Riverbend Reunion(75)

“How did that make you feel?” Risa asked.

Haley grinned. “That’s my line, but it made me feel all kinds of mixed emotions. Anger at Mark for what he did to me and Amanda both. Pity for her, and guilt for me not stepping up and telling her what a son of a bitch he was before she married him.”

“That’s quite a load for you to carry with the pregnancy and all,” Risa said with a sigh.

“Yep, it is,” Haley said with a nod, “but y’all are helping me carry it.”

“I can agree with that,” Mary Nell said. “When I was just about to say I’d give Kevin a second chance, I thought of the happiness I’d found here with y’all. Life is good.”

“Agree,” Haley said.

“I’ve got a confession, too,” Jessica said. “I got a call from one of my military team with a job offer, but it’s not a big thing like Mary Nell. I turned him down. He told me that the job was open for a year if I change my mind. Y’all want to move to Arizona or New Mexico if the bar goes belly up?”

“Oh, hell no!” Haley gasped. “I don’t like to sweat, and it gets hotter out there than it does here in Texas. Why would you ask us if we want to go anyway? Did the job offer say you could bring along three friends?”

“And a set of twins?” Daisy asked.

“No, but I sure wouldn’t go without you. Risa could get a job at any restaurant on the base, and Mary Nell could keep books, and Haley, you wouldn’t need much schooling to be a full-fledged therapist. If they want me, they have to take us all,” Jessica answered and winked at Daisy, “including a set of twin girls. But like Mary Nell and Haley, I don’t want to leave what we’ve got here.”

Tears ran down Mary Nell’s face and dripped onto her shirt. “I couldn’t leave what we have and go back to the stress I was living under. We were best friends when we were in high school, but now that we’re grown up, we’re more like family.”

Haley draped an arm around Mary Nell’s shoulder and patted her. “I feel the same way. It must be the night for throwing doubts at us, though.”

“You too?” Jessica picked up one of the spoons and took her first bite of ice cream.

“This all sounds like a bad soap opera, and we haven’t even added our episode to it.” Lily licked the spoon she’d been using and carried it and her empty tea glass to the dishwasher. “But mine and Daisy’s story is just as bad. Daddy called. Granny Martha came in while he was talking, and . . .”

“She laid down the law,” Daisy finished, then went on to tell them what had happened. “Maybe we should all just toss our phones in the trash and get new ones and new numbers.”

Jessica glanced across the table at Risa. Her hands trembled so badly that she almost dropped the spoon when she dug into the ice cream. It didn’t take a genius to know that all this had shaken her up pretty badly.

“Are you okay?” Jessica asked.



“I had just signed the divorce papers when the phone call came from him.” Risa felt totally empty inside just thinking about how cruel Martha had been, yet angry at the same time at Paul for not ever standing up to his mother. “Martha said I was an unfit mother. Do you think she would pressure Paul to get into a custody battle with me?”

“She might,” Mary Nell said, “but they can’t win. By the time they could even get anything started, the girls would be seventeen. If he makes good on his threat, we’ll all pitch in to pay for a good lawyer to fight him.”

“Lily and I can make cookies and sell them all over town to raise money for a lawyer,” Daisy offered. “I don’t want to go back to Kentucky. I might have wanted to if we still had to live with Granny Stella, but now that we’ve got a home with Haley, I don’t want to leave Texas.”

“You think Granny Stella is worse than Granny Martha?” Lily asked.

“Yes, I do. Granny Martha is bossy and has to rule the whole family, but Granny Stella is even meaner,” Daisy declared.

“We won’t take no for an answer if it comes to a custody fight, and you girls won’t have to peddle homemade cookies all over town,” Haley told them. “Like Mary Nell said, we’ll pool our money, and if I have to, I’ll sell the house and we’ll all move in the extra Sunday school rooms.”

“Thank you!” Daisy and Lily said in unison and high-fived each other.

Mary Nell took another bite of ice cream. “What was it that the old pirates used to say?”

“All for one,” Lily quoted.

“And one for all,” Daisy finished for her.

“Thank God we’ve all got each other,” Jessica told them. “Did you tell Oscar about Kevin’s call?”

“Yes, I did,” Mary Nell answered, “and when I get home, I’ll tell him about Paul’s call to the girls, too. He’s kind of adopted them as his grandkids. My first thought was to call Haley and get us all together. I felt so sorry for Kevin until I realized that he was just playing me, again, and that he hasn’t changed, and all he wants is a person to support him while he follows his dream.”

“I understand.” Risa had friends—no, she had a family—who would stand behind her. That was more than she’d ever had, and there was no way she would take it for granted. “All Paul wants is a woman who won’t fuss about him putting another deer head on the living room wall or another mounted squirrel on the end table. Our house looked like a taxidermy shop.”