Free Folly Beach by Dorothea Benton Frank

and check on her.”
    “She’s fine,” Patti said.
    Patti always thought everyone was fine but then she’d never had children to give her panic attacks or found her husband dead, hanging by his neck.
    I moved quickly up the back stairs to the third floor and heard the shower running and her singing something in Portuguese. Albertina had a pretty voice, as clear and feminine as could be and I stood there for a moment listening. She had probably never smoked a cigarette or screamed her head off at a rock concert. Suddenly, I could envision her singing to her babies as I had when mine were little. Oh! What a sweet time in my life that had been. So sweet. In my mind’s eye, it was twenty years ago. I was rocking my children at night to help them settle down for bed. I became sentimental and nostalgic. The time had gone so quickly and I would’ve given anything in the world right then to time-travel to those days even for just five minutes.
    Russ was a man now and Sara was a young woman. Sara was going to find her way into the world like we all do. Until Addison’s suicide, I had not really been worrying about her too much as I had when she was younger. But how would losing her father this way impact her in the long run? Russ seemed happy in his life but I worried about him for the same reason. I wondered if and when he and Alice planned to have children. I knew the answer for the immediate future was no time soon, because he stammered and turned red when I asked him, which I tried not to do every time the question popped to mind. The question came to mind every time I heard his voice or saw his face. It was all about Alice establishing her practice and she wanted to wait for a while, until they saved money, until the yard was fenced in, until what? Well actually, I had to give Alice her due. Her womb was her own private property and if she didn’t feel ready for motherhood yet, then she was right to wait. The world did not need any more mothers who didn’t want to be mothers. But I was filled with longing to hold a baby in my arms and I hoped that she would soon feel the same way. Dear Lord, please don’t let their children have Alice’s unfortunate disposition. Thank you, Lord, Amen. I frequently said little prayers like this to hedge my bets with the Almighty.
    When I heard the water stop I waited a few minutes and then rapped my knuckles on the door.
    “Good morning!” I said.
    The door edged open and there she stood in a towel with clouds of steam all around her.
    “Do you need me, Mrs. Cooper?”
    “No, I’m sorry to disturb you. I just wanted to let you know that I’m going over to Patti’s with a carload of stuff. If the wine movers show up early, just show them where the cellar is, okay? And call me on my cell if they do. And the electricians. FYI, there’s some fabulous oatmeal, well maybe not so fabulous, in the kitchen. Just nuke it for a minute. And it’s snowing like the devil outside. I’ll be back. You take your time. No rush! No rush at all!”
    By three that afternoon, the streets were plowed, all of my personal possessions, the contents of my safe, and the children’s belongings that they wanted were all piled up in Mark and Patti’s basement, and Albertina was safely home with her children. We hugged and promised to keep in touch. As she was leaving she put a business card in my hand.
    “What’s this?” I said.
    “This is the number for the piano repair company.”
    “Oh! Tina! Thank you. Oh my God, what am I going to do without you?”
    “You’ll do just fine, Mrs. Cooper, but I’m going to miss you a lot.”
    “Me too.”
    When her car pulled slowly away from the driveway I burst into tears one more time. Patti threw her arm around my shoulder and gave me a squeeze.
    “Doors close so others can open, you know,” she said.
    “I know that but hellfire, do they have to be so hard to close? She was my dear, dear friend.”
    “I know, I know. This is so hard.”
    “Yes. This is