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Jesse pushed through the door of the Ground Zero Coffee Shop at five after seven Wednesday morning. She stepped back and held the door open for Callie Stillman. The older woman’s hands were full of to-go cups and a bag of pastries.
“Thanks, Jesse.”
“No problem. Have a great day.” She continued into the shop and paused to locate her three friends. Jesse shouldered through the throng of people blocking her path—sheesh, is everyone in Garfield caffeine deprived this morning?—and scooted into the fourth chair at the tiny table tucked into the establishment’s back corner. A hot cup of her favorite mocha brew, a blueberry scone, and three irritated scowls met her arrival.
Randy, her thick red curls pulled back into a messy tail, rearranged the berries on top of her yogurt parfait and glared at her. “You’re late.” Her voice held rebuke.
“Yeah.” Alex hunkered deeper into a navy blue hoodie and covered her mouth with a hand. Once the yawn released her, she stirred her smoothie. “I had to get Hunter out of bed to get the boys ready for school because you said this was urgent. What was so urgent that you showed up late to tell us?”
Jesse smirked at her cranky friends and looked at Charley. “Well?”
The blonde sipped her black coffee, and shoved a crinkled piece of paper across the table. “Just this.”
Jess looked at the receipt. “Twenty-four dollars and fifty-eight cents?”
Charley unwrapped her biscotti. “She who’s tardy pays for the party. You better start talking before our cups are empty, and we need another round.”
Jesse dug her debit card out of her bag and laid it on the table next to the receipt. “Whatever.” She took the time to break off a bite of the scone. She chewed and mulled. Now that she had everyone in one place, she wasn’t quite sure where to start. Mac seems so lost, but so private. I want to help, but...
Randy cleared her throat and tapped at her watch. “Times wasting, girlfriend. We have to be at the spa in forty-five minutes. You need to get to it.”
Jesse leaned forward. “That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you guys about—”
“Oh, no, you don’t.” Alex pinned her with a stare. “This whole workout thing was your idea. I couldn’t walk across the living room yesterday. I ached in places I didn’t know I had muscles. I’ll hurt you if you’re looking for a way to back out.”
Jesse frowned. “What...? No. I’m not backing out. I wanted to talk to you about Mac before we saw her today. After the deal with her son on Monday—”
“Can you believe that kid?” Charley snorted. “Stealing from Dane in broad daylight and then talking to Mac like she was a doormat. Jason had the pleasure of babysitting the kid in an interview room most of the day. He was fuming when he came home for dinner. Said the kid ran everyone ragged all day, wanting this, needing that. I’m so glad we’re raising a girl. If Kinsley ever acts like that, I’ll pin her ears to her head.”
Randy spooned up yogurt. “And you guys wonder why I never wanted kids. I’m so glad Eli and I are past that point in our lives.”
Alex frowned at her. “Eli has a daughter.”
Randy nodded. “And she’s given him nothing but trouble. Thank God she’s grown.”
“And a grandbaby,” Alex continued.
Randy grinned. “Yeah, Astor’s a cutie. A spoil-her-and-send-her-home cutie.”
“Ladies, can we focus here?” Jesse asked.
Charley picked an almond off her biscotti. “Did Dane really take that kid home with him? Is he crazy?”
Jesse massaged the bridge of her nose beneath her glasses. “If you guys would stop interrupting me, that’s what I’m trying to talk to you about.”
Conversation vanished and Jesse’s three friends leaned forward in expectation. As she related the story Mac had shared, irritation and morning fogginess vanished from their expressions, replaced with sympathy, indignation, stark disbelief, and more than one stray tear or two. Trash piled up on their table as, one by one, they pushed their half-finished food and drinks to the side.
Jesse paused to take a breath, and Alex leaned forward on her elbow. “I can’t believe places and beliefs like that still exist. It’s so sad.”
“I’m more mad than sad,” Randy said, squaring her shoulders. “That someone would treat another human like a piece of property...train a child to do the same.” She pursed her lips, obviously at a loss.
Charley cut to the chase in her brisk, no nonsense, cop style. “What can we do to help?”
Jesse smile, pushed her glasses up into her hair, and wiped her eyes. “I knew I could depend on you guys.” She looked at Charley. “Yes, Dane took Riley home with him. God pretty much told him to. Who better to take a lost boy under his wing than the reformed bad boy of Garfield?” She let her gaze travel around the table, from one friend to another. “I heard God telling me the same thing about Mac.”
She shook her head. “I wish you could have seen her. She looked so lost...and ashamed, like the way she’d been raised was her fault. Dane was trying to talk to her, but Mac could barely look him in the eye. Riley isn’t the only one who needs help adjusting to the real world. Mac needs a friend or four. She needs to learn that God is a loving Father, one who values His daughters just as much as His sons, not some overbearing control freak, looking to make her a slave.”
Tears pressed at the back of Jesse’s eyes, and she glanced at her left hand. The imprint of a ring was still there, obvious if you looked close enough. “Lord knows, I haven’t had the best examples where fathers and husbands are concerned, but I’ve always had God’s love to cling to. I can’t imagine living like she did and not having any hope to hold on to.”
Randy drained her cup. “We have to be at the spa in five minutes. What’s the plan?”
“Nothing overt,” Jesse cautioned them. “I don’t want her to think she was the subject of our morning gossip. But we can keep our ears and eyes open to places to help, small offers of companionship, maybe a girl’s night out or something, since Riley is at Dane’s. And we need to invite her to church.”
“What if she pushes away from us,” Alex asked. “She’s got to be skittish where religion is concerned. We don’t want to scare her off.”
“No,” Jesse agreed. “But she needs to see Christianity in action. There’s a world of difference in the two.”
Charley held her hands out to the woman on either side of her. “We’ve got to scoot, but let’s say a prayer for direction first. God knows just how to reach her, and He can show us.” She waited while her friends joined hands. “Father, this is a difficult situation for us to identify with, but we want to help. You know exactly what we need to do. Temper our enthusiasm with love. Guide our words and actions. More than anything, let Mac see the real You through us. Give her wisdom as You give us direction. Love her like she’s never been loved before. Your will, Father, Your timing and Your plan.”
Whispered amens sounded around the table, mixed with the sound of chairs scraping on the floor as the women prepared to leave.
Jesse grabbed the ticket for their breakfast. “You guys go ahead. I’ll take care of this and catch up.”
Charley threw an arm over Alex’s shoulders. “Yeah, let’s go see what torture she has in mind for us today.”
Jesse grinned when she heard Alex groan as they walked to the door.
* * *
MAC RAPPED ON HER MOTHER’S bedroom door. “Mom, your breakfast is on the table. I have to go.” Her sigh echoed in the silent hall. She’d worry except for the fact that, like yesterday, there was evidence that Mom had ventured into the kitchen overnight to eat. She tried the knob. Locked. Mac leaned her head against the door and spoke through the wood, knowing her mother could hear her. “I don’t have time for this. I’m coming home for lunch. Like it or not, we’re having a serious conversation.” More silence greeted her. She shook her head and returned to the living room to grab her bag. Dane’s sister and her friends were scheduled for eight. If she spent any more time trying to deal with her mother, she’d be late. She glanced back down the hall. Stubborn woman!
Mac rushed through the back entrance of Soeurs, dropped her bag just inside the door, and hurried to the front. She hit light switches as she went and turned the lock on the front door just as Jesse and her friends crossed the street, headed in her direction. I really need to talk to the rest of my employees and see if one of them wants to start coming in early. It would be nice to have some backup on mornings like this.
She tabled that thought as her fitness class came through the door. “Come right in, ladies. I see you’re all walking upright with no limps.” Mac grinned. “We’ll have to work harder on that today.” Her smile grew when Alex flinched at her words. This teasing thing is easier than I thought. Maybe friendships would be as well?
“I promise it won’t be as bad as all that.” Mac put an arm around the shoulders of her petite student and turned her toward the stairs. “You guys go on up and get changed. I’m running a couple of minutes behind this morning. I’ll be up in five, and we’ll get started.”
They trooped up the stairs, and Mac heard a few groans. She shook her head. Despite her teasing and what they might think, it really wasn’t her goal to make them sore and achy, but it was an unavoidable side effect when muscles were stretched in new ways. It would wear off as they limbered up.
Mac fed her fish, taking a few greedy moments to watch their graceful glide through the water. She dipped a finger in the warm salt water. What would it be like to be so free...so cared for. She took a deep breath, held it for a count of ten then released it slowly. This was so much harder than she’d imagined. If she went back...
One of her fish darted to the top of the tank, snatched a bite of food, and splashed on the surface before diving down with his treasure. The noise snapped her out of her daydream and brought her back to the shop. Not going there. No way would she allow her mother’s obstinance to send her running back to The Body in defeat.
She hurried through the rest of the morning details, folding a basket of towels, and stacking a few at each nail and pedicure station, turning on the Crock-Pots that heated the hot stones used for massages, and making a quick inspection of the foot baths attached to the pedicure chairs. Satisfied that everything was in order for the morning’s business, Mac made her way up the stairs.
An hour later, after keeping the four women moving for a solid sixty minutes, she joined her class on the mats. “Well done, ladies. Let’s slow down the tempo.” She demonstrated, legs outstretched, back bowed gently, as she reached for her toes. “Breathe and stretch.” She straightened, arms over her head, reaching for the ceiling. “Your muscles need a chance to cool down after a hard workout. It’ll ease the soreness as well.” Mac led them through a few more moves before she climbed to her feet.
Jesse and her friends followed Mac’s lead. The grunts and groans had abated as the hour wore on. They stood now, sweaty but smiling with accomplishment.
“I’d say the fact you’re on your feet instead of collapsed on the floor is a step in the right direction.”
Alex put her hands on her hips and twisted her back. “It did hurt less today.”
“Suck up,” Randy muttered.
Alex shot her a glare and bent to touch her toes. “I think I’m going to buy a workout video to use at home on the days we don’t come here. I like the way working out makes me feel.”
“That’s not what you said over your coffee this morning,” Charley reminded her.
Alex’s expression turned thoughtful. “Mac, I know you have another class coming, but I’d like your recommendation on a home regimen. Could we talk about it over lunch? My treat.”
“I don’t think...” The automatic refusal dwindled from Mac’s lips. She studied Alex’s pixie-like features and her smile of invitation. An offer of friendship? The thought had Mac reconsidering. “I’d like that,” she said. “But I have something I have to do at home today. Would lunch tomorrow work for you?”
“Absolutely. I’ll call you in the morning, and we’ll decide where we’re going.”
“Perfect.” Mac followed her friends down the stairs. Friends? The words tangled her feet on the steps. Maybe it was wishful thinking on her part, maybe that’s not what these four women had in mind, but what could it hurt to think of them that way? Especially if she kept it to herself.
Mac mulled that idea as she worked through her morning. By the time her third and final class departed, it was after eleven. She’d have paid money for a legitimate excuse to skip lunch with her mother, but enough was more than enough. They needed to come to some sort of understanding where Riley in particular, and Garfield in general, were concerned. This whole pouting in her room thing wasn’t working.
She made her way home and reached to open her door. The knob didn’t turn in her hand. Still locked? That seemed strange. Mom liked to sit next to the open door and watch the birds play in the feeders hanging from the trees. It was just about the only thing she did like to do. Mac dug her keys out of her pocket and opened the door.
“Mom?”
The word echoed in the silence, and Mac found her temper surging to the surface. This is ridiculous. She checked the kitchen and found the breakfast she’d left untouched. Stubborn, cantankerous old woman.
The bedroom knob also refused to turn in her hand, and she banged on the door with the side of her fist.
“You need to open this door.”
Silence.
Mac rested her head on the cool wood. “Mother, we need to talk.” She listened for any movement on the other side. Something about the silence worked its way under her frustration. Something wasn’t right.
Mac went back to the kitchen and rummaged through the junk drawer until she located a small screwdriver. Back at her mother’s door, she inserted the tool into the small hole in the center of the knob. Her hands shook as she worked it back and forth. A sigh of relief whooshed from her lungs when she felt the lock turn.
She stepped into the room, and relief turned to panic. Her mother lay on the floor dressed in her nightgown. Mac rushed across the room and knelt beside her, then shook her shoulder.
“Mom.”
Her fingers fumbled as she tried to find a pulse beneath the clammy, pale skin. When she found it, the faint beat did nothing to reassure her. Her mother’s eyes fluttered open for a half second, and her mouth formed Mackenzie’s name soundlessly.
“I’m here.” Mac reached for her phone, searched in vain, and realized it was still in the car. “I’ll be right back.” She flew from the house, yanked the car open, grabbed the phone, and dialed 911.
“I think my mother has had another stroke.” Mac rattled off her address as she ran back to the house. “I need an ambulance.”