Riverbend Reunion(42)

“And Jessica and Wade are doubling that first problem by fighting the sparks between them,” Risa said as she stood and headed toward the kitchen with her empty glass in her hand.

“You saw it, too?” Haley followed her into the kitchen. “I thought maybe I was imagining things.”

“I can almost feel the heat between them.” Risa rinsed her glass and put it in the dishwasher. “But we have to let them find their own way through this, and not try to help, right?”

“I suppose so,” Haley answered, “but it sure is tempting to give them a little push, isn’t it?”

“Nope.” Risa shook her head. “What if we did, and it was a disaster like what happened with me and Paul? Or like Mary Nell and Kevin? We better just let them figure things out on their own.”

“Now who’s the counselor?” Haley giggled.

Risa threw up her palms in a defensive gesture. “Not me. I’m having trouble controlling my own life. I’m not smart enough to help anyone else. But I’m really glad I’ve got this roommate who is able to help all of us through these difficult times.”

Haley gave her a quick hug. “Don’t underestimate yourself. You’ve helped me a lot tonight by just talking to me. So, thank you.”

“You’re welcome, but I really think that you are just saying that to make me feel better. Good night, and thank you for”—Risa headed for the door and then turned around—“for everything.”

“Welcome,” Haley muttered and went straight to the bathroom just off her bedroom and took the pregnancy test.

She laid the stick on the counter, pulled up her underpants, and went back to the bedroom. The directions said two lines would appear within one minute if she was pregnant. One line meant that all the stress had simply caused her to be late.

The clock beside her bed had never moved so slowly in her life. Seconds took hours, a full minute was just short of eternity, but when it had passed, she couldn’t force herself to go into the bathroom. A dozen steps from the end of her bed to the vanity would tell the tale of her future and present her with the most difficult decision she’d ever made. If there were two lines, she would resign from her job and become a bartender-slash-waitress. No way could she go back there and tell the baby daddy that she was pregnant. He was happily married now and should have been shot for not telling her he was engaged when they were having their fling.

“Men should have to mark their foreheads with a red X when they become engaged, or at least wear some kind of a ring like women do to let the world know they are taken,” she mumbled as she forced herself to go to the bathroom.

She closed her eyes when she reached the door and leaned against the vanity for several seconds before she opened them. Everything was slightly blurry at first, but then the stick and the two lines came into focus.

She put the lid down on the toilet and sat down with a thud. Staring hard at the test, she tried to will one of the lines to disappear. A family was always something years away for her, and now right there in two lines no more than an eighth of an inch long, her future unveiled itself. She was going to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Only she was thirty-eight, not a teenager, and she didn’t have a mother to step up and adopt her baby.

“I’m going to be a single mother,” she whispered as the tears began to flow down her cheeks.

But you have a support system in your friends, the voice in her head reminded her. Maybe a new little life is exactly what this team needs to take its mind off all the other problems they have.





Chapter Nine


Jessica had just put on a pot of coffee on Sunday morning when her phone rang. She sat down at the kitchen table and answered it. “Mornin’, Haley. What are you doing up this early? Last night you said you were sleeping until noon.”

“Risa is going to church this morning, and she needs our support. After last night, there’s no telling what Stella is liable to do or say to her or the twins,” Haley said. “I’m going with them, but I thought we should all be there. Will you come, and will you tell Wade? I understand he hasn’t been in church since Danny died, but we need him and Oscar both. They’re part of our team.”

“What time do I need to be there, and what church?” Jessica yawned. “And yes, I will tell Wade. Have you talked to Mary Nell?”

“Services start at eleven. Be there fifteen minutes early and we’ll all go in together. It’s the little redbrick church out at the end of Main Street. And I’ve talked to Oscar. He said he’ll bring Mary Nell with him,” Haley answered.

“And we can sit on the back pew so we can escape right after the last amen, right?” Jessica asked.

“Oh, no,” Haley said, “we’re going to sit up front so Stella can see us. Risa is not going to let anyone control her, remember?”

“Then I guess I’d better not wear camouflage pants and my military boots,” Jessica said with a giggle.

“Maybe you should.” Haley laughed with her. “It might show Stella that her daughter has the support of the army behind her if you and Wade are both there.”

Wade came into the kitchen, waved, and went straight to the coffeepot. He filled up a mug, took a sip, and set it on the counter. Then he opened the refrigerator and pulled out a stick of sausage and a can of biscuits and started making breakfast.