[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Swore he didn’t know anything about women’s clothing, and changed the subject.“He also said Paula told him something about Miss Tepper’s housekeeper having to move out because the house was for sale.”We crossed the street, hurrying in the growing dusk.Walking the dogs after work had a few drawbacks, chief among them being the unlighted streets.It wouldn’t be really dark for another hour, but we were still careful.“The worst part, though, was that she kept talking about ‘that woman’ who made her move out.” My heart raced a little at the memory, and I felt my face redden.I hoped it was dark enough that Sue wouldn’t notice.“Why was that so bad?”“She said the woman threw her out, and wouldn’t even let her take her things.She told me she saw her drive away, and that was when she came in the house, because she knew it was unlocked.”I stopped and fiddled with the leash.It was twisted, though not badly.I was stalling, and I knew it.Worse, Sue knew it and she called me on it.“And? Get to the point, Neverall!”“It was my mother.” There, I’d said it.“Your mother? You said she was there, but what did she have to do with any of this?”“She was ‘that woman.’ I know she was.She and Gregory had just left, and this Janis person said she saw her leave.It would be just like them to throw her out of her house the minute they signed the deal with the Gladstones.Besides”—the misery I felt when I considered my mother’s heartless behavior crept into my voice—“Barry said it wouldn’t be like Miss Tepper to leave Janis without a job or a place to live.The Gladstones were supposed to be acting on Miss Tepper’s behalf.It had to be Sandra and Gregory.”I sneered the last name, my animosity toward Mr.Too-Smooth Gregory Whitlock growing by an order of magnitude.My mother’s attitude regarding charity was lousy, but I blamed Gregory for this one.He had made the deal, and I was sure it was his idea to throw Janis out.“She sounds really angry, maybe even a little unhinged, from the way you describe her.”We reached my house and crossed the damp lawn to the front door.Daisy strained at the leash as I fished the house key from my pocket.There was a faint whiff of expensive perfume.I recognized it as Joy, my mother’s favorite.That was when I noticed the small, cream-colored envelope stuck in the door.Sandra had been here.I sighed with relief, and thanked my lucky stars that Sue and I had taken the long way back.Since I could still smell her perfume, I had probably missed her by only a couple minutes.I wondered how I had missed seeing the Escalade.I grabbed the envelope and pushed the door open.Once inside, the dogs were anxious to get to their water dishes.Sue and I quickly unclipped their leashes and let them go.They ran into the kitchen.Their trimmed nails made only the tiniest sound against the worn linoleum of the kitchen floor, quickly replaced by the slurping and lapping as they drank greedily from their dishes.“What’s that?” Sue asked, pointing to the envelope in my hand.She took Daisy’s leash from me and hung it on the hook behind the front door, along with Buddha’s.“I don’t know.Something from my mother, I think.” I put the envelope to my nose, and sniffed.“It smells of her perfume.I think all her stationery does.”It was the envelope I had smelled.So maybe I had missed her by more than a few minutes.Either way, I was relieved.I wasn’t quite ready to talk to “that woman” yet.“You can’t read it with your nose, Georgie.” Sue rolled her eyes.“Why don’t you try, oh, I don’t know, opening it?”Sue plopped onto my secondhand sofa.The floral cushions sagged slightly, and she sank back.The sofa was cheap and a bit ugly, like most of my mismatched furniture, but comfortable.It had cost less to buy it at the Salvation Army than it would have to ship the leather sectional I never used from my San Francisco apartment.The dogs finished their slurping and trotted back into the living room, muzzles damp.Buddha curled into the doggy bed in the corner and Daisy spread out on the braided rug in front of the fireplace.I didn’t often have an actual fire, but Daisy had adopted that as her spot the minute we walked into our new home, and she was eternally optimistic that I might light a fire someday.I wasn’t sure how she knew about fireplaces, but she did.“I’m wait-ting,” Sue singsonged.“It’s addressed to me,” I replied.“Not you.”“Ah, but a note from your mother.Not a phone call, or an e-mail, or a message on your machine.A real, handwritten note.That’s got to be pretty important.”She snickered.“Maybe it’s a wedding invitation.Something personal and subdued.Just right for a second marriage.”“We aren’t talking about that, remember?” I glared at Sue.“I’m not talking about her ‘love life,’ as you so delicately put it.I am talking about Gregory making an honest woman of her.” She sighed dramatically.“Imagine how romantic.Lonely widow falls for her rich boss.”I stomped across the room and dropped heavily into the club chair next to the sofa.“There are so many things wrong with that, I don’t know where to start.“First off, my mother isn’t a lonely widow.She’s got tons of friends, and she’s busy all the time.Second, Whitlock might have money, but he doesn’t fit my mother’s definition of rich.And third, I don’t think she needs his money, anyway.”“Aha! But you don’t know that, do you? She just might need his money.You don’t talk about finances and business with her, do you, any more than you do with me?”I bit my lip.She was right, I didn’t talk to my mother about money anymore.Not since the disastrous time when I had offered, too late, to help her out.“It’s complicated,” I muttered.“I know it is,” Sue said, one finger tapping against her closed lips.“Your mom is a stubborn woman.I know that.She didn’t want to admit she needed help when your dad died, and she refused what was offered.I know she told a couple people she wouldn’t take ‘charity,’ no matter how they tried.”That I understood.Mom had barely admitted how deeply in debt she was and I hadn’t pried [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]