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She walked into the kitchen, where Carly stood in front of the open refrigerator.
“Hungry?” Anita asked. They could make something simple like hoagies with deli meat and cheese.
“Yeah.”
“Want a hoagie sandwich?”
“Sure.” Carly moved to the cupboard and pulled out the bag of hoagie bread. “I think he likes you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Wyatt Davis.” Carly opened the bread bag and pulled out two buns. “He kept looking at you and smiling.”
He hadn’t been...had he? Anita was grateful that the cool air of the refrigerator was keeping her from blushing. “I don’t even know him. I mean, his grandfather is a nice man, but Wyatt could be married or have a girlfriend.”
“He’s not, and you know that.” Carly opened the rolls, laying them flat. Next she fished a knife out of the utensil drawer, then picked up the mayo jar Anita had set on the counter. “He’s your age, and he’s single, and he kept smiling at you. He likes that we’re friends with his grandpa or he wouldn’t have invited us to the library. And he’s picking us up in his car instead of meeting us there. So it’s like a date—except with your kid coming along.”
Anita shook her head and carried the lettuce to the sink to rinse it off. “None of that means he likes me. He’s just a nice guy and wants to help out his grandpa, so he’s grateful we’ve been spending time with him.”
Carly scoffed. “I thought adults were smarter.”
Anita turned from the sink and grabbed a paper towel to pat the lettuce dry. “Believe me, I’d know if a man were trying to flirt with me, and Wyatt Davis wasn’t doing that. Besides, I don’t really want to date anyone for a while. I’m going to focus on you and my job.”
Carly wrinkled her nose. “That’s so boring, Mom. What are you going to think about all day?”
“What do you mean? I have plenty to think about.”
“I don’t mean listening to the radio, then talking to the neighbors about the news. That’s boring too.”
Anita set her hands on her hips and faced her daughter. “You know, sometimes boring is perfect. It’s peaceful. It’s being grateful. It’s savoring the small things.”
Carly shrugged. “I guess.”
“Besides, I can’t wait to go to the library and see if there are any new books on tape.”
“Mom! You can’t be serious. I know you’re totally into Wyatt Davis.”
Anita laughed. “Nice try, Carly. Sometimes a woman just looks forward to a good book to read.”
“I CAN HELP YOU WITH those,” Anita offered to Phyllis when she saw her lugging in grocery bags.
She had been trimming a few plants in the front flower bed, Sassy following her about the yard, when Phyllis pulled up. Carly was in the house doing homework, or else Anita might have brought her along to help too.
“Oh, that would be wonderful,” Phyllis sing-songed. She looked as immaculate as ever. Lipstick in place, hair colored and coiffed, matching outfit of baby blue.
Anita turned off the garden hose and walked across the lawn to Phyllis’s driveway. The air smelled fresh from the light morning rain and the dewy rose bushes that lined the front of her neighbor’s house. Anita grabbed a couple of the bags from her trunk. Apparently the grapefruit diet was now over? Because although the bags were heavy, they looked like regular groceries.
Walking into Phyllis’s house, she was struck anew at the tidiness of the place, though she’d been inside before, of course. She supposed that with only one person at home and not having art projects always in the works, housekeeping was simpler.
“Just set the bags on the counter,” Phyllis instructed. “I’ll unpack everything. Thanks.”
Her tone was bright as usual, but something nagged Anita in the back of her mind. Phyllis’s smile was too wide, her voice too peppy, her insistence that Anita leave right away unusual. Any other time she had helped with a similar task, Phyllis had invited her to sit and chat. Have a drink or a treat.
“Is everything all right?” Anita hovered next to the counter.
“Of course,” Phyllis said immediately. “I don’t want to keep you waiting any longer since I know how busy you are.”
Normally, she would take the out. But still she lingered. “I haven’t seen your son around much lately. Are he and his wife doing well?”
