Chapter Two #2
Tina shot a smile almost as fake as the ones Reesa was giving out that day. “No, I’m working. This is my first day. I’m staying at Mae and Cleo’s place. Anything else I can do for you?”
“Why did you come back to Benson? Still in love with Walker? You do know that he never got over the crush he had on me, don’t you?”
Tina was glad that Walker was out of hearing distance, and did her best to ignore the barb. She pulled out another pair of jeans with lace inserts under the ripped places on the legs. “You might want to buy these to go with the lacy blouse. That is, if your checkbook can handle it.”
“Oh, honey . . .” Reesa’s tone dripped venom. “I could buy everything in this store if I wanted it.” She snatched the jeans out of Tina’s hands.
The bell jingled and gave Tina time to corral some of the sarcastic words she was on the verge of spitting out.
“If you need a bigger size in anything, just give me a shout. Looks like I’ve got more customers to wait on.
” She turned around and grimaced in recognition at the two women who were headed toward the clothing racks.
“Tina O’Grady, as I live and breathe, what are you doing in Benson?
” Sabrina Miller, another old classmate, threw her hand up to her slim cheek on a gasp.
She still didn’t hesitate to brush her hair away from her face and tuck it behind her ears to show off her diamond studs.
Like Reesa, she was a short blonde, but she seemed to have maintained her weight.
Her waist was still small, and she had evidently had a boob job, because her chest matched her rounded butt these days.
“I’m working,” Tina answered. “Can I help you find something?”
“We’re here to look around. We’ve already seen most of the merchandise in this place, but I wanted to come back to good old Benson on my birthday for a girls’ day out.
I feel like I’m still young when I’m here,” Faith Sullivan answered as she flipped through the hangers on the jeans rack.
“I can’t believe that you are back in town. ”
Faith, the odd girl out when it came to her looks—with her mousy brown hair, a million freckles that no amount of makeup could ever cover up, and her curvy body—had also been a cheerleader.
Story had it that after she’d bombed during tryouts, her mama had marched into the superintendent’s office.
The next day an announcement was made saying that the judges had made a mistake and Faith was on the team.
Gracie, Sabrina, Faith, Reesa, and me, Tina thought. That’s five of the six girls in our graduating class.
“Are y’all still living here?” Tina asked.
“Yes, we are.” Faith pulled out a pair of fancy blinged-out jeans that were probably two sizes too small to fit her curvy frame. “I’d wear these, but Weston would have a fit.”
Tina didn’t recognize the name, which meant Faith had married someone from out of town. She made a mental note to ask Walker about it later.
“You would look so good in them,” Sabrina told her. “To answer your question, Tina, since you are back in town, all the girls from our graduating class are still living here, or at least near Benson.”
“Except for poor Deborah.” Faith bowed her head for a split second. “May she rest in peace. She died last year in a car crash. A drunk driver hit her while she was walking home from her shift at the doughnut shop.”
“I’m so sorry. I liked her.” Tina realized that she had probably missed even more in the years she was gone. She made another mental note to ask Cleo and Mae about anyone who had passed on, gotten married, or had babies.
“Not to speak ill of the dead,” Faith whispered, “but rumor had it that she was sleeping with her boss.”
Tina bit back the swear words that wanted so badly to be said, took a deep breath, and said, “Don’t believe everything you hear, and only half of what you see.”
Sabrina sneered at her. “I would expect that out of Gracie but not out of you. Have you seen her since you’ve been back? I hear she’s been seeing one of her coworkers on the sly. He’s not Catholic, so her folks would have a hissy fit if they knew.”
Though it cost her a lot of patience and her daily helping of willpower, Tina kept her mouth shut and pulled a purse down from the top of a nearby rack. “Yes, I have seen Gracie. We’re both living at Cleo and Mae’s place. Happy birthday, Faith. Isn’t this pretty?”
Sabrina hung the jeans back on the rack. “She married a preacher, so she has to uphold an image,” she whispered as if telling a secret no one else knew.
“I’m standing right here—and marrying Weston was the best thing I ever did,” Faith said in a snippy tone.
“Yes, darlin’, it was,” Sabrina agreed. “I just wanted Tina to know that you are a preacher’s wife.”
“And proud of it,” Faith said.
“Now, let’s talk birthday presents,” Sabrina said.
“That purse is gorgeous, and Weston said that since he didn’t know what to buy for you, you could pick out something nice.
I’ll chip in half for it since you don’t want to bankrupt the poor man.
Your purse . . .” She looked down at the denim hobo bag Faith had hung on her shoulder. “Could use an update.”
“That is so, so sweet. You are right. I could never put something that expensive on our credit card. Here, hold my purse while I try it on.” Faith took the soft leather purse from Tina’s hands and slung it over her shoulder and went to the floor-length mirror hanging on one of the dressing room doors.
“Look, Sabrina, it works beautifully. All the women in my Sunday school class are going to be jealous. You are an angel for offering to help pay for it, but . . .”
Sabrina barely looked up from the rack of shirts. “Yes, they are. And, darlin’, it’s your birthday, so you deserve to be spoiled.”
Faith, the absolute wildest girl in high school, had married a preacher, yet was still acting like a high school girl?
Tina had been right in thinking that not much had changed in Benson.
People had died. Babies had been born. Life had gone on.
But the attitudes of most of the folks had stayed the same.
Such is life, she thought.
Faith turned around and focused on Tina, her hazel eyes drawn down to mere slits. “Whatever made you come back to this area? I figured you’d at least be a girls’ softball coach. I would have never guessed you’d be working in Walker’s store.”
“I like it here,” Tina answered, then changed the subject. “Where did you meet Weston?”
“Weston has such a lovely Southern accent,” Sabrina answered for Faith.
“I could listen to him read a chapter of Moby-Dick on Sunday mornings. My granny over in Vega bullied me into going to church with her on Easter a few years back, and I made Faith go with me. She fell in love with Weston at first sight.”
“That day changed my life forever.” Faith almost swooned. “And he’s all mine.”
All Sabrina needed was a ribbon to tie around her long ponytail and a short skirt to be ready to cheer at the next basketball game.
She flashed a fake smile at Tina and handed her several shirts on hangers.
“I’ll try these on. Would you hold that brown purse with fringes on it for me?
I’ve been wanting one like that for months. ”
“When Reesa finishes in the dressing room, I’ll hang these in there for you,” Tina said. “Are you married?”
“Not yet, but I’m engaged.” Sabrina held out her left hand to show off a diamond only slightly smaller than an ice-skating rink.
“Congratulations. Who’s the lucky guy?”
“He is the new CEO of Red’s Oil Company,” she answered. “His name is Brandon Massey. You might not remember him, but he was at our graduation party. I think he was a friend of Reesa’s. Anyway, enough catching up.” She waved at Reesa, who had pulled back the curtain on her dressing room.
“Oh. My. God!” Reesa squealed. “I can’t believe y’all are here. I was just about to call you and see if you could meet me for lunch since it’s Faith’s birthday.”
Tina would bet dollars to cow chips that not a one of the three could tell her when her birthday was. Or when Deborah’s had been, either, or even Gracie’s. She hung Sabrina’s choices in the small dressing room with mirrors on three sides and stepped back.
“Darlin’ . . .” Sabrina crossed the room and hugged Reesa. “I haven’t seen you in a minute. Oh, I love that outfit on you. Faith and I were also going to call you as soon as we finished in here to invite you to lunch!”
“This is our first stop for my birthday,” Faith said. “We are going to have breakfast at the Doughnut Palace. That will take a couple of hours of catching up, and then we can spend some time in the antique shop before we have lunch at the Cantina.”
“I’ll take all of this, and I’ll wear it.” Reesa slid another sly look over at Tina. “Just put the things in the dressing room in a bag for me.”
Tina had no doubt that all three of them were in the store “accidentally on purpose” to get fodder for the gossip vines.
By tomorrow, there would be even more reports about her than she’d had to endure in high school.
That old country song about a person always being seventeen in their hometown was right on the money, but these three social climbers were not going to run her out of town—no, sir.
Not even if they blew up social media with their gossip.
“If you’ll follow me to the register, I’ll cut the tags off your purchases, Reesa,” Tina said.
Faith whipped around with the leather purse in her hands. “Look what Weston and Sabrina are going in together on to buy me for my birthday. I’m so glad you are joining us. That will make it a perfect day.”
Reesa smiled smugly at Tina as if to drive the point home that she was not invited on their special outing. “Since it’s your birthday, Faith, I’ll buy the matching wallet for you.”
Not to be outdone, Sabrina held up a lovely silk scarf. “I want you to have this. Happy birthday, my friend.”