Thirty-One

  

A closed mouth gathers no foot.

~ Message in fortune cookie at Dun Woo’s House of Noodles

  

Mavis stood in the aisle of the Bottom Dollar Emporium, modeling her reunion dress for Attalee. It was a pink duster with a mandarin collar and gold embroidering down the sides.

Attalee stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled.

“Thank you,” Mavis said. She liked the way the dress emphasized her soft curves. “Do you think it’s too flashy?” she asked. She touched the slight fuzz of mustache above her upper lip. The area stung from a recent application of Jolene bleach.

“You look pretty as a speckled puppy, and you know it,” Attalee said as she swiped at the counter with a damp rag.

Mavis fingered the silky fabric of her dress. “It doesn’t seem right, though. There’s no one else here beside you to admire it.”

“Well, Elizabeth is out of town. Mrs. Tobias is... I don’t know where she is; she’s been lying low for a couple days.” Attalee stopped to think for a moment. “That’s everyone.”

“No, it isn’t.” Mavis sank into a vinyl stool at the soda fountain.

Attalee snapped her dishtowel. “Purge that bra-busting broad from your mind. She ain’t fit to roll with a pig.”

“Birdie always had such good fashion sense,” Mavis said with a wan smile. “She’d suggest just the right accessories for this dress.”

The phone rang, and Mavis hurried to the front of the store to answer it.

“No, Brew,” she said. “The mail’s come, but I didn’t get any more RSVPs. Yes. I’m looking forward to tonight as well.” Mavis hung up the phone and returned to her perch at the soda fountain.

“So is everyone from your high school class coming to the reunion?” Attalee asked.

“A good many, considering the short notice,” Mavis said. “Prissy Stevens, Brew’s old girlfriend, didn’t respond, and I’m grateful for that.”

“Are you afraid Brewster’s going to warm up a pot of old soup?” Attalee asked.

“I don’t think so,” Mavis said. “But it’s a relief not to have to worry about her.”

“What about old Hank Bryson? Wasn’t he in your high school class?”

Mavis smiled at the mention of her friend. She hadn’t seen Hank since he sold his hardware store over a year ago and moved to California to be closer to his daughter.

Attalee leaned across the counter. “Hank always had a sweet spot for you.”

“Oh pooh,” Mavis said, waving her off. “Elizabeth used to say the same thing, but I never saw it. It’s not like he ever asked me out on a date. We were just buddies.”

“I think he would like to have been bosom buddies, but he just didn’t have the nerve to ask you out.”

“You TiVo too many soap operas.” Mavis stood up. “I better change out of this dress before I muss it.”

“Old Hank,” Attalee muttered as she mashed the button on the Oster milkshake machine. “He was the right man for you, I tell you,” she shouted over the roar of the Oster.

“Who’s the right man?” Mrs. Tobias said, peering around the corner.

“Hey, Mrs. Tobias.” Mavis motioned to Attalee to cut off the machine. “I didn’t hear you come in. How are you?”

“I’m curious,” Mrs. Tobias said with a smile. “What man are you talking about? That Brew fellow?”

“No,” Mavis said. “We were actually talking about Hank Bryson. You remember him. Big fellow that used to come into the store? Always wore overalls?”

“He and Mavis are star-crossed lovers.” Attalee squirted a dollop of whipped cream on her milkshake.

“We are not,” Mavis said. “Attalee’s imagination works overtime. Besides, my heart belongs to Brew now.”

“You’ll forget all about Brew once you lock eyeballs with Hank across the dance floor,” Attalee insisted. She took noisy slurps from her straw. “He’s your destiny. I have a psychic knack for knowing these kinds of things.”

“Well, I’ve got a news flash for you,” Mavis said to Attalee. “I didn’t hear a word from Hank about the reunion. I don’t even know if he got his invitation.”

“Tonight’s the night, isn’t it?” Mrs. Tobias said. “Your dress, by the way, is very flattering. I assume you’re wearing it to this evening’s festivities?”

“I am.” Mavis made an awkward 360-degree turn so Mrs. Tobias could see how nicely her dress hung.

“Your dance card will fill up in a hurry,” Mrs. Tobias said, fingering her earrings. “I, too, have a big evening planned for tonight. I’m going out on a date.”

“Where are you and Rusty off to? Maybe we could double-date,” Attalee asked. She clapped a hand over her mouth. “I forgot. Rusty’s supposed to be a secret.”

“Never mind,” Mrs. Tobias said. “Rusty’s out, and Rutherford is in.”

“What happened to Rusty? Y’all were perfect for each other,” Attalee said with a scowl.

“Rutherford is even more perfect.” Mrs. Tobias turned to Mavis. “He’s a respected physician in Augusta, and—”

“So?” Attalee said, with a burp. “Rusty’s a doctor.”

“A duct doctor, Attalee,” Mrs. Tobias said in a firm tone. “Rutherford is an oncologist. He treats cancer patients.”

“Does he fill out the seat of his Levi’s as nicely as Rusty does?” Attalee asked.

“Rutherford doesn’t wear Levi’s.” Mrs. Tobias’s fingers tensed on the handle of her pocketbook. “I do recall him cutting a dashing figure in his Armani suits.”

“Does he have Rusty’s sexy, lopsided smile?” Attalee said, circling Mrs. Tobias. “Is he easygoing and funny? Does he look at you the way Rusty does, like you were the most beautiful gal he’s ever put his sights on?”

“Stop!” Mrs. Tobias said with a bang of her heel. “Rutherford has other qualities that I admire in a man. Rusty’s too small-town, too backwoods, too... common!”

As soon as the words flew from her mouth, she paled as if she wished she could snatch them back.

Attalee slowly set down her milkshake. “What about Mavis and me? Are we common, too?”

“No,” Mrs. Tobias said, on the verge of tears. “You’re my dearest friends. You must know that.”

“‘Course we do.” Mavis patted Mrs. Tobias’s back. “Quit picking on her, Attalee. Mrs. Tobias knows if a fellow is right for her or not. You need to stay out of people’s love lives.”

“You never saw Rusty and Mrs. Tobias together,” Attalee insisted. “They were like Loretta Lynn and Mooney. A match made in heaven.”

“I need to go.” Mrs. Tobias dabbed at the corner of her eye with a gloved finger. “I’ve got a million things to do today.”

“Don’t let Attalee chase you off, Mrs. Tobias,” Mavis said.

“It’s not that.” Mrs. Tobias picked up her purse. “I’m just in a rush.”

After she left, Mavis swiveled her stool to face Attalee. “Sometimes you go too far.”

“Don’t care what nobody says: Rusty was right for her,” Attalee said, clanging soda glasses as she reshelved them. “See how she went back to wearing them proper little suits and those silly white gloves? She needs loosening up, and Rusty’s the one to do it. Heck, we’ve known Mrs. Tobias a couple of years, and we still don’t call her by her given name.”

“It’s just Mrs. Tobias’s way,” Mavis said. “But you shouldn’t have run her off like that. She’s our friend, and you insulted her.”

“Nope, that wasn’t it,” Attalee said, her black eyes glittering under the fluorescent light above the soda fountain. “She wasn’t insulted. She left because she knew I was speaking the truth about Rusty, and she ain’t ready to face it.”

“Attalee—”

She held up a wrinkled finger. “You heard it here first. Mrs. Tobias is in love with Rusty Williams. And a date with some rich doctor ain’t going to change that.”