“Ronald called this morning. I forgot to tell you.” Dora filled the teakettle at the sink.
Jenny looked over her shoulder at Dora, dressed in her best pantsuit, hair freshly cut and curled. Penny sat across from her, rejecting coffee and requesting hot tea.
“Beauty parlor?” Jenny gestured toward Dora’s hair.
“I wasn’t going to let Abigail Cane catch me looking frumpy. I’ll bring in the cookies and tea when she gets here and then go someplace else so you three can talk.” Dora hesitated. “Did you hear what I said? Ronald called.”
Jenny’s smile came out as a grimace.
Penny raised her eyebrows. “Ex?” she whispered toward Jenny. “Want me to talk to him for you?”
Jenny shook her head. “What’d he want?”
“Goodness, Jenny. He’s your husband. Said to tell you to call him back when you can manage it. He left a number. I tried to talk to him. I mean, it’s been a while, you know. Guess he was in a hurry. Cut me short . . .”
“You know what he’s like.” Jenny truly was sorry, especially sorry that Mom had to talk to him at all. She’d have to break down and tell her about the divorce soon. “Not much I can do.”
“Oh, I know that. I’ve been telling myself what a lucky woman I am.” Dora smiled and reached out to touch Jenny’s cheek.
“Lucky?”
“Lucky that his child will never be my grandchild.”
“What do you mean?” Jenny thought she knew what was coming.
“To tell the truth, I never liked Ronald much, dear. Not half good enough for you. You don’t have to worry. I know about the divorce. Now don’t look like that! No big secret anyway, and I say what you should be doing is thanking that woman for stealing him away from you. It’s like finding a brand-new TV out by the garbage. Attractive thing to take until you get it home and plug it in. Doesn’t work. Doesn’t do anything. Can’t trust it when a good game show’s on. That’s him. Not much of a friend.”
Jenny, relieved, laughed. “How long have you known?”
“Your sister mentioned it.”
“I swear that Lisa’s got the biggest mouth.”
“Lisa doesn’t have a big mouth. She’s got a big heart and you should thank her. Not telling would have come too close to not caring. Someday you will be a mother and you’ll understand that every mother wants to help when her child is suffering.”
Dora hugged her daughter. “Mistakes don’t have to be wounds, Jenny. A mistake can sometimes be the best thing that can happen to a person. Just imagine if you’d married Johnny Arlen? Now that’s a mistake for you. Poor Angel got her wish. Broke the two of you up. She’s on child number three—with a damaged husband.” Dora looked sad, downward wrinkles at the edges of her mouth.
She pushed Jenny’s long hair away from her face and patted it into place. “Now I’ve set out my best cups for Abigail. We’ll show her that Westons are every bit as good as Canes. Wait until you taste the walnut cookies I made this morning. Don’t care who she is; Abigail’s never tasted anything like them.” She meant the last for both Jenny and Penny. The women smiled and agreed they might as well taste one of those cookies ahead of time. Just making sure they were as good as Dora claimed.
***
Eight o’clock came and went. The women moved to the living room with little left to talk about.
Eight thirty.
No phone call.
Nothing.
“What happened to her?” Penelope was very close to anger.
At nine Dora put her extra teacup away. She poured the last of the fancy Earl Grey down the sink and rinsed out the pretty, fluted pot with rosebuds on it.
At nine thirty-five, Dora asked Jenny if she should call and ask Zoe to stay the night. “I know she’ll be eager to hear what happened with Abigail and surprised she never showed up. But that burglary disturbed her. I could tell. She’s been upset all day. Don’t you think it would be best to have both of them here for the night?”
“‘Both of them’?” Penelope stood to leave, mistaking the phrase for Zoe and her.
“Why, Zoe and Fida, of course.” Dora’s cool answer signaled that she’d come close to Jenny’s opinion of Zoe’s attorney.
Penelope sat back down. “I think I’ll wait then. I’d like to talk to her. I might have bullied her—”
“Might?” Jenny asked. “And after what those awful people did, right there in the diner . . .”
Dora went to call and came back to say Zoe and Fida were on their way. “She seemed relieved that I called. That little woman can seem more alone than any person should ever be. For all her talent . . .”
Jenny, disappointed that Abigail hadn’t shown up, still half-expected a sturdy knock at the outside door. She had so many questions for her. Odd that a woman like Abigail hadn’t kept her word. It couldn’t be because she forgot. Who would forget the deaths of two brothers?
Jenny was in the kitchen—anywhere to get away from Penelope. She supposed she should call Ronald back. He’d probably had a change of heart and wanted to weasel her down on the alimony. Charity or Sybil or whoever was probably higher maintenance than Ronald had imagined. He didn’t have imagination enough to think that Jenny might not give a rat’s behind about his problems anymore.
Still . . .
He didn’t answer his phone and she didn’t leave a message. After all, the worst thing that could happen was that he would return her call. She went back to sit across from Penelope in the living room, vowing not to say a single word to the woman.
***
The screaming came from somewhere outside the house. Jenny heard but didn’t move. She told herself it wasn’t more trouble for them, only teenagers giving a party in one of the houses along the street. Or a drunk . . .
It came again. The voice was familiar. Still, she waited.
Dora rushed in breathlessly, stopping under the arch leading back to her bedroom. “Didn’t you hear that?” she demanded first of Jenny and then of Penelope, who sat at the edge of her chair, blinking fast and seeming to be holding her breath.
Another high yell, this time for help. A dog yipped again and again.
“What on earth . . . ?”
They ran to the porch. Dora snapped on the light. A few yards in front of them, a figure was bent over: It was Zoe. She yelled out, “Call an ambulance. She’s been hurt.”
“It’s Abigail,” Zoe screamed even louder. “I fell over her. Oh, go call for help! Get some towels for the blood. Her head! Hurry!”