed. “Actually, I was in the middle of something.”

  “From the smell, I’d say you’ve been busy in the kitchen. But you can still take time for breakfast, right?”

  Marilee told herself she was flirting with disaster. She had absolutely no business going anywhere with Sam Brewer. But he had done a lot for her, sitting up half the night when she’d had her mini-breakdown, driving out to the scene of the accident. And he’d been kind enough to call and check on her a couple of times since.

  “I suppose I could spare a few minutes,” she said. “I probably need to change clothes first.”

  “You look fine. Let’s go.”

  “Would you mind if we stopped by Esmerelda Cunningham’s house on the way? I’d like to drop off a batch of cookies.”

  Sam smiled. “Always the Good Samaritan.”

  Marilee wrapped a dozen cookies in foil and followed Sam out the door, where a late-model town car she’d never seen waited. “Did you borrow someone’s car?”

  “This is my car,” he said. “I keep it in the garage since I mostly drive my truck.” He saw her hesitate. “We can take the truck if you’d be more comfortable.”

  “No, this is fine.”

  He walked her around to the passenger’s side and helped her in. She was amazed by how clean it was compared to his truck, which he seldom washed and which was always crammed full of construction equipment. He pulled into Esmerelda’s driveway a few minutes later, and Marilee grabbed her cookies. Dudley answered the door. “These are for you and Mrs. Cunningham.”

  Dudley looked surprised. “How kind of you, Mrs. Abernathy. I’ll be sure she gets them.”

  “Tell her she has to share them with you.” Marilee said goodbye, crossed the driveway and rejoined Sam. “Okay, I’m ready.”

  The last—the absolute last—place Marilee would have chosen for breakfast would have been the Mockingbird Café, where everybody in town congregated on Sunday mornings, either before or after church.

  Flora Bigsby, the owner, greeted them at the door. “Hi, Marilee, Sam,” she said, as though it were an everyday occurrence for the two to come in together. “You want a booth or a table?”

  “A booth, if you have it,” Marilee said. “Preferably in the back.”

  Sam grinned. “Ashamed to be seen with me?”

  “Of course not.”

  Marilee was conscious of the eyes that followed them as she and Sam followed Flora toward the back of the restaurant. Sam waited until Marilee sat down before sliding in next to her. “What do you think you’re doing?” she asked.

  “What?” he said innocently.

  Marilee wanted to duck beneath the table. “There is a perfectly fine seat across from here. I suggest you take it.”

  Sam handed her a menu. “Why should I move when I’m perfectly comfortable right where I am? I like facing the room.”

  “I’ll be happy to sit on the other side.”

  “No way. I want the whole world to know you’re my girl.”

  Marilee saw that he was grinning like a rooster in a hen-house. “I am not your girl.”

  “It’s just a matter of time. Now, what’ll you have?”

  “Just coffee, please.” The sooner she got out of there the better.

  “Well, I’m as hungry as a bear, and you look like you could use a little meat on your bones.”

  Flora’s daughter, Bea, appeared bearing two cups of coffee. “’Mornin’ Sam. Hi, Marilee, haven’t seen you in a while. What can I get you?”

  “Coffee is fine,” Marilee said.

  Sam smiled. “Don’t listen to her, Bea, she’s on another one of those crazy diets. We’ll have the Hearty Man’s Special.” He looked at Marilee. “How do you like your eggs cooked?”

  Marilee wasn’t about to argue and draw more attention to them. “Scrambled.”

  “Me too,” Sam said. “Oh, and we want sausage with it, right, Marilee?”

  She nodded.

  Bea jotted down their order on her pad. “Be just a jiffy.” She hurried away.

  “There now,” Sam said, raising his cup of coffee to his lips. “Nothing like a good breakfast to start the day.” He looked at her. “Why are you still holding that menu? Are you hiding?”

  “Of course not.”

  “You’re so worried what others might think. Has it crossed your mind that people have other things on their minds besides what Marilee Abernathy is up to these days?” She didn’t answer. “Okay, go ahead and hide. As for me, I’m going to enjoy myself. I’m with the prettiest girl in town, and I feel like one lucky man.” He grinned as Marilee clo
sed her menu and put it aside.

  “Do you know how many women would love to be in your shoes right now, sitting with a handsome, successful guy like myself?”

  She knew he was teasing and laughed in spite of herself. “You certainly have a lofty opinion of yourself.”

  “And you love every minute of it. You know, if you play your cards right I might spring for lunch as well. We could take a long drive and—”

  “Sorry, but I have plans.”

  “Oh?” When she didn’t volunteer information, he pressed. “So what are they?”

  She looked at him. She wondered how she could find him so attractive one minute, only to tell herself the next she was crazy for being involved. Not that she was really involved, mind you, but she did feel a sense of obligation toward him for recently helping her out.

  “I just like knowing how my girl spends her time when she’s not with me.”

  Marilee sighed. “Would you please stop calling me your girl? I’m nobody’s girl.”

  He studied her for a minute. “You don’t have a date, do you?” Marilee regarded him. “If you must know, I do have a date. I’m attending a Broadway production in Charleston this afternoon.”

  He clasped his hands together on the table. He didn’t look very happy with the news. “Do I know him?”

  Marilee studied his hands. They were large and tanned from the sun, his nails clipped short, scrubbed clean. “I doubt it.”

  Sam smiled, but it was forced. He didn’t like the idea of Marilee seeing another man, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it. “A Broadway production, huh? I suppose you go for that sort of thing.”

  “I’ve never been to one, to tell you the truth.”

  “I would gladly have taken you if you’d told me, but you’ve dodged all my invitations. This must be a special guy.” When she didn’t say anything, he went on. “I hope he’s a gentleman. He’s not the pushy sort, or anything like that?”

  “Pushy?”

  Sam shifted in his seat and looked her directly in the eyes. “You have to be careful with men, Marilee.”

  She tried to keep a straight face. “I do?”

  He glanced around quickly before leaning closer. “You’ve lived somewhat of a sheltered life, Marilee. Heck, you were no more than a baby when you married, and, well, now that you’re on your own—” He paused, as though trying to come up with the right words. “You’re a little on the naive side, if you don’t mind me saying so. Dating is not like it used to be.”