Free The Book Club by Maureen Mullis Page A

table in front of her. “I say when
the others get here we take off.”
    “Where?” Diane asked.
    Casting a sly glance toward her sibling Sandy
turned back to Diane. “We’ll talk about it when we’re all
together.”
    She refused to say more until the others
arrived. It wasn’t long before the rest of the club got to Diane’s
but it seemed an eternity to her. When they were all settled Diane
reviewed the group. There were eight of them in all: Beth, who
worked part-time as a bookkeeper, Terry, a retired nurse, and
Cathy, Leslie and Andrea who were, like Diane and the sisters,
stay-at-home wives and mothers with children of a variety of ages,
which was the reason they started the book club; to give them a
break from keeping house and caring for children.
    But now, Diane thought, most of them had
children that were in high school or older and didn’t take up as
much time in their lives. And the rut of housekeeping had been
replaced with the rut of this group.
    Her thoughts were interrupted by Sandy’s
clearing her throat.
    “This group has gotten stale. Louisa and I
have been talking, and Diane seems to agree with us, that we need a
change of pace. We have a plan to shake things up a bit.” She
paused and looked round at them all.
    “Anyone here particularly interested in
discussing another book this evening?” Louisa asked, her voice
sharp, her eyes flashing.
    “Definitely not,” Beth answered with a shake
of her head, her grey curls bouncing softly around her face as the
others murmured their assent.
    “What do you have in mind?” asked Andrea, a
slim, 48-year-old with two sets of twins that belied her
figure.
    “Getting back to basics,” Louisa stood up.
“Let’s get in our cars. You all follow Sandy and I and we’ll get
started.”
    In spite of herself Diane grinned. This was
just what they needed, something different, she thought. Grabbing
their purses the women followed the sisters out to get in their
cars and see where they would wind up.
    A short drive later found them winding their
way into Willow Lake County Park. The biggest park in town it was
the place to gather for picnics and fireworks, family reunions, and
school’s year-end outings. Groups of women regularly hiked its
shoreline and weekend soccer games were played on the fields. The
groups of willows that punctuated the evergreens and oaks gave the
lake its name and their green drooping branches swept the ground
gently as the early evening breeze stirred the air. It smelled
sweet to Diane as she steered her car along the path. Bringing up
the rear she wondered at their coming here. When they reached the
lot at the far side of the lake the sisters parked and the rest of
them followed suit.
    “This way!” Sandy called and headed down the
nearby path leading them off to the side of the lake where no
picnic tables or fields lay. Diane fell in step beside Terry.
    “Do you know what this is about?” Terry
asked.
    “I think it’s just what they said; they’re
trying to bring back some of the excitement we used to have in this
group. It has gotten a bit lackluster, don’t you think?” Diane
said.
    “Ah. I thought it was just me,” Terry
answered. “You know, I retired, my kids are out on their own. I
mean, I’m 62.”
    “So, what, at our age life isn’t supposed to
be interesting anymore?” Diane asked. “I’m 57, my kids are off at
college and their own lives. So are Andrea’s, Beth’s and the
sisters. Cathy and Leslie are the only ones with kids left at home,
and they’re all in high school. We’re all between what, 48 and
66?”
    Terry blew a breath out. “Dang, I’m out of
shape,” she wheezed. “You’re right. We’re in the next phase of life
and things have gotten wearisome.”
    She paused for a moment to catch her breath.
Diane stopped with her.

    “I guess it’s easy to believe this is it,”
Diane said. “But it doesn’t have to be.”
    “I agree,” Terry said and started up again.
“So this month