Free Love by the Yard by Gail Sattler

painted. “I should let you get back to work. Brendan says you’re very busy now that you’ve taken him on as a client of sorts.”
    Shanna rose, brushing a few loose blades of grass off her clothes as she stood. “Yes, he’s right about that. We can talk more tonight when you come back.” As the words left her mouth, she knew they were true. She missed being involved in an adult conversation with someone who had no expectations of her and wanted nothing in return.
    Kathy walked to her paint can and dipped in the brush. “Brendan should be back in another hour. I only have a little left to do, so I wanted to get this finished. I’ll come back later, after supper.”
    Shanna smiled. “That sounds like fun.” As the words left her mouth, her smile widened. It really did sound like fun, and she could hardly wait for Kathy to come back.
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    Brendan told himself not to worry when his mother didn’t answer her house phone. But then, when her cell phone went to voice mail, he told himself not to panic. He wasn’t calling about anything important. But it was important that she wasn’t home. Tonight was Thursday night. His mother was always home on Thursday night to watch her favorite television program. And even if she wasn’t home, she always answered her cell phone. Before he assumed she was lying on the floor unable to get up, he tried one last thing before he drove to her house to check on her.
    Brendan corrected four errors while typing the message, but he finally entered the words and text-messaged his mother on his cell phone.
    Where are you?
    He waited one long minute for a response, but instead of simply ringing to be answered, the phone signaled the tone for a text message.
    I’m at Shanna’s house. We’re busy. Can’t talk. I’ll see you tomorrow.
    Brendan stared at the message in disbelief. Not only had she not phoned back, but her text message was blunt and she didn’t want to talk to him. Also, if he hadn’t been mistaken, his mother had been at Shanna’s house every day that week. He stared at the message until it timed out and the screen went blank.
    Brendan had wanted his mother to make new friends, but in hindsight, he should have seen this coming. His mother had plenty of friends at church, but there almost every friend she had was half of a couple. His mother often felt the odd person out, regardless of how friendly everyone was and how well they treated her. The bottom line was that she was the only person at most of the occasions who was single. She refused to attend the singles group because everyone there was too young for her; namely, they were his age, not his mother’s age. But lately she’d begun to turn down invitations to functions she normally attended. After all these years of being single, it was starting to wear on her. And it was starting to worry Brendan.
    Brendan wanted very much for his mother to find a good friend who was another single woman. He’d felt that his mother and Shanna would get along well, but he hadn’t envisioned them connecting like this.
    Still, Shanna and his mother had a lot in common. Not that he talked a lot to Shanna, but her kids talked a lot about her while they “helped” him in the backyard. Besides the obvious similarities, as listed by her children, neither Shanna nor his mother had a man in her life, nor were they making any effort to find one. Shanna had even declined his invitation to attend his church’s singles group with him. He’d almost taken the fast rejection personally, but he reminded himself of what Matthew had told him about other men she’d also turned down.
    Brendan snapped his phone shut, but he’d no sooner fastened it back on his belt when it sang the familiar ring tone, this time signaling that it wasn’t a text message, but a real caller.
    The display showed his mother’s cell number.
    â€œBrendan? I