and I'm
totally worn out. I think I'll just finish cleaning up things here
after you leave. It was so nice of those women to bring those
desserts and clean up all the dishes. There's not much left to
do."
"They really are the nicest people," said
Vicky as her husband took her hand and led her outside.
"We'll be back in an hour or two," said
Jack.
Diane followed her friends and slumped
against the doorframe, observing all the activity. Outside there
was the sound of laughter, car doors slamming, and engines
starting. Beau Shackelford, whom Diane couldn't recall having
uttered a single word all afternoon, was carefully packing his bass
safely in its case, while their daughters zoomed around his truck
in circles pretending to be airplanes.
Carol Anne was packing things into the trunk
of her car. Looking around she called out, "Girls, get in your car
seats." Obediently, they scrambled over to the car and started to
climb in.
"Lina honey, where's your new doll baby?"
Lina stopped and said, "She's in the kitchen
having a nap, Momma. I'll get her." On her way past Diane, she
grinned proudly and informed her, "My dolly's name is Cassandra.
She's just a baby, so I gotta go get her."
"That's nice," said Diane as she watched the
little girl trot back into the kitchen.
Inside, Lina stopped at the table, stood on
tiptoe, and stretching out her arm, just managed to pluck the last
brownie from the plate. Chewing and humming to herself, she made
her way to the doll, which lay in a heap of doll clothes and tiny
blankets by the refrigerator. She bundled up everything and scolded
her baby.
"Cassandra, you lost one of your shoes." She
slipped it onto her doll's tiny foot. "And you dropped your paci!"
She retrieved the tiny pacifier and jammed it into the little pink
plastic mouth.
Turning to leave, with the doll cradled
expertly on one hip, something caught her attention. One corner of
a sheet of paper protruded from under the refrigerator. She pulled
it out and held it up. Unable to read the words, she nevertheless
concluded that this was probably something the big people would
consider important.
"Lina, come on. We've got to go," called
Carol Anne from the porch.
"Here I come," she answered and headed for
the back door. On her way past the table, once more she stood on
her tiptoes and put the note where the grown-ups would see it.
The sun was low in the sky as the last guests
left. Diane waved to the musicians as they drove away, closed the
door and leaned against it, sighing. The silence seemed strange
after an entire day of noise and commotion. Finally, everyone's
gone and I can relax. As nice as those people are, I'm so looking
forward to sitting down with a big cup of tea and that paperback I
brought with me. Maybe some aspirin would help.
Looking down at her clothes she realized she
was still wearing the dress she'd put on early that morning, to
impress Chris. For what? Why should I try to impress him? He
disappeared without a word in the middle of the night. Maybe I'll
never see him again. So what. "Who needs him?" she said aloud to an
empty room.
She strode across the kitchen and into the
first floor master bedroom. Kicking her shoes off, she pulled the
dress over her head and tossed it onto a chair. This was followed
by her bra. In the bathroom she washed her face and looked at
herself in the mirror. Every time I think of him, I get mad. Her
reflection scowled back at her.
Back in the bedroom she pulled on comfortable
old jeans and a favorite soft T-shirt and decided not to bother
with a bra. Her firm round breasts needed little support.
Switching on her bedside table lamp, she saw
the paperback she'd brought with her. It was Tori Baxter's latest
romance novel entitled, 'Caribbean Fire'. I'm going to start it
tonight. I'd better finish cleaning up in the kitchen first and
find something to eat.
Half of Carol Ann's black walnut cake was on
the counter by the sink. The creamy caramel icing drew her, so she
swiped her
Matt Christopher, Stephanie Peters, Daniel Vasconcellos