Chapter 65

It was another Saturday night crop, just like any other. Except it really wasn’t.

Annie looked like hell—pale and thinner than usual. Cookie sat quietly and stared off into space. Vera was busily working on her Halloween scrapbook. Paige and Randy were chattering about some family reunion and suddenly everything stopped when Sheila made the announcement that she had quit her dream job. Just like that.

“Are you certain?” Vera asked.

“Absolutely,” Sheila said. “I’ll be freelancing from home to finish up some projects I’ve been working on. Then I’m done. It was too much for me.”

“That’s too bad,” Annie said. “I know how much it meant to you.”

“Well, what about you?” Sheila said.

“What do you mean?” Annie said.

“You’re doing the same thing,” Sheila said. “Giving up a job you love for your family.”

“I hadn’t thought of it like that,” Vera said.

“I’ve been a reporter for twenty-five years,” Annie said as she sorted through some photos. “It’s not the same thing at all. Um . . . or maybe it is. I don’t know. . . .” Her voice trailed off.

“We all do what we have to do,” Paige said. “Look at me. I’m still teaching and I wanted to retire years ago.” She shrugged.

“Besides,” Sheila said. “I’m not really giving it up. I’ll be freelancing a good long while. I just can’t continue going like I have been. Once I get Donna on the right track with her health, it should be fine. It’s just bad timing.”

“I think it sucks,” DeeAnn said. “Why doesn’t Steve help you out more with Donna? She’s his kid, too.”

A hush fell over the room.

“Now, DeeAnn, you know Steve helps where he can. His job is important. He still makes more money than I do and it takes him away from home a lot,” Sheila said. “And to tell you the truth, I want to be the one taking care of her. Call me old-fashioned or whatever you want.”

“I totally get that,” Vera said.

Murmurs of agreement came from the others around the table.

“Just don’t forget to take care of yourself,” Cookie said.

“I’m trying,” Sheila said. “Quitting my job is the first step.”

“But didn’t you say how it nourished you?” DeeAnn asked.

Annie looked up from what she was doing.

“Yes,” Sheila said after a moment. “And I’ll always have the confidence the job gave me. But it’s not the job, but the actual work that nourished me. The art. I’ll have to think of a better way. Right now, I’ve been given the go-ahead from my boss to come up with a line of paper dolls, at a much slower pace than what I’ve been doing. Donna and I are going to do it together.”

“How fantastic,” DeeAnn said.

Murmurs of agreement swirled around the table again.

DeeAnn bit into a lemon cupcake. She wasn’t a big fan of lemon, but the cupcake was good and refreshing.

“No sugar,” Cookie said. “Can you believe it? I found the recipe in a book at the library. I really like them. What do you think?”

“I think it’sh good,” DeeAnn said. “I can’t believe there’sh no sugar in it. But maybe that’sh why I like it so much. I don’t usually like lemon.”

“You’re slurring your words again,” Paige said.

“Well, I’m off my medicine, so it must be the booze,” DeeAnn said. “Maybe I shouldn’t have had that third glass of wine.” She giggled. “Damn smart, independent daughters made me stop taking those pain pills. And I gotta tell you, they were right. I might have been on my way to addiction.” She looked around the table at her friends.

Sheila had gone back to the paper she was meticulously cutting out with tiny scissors. Annie and Vera were comparing their Halloween books. They appeared to be zipping right through those scrapbooks. Maybe doing a premade scrapbook was a good idea. DeeAnn had never tried it. In fact, she thought it was kind of cheating. But she was slowly changing her mind—about a lot of things. She’d never imagined liking a vegan anything, nor a sugarless cupcake. Now that she was down two sizes, she might embrace a healthier lifestyle. It was all good, no matter what her overprotective daughters thought.

“I’ve been thinking about Jorge,” Cookie said. “I hope he’s okay. I’m guessing Irina was abusive to him.”

“You’re right,” Annie said. “She was. He was scared of her. And it turns out that she was abusing Michelle Drummond, too.”

“What?” DeeAnn said. “How awful! To take advantage of a sick woman like that!”

“They are trying to get her medicine squared away,” Annie said. “It appears she has a bunch. They’re not sure how many doctors have given her which medicine and so on. It’s a mess. She doesn’t have to be on that many meds. Once they get her off of everything, she might turn out to be the healthiest person in Cumberland Creek.”

“I doubt that,” Vera said. “It would be nice, of course. But Sheila and I went to school with her and she’s always had problems.”

“But nowadays medicine is so much better,” Sheila said. “Let’s hope she can leave her house soon.”

“They’ve come a long way with medicine,” DeeAnn agreed. “I mean two weeks ago, I was still flat on my back. And now here I am.”