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A graduate of the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, she taught high school mathematics for fifteen years.
Chris had never mentioned that she’d put herself through college so she could support her sons. When had she gone back to school? Too late she wished she’d asked Cindy questions about herself and gotten to know her better, for Chris’s sons’ sakes. Frustrated and regretful, she got up to get coffee and toast and force herself to get working.
The thesis awaited. She had nearly two and a half hours to work before Chris arrived in town and she didn’t even know if she’d hear from him again let alone see him that day. Pulling her stack of textbooks and sociology anthologies she’d picked up at the used bookstore in town off the shelf, she piled everything on the kitchen table and got to work.
Time flew by, and her stomach growled. She looked at her phone and it was already noon. Standing, she stretched from side to side, thinking about Chris. An unsettling peace flowed over her as she realized that he wasn’t coming back to the house. Why was that a good thing? She’d have to examine it carefully. Was it just that his sons were along, and the chaos might be too much if they stopped by her place, expecting to be fed? She could almost hear him now. “I texted you saying we’d be there at noon. That means lunch.”
Laughing, she shrugged it off. At a time like this, it was better not to overthink. Salad fixings were plentiful in her fridge so she put a big one together, poured a glass of tea, and went out to the porch. Laughter on the creek got her attention and she went out into the yard just as a rowboat with three young women came into sight. They were toasting to a free afternoon from their job, wherever that was, while one of them sat in the back of the boat, trying to row.
“Stop moving around so much! You’re going to tip us over.”
“You better not tip us over! There’re alligators in this creek!”
“Oh God, this isn’t exactly the rowing machine, you know!”
Annie sipped her tea, laughing. Reaching for her phone, she did the threesome conference call with her besties.
“We need to do something together this afternoon,” she said. “It’s Epiphany! Can you two get sitters?”
“My nanny is here,” Katrina said.
“Rhonda’s here,” Maggie replied. “What did you have in mind?”
“Let’s rent a rowboat from Gus and take a ride.”
“Why would we do that when we have the skiff?” Maggie asked. “Meet me at the dock in twenty minutes! We’ll do the circuit around the bay.”
“I can’t wait,” Katrina cried. “I’ll meet you out front, Annie.”
“Okay! I’ll be looking for you.”
She took her uneaten salad back into the house and stuck it in the fridge, throwing together a cheese, meat, and cracker snack for her friends, along with a bottle of wine. Maggie would leave Bayou Cottage and it only took five minutes from her dock to the marina and dockmaster, Gus Hebert.
“I will admit to you that I haven’t had this much fun waiting for something to happen in a long time,” Annie shouted to Katrina when she came into view.
“It is a throwback to our youth,” Katrina replied, hugging her.
They headed to the marina, a two-block stroll from Annie’s place.
“What’d you bring?” Annie asked, eying the canvas bag over Katrina’s arm.
“What else? Wine, the last of Luanne’s roast beef made into a po’boy, and chips.”
“Oh my God, you are amazing, you know that? I threw cheese and crackers and pepperoni into a sandwich bag.”
“That’s delicious! We’ll have a real picnic.”
They reached the dock just as Maggie’s skiff came into view, her black hair in a messy bun blowing in the wind.
“Look at our girl,” Annie said, grinning. “She is perfect driving a boat.”
“She surely is,” Katrina said, waving.
They picked up their pace, reaching the dockmaster’s shack just as Annie pulled up to the ladder.
“Looky here, how purty you ladies are on a winter afternoon. You got sweaters at least? It can get cold out on the water.”
They held up sweaters and Maggie pointed to the pile of old crocheted afghans. “We’ll be snug in the skiff, Gus,” she shouted.
