Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
When Rita pulled her truck into her cousin Cathy’s driveway a week later, she was exhausted from a day on her feet at the café.
Cathy had called in sick, so Rita had brought over a bowl of chicken and dumplings left over from that day’s batch.
It wasn’t exactly chicken soup, but it was close enough.
And she knew for a fact that Cathy loved chicken and dumplings.
She knocked on the door and waited in the cold, her breath white against the dark, icy air around her. The front light was on, so she stood bathed in its pool until the door was pulled open and Cathy beckoned her inside.
“I don’t have much of a voice,” Cathy half whispered. “But come on in and take a load off.”
“I brought chicken and dumplin’s,” Rita said, keeping her distance. “Sorry I can’t get too close. I don’t want to catch this thing, whatever it is. You sound awful.”
Cathy shook her head. “You don’t want it, I can tell you that. It’s not so bad as it sounds, though. I feel okay—I just don’t have a voice.”
“I’m glad you feel okay. What have you been up to today?”
“Been binging daytime soaps. It’s been a minute since I watched those things, and you know what?”
“What?”
“All the characters are still the same, so I could just pick right up where I left off.” She laughed, and the laugh turned into a cough.
Rita slapped her on the back. “That’s the beauty of those shows. Come on—I’ll dish us up some dinner. I’m famished.”
“You’re a gem.”
As Rita poured chicken and dumplings into two bowls, Cathy set the table.
They sat down together to eat. Rita kept thinking about how much their relationship had changed over the past couple of years.
She’d had a hard time connecting with Cathy for much of their lives.
The affair between her mother and Cathy’s father had probably played a role in that.
But now that all of those secrets were out in the open and Rita had given Cathy a place at the café alongside her, the two of them got along well for the most part.
“What are you thinking so deeply about?” Cathy rasped.
“Did you know that we used to call you ‘the ice queen’?”
“What?” Cathy’s brow furrowed deeply. “The ice queen? What does that mean?”
“You know, because you were so cold toward us. You used to say passive-aggressive things, like barbs that you’d fling at us. Or maybe like icicles.” Rita chuckled to herself over the old moniker.
“Who called me that? You and who else?”
Rita thought for a moment. “I don’t know exactly. I guess Jimmy started it. Then my kids and I kept it going. It was a family…” She stopped when she saw the look on Cathy’s face. “We didn’t mean it as anything more than a joke. It was lighthearted.”
“Really? Lighthearted?” Cathy sat back in her chair, nostrils flared. “That’s pretty mean, Rita. To know that all those years, you were saying those things about me. And Jimmy too…” Her voice broke.
Rita panicked. “I’m sorry, honey. I didn’t mean anything by it. I thought you’d find it funny. You know, how you and I have a much better relationship now. That kind of thing.”
“Do we? I thought we’d always had a good relationship.”
Rita tipped her head to one side. “You did not. Don’t lie now.”
“Okay, we’ve had our ups and downs. But that hurts my feelin’s.”
“Well, I’m sorry. I wish we’d never said it. Does that make you feel any better?”
Cathy huffed. “I guess so.”
“Good. Let’s move on. How’s your family?”
“They’re all well. My husband—ex, I mean—has a new girlfriend, if you can believe it. Why is it so easy for men to find someone new? I’ve been out here on the dating apps, and it’s like whistling Dixie in the wilderness.”
Rita almost choked on a dumpling. “Well now, that’s a new way of sayin’ things.”
“There’s no one decent out there. It’s a wasteland.” She sighed.
“You got any new datin’ stories?” Rita asked. “They sure do perk me up after a long day on my feet.”
“Last Friday night, I went on a date with this man who had the worst kind of cold. I thought for sure he’d cancel if he was unwell, but no.
That’s why I’m sick. He took me to the movies and put his arm around me.
Then he proceeded to cough and sneeze his way through the whole thing.
I just about had to catch an Uber home because I couldn’t take it anymore. I’m a bit of a germaphobe, you know…”
“A bit?” Rita rolled her eyes.
“Are you gonna interrupt the whole time?” Cathy glared at her.
“Sorry.” Rita waved a hand. “Continue, please.”
“Then he wanted a kiss goodnight. Well, I’ll be darned if I’m gonna kiss someone I don’t know from Adam, and who has a runny nose.
And he had the hide to ask if he could come in so I could take care of him because his ex-wife used to do all that and he couldn’t bear going back to an empty house to cough all night alone.
I didn’t know what to say, so I pushed him out the door and told him to stop by the pharmacy on the way home. Then I locked it behind him.”
Rita had started laughing halfway through the story and now couldn’t stop. Every time she pictured the scene in her mind, she started laughing all over again. Cathy watched her with slits for eyes. Finally, she said, “Well, I’m glad my life at least gives you a laugh.”
“I’m sorry, honey. Really, I am. But that’s the funniest thing I’ve heard in a while. You’re a hoot.”
Cathy crossed her arms. “My pain is hilarious?”
“Oh, come on. Lighten up. You know I love you. But you’ve got to laugh at yourself sometimes.”
She sighed. “It was pretty funny — looking back, you know.”
“If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry,” Rita said as she wiped her eyes with a handkerchief from her pocket.
“So, what’s going on with you?”
“Things are good. Today was Tyler’s first day in training. I really hope it goes well. He needs a win in his life. I still don’t understand why he left the military — he loved being part of something meaningful like that, so I hope the sheriff’s office will give him the same kind of satisfaction.”
“Maybe he got sick of bein' in the navy. Or wanted to see his daughter more often. And you too, by the way — you know how much that boy adores you. Anyhow, if this doesn’t work out, he’ll find something else. You worry too much.”
Rita listened as Cathy told her another story, but only with half her mind.
The rest of her thoughts were focused on Tyler and what was going on with him.
She didn’t know where he stood with Jessica after the break up, or how he’d do in training, but she wanted so badly for him to find happiness and to settle down close by.
He deserved that. He’d always been such a good son — kind, thoughtful, and hardworking.
He’d never been much for rebelliousness.
And now she saw it in his eyes — he was just holding on, hoping for something to go in his favour.
She hoped and prayed that this time it would all work out for him — heaven knew the entire family had been through enough grief and hardship to last a lifetime.
They’d all get a boost by seeing Tyler succeed.