Small Town Rumors(56)

They’d finished their first glass of wine when she moved down the line to do Lettie’s toenails. And they were working on their third when she started Nadine’s. No one could ever accuse these old gals of not being able to hold their liquor. It wasn’t until she’d finished and had started back around to do Lettie’s fingernails that they got happy and started slurring their words.

Mabel tapped Lettie on the shoulder. “Did you hear that the almighty Belinda Anderson has gotten religion?”

Nadine guffawed. “After all them wild oats she’s sowed, it’ll take more than workin’ in the clothes closet for the poor to redeem her. She’d do better to join a convent.”

“Man, that must’ve been a shock to Belinda,” Jennie Sue said.

“They say karma will sneak up on a person and bite them on the butt. Well, this is Belinda’s time to get bit. Neither of her daughters belong to her husband, and all her diamonds are fake,” Lettie whispered.

“No! She could be forgiven for sleeping around, but to wear fake diamonds? She might not ever get into heaven for a stunt like that. What happened to her real jewelry? Did your aliens steal them, Nadine?” Jennie Sue joked.

Nadine shot a mean look her way. “Don’t you tease about that, girl. Them things might be real, and you might make them mad if they hear you accusin’ them of stealin’ diamonds. I heard that she hocked most of her fancy jewels to pay off a blackmailer who threatened to tell her husband about the girls,” Nadine said.

“Does he know now?” Jennie Sue didn’t think anything could shock her, but they’d proven her wrong.

“Hell, no,” Lettie answered. “That man’s head is buried in the sand when it comes to Belinda. He has no idea that she had her good stones taken out of her jewelry and fake ones set in their place. She’ll be the talk of the town the whole time she’s carryin’ that baby. And chances are, this time it’s poor old Lonnie’s kid.”

“Why poor old Lonnie?” Jennie Sue asked.

“He’s declarin’ that they are too old to have another baby and wantin’ her to get an abortion. They are both forty-five years old, and she thought at first she was goin’ through menopause and had a case of the flu,” Nadine said.

“I used to babysit her girls. They were five or six years younger than me. I feel sorry for them,” Jennie Sue said. “Poor Lonnie. Is someone going to tell him?”

“Who knows,” Mabel said. “Belinda would be wise if she just came clean and quit trying to get absolution by doing extra duty at church.”

“Sometimes that’s a lot easier said than done,” Jennie Sue said.





Chapter Fourteen

After all the talk about Belinda and a new baby at the end of the previous week, Jennie Sue borrowed the truck on Monday and drove straight to the cemetery before work. The sun was an orange ball on the horizon, and a nice breeze fluttered the old oak trees clustered around the Baker plot. Twice she opened the door and slammed it again, but the third time she made it all the way to the grave site and sat down in front of where Emily Grace was buried.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered as she pulled a few weeds growing up in the plot. “I wanted you, sweet little girl.” Tears flooded her cheeks as she laid her hands on the grass covering the spot where her baby was. She wanted closure, but she couldn’t find it—not that day.

“I need something to help me decide what to do,” she said. “Do I stay in Bloom? Do I go? Do I tell everyone that I had a beautiful baby girl? Oh, my sweet child, I wish we could have had years and years together. Even with family and all my new friends, I feel so alone sometimes.”

She felt better when she stood up and went back to the truck, but she was still weeping when she started driving. She was so immersed in her thoughts that she blew right through a four-way stop sign and almost collided with a car. She slammed on the brakes and covered her eyes. When she opened them, Rick was tapping on her window. She rolled it down and hoped that he wouldn’t notice that she’d been crying.

“I’m so sorry. What’re the odds?” He attempted a grin, but his voice was shaky. “That was totally my fault. I was thinking about something else, and I ran right through that sign. What are you doin’ out this early? Are Lettie and Nadine okay?”

This was totally surreal. Was it all a dream? Had she really gone to the cemetery? She reached through the window and touched his face to be sure. He grabbed her hand and held it there.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

The touch of his hand on hers steadied her nerves. “I’m fine, Rick. And Lettie and Nadine are fine.” Her voice notched a little higher than usual, and her heart pumped a little faster.

“I had an early-morning delivery, and now I’m on the way home. We’d better both keep our minds on driving, right?” He removed her hand and kissed the palm. “Have a great day, Jennie Sue.”

Is that a sign I should stay here? she asked herself as she checked her hand to see if his lips had left a warm imprint. Surprisingly, it didn’t look any different than it had before.



Rick ran a hand over his lips several times as he drove home. His pulse was still racing when he got back to the house. Thank goodness Cricket was still in her room, because he didn’t want to talk to anyone who would spoil the mood.