I leave the office early on Friday afternoon feeling, as Mama would say, plum tuckered out. It’s difficult enough to deal with hiring a new store set coordinator after the one who’s been with me since I got promoted decided to “find herself” in a cross-country motorcycle trip with some guy she’s been seeing all of two months. Now I have to start hunting for someone to fill her position, as well as a sales manager to replace the one I trusted but who went off and accepted a position with our chief competitor.

I’ve always been loyal, so I expect those around me to be the same way. Unfortunately, I’m often disappointed when I find out how little I know about someone.

The only thing that’ll make me feel better today is a new head-to-toe outfit, and the best place to find one of those is La Chic. I usually wind up with an extra-nice bonus since I wear the sample size of most of their shoes, and they almost always have something they’re taking off the display that I can pick up for a steal. I’ve asked Amanda about how that always happens when I visit her boutique, and she says I have great timing.

I pull up in front of the store, get out of my car, and walk toward the front door. To my surprise, as soon as I step inside, my brother’s wife, Puddin’, is standing there talking to the owner.

Puddin’ looks like she just spotted a ghost. Before I can say something nice, which I always do when I see her because she’s so sweet, she starts babbling about how little time she has to shop, since she has to leave and pick up the baby from his church program. Her hand flies up to her mouth as though she might have let something slip. “I hope you don’t think I’m a spendthrift,” she adds with a shaky smile. “I almost never spend money on myself.”

Amanda freezes and appears awkward momentarily, which also surprises me since she’s always so confident and self-assured. Then she reaches over behind the counter, picks up a bracelet, and holds it out toward Puddin’. “Don’t forget this bracelet that you bought from the clearance case.”

She puts so much emphasis on where the bracelet came from, the situation goes from awkward to suspicious. Puddin’ stops in her tracks and accepts the bracelet. “Gotta run or I’ll be late.” She lifts a hand and smiles at Amanda. “See you—” She stops mid-sentence and runs out the door.

I turn to Amanda, who makes a show of moving something from one side of the case to the other. It appears she’s trying to avoid looking at me.

“What’s going on?”

She shrugs. “Not much here. How about with you?” She says it so quickly she sounds even more suspicious, and I can’t help but wonder if she’s trying to hide something.

“I didn’t expect to see my sister-in-law here.”

Amanda glances away. “I have a lot of customers.” She slowly turns her gaze back to me as she swings her arms forward, clasps her hands, and smiles. “We just got a new line of casual wear that I think will look great on you.”

I spend the next hour pulling things from the rack and trying them on. To my delight, all of the things in her new line are so reasonable I’m able to buy more than I expected.

As I pay, I think about Puddin’ again. “Did my sister-in-law see this new line? I can totally see her in that green outfit.”

“I’m not sure.” She pulls some tissue out from beneath the counter and starts wrapping my purchases. “How about this necklace to go with the tone-on-tone crop pants and top? The gold will really jazz it up.”

It looks perfect for the family reunion, so I nod. “Yes, I’ll take that, too.”

Amanda is clearly not going to say anything about Puddin’, so I decide to do a little investigating on my own. After I leave the shop, I drive toward her and Digger’s house that they just bought on the edge of town. It’s in a brand-new, sweet, quiet, unpretentious little tree-lined neighborhood with sidewalks and matching mailboxes. I can’t help but smile when the image of her joy over the house pops into my mind. She is so stinkin’ proud of her new place, even though it’s just a normal house. Too bad everyone isn’t that easy to please.

When I pull into the driveway, I see the curtains part in the front window. Next thing I know, little Jeremy has opened the front door. According to the chatter, the rest of the family is worried about the fact that he only uses single words, but I think he’s a smart little dude. Some of the smartest people I know are the quiet types, so I’m not worried about him in the least.

“Jeremy, what on earth are you doing? Get back inside.” Puddin’s voice is screechy until she spots me standing on the front porch.

A slow smile creeps across her face. “Oh, hi, Shay. Come on in. Want some tea?”

“Sure.”

“What brings you here?” She glances up at the wall clock on the living room wall. “I thought maybe you were taking a late lunch when I saw you earlier. Is everything okay at work?”

“Rough week, so I knocked off early.”

Her gaze darts off to something behind me. “Jeremy! Get back in here. How many times do I have to tell you not to bring your squeezy box into the living room?” She gives me an apologetic look. “Those squeezy juice boxes are as messy as an open cup. It doesn’t take much pressure for all that liquid to squirt out the straw.”

“I understand.” I glance over at the kitchen table that still has open boxes of cereal lined up from breakfast. “Mind if I sit down?”

“Oh, sorry, I should have offered. Let me clear off a spot for your tea.” She frantically starts clearing a place for me, letting me know she’s more nervous than she wants me to know.

I want to help her, but last time I did that, she fussed at me, so I just sit and watch her scurry around her kitchen as though her child’s life depends on getting everything put away in record time. After she has all the cereal put away, she opens the cabinet and pulls out a glass. “This one okay?”

I nod. It’s a jelly jar, but that’s fine as long as it’s clean.

She pours both of us some tea then joins me at the table. Before I have a chance to ask her what she was doing at La Chic, she starts rattling off questions. “What’s going on with you? Did something terrible happen at the office?” Her eyes widen as though something just dawned on her. “Did you get fired?”

I hold up my hands and let out a chuckle. “No, but that might not be a bad thing if I did.”

“I thought you loved your job.”

“I used to, but now I find myself caught up in the same whirlwind every single day. I can almost always predict what’s going to happen based on the day of the week. I probably shouldn’t admit this, and I know I sound ungrateful, but I’m bored.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. So what do you think about the family reunion?”

“What’s there to think?” I pause. “We have them so often, it’s almost like they don’t mean anything anymore.”

“I think it’s sweet,” she says.

This is a first. The last couple of reunions had Puddin’ nearly in tears. “‘Sweet’ isn’t how I would describe some of our relatives.”

Puddin’ crinkles her nose. “I hear ya, but I’m sure they mean well.”

“So what were you doing at La Chic?”

“Um . . .” Puddin’s face scrunches, then her eyes light up. “I like to stop by every now and then to see what they have on clearance.”

She’s a terrible liar. “You don’t have to explain anything, Puddin’. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with buying yourself something nice every now and then.”

“I know. It’s just that—” She cuts herself off and glances at something behind me before letting out a sigh and looking me squarely in the eyes. “Can you keep a secret, Shay?”

“Of course I can. You know that.”

“I mean a deep, dark secret that you can’t tell a single, solitary soul.” She grimaces. “Especially Digger. He’ll be so hurt if he finds out.”

I swallow hard. I don’t mind keeping secrets, but this sounds like a doozy, and I certainly don’t want to upset any of my blood relatives, especially my brother. As much as I want to know the secret, I’m not sure it’s such a good idea to hear it now.

Before I tell her to stop, she blurts, “I work at La Chic. I have for more than a year.”

“You what?” I think back to all the times I’ve been there over the past year, and I can’t think of a time when I saw her there. “Why is that a secret? Why don’t you want my brother to know?”

“Digger doesn’t want me to work. He says a woman’s place is in the home.” She takes a swig of her tea and places it on the soggy napkin in front of her. “That sounds good and all, but it’s just not practical.”

It doesn’t sound good at all to me, but I don’t want to make Puddin’ feel even worse than she already does. “Can’t you at least talk to him about it?”

She shakes her head. “I’ve tried, but every time I bring up the very notion of me getting a job, he puts his foot down. And I mean literally lifts his foot and puts it down. Hard.”

“But—”

“He tells me no wife of his will ever have to have a job.”

“When was the last time y’all talked about it?”

Puddin’ taps her chin for a moment as she looks away to think before meeting my gaze again. “It’s been a while, but I’m sure he still feels the same way.”

“But don’t you enjoy it?” I can’t imagine not loving a job at La Chic, working for Amanda. I’d do it if I didn’t need to maintain a level of income to support myself. Besides, sometimes I think it’s better to be bored on my job than to disappoint Mama. One of the few things she seems proud of me for is what she calls my “important job.”

“I love it.” Her eyes get all dreamy. Puddin’ has never been one who could hide how she feels about anything. “I even dream about it.”

“Then why don’t you tell Digger that it’s something you want to do, even if you don’t have to?”

“I don’t think that’ll make a difference with Digger.”

“Did someone say my name?” My brother appears in the doorway, a wide smile on his face. “I got my route done, so I was able to knock off early. I stopped by Jackie’s. Those ridin’ lawn mowers are nice, but I can’t bring myself to—” He stops talking when he sees me. “What are you doin’ here, Shay?”