Chapter 13
Eric turned into his driveway, seething. Why, after all these years, had James returned home now? What did he want?
An unfamiliar car was parked in the driveway with an out-of-state plate.
After parking his truck, Eric stomped up the wooden steps of the front wrap-around porch. He tore open the screen door and let himself inside.
James stood in the front hall. Although less than three years had passed since he left, he looked decades older. “The Prodigal Son returns.” He spread his arms wide.
Eric nearly spat. He wanted to hit his arms away. “You have some nerve coming back here.”
“After all these years, you’re not happy to see me? I’m hurt.” He contorted his face.
“Does Laurie know you’re here?”
“I saw Mom briefly this morning when I got in.” James bit his lip and glanced toward the stairs behind him. “She had a late night last night, I guess.”
“She’s still in bed?” Eric hit the stairs running. “Is she sick?”
James opened the screen door.
Eric paused on the stair. “Where you going?”
Shrugging, James ducked out the door. “Tell Mom I went to see some old friends.”
“Always running away,” he murmured under his breath. Eric tore up the stairs, two at a time. He crossed the hall and rapped on his mother’s bedroom door. Laurie always got up with the chickens, while the sky was still pink. And she went to bed with the cows, at dark. Was she ill?
“Come in.”
Pressing against the door, Eric threw it open. Laurie stood near her dresser, fully dressed, smiling and…was she wearing makeup?
This day kept getting weirder and weirder.
“How could you let him in this house?” Eric pointed behind him.
“He’s my son.”
“A son who stole a hundred and fifty thousand dollars from you.”
“It’s only money. Let it go.”
Using the mirror over the dresser, Laurie put in earrings. Was she feeling all right? Laurie was as cowgirl as cowgirls came. Jeans-wearing, boot-sporting cowgirl. Usually, the only jewelry she wore was her Sugar Mama tiara. What had gotten into her?
“I didn’t see you come in last night.” She eyed him from the mirror.
“Ange took the keys and…” The bear scare and their kisses seemed miles away now. Mmmm. The kisses. And the ruined quilt. Maybe he should skip telling her the story. “Never mind. Why would you let James back here after what he did to you?”
Laurie crossed the room and patted him on his chest. “It will all turn out all right in the end. Sometimes you have to let things go.”
“We might lose the farm because of him!” His voice rose to a pitch that strained his vocal cords.
“Maybe it’s not as important as we thought. Having him home is better than not knowing what he’s up to.”
“But he stole your retirement. If they annex this part of the county, we’re done for.” He threw up his hands.
“Things will work out,” she reiterated. She placed her palms on his shoulders and faced him square on. “Should we shun him because of one foolish mistake?”
One foolish mistake? “Yes!”
“We shouldn’t let our worst mistakes define us.” Tapping him on his shoulder, she gave him a mom look. “Let’s give James a chance to change.”
Eric couldn’t believe Laurie would let James get away with stealing from the family company and jeopardizing the dairy.
“He won’t change,” Eric muttered under his breath.
She placed a hand on his cheek. “Then maybe you will. Your job isn’t to judge him. It’s to love him.” She spritzed on perfume and headed out the door. “I haven’t asked him about the money. Maybe he has it.”
“I doubt it,” he murmured, following her out. “What are you up to?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s not Sunday, and you’re wearing makeup.”
She reached the stairs and held the banister as she descended. “Can’t a woman dress up now and then?”
He followed her down. “Yes, but…” He couldn’t pinpoint the reason for his mom’s odd behavior. “Something has gotten into you.”
She reached the bottom of the stairs.
Angie crossed the foyer. “Mom has a beau.”
“What?” Eric followed his mom into the kitchen. “Is that true?” For some reason, he expected his mom to be loyal to his dad. For forever.
“Something like that,” Laurie mused. She picked up a dishtowel and dried a red bowl in the draining rack.
Angie stuck her head into the kitchen. “She got a text from him.”
“Who?”
Angie swung on the doorframe. “Carl.”
“Who’s Carl?”
Laurie shook her head, hair falling from her ponytail. “Just a man Tara introduced me to.”
“Show him the text,” Angie prodded.
Laurie dug into the pocket of her jeans and showed Eric.
Taking the phone from her, he read the first one.
It was nice to meet you at the concert last night.—Carl
Did he sign all his texts? Eric scrolled to find more texts from him.
Your song suggestions for future concerts sound like good choices. We should get together and figure out which ones to do.—Carl
Eric scrolled more.
Haha! You are right! I’ll look into it.—Carl
“What is this?” He couldn’t shake the feeling of betrayal. “You aren’t actually going, are you?”
“I am. If he asks me with a more specific date and time.”
“Eric said a bear climbed into his truck.” Angie came into the kitchen as Eric flashed her a scowl.
Laurie’s expression changed from dreamy to horror. “What’s this? Are you all right? He didn’t hurt you did he?”
“I’m fine. It wasn’t that big of a deal.” He stuck his thumb over his shoulder to where his sister stood. “Ange can fill you in. I need to get some sleep.” He kissed his mom and headed upstairs to his room.
Just what was James doing here and how long was he going to stay? Why did all this have to happen now? And did he have the money?
Laurie and the other Sugar Mamas met Saturdays morning to clean the chapel before service on Sunday. They converged on the lavatories as the last place to clean after dusting the pews, vacuuming the worship hall, organizing books, and recycling paper in the library. Some days they cleaned toys in the primary room. Others they wiped chairs in the Sunday School room. Today, Laurie washed the mirror over the sinks in the bathroom, listening to the conversation around her.
“Don’t use that to clean the toilets or you’ll scratch the porcelain.” Although she’d been gone for her honeymoon and to meet family, Deb was back in charge of the Sugar Mamas. She and her new husband now spent half their time in Montreal and the other half here in Sugar Creek. She and Coco Poverly owned the Sweet Suite Bakery downtown. Even in the off-months, Deb popped in to see her great-niece and check on the Sugar Mamas. Right now, they all wore matching aprons with a sparkling tiara on the front to match the tiaras on their heads.
“Are we supposed to use the green bags or the clear bags for the trash in here?” Colleen, who always wore pink and owned the hair salon, held up two sets of bags with manicured nails.
Annette, for once, didn’t have a measuring tape around her neck from her dressmaking shop. She nudged up her glasses. “Who has the window cleaner?”
“I have it!” Laurie called. She handed it to Annette, who pumped a few drops on the full-length mirror and wiped it with paper towels.
Rose scrubbed the toilets. “I thought the choir boys were supposed to take out the trash after service each Sunday so it doesn’t sit in here, stinking.” She spoke with a Polish accent.
Colleen just chose the green bags and stuffed them into the can. “Taking out the trash isn’t our job?”
Deb shook her head. “Choir boys do it to keep the bugs and rodents out of the building.”
Colleen pointed to the bag by the door. “They weren’t done.”
Annette paused from soaking the cleaning solution on the mirror. “I thought we did trash, bathrooms, vacuum the chapel, and clean the toys in the nursery room.”
Deb pulled a list from her pocket. “We also need to straighten hymn books. I’ll let the pastor know.”
“Ah.”
Annette bent to wipe the bottom half of the mirror. “So, Laurie, it’s great to see you out again.”
Laurie finished wiping the mirrors above the sink. “I have some news.”
Everyone in the bathroom stopped and turned toward Laurie.
“I met a man named Carl.”
“Doesn’t he teach at the community college?”
“Yes! He works as the music teacher at CCC. He’s been sending me texts.”
“Oh!”
“Texts!”
“He asked me out for tonight.” Laurie couldn’t hide a deep blush. She turned away from the mirror.
“Are you going?”
“I dunno.” She tore bits off the paper towels in her hands. “James just came back to town, and I haven’t seen him in almost three years.”
Deb shook her head with dismay. “How long will he be home?”
“I don’t know.” That’s the thing with James. He wasn’t reliable. She hadn’t had a chance to really talk to him.
Annette pointed at her. “You should still go out with Carl. It will give your kids a chance to spend time with their brother.”
“True.” Although Eric didn’t want anything to do with James.
“What did James do?” Colleen asked, always ready for gossip.
“Well, it’s what he didn’t do. He and Eric fought. James left. He didn’t stay and help with the business.” She left out the part about the money. It was so crass to talk about money. It was all just a big mess. She didn’t want to think about it.
“That’s why you’re all dressed up, Laurie?”
She glanced at her reflection in the mirror. Maybe she was dressed up. She just felt youthful again with the extra attention from Carl. “I wasn’t expecting him to ask me out. Tara must’ve suggested it to him. She introduced us.”
Rose nodded, bending over to get the last of the full-length mirror. “I only date by referral these days. I don’t trust anyone anymore.”
Deb scrubbed the floor. “What are you doing with Carl?”
“A concert in the park.” She giggled like a schoolgirl.
“Sounds like fun.” Annette clapped her hands.
Anxiety swept over Laurie. “But what do I wear? I haven’t been on a date in nearly thirty years.”
“Do you have a little black dress?” Colleen asked.
“Hardly.”
Deb stood, crossed to her, and patted her on her shoulder. “Just wear what you’d wear to church. That should be fine.”
Laurie frowned. She usually wore pants to service. Especially in the winter when it was too cold to wear dresses.
“I know!” Annette came over, eyes wide. “We should all go shopping for a little black dress. You need one. It’s a wardrobe essential.”
Sugar Mamas crowded around her. “Oh, yes!”
“But where would we start?” Laurie hadn’t thought about her appearance in years. She wouldn’t even know what was in style.
“We’ll start at my shop, and if we can’t find anything there, then we can look around town. Thankfully, we still have a few boutique shops that carry LBDs.”
“LBDs?” Laurie wasn’t familiar with the acronym.
“Little Black Dress.” Annette hooked her elbow around hers. “Come on! It will be fun!”
Laurie glanced around at all the faces filled with anticipation at helping her. She warmed at the years of friendship these women offered her. “Thank you. I would love to do that! How fun!” How wonderful to have a community of friends who rejoiced with you, who helped you, who cheered you on! Laurie wished everyone had such a group. But would this gaggle of women be able to find the perfect dress in time?