The Red Hat Society's Acting Their Age

by Regina Hale Sutherland

  “Thanks. You want to go to the farm and pack a suitcase before you take over for Leanne?”

  Aggie shook her head. “I’m not setting foot back in that house until he apologizes. I’ll buy whatever I need and charge it to Roy’s MasterCard. He made it clear I’ve been nothing but a housekeeper and a cook to him all these years. The way I see it, he owes me a truckload of past wages.”

  “You’re more to him than that, Ag. That man’s crazy about you, and you know it.”

  Aggie’s face twitched with emotion. “I’d say he has a funny way of showing it, but I’m not laughing. Now everyone in town knows just how little he trusts me.”

  “I don’t think it’s you, Aggie. I think Roy’s suffering from a bad case of insecurity. You’re looking pretty sexy these days. He doesn’t know what to think about that. And he probably senses you’re hiding something.”

  “That doesn’t excuse his behavior.”

  “No, it doesn’t. I’m not taking his side. I just don’t want you doing something rash in the heat of the moment. Leanne, either.”

  “Well, I’m not planning on visiting any lawyer if that’s what you mean. Not yet, anyway.”

  “Aggie—” The phone rang and Mia picked it up, only to hear Cade’s voice on the other end of the line. She talked to him a moment then extended the receiver to Aggie. Something she’d detected in Cade’s tone bothered her. Stepping aside, Mia crossed her arms and waited for Aggie to hang up.

  Aggie looked like a limp balloon when she finally returned the phone to its cradle.

  “You okay?”

  “Cade put Roy in jail to cool off.”

  “In jail? What happened?”

  Aggie sighed. “Apparently when I was at the Cactus Hotel delivering those rolls, Roy saw my Blazer in the parking lot. He heard a man and woman laughing behind the door to room ten so he busted in thinking he’d find me inside with Roland since he didn’t see Roland up front at the desk.”

  “Roland Wade?” Mia screeched, referring to the hotel proprietor. “He’s eighty years old if he’s a day.”

  “I swear Roy’s lost his mind. The couple he burst in on were just passing through town last night on their way to Dallas. They’re young enough to find the whole thing funny, so they’re not pressing charges. But Roland was fit to be tied, so he called Cade, anyway.”

  “Oh, Aggie . . .”

  “Cade asked if I wanted to bail him out, but I’m not about to. Let him sit there all night and stew over what he did.”

  Mia couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry. Rachel’s arrival in all of their lives had set something in motion, kicked up a dust cloud of uncertainties and hopes, fears and desires that had lain dormant too many years.

  She wondered if that was good or bad.

  At six-thirty that evening, Mia mentally kicked herself for at least the tenth time for accepting Cade’s dinner invitation. Insecurities she hadn’t felt since before marrying Dan taunted her. Was she overdressed? Underdressed? What if they couldn’t think of anything to talk about? What if he tried to kiss her?

  Worst of all, was she betraying Dan?

  She stepped away from the full-length mirror, but Rachel grasped her arm, pulled her back, then held a black dress up in front of her.

  “This is better,” the girl said. “Tell her, Leanne.”

  Leanne hung up the phone on the nightstand after attempting to reach Paula Oberman again without success. She and Aggie sat at the edge of Mia’s bed. For the past forty-five minutes they’d observed, even participated in, Rachel’s primping session. Their expressions said we knew this night would come.

  “Rachel’s right.” Leanne winked. “You definitely want Cade to get a good look at those legs of yours. He probably hasn’t seen them since high school. That’s the last time I recall you wearing anything that showed them off.”

  Mia pushed away the dress. “I’m sticking with slacks. They’re more comfortable.”

  “Sugar, when a woman’s trying to snag a man’s eye, comfort should go right out the window,” Aggie said, to which Rachel replied, “Duh.”

  An afternoon spent with the girl had perked Aggie up. They’d painted each other’s fingernails and had plans to do toenails at a later date. Rachel’s nails were orange; Aggie’s were pale pink with sparkles. Aggie claimed to be at least fifty years too old for glittery nail polish, but Rachel had chosen it, and so she’d gone along. Mia thought Aggie secretly liked the touch of glamour.

  “I’m not trying to snag Cade’s eye,” Mia insisted, heading for her boots in the closet.

  “You don’t have to.” Leanne leaned on one elbow and grinned. “It’s already snagged. Watch out, girl. That man has ideas.”

  In Mia’s opinion, they were making too much of one measly dinner. It wasn’t as if Cade was taking her somewhere swanky and romantic. Mexican food at Brody was a casual, low-key affair. Lots of Muddy Creek residents made the drive to eat at Paco’s, since the only Tex-Mex in Muddy Creek was the taco basket at Dairy Queen.

  “He just wants to pump me for information,” Mia said over her shoulder. When Leanne snorted, she realized the implication and felt her cheeks heat. “You know what I mean. He just wants to feel me out.”

  Leanne snorted again.

  Aggie started humming.

  Rachel snickered and said, “Duh.”

  Boots in hand, Mia left the closet and sat at the opposite side of the bed from them. “Okay, you three,” she said, shoving her foot into a boot. “Quit it. You’re making me tongue-tied. He’s just hoping I’ll slip up about you, Rachel. That’s what tonight’s all about. Not romance.”

  Rachel popped her knuckles. “Whatever. You are so in denial. If it’s about me, why’d you say you’d go?”

  Good question, Mia thought. Leave it to a fourteen-year-old girl to cut to the quick of things.

  “Yes, why did you agree?” Leanne grinned at her.

  Mia shoved on her other boot and stood. She took her coat from the back of the chair. “He promised to stop asking so many questions and following me around all the time if I’d go.”

  “And you believed him?” Aggie pulled off her red glasses and blinked puffy eyes. “You can’t trust a man. It’s taken me a whole lot of years to figure that out.” She glanced at her watch. “Roy’ll be wanting his dinner about now. I hope they don’t feed him anything fried at the jail. His cholesterol’s—” She cut off the sentence. “I’m not going to worry about it.”

  Leanne patted her arm. “Good girl.”

  Mia didn’t buy Leanne’s tough act for a minute. True, she’d turned off her cell phone, but she checked for missed calls about every fifteen minutes. Eddie had come by the coffee shop again this afternoon, and the two of them had gone another round in the back room. Mia didn’t know which one was more stubborn.

  “Men.” Aggie sighed. “Don’t they understand it’s not their suspicions so much as the way they handle them?”

  “Exactly,” Leanne agreed. “If Eddie hadn’t tailed me like some sleazy private eye I wouldn’t be so upset with him.” She lifted a brow at Rachel. “Listen up, Packrat. You can learn a thing or two from the three of us. We’ve had a lot of years to figure out what makes a man tick.”

  “I’m not so sure we’ve accomplished that feat.” Buttoning her coat, Mia started out the bedroom door.

  “We won’t wait up for you,” Leanne called out. “After we eat, Rachel and I are going to lay out the patterns for her halter tops and cut the fabric, then I’m going to bed.”

  “It may have been years since you went out, sugar,” Aggie yelled. “But don’t worry. Some things don’t change. It’s good to make a man wait. No kissing on the first date.”

  Rachel made a sputtering sound and said, “More like, no doing it.”

  “Young lady.” Aggie sounded shocked. “The very idea. Nobody decent would even consider such a thing.”

  “Oh, Ag, come on now,” Leanne scoffed, laughing, “you can’t tell me you and Roy didn’t get frisky from t
ime to time back when you dated.”

  Silence, then Aggie said in a small voice, “Do they allow aspirin in jail? Roy always gets a headache and a sore back when he sleeps on a strange bed.”

  Mia smiled and kept walking. As she opened the front door to leave, Leanne yelled, “Wake me up if I’m asleep when you get home. I want to know if the rumors I heard back in high school were true.”

  “What was that?” Aggie asked.

  “That Cade’s one heck of a kisser.”

  Chapter 14

  So much for no romance.

  Cade surprised Mia with equal measures of old-fashioned manners and new-age respect for a woman’s independence. He met her at the door of his small ranch-style house with a single red and pink stargazer lily. No clichéd rose. And lilies were her favorites; she wondered how he knew.

  He offered to drive, rather than insisting. Gallant, but not chauvinistic. She admitted to herself that she liked the gesture and put away her keys.

  It had been a long time since she’d sat on the passenger side of a vehicle. Mia leaned back, tried to relax and watched the night slide by.

  “You look nice.” Cade smiled across at her.

  “Thanks.” Twirling the lily between her fingertips, she glanced down at her simple black slacks and white sweater. “The fashion police who’ve taken up residence in my home seemed to think I’m too casual.”

  Cade looked at his jeans and dark blue button-down shirt. “No more casual than me.” He shrugged. “I don’t like fussy clothes.”

  “Me, either.”

  His cheek twitched. “Except for lacy pink underthings, you mean.”

  Tilting her head, Mia scowled at him. “Not that again. You promised.”

  “I promised not to interrogate you. That wasn’t a question, it was a comment.”

  “Whatever you say.” She looked out the window and smiled despite herself.

  “I like your hair down like that.”

  Her hand automatically lifted to her shoulder. She pushed back a strand. “Thanks,” she said again, embarrassed.

  “Not that I don’t like it pulled back,” he quickly interjected. “It looks great however you wear it.”

  Nice save, Mia thought, her smile returning. Jill had taught him well.

  Only a few lights twinkled in the distance. Mia guessed most people would consider this the middle of nowhere. Sometimes she did, too. Sometimes she longed for water, the sparkle of an ocean, a winding river. The town’s namesake wasn’t even muddy anymore, only a jagged, dusty fracture in the landscape. At least the endless horizon had its merits. She usually knew what to expect down the road, since it was almost possible to see into the next county and the one beyond that.

  “You’re quiet,” Cade said, coaxing her out of her thoughts.

  She placed the lily across her lap. “I was thinking what a wide open place we live in.”

  “It is, at that. Can’t beat the sunsets. Sometime I’ll show you my land out by the canyon and we’ll watch one together.”

  “I didn’t know you had land.”

  “I bought it just after Jill and I split up.” He glanced across at her. “Anyway, I like our wide open scenery.”

  “Me, too. Most of the time.”

  “What do you like about it?”

  “That I can see what’s ahead.” She sighed. “Too bad life can’t be the same.”

  “What?” His brows drew together. “And never have any surprises? What fun would that be?”

  “Not all surprises are good.” Mia’s chest tightened. She wished they hadn’t stumbled onto this subject.

  “But I’m not sure I’d want to give up the good ones in order to avoid the bad,” Cade said.

  “I guess I have a hard time remembering the good ones sometimes.” Mia smiled, hoping to lighten the mood. “Sorry to be such a downer tonight. I’m not the best company lately. Nor the best conversationalist.” Which was exactly why she had no business going on a date with Cade or anyone else.

  “We don’t have to talk. I just like being with you.”

  Cade checked the rearview mirror, eased into the left lane to pass a slow-moving flatbed truck. His hands rested on the steering wheel in a relaxed, easy way. And he drove slowly, as if in no hurry to reach their destination. He was a man who took his time. Mia liked that about him.

  She wondered if he’d be as slow and thorough a lover.

  The second after the question crossed her mind, guilt crept in behind it. Since marrying Dan, she’d never wondered such a thing about any other man. Mia tried to push awareness of Cade from her head, but considering his nearness, it kept wandering back. His broad shoulders. How she felt so small and feminine around him. The laugh lines beside his twinkling eyes and the rich laughter that etched them there. The deliberate, patient way he handled matters.

  Even when trying to persuade her to go out with him, he hadn’t pushed too hard. Not that he’d given up the pursuit. Just as he hadn’t given up on finding Rachel behind her door. Mia was well aware he wasn’t fooled. Cade knew she hid Rachel. But he was taking his time proving it. She wondered why.

  For the remainder of the drive, they talked about their kids and the high school basketball team’s winning season this year. They laughed about the rival town’s bungled attempt to kidnap the Muddy Creek Cowboy’s mascot—a four-foot-tall statue of a wrangler on horseback that sat in the school courtyard.

  After pulling into Brody and parking at Paco’s, they grabbed their coats from the backseat then went inside. The scents of sizzling beef, onions and peppers wafted over Mia, making her mouth water. She scanned the darkened interior of the restaurant for familiar faces from home. Relieved not to see any, she followed the hostess to a table and sat in the chair Cade pulled out for her.

  Mexican guitar music played quietly on the sound system. Sombreros and multicolored fringed blankets decorated the walls. Over tacos, enchiladas, and carne asada, they commiserated for Aggie over Roy’s antics. Cade mentioned Aggie’s sudden change of appearance but, to his credit, didn’t speculate as to what might’ve spurred it. Mia wondered if he even suspected. Would a man be baffled that a young girl could come into the lives of three grown women and remind them of their own youth? That she could shake them up? Make them want to grasp hold of the years ahead, and not let another day slip by unenjoyed or underappreciated?

  At once, Mia realized why she’d agreed to see Cade tonight. Because of Rachel. The girl had brought back memories of Mia’s own days of homework and friends and popularity contests. Of crushes, stolen glances, and the brushing of fingertips. To a time in her life when taking chances had been fun rather than frightening. Rachel had made her remember that all those feelings were well worth the risk of a broken heart.

  On the way home, they talked about old times; junior high, high school, the early years of raising kids. They laughed about the Coots, about Aubrey Ricketts assigning himself Mia’s watchdog.

  Cade recounted some of the more unusual incidents he’d dealt with during his stint as sheriff.

  “Probably the best one was the time on graduation night three years ago,” he said. “Some of the high school seniors dumped twenty or so gallons of bubble bath into the Cactus Hotel’s outside pool during the middle of the night.”

  Mia laughed. “I read about that in the paper.”

  He shook his head. “What a mess. They jumped in and stirred up the water and bubbles went everywhere. Roland Wade was in such a tizzy when he called me he could hardly breathe.”

  “At least your job’s not boring.”

  He grinned. “It has its moments.” Tapping the steering wheel, he squinted at her and asked quietly, “Can I trust you with a little secret? One that didn’t make the papers?”

  Curious and amused, Mia leaned closer to him. “Sure. My lips are sealed.”

  “Last year, at the Chamber of Commerce Christmas party, Mayor Higby drank one too many spiked eggnogs.”

  She lifted a brow. “That’s no secret.”

>   “Yeah, but afterward? Mrs. Higby called at two A.M. and reported him missing. I found him staggering down Main.”

  Mia widened her eyes. “You’re kidding!”

  Cade’s cheek twitched. “All he was wearing was a cowboy hat, boots, and a pair of chaps. His backside was bare as a newborn baby’s.”

  By the time they pulled into Cade’s driveway, Mia was wiping tears of laughter from her eyes, and she felt a lightness of spirit she hadn’t known in a long time.

  Cade walked her to her Tahoe and opened the door for her.

  She placed the lily inside on the seat then faced him. “Thank you for dinner. I enjoyed it. Next time, the margaritas are on me.”

  One corner of his mouth curved up. “I’m glad to hear there’ll be a next time.”

  The look in his eyes made her heart beat too fast. Mia hesitated a moment before returning his smile. She hadn’t meant to imply that she expected to see him again socially. That she wanted to. But she realized that’s exactly what she’d done. And exactly what she wanted.

  “How about we take a drive tomorrow night? I’ll show you my land I told you about.”

  It wouldn’t exactly be a date, Mia thought. Just a drive. No pressure in that. Nodding, she said, “I’d like that.” She turned to climb behind the wheel. “Well, goodnight.”

  “Mia?”

  Pausing, she looked back at him.

  “What you said about surprises? About not remembering any good ones?”

  Mia nodded, so aware of him she could barely move. She ached for him to touch her, but the thought of that happening scared her, too.

  “I hope you think this one is good.”

  “This one?” She searched his face, her stomach a flurry of nerves.

  “You and me.” He stepped around the door and gently grasped her shoulders. “It’s the best surprise I’ve had in years.” His hands swept slowly down her arms.

  Mia almost stopped breathing as she stared into his eyes. For one heartbeat, maybe two, she thought to stop what she knew was about to happen before every ounce of rationality rushed right out of her mind. But he smelled like menthol shaving cream and, oh, how she’d missed that scent on a man. And his hands on her arms felt too warm, too right.