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Chapter
Three
Cassandra Haslam heldup both hands to get the other women to quiet down.She’d finished eating several minutes ago, and she’d been consorting with Bessie about what they’d vote for Bea to do first from her love list.
Honestly, only Bea could make such a thing.Cass made lists, sure.What she needed at the grocery store, or which samples to bring with her for a client meeting.
She definitely had more plans than lists, including a plethora of floor plans.She adored looking at floor plans and plotting which furniture would complement the space best or which doors needed adding or which walls should be knocked down.
In her mind, she could see a fabulous beach vacation in Bea’s future, and the planner inside Cass couldn’t let go of the idea.
“All right,” she said when no one seemed to notice she’d lifted her arms.“All right.”She added some oomph to the words, almost putting a full-stop period after each one.That got the other ladies to stop talking, and Bessie gave her a wary look.She’d never voice her opinion the way Cass did, which was why Cass knew she had to be the one to get this conversation started.
“Who wants to go first?”she asked, looking at Sage.She’d been pretty adamant at making the love list a central guest at this Supper Club, and Cass loved the older woman.
Four years is not an older woman, Cass told herself.They were the same generation, for crying out loud.
“I think the puppy,” Sage said.
“No,” Lauren said at the same time Bessie did.“Bea needs a bigger change than a puppy.”
“She put on there to take a walk and get lost,” Sage said, folding her arms across her chest.The pitcher of margaritas still had some left, so none of them had drunk too much.Cass enjoyed the fruity drinks, but she didn’t like the way she felt the next morning if she consumed too much alcohol.So she’d had one glass, sipped through dinner, and she wouldn’t go back for more.
She looked over to Bea, seeing so clearly the first time she’d met the woman.Their oldest sons were starting at the same technology-focused junior high.The weather in late August had been hot enough and muggy enough to melt human flesh, and Bea’s car had broken down in front of the school.
Cass had given her a ride home.Yes, all the way out here to this remote farmhouse, on a farm that didn’t get farmed.They’d talked like they’d known each other since childhood, laughed about the quirky things in their thirteen-year-old boys, and then exchanged phone numbers right outside in Bea’s driveway.
Six months later, they’d gone to a meeting for a new Supper Club being formed in Sweet Water Falls.There, they’d met Bessie and Lauren, who’d come together, Sage, who’d come with her daughter, and Joy, who had actually been the director for the Restaurant Outreach Program at the time.
Their club had originally held more women, but they’d dropped out one by one, for various reasons, over the years.For the past six years now, the six of them held their own Supper Club on the third Thursday of the month, independent of the town’s program.
Her heart softened at Bea’s kind smile.She hadn’t deserved the things Nort had put her through this past year, and Cass’s determination to get her off on a relaxing vacation doubled.
“National Parks,” Sage said with a fond smile in Bea’s direction.“Think of all the amazing pictures we’ll get.”
“I can’t go on a ten-park national campaign.”Bea shook her head.“Meredith is graduating in less than three weeks.”
“She has her big performance in just over two,” Joy said.
“You could go to the beach,” Cass said, her voice much quieter now.Bea’s gaze flew to hers, but Cass looked at Bessie to get her on board.“She could.It’s a flight to…say, I don’t know.Florida.Georgia.South Carolina.”
“Or California,” Lauren said, but Bessie’s eyebrows wrinkled, and she shook her head.
“The beach in California in April is cold,” she said.
“I can’t go on a beach vacation,” Bea said, picking up her plastic plate and heading for the kitchen.
“Sure, you can,” Cass said, watching her.“You’ll be back before the concert.Before the graduation.Before you have to sit down with Meredith and start planning the wedding.It’s perfect, actually.”
“I agree,” Lauren said, and Cass hadn’t expected to get her to agree so quickly.For a reason Cass had never been able to figure out, Lauren felt some sort of competition with her.She wasn’t sure why, because Lauren had more freedom, more money, better looks, was younger, and had a far superior job.On paper, she shouldn’t be jealous or competitive with anyone.She was already winning.
“You don’t want to be here in the next couple of weeks,” Lauren said.“Get out.Go.Get away from this place that reminds you so much of what you once had here.”
“It’s still going to be here when I get back,” Bea said.
“Yeah,” Bessie said.“Butyou’llbe different.After my divorce, where did I go?”
Cass grinned at Bessie, feeling the nails line up.All they had to do now was hammer them into place.
