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At that moment, the teenage Elise came into the kitchen. She plucked a strawberry from her mother’s plate and eyed the half-eaten cheesecake. “All those calories are going straight to y’all’s hips,” she told all and sundry.
Noreen chased her out of the kitchen.
Everyone had seconds. “Let’s just say we need it to fortify us against life,” said Janice.
“And pray that Stormy keeps having lucrative weekends,” added Thelma. “I could get used to saddlebag hips—easily.”
Before they broke for the evening, Stormy and Sandy exchanged telephone numbers, and Noreen convinced Stormy to allow Liane to spend the following Saturday with Janelle to help dye eggs.
On the way home, Liane was beside herself with excitement.
“Since we’re gonna use leaves an’ things like that, it’ll count as another science project. Won’t that be great? And I can dye enough eggs for Davie’s and Tommy’s baskets. They still believe in the Easter Bunny.”
“Oh?” Stormy said. “And you don’t?”
“Don’t be silly, Mom. There’s no such thing as a giant rabbit. Anyway, rabbits don’t lay eggs. I’ll tell you something else…”
“I can’t wait to hear,” Stormy said, feeling a sense of sadness that Liane was growing out of the magic of childhood into logic and life.
“I don’t believe reindeer can fly. They can jump high, but that’s not the same as flying. I think Santa has another way he brings presents.”
“You’re probably right,” Stormy assured her, smiling inside once more.
“I thought so. Just how does he do it?”
Oh, dear, thought Stormy. “I don’t know, sweetheart. Santa never tells his secrets.”
Liane eyed her mother. “I’ll ask Tyler. He’ll know.”
Stormy opened her mouth to protest, then closed it. Silence, she decided, was more than golden; right now, it was salvation.
But a certain silence was weighing on her mind. Could she trust Tyler with her secret?
Vindication.
It was so tempting.
She would listen to what he had to say.
That was all.
Period.
The problem that developed during the next few days was that Tyler didn’t so much as show his face.
When Stormy had errands to run, she found herself driving slowly past Tyler’s motel. His car was seldom there during the day, only late in the evening. She never managed to gain the courage to stop.
Morning and evening, she went for walks on the beach. No Tyler.
Well, he had to eat somewhere. She treated Liane and her nephews to pizza at Pete’s, lingering long past dusk. She stopped at a coffee shop he’d mentioned and hung around so long that the waitress regaled her with the story of her life.
Still no Tyler. What was going on?
Sandy came to the beach house on Wednesday evening.
“Girl, you are living in luxury. On the beach, no less. Wow.”
“It’s my parent’s house. They left it to my younger sister and me. She lives here with her husband and two kids. I’m here on sufferance. You’d meet them, except they went to Wednesday night services.”
