When he let go, I felt my cheeks burning from the intimacy of his embrace. And so help me if that man didn’t notice with a look of smug satisfaction.
I pulled out the handle of my rolling luggage and turned to help Vonnie with hers. “So long, David.”
Vonnie followed me dutifully into the airport, waving good-bye. “I’ll call you,” she said.
An hour after takeoff, our seat companion, an elderly gentleman, fell into a coma-like nap. Vonnie turned to me. “You okay?”
“I guess. This weekend was a little more than I bargained for.”
“Me too,” Vonnie said. She patted my hand. “But still, Donna, I’m worried about you.”
“About me? What for?”
She made sure our neighbor wasn’t awake. “Did you know you talk in your sleep?”
My heart almost stopped. “What did I say?”
“Last night. You kept talking about your baby. That got me to thinking. Remember the time you were in high school and you and a very nervous Wade Gage came up to the office where I worked?”
“Doc Billings? Yeah, I guess I remember.”
“I was worried then. You didn’t give me much to go on in the patient interview before you saw the doctor, alone. And with Wade pacing in the waiting room, I had my suspicions. Suspicions I could never confirm.”
“We were just kids then.”
“I know, but the thing is, I checked your chart after you left. The doctor hadn’t written a thing down. Believe me, that was odd. I should have pressed you then, but I thought you’d come to me. When you didn’t appear pregnant, as I had thought you might, I didn’t know what to think.”
I hung my head and stared at my fingernails.
“Donna, this thing with Wade—what’s troubling the two of you? I wish you’d tell me.”
Her blue eyes pleaded with mine. I felt the color drain from my face. She knows, after all this time, she knows. I almost laughed aloud at myself. Apparently I was the only one still in denial.
I shrugged. “I don’t even remember, Vonnie. I probably had a cold.” I chuckled. “Or maybe my first period or a yeast infection even.”
Vonnie squeezed my hand. “Well, Donna, when you’re ready to tell me the truth, I’ll be waiting.”
23
Another Notch in the Belt
Clay couldn’t be more proud. By the first Saturday of December, he was down seven pounds and in need of either a shopping trip or another notch in his belt.
He wondered how long it would take before anyone noticed. Most specifically one special deputy from the sheriff ’s department.
As was his habit each weekday, he left his apartment early in the morning, walked down to the end of Main Street, then turned back toward the café. Eleana met him when he entered the café later than usual. “Where’ve you been?” she asked, smiling.
Clay was breathless. “Walking,” he said, taking his seat.
Eleana was right behind him. “Hey, have you lost weight?”
“You can tell?” he asked, sitting up a bit straighter than he typically did.
“I sure can.”
Clay grinned, then looked past the waitress as Wade Gage walked in.
“Clay,” he greeted.
“Wade,” Clay returned as his old friend took a seat opposite him. Wade looked up at Eleana and said, “I’ll have a cup of coffee and the daily breakfast special.”
“Coming right up,” she said. “And you, Clay?”
“Ah … coffee … and something high in protein.”
Wade guffawed. “Don’t tell me you’re on that diet.”
Clay glowered at him. “I am. Do you want to make something of it?”
Wade chuckled again. “So, tell me, Clay. Who’s Aunt Ellen?” Clay shrugged.
Eleana arrived back at the table with their cups of coffee. “Here you go, Clay,” she said. “And you too, Wade.”
The two men watched her walk away.
“I believe,” Wade said, “that someone has a crush on you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Clay said. “She’s young enough to be my … younger sister.”
Wade took a sip of the hot coffee before returning to the topic at hand. “Whoever Aunt Ellen is, she’s got Donna all riled up.” He chuckled again as he picked up the creamer on the table and added cream to his drink. “A little stronger than I like it.”
24
Boiling over
It was a strange group that met the first Saturday in December. And strange seems to be the only way I know to describe it.
I was the first to arrive at Evangeline’s. As I entered her home I could smell coffee. It seemed almost symbolic. It brewed pretty much like the trouble in our lives, percolating to the point of overflowing. As soon as I entered, Evie took the casserole dish from my gloved hands, and I bent over to pull my snow boots from my feet.
“This smells good,” Evie commented.
“It’s a beef, broccoli, and rice dish I read about in a magazine.”
“As long as it’s not turkey,” she said with a “humph” as she made her way into the kitchen.
I giggled as I placed my boots on the mat at the side of the door.
“I think we got a good four or five fresh inches of snow last night,” I called after her.
“Weatherman said five,” she called back. “He’s predicting more later this afternoon.”
When she returned, I was hanging my coat on the coat tree in the foyer. “How was your Thanksgiving?”
“It was … different.”
“How so?” I asked. We walked together into the living room, where Evie had instrumental Christmas music playing and appleand-cinnamon-scented candles burning about the room. I noticed she’d already put up her tree—an old artificial one decorated with the same ornaments her mother had placed on the family tree, plus a few newer ones—and that her china nativity set graced the mantel of the fireplace, where a roaring fire blazed warmth into the room.
“Everything’s starting to look like Christmas in here, Evie. Very nice.”
“Thank you. Sit down, Lizzie. We may have a bit of a wait on the others this morning, what with the snow and all.”
I sat down where I always sat, on the sofa, and Evie took her place in a fine antique chair. “So, what do you mean by ‘different’?”
Evie shrugged. “Just different.”
I grinned at her. “Did you and Vernon spend it together?”
She looked down at her hands and picked at her short nails for a moment before answering. “No, we did not.” Then she looked back to me. “And that’s really all I want to say about that.”
I brought my hand up to my heart. “Oh no … oh, Evie. Did you two have a fight?”
“You could call it that. But, like I said, I don’t want to talk about it.”
She craned her neck to look out the front window. “There’s Lisa Leann.” She heaved herself out of the chair. “Wouldn’t you know, nothing keeps her from the group.”
“Evie …” I mildly scolded. I watched through the window as Lisa Leann scurried from her car to the front door.
“Goodness gracious alive,” she exclaimed, entering the house. “Isn’t it pretty out there?”
“First snow in December always is,” Evie answered her. “But after a while, you’ll grow to hate it when it turns into gray mush.”
“Oh, I don’t think I could ever hate it,” she said. “To me, this is God at his finest.”
“You can put your boots by the door,” Evie said.
“Now, Evangeline, here’s my new recipe for a bride’s cake. I can’t wait for you ladies to tell me what you think … although I lizzie know you’re going to love it.” Lisa Leann’s voice grew stronger as she entered the living room. “Lizzie, good morning.” She reached over and hugged me.
“Well, good morning to you too, Lisa Leann. How was your Thanksgiving?”
Lisa Leann stood in front of the fire. “It could not have been better. The kids came, of course. My Mandy i
s just so precious with her little tummy bulging out. She’s staying for a couple of extra weeks so I can have a little baby shower for her. Since Mandy’s been training the teacher who will take her place in January, the school agreed to give the new teacher a trial run so Mandy and I could have this time together. So, y’all are invited to the shower, which will be sometime next week.”
“That’s nice that she can stay a while.”
“Yes, well, the doctor said after this month no more traveling, so she and Ray talked about it and thought now was the best time. Then, Henry and I will go to her and Ray’s for Christmas.”
“It’s a shame she couldn’t join us this morning.”
Lisa Leann pouted. “Oh, I know. We were planning for her to come, but she said she’s just overly tired today.”
Evie joined us. “The others might be a bit late,” she said to Lisa Leann. “I see the snow didn’t frighten you any.”
Lisa Leann shook her red curls. “Goodness, no. Henry put some good tires on my car and said, ‘You go, girl.’ So, I went.” She grinned. “Evangeline, how was your Thanksgiving? Did you and Vernon make up for all those lost holidays?” She giggled as she looked at me with a wink. I tried to shake my head discreetly, but Evie caught me.
“Don’t worry about it, Lizzie,” she said, then turned to Lisa Leann. “No, we did not, and no, I do not wish to talk about it.”
“Oh,” Lisa Leann said quietly. “Well, then … Lizzie?”
I nodded. “It was good. Harried but good. Tim’s home, and I’d so hoped he and Samantha would have reunited, but it doesn’t seem like that’s to be right now.” I looked from one of the ladies to the other. “Not right now. Not yet.”
“What’s new with Tim?” Evie asked.
“He’s started working at the same resort as Michelle. Likes it.”
“Oh, dear. Sounds like he’s really settling in then,” Lisa Leann commented.
I nodded. It was all I could do. If I tried to say anything more, my tears would start up again, and I was afraid that this time I might not be able to stop. According to Michelle, Tim was getting along famously at work. He’d made great contacts, was already hobnobbing with the brass and flirting his way to disaster with the women on staff. The fear of my son finding a “rebound” romance was very real for me … something I’d been praying about in my quiet time with God but was not yet ready to share with anyone else. Not even to ask for additional prayer.
“There’s Vonnie,” Lisa Leann said. “That little darlin’. She’s been through it, hasn’t she? I, for one, can’t wait to hear about her trip to L.A.”
“You haven’t talked to her since she returned?” I asked.
“Of course, I’ve talked to her. But I figure today we’ll get the lowdown. The good stuff with all the juices.”
Evie made a wry face as she walked toward the front door. I watched from the sofa as Vonnie’s plump body hurried from the car to the warmth of the house. “What about you?” Lisa Leann asked. “Have you had a chance to really talk to Vonnie or Donna?”
I shook my head. “No, not really. Only briefly to make certain they’d returned safe and sound.”
Lisa Leann raised her chin as Vonnie entered the foyer. I turned enough to watch Von place a covered dish in Evie’s hand as Evie greeted her with a “Come in out of the snow, Vonnie.”
Vonnie said hello to everyone as she slipped out of her outerwear.
“Psst,” Lisa Leann hissed at me from across the room.
I looked at her.
“What’s going on with Evie and Vernon?” she whispered.
I shrugged. “She doesn’t want to talk about it.”
“Who doesn’t want to talk about what?” Vonnie asked, entering the room and speaking just a little too loudly.
“Shhh,” Lisa Leann admonished, then whispered, “Evangeline.”
“What about her?” Vonnie sat next to me.
“Apparently she and Vernon broke up.”
Vonnie’s face fell. “Oh no. Bless her heart.” She looked in the direction of the kitchen. “Poor thing. She’s waited so long for this.” Vonnie looked back at me. “What happened?”
I shrugged. “She doesn’t want to talk about it.”
“That won’t last for long,” Lisa Leann said. “Not as long as I’m in the house.”
I patted Vonnie on the knee. “How was your trip?”
Vonnie’s face seemed to register both excitement and anguish. “It was good to see Maria before she died. Good to bring David to her … to let her know that Joe’s son survived. But it was bittersweet.”
Evie returned to the living room. “Talking about your trip?”
Vonnie nodded. “Having Donna there was a godsend. I don’t think I could have done it without her.”
I sensed more than saw a stiffening from Evie, but I chose not to comment on it, or even to look her way.
“Donna’s not here yet, I take it,” Vonnie continued.
“No.” Evie’s answer was curt.
“Tell us how you really feel,” Lisa Leann said, then shifted gears—thank the good Lord—as she tilted her head and said, “Uh-oh. My favorite Christmas carol in the whole wide world.”
We listened to a moving version of Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” played from the stereo system.
“Isn’t that lovely,” Vonnie said. For a moment we all just sort of bobbed our heads to the notes as Lisa Leann hummed and waved her arms about as though she were the director of a small symphony.
When the song ended, Lisa Leann said, “That was beautiful. Just beautiful.”
The mood in the room had shifted, that is, until Lisa Leann said, “Speaking of Donna. Did anyone else get a visitor?”
Vonnie prickled. “What do you mean?”
“Some man came to my shop right before Thanksgiving … oh, I know. It was while the two of you were in California. Yeah, that’s when it was. Anyway,” she added with a wave of her hand, “he was asking all sorts of questions about Donna. Nice-looking fella. Said he was here from the State Department … that they were thinking about giving Donna some sort of award for bravery. Asked a lot of questions.”
“An award?” Evie asked. “For what?”
“I have no idea, but I did notice that he had a copy of the newspaper article about the bear in his folder.”
“You’re kidding,” I said. That article, which had come out only a month or so ago, told the story of one of our potluck meetings, held at Vonnie’s, in which a wild bear had made an unexpected appearance. Evie’s comment to a reporter about Donna’s lack of heroism had stirred more than a little tension between the two women. Tension that was already tight as a wound rubber band. “That article was hardly complimentary to Donna.”
“I wonder what this is about,” Vonnie said. “No one better be messing with my Donna.” She shot a quick glance toward Evie, who responded with, “What did I do?”
“Ladies,” I said. Then, “There’s Goldie.”
Minutes later we were all saying hello to a new version of Goldie we were not yet accustomed to seeing. Her hair was chic and her clothes stylish. She’d even applied a little makeup, much to Lisa Leann’s delight. “Look at her, just look at her,” Lisa Leann gushed. “Isn’t she gorgeous?”
“I’d hardly say I’m gorgeous,” Goldie said, sitting beside Vonnie on the other end of the sofa. “But I do feel pretty.”
“Does this mean things are getting better between you and Jack?” ’s expression fell. “Not Jack, no. Me. This is about me. In fact, life is about me right now, and I can’t tell you how wonderful it is.”
“So, what is new with you and Jack?” Evie asked, once again sitting in her chair.
Goldie’s shoulders drooped in the same manner as her face had a moment before. “Oh, my gosh … he and Olivia browbeat me into having a family Thanksgiving. Worst Thanksgiving of my life. You could have cut the air with a knife. Jack trying to hug me … Jack trying to kiss me … Jack trying to pull me into the bedroom.”
She rolled her eyes. “It was a nightmare.”
Lisa Leann piped in. “I can’t imagine a husband trying to pull his wife into the bedroom as being a nightmare,” she said with a wink.
“Well, it was. He kept going on and on about how nice I looked and how we could work everything out; he’s just sure of it. I told him, ‘That only makes one of us, Jack. I’m not so sure.’” She pointed to her chest with her index finger as she shook her head a bit. “Anyway, I’ve got to move out of Olivia and Tony’s. There’s no two ways about it. So, if any of you ladies knows of a room for rent, a small apartment …”
“Why?” Vonnie asked. “I thought this was the perfect situation for now.”
“Short-term,” Goldie answered. “Now I need my privacy. I need to be away from Olivia’s constant … harassment.”
“Harassment?” Evie balked. “What’s she harassing you about?”
Goldie pinked. “It doesn’t matter.” She straightened. “But speaking of changes in life, since when did you start going out with Bob Burnett?”
Every head in the room jerked toward Evangeline. “What?” we all asked in unison.
“Since when?” I asked.
“This meeting just keeps getting better and better,” Lisa Leann added.
“I don’t believe my ears,” Vonnie said. “Not in all my life would I have thought the two of you … what about Vernon?”
“She doesn’t want to talk about Vernon,” Lisa Leann said, shaking her head in caution.
“Doesn’t want to talk about him?” Vonnie practically squealed. “Evangeline Benson, you spill it right now!”
Evie stood. “Well, I can see I’ve been the subject of gossip already.”
I looked at my knees and spoke quietly, “Lord, we need help here. This is not going well at all.”
I’d no sooner whispered my prayer than Donna’s Bronco slid to a stop in front of the house. “Perfect timing,” I whispered, though I was speaking in jest. Her arrival was sure to be the icing on the Boiling over cake. After all, if Vernon and Evie had broken up, no one but no one would be happier than Donna.
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