She was so grateful for the sacrifices her parents had made. It was why she and Lucia had paid off their parents’ mortgage as a surprise on their fiftieth wedding anniversary.
The memory made Essie smile. She’d lost her mom six years later, but her dad was still going strong. He lived in Boca Raton, and despite her best efforts, refused to move closer.
She resolved to call him when she got home and see how he was doing. Maybe in the next few weeks, she’d take a drive down to see him for a couple of days.
She paid for her things and went home. She put her groceries away and found the nicest platter she had to put the desserts on.
Frank was still out golfing and would be until at least four. He usually sat in the clubhouse with his buddies having a bite to eat and rehashing the game before he came home.
Fine with her. She loved that he had made such good friends so quickly since moving here. She had friends at church, but in the community, not so much. A few acquaintances, women shesaid hello to, waved at, that sort of thing, but they all seemed so busy already.
She wouldn’t mind having a few close girlfriends here. The kind of women with whom she could talk about things like Sophie.
She had the feeling that because she’d been a principal and so well connected, people thought she had more friends than she knew what to do with. Sadly, that wasn’t the case. Once she’d retired, a lot of her friends, who were still working, had fallen away.
They didn’t have as much in common anymore. She supposed she understood. She wasn’t current. Couldn’t participate in conversations about what was going on unless they brought her up to speed.
It was simpler to just not include her.
She also supposed that meant those folks hadn’t really been friends, just acquaintances. Work acquaintances.
What she needed was a few women, also retired, maybe widowed, maybe with kids, maybe with a new husband, women she could relate to. Women who could relate to her.
Maybe she’d find some of those at the book club tonight.
She poured herself a glass of iced tea and went out to the porch to call her dad.
He answered on the fourth ring, and she could hear the TV blaring in the background with some game show. “Essie! How are you?”
“Papa, turn the TV down, I can barely hear you.”
“Okay, okay, just a minute.” The volume lowered. “Is that better?”
She smiled. “Yes. Now I can hear you. How are you, Papa?”
“I’m better now. How are you? How’s married life?”
He always asked her that these days. “Married life is good and so am I. I’m going to a book club tonight. What are you up to?”
“WatchingJeopardy. Improving my brain. What book are you reading for book club?”
“I don’t know yet. It’s the first meeting.”
“Tell me if it’s good. I’ll read it, too.”
“Okay, I will. What else are you doing?”
“Going to the club tonight for dinner with Estaban, then we’ll probably sit on his porch and smoke cigars.”
She laughed. “That sounds nice.” She understood why he didn’t want to move. He had friends. Good ones. Friends he’d had a long time. Most of whom had known her mother. Talking about her with them was one of the ways he kept her memory alive.
“How’s Frank?” her father asked.
“He’s good. He’s golfing with his buddies.” She thought about mentioning Sophie. Why not? Her father might have some good advice. “You remember Sophie? His daughter? You met her at the barbecue at Frank’s. Before we got married.”
“Hmm.” Her father’s response came out like a small grunt. “I remember that one. Pretty on the outside, ugly on the inside.”
“Papa!”
