as she ran out the door.
Judith followed, feeling as if her heart would burst with happiness, but trying not to let it show too much. She’d let April be the expressive one.
Except there was no getting around the squealing and hugging and crying going on, and finally Judith let herself go and joined in, smiling so hard she thought her face would crack in half. And then April started crying so hard no one was sure if she was happy or sad until she said, “I’m so happy. I haven’t seen you all for so long.”
Judith waved at the neighbors, who couldn’t help but see and hear what was happening on her front lawn. The woman across the street was smiling, her hand on her heart. It was hard to miss the joy that the four of them were experiencing.
“Let’s go inside,” Judith said, ushering the three women inside and into the living room.
Once they had all seated themselves, Judith said, “Tell us everything.”
Marsha looked at Cindy, who nodded at her to go on, and she told an abbreviated version of their trip and what they found in Pittsfield. Of course, they had texted some of the information to Judith as it was happening, but Marsha filled in some details, so they had a fuller picture.
“So that was Paul’s big secret? That’s sad. We would have all understood,” April said. “But he gave us a last gift, didn’t he? After all, here we are all together again.”
“Almost,” Cindy said. “There’s Bree. Without her, it’s not the same. I wanted to stay with her, but she insisted on having some time to herself, which is probably a good thing. But she’s been by herself all these years, so I don’t understand why she needs more.”
“She’s always liked more alone time. And she wasn’t totally alone before. She had Paul, after all. They were together, and now she’s alone differently and needs time to process it. Despite that, I worry. Do you think she will be okay?” April asked.
Checking her phone, Judith said, “Well, she’s still at the lake. Let’s send her a picture of us together, which might inspire her to come home soon.”
“That’s a great idea,” Cindy said. “But could Marsha and I get cleaned up first? Perhaps we can meet for dinner and have someone there take a picture?”
They made plans to meet at ParaTi in an hour. In the meantime, Judith texted Bree that they were going to dinner and would send her a picture of the four of them later.
There was no response. Judith tried not to worry. Bree could be sleeping or maybe taking advantage of the beauty of Chautauqua. She’d been there once for a lecture series and loved every minute of it. She hoped that was happening for Bree, too.
An hour later, the four of them were seated at a table Judith had reserved for them. As Judith had hoped, Mary was working that night, and when she came to their table, Judith introduced her to Cindy and Marsha.
“I heard that your friend that isn’t here yet is the writer, R.B. Curtis?” Mary said as she brought their drinks. “Mimi and Janet shared that information with the writer’s group. I hope that’s okay. We agreed not to tell anyone else until we get her permission. Sometimes people who write using a pen name don’t want people to know.”
“Thank you, Mary. I didn’t think about that when I blurted the information out. Bree might not want people to know. Would you make sure no one tells until she says it’s okay?” April asked.
“No problem. I’ll text the group right now to remind them that it’s our secret. But still, we are all excited to meet her. Besides, she’s your friend. She must be amazing.”
“She is,” Cindy said. “Without Bree, we wouldn’t be in this group. She’s the one who brought us all together and kept us together throughout school.”
No one needed to add that she had left them, and it hadn’t been the same since then. The group had drifted apart. Each of them played a role in their group, and Bree was the leader even if she hadn’t acted that way for a long time, and maybe that was not what she wanted to be anymore.
“And here you are again,” Mary said. “Now all you need is your Bree.”
As the four Ruby Sisters ate, they filled the time with reminiscing, lots of giggling, and a few tears. After it was over, Mary took the picture, and Judith sent it to Bree, saying they couldn’t wait for her to be there, and then the group would be complete.
When there was still no response, Judith said, “She’s probably not near her phone.” Everyone agreed, even though each of them worried privately.
Cindy felt like getting in her car and driving back to Chautauqua to find her. But she was tired and would never make it. In the morning, perhaps.
Back at the cars, they hugged again and promised to meet in the morning for coffee.
“And then I’ll see you at your gallery,” April said to Cindy. “I hope it’s okay that I am working there. I mean, not actually working there, but being there and helping.”
“It is the best thing ever,” Cindy said. “And we’ll figure out a real salary for you because I can’t think of anything more wonderful than to have you part of what we do there.”
“And then there is Mittens,” Judith said.
“Oh, I bet Mittens loves you,” Cindy said.
“Well, I love her back.”
It took another round of hugs and “I will see you in the morning” calls before everyone finally got into their cars—April with Judith and Cindy with Marsha. Marsha had left her car at Cindy’s house so they could come to dinner together.
As they drove home, Marsha said, “Thank you for letting me stay with you until I have a place of my own.”
“I love having April in the gallery and you in my house. Stay as long as you want. It will be fun to brainstorm what you want to do next because I assume you are going to want to do something.”
“Something,” Marsha agreed. “Not sure what that is yet, but having a place to stay will make it easier to decide. Will Bree stay with Judith and April?”
“Well, you know Bree. Doubtful. She’ll want to live alone. Besides, April won’t be at Judith’s long.”
“Why not?”
“Ron found them a house to rent, and once he gets it fixed up, April will move there. Although she says, he will be gone a lot. I guess he was gone a lot in Silver Lake, too. So, mostly she will be on her own.”
“Oh. That’s good,” Marsha said.
Marsha knew Cindy would assume that she thought it was good that Ron was coming to be with April. But what she meant was that it was good that Ron would be gone a lot.
Marsha didn’t think she would ever be comfortable around Ron. But she would do it for April because that’s what friends did.