Riverbend Reunion(48)

Stella didn’t even turn around, just kept marching forward and out of the church.

“I’m going to order pizza to take to my house,” Haley said. “We can all meet up there and talk about this away from the public ear.”

“You ladies go on and hash it all out,” Wade said. “Oscar and I have a regular Sunday afternoon date with a bunch of guys for a domino game. We’re going to grab a burger and get on out to his house.”

“Besides,” Mary Nell said in a low voice, “neither of you want to hear all the griping, do you?”

“You got that right.” Oscar nodded. “See you all tomorrow morning at the bar, if it hasn’t burned down by then.”

“I doubt that very much,” Jessica said. “Like you said, if God wanted the building to be a church, He wouldn’t have knocked the steeple off the top of it.”





Chapter Ten


Haley was so glad that the slight morning sickness had passed and she was able to eat pizza and breadsticks for Sunday dinner. During church services she had made up her mind that this afternoon she would tell the others about the pregnancy, but now that the time was there, she wasn’t sure she was ready to confide in them.

“We need to practice,” Lily said as she divided the last piece of pizza to share half with her sister. “Granny Martha might have been a bossy old girl, but she was right when she told us practice makes perfect.”

“Yep,” Daisy said as she took a bite of her slice. “Backyard or my bedroom?”

“We’re kind of noisy, and these folks probably want to talk about the bar or Granny Stella’s little hissy fit. I really thought she’d do something even worse than she did,” Lily answered. “We better practice in the backyard. If I drop anything in your spick-and-span room, you’ll gripe for a month.”

“The whole reason I suggested the backyard was because there wouldn’t be a place to even sit in your bedroom without moving clothes or shoes,” Daisy shot back.

Haley bit back a giggle. “I sure wish I would’ve had a sister to banter with like you girls do.”

Lily waved a hand around the table to take in everyone. “You do. Sisters don’t have to be blood kin. They can be heart kin.”

“Amen,” Haley said.

Jessica and Mary Nell both nodded.

“Out of the mouths of babes.” Risa blew a kiss toward the twins as they left the room, then waited until they were completely gone. Then she sighed and said, “Thank God for y’all. I got a text from Paul late last night. He wanted an address to send the divorce papers.”

“Well, he certainly didn’t let any grass grow beneath his feet on that, did he?” Mary Nell finished off her sweet tea and pushed her chair back. “Did he say what he was asking for? Is he going to fight you for custody?”

“No, he said it’s just pretty simple. If the girls want to see him, they’re free to come to Kentucky anytime. Other than that, he owns no property, and the only thing we have together is two vehicles. He gave me the oldest truck when the girls and I left,” Risa answered.

“That sounds good to me,” Jessica said. “I see we’ve all got empty glasses, so I’ll just bring the pitcher to the table.”

“Have you told the girls?” Haley asked.

Risa shook her head. “Not yet, but I will before bedtime. He said that he won’t fight me for custody, but he intends to call them and give them the choice of where they want to live. They can either go back to Kentucky to live with him or stay here, but he wants to be a part of their lives.”

“How’s he going to do that?” Haley was glad to have something to think about other than that positive pregnancy test. “Is he going to drive down here for every school event this year? Or is he going to send them plane tickets to Kentucky for the holidays?”

“Probably neither,” Risa answered, “but maybe they can FaceTime with him and the rest of the family.”

Jessica couldn’t imagine how it would affect Risa if either or both the twins decided to go back to Kentucky. They weren’t even her daughters, and yet, just thinking about the hole their leaving would make in her own heart caused Jessica to go all misty eyed. She had served with the same team for years, knew when they had marital problems, when their wives had babies, and yet, she had never felt as close to them as she did Risa and the girls. Maybe Lily was right when she said that sisters could be of the heart.

“You don’t think they’d go, do you?” Jessica’s voice cracked.

Risa’s chin quivered, and Haley laid a hand on her shoulder. “Everything will be all right. Those girls love you, and they’d never leave you.”

“I hope not,” Risa said. “They’ve been the only bright spot in my life, but they should be allowed to make their own decision. Martha was strict and overbearing, but the girls loved their cousins, and they had to leave their friends and the school they had attended all their lives.”

“They should know that he’s going to call,” Haley said as she refilled all the tea glasses. “That way, they’ll have time to talk about it and make a decision ahead of time.”

“And not get blindsided,” Mary Nell said and grabbed a paper napkin from the middle of the table to wipe her eyes. “That’s tough, and I’m speaking from experience.”