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“Bring her to Supper Club on Thursday.” Bessie carried a joyous glint in her eyes. “Let her see what we do.”
Bea’s mouth opened and she stared at Bessie. “I don’t know about that.”
“Just because Grant thinks our Supper Club is a giant pillow fight doesn’t mean it is,” Lauren said.
A few women laughed, Bea included. “He doesn’t really think that.” She looked at Cass and then Bessie again. “I don’t know. I like Supper Club, because I get to say and do whatever I want. If Shelby was there…I might not feel like I can do that.”
“Something to think about,” Bessie said.
Yes, it was, and Bea nodded that she’d do just that.
“Let’s talk about Supper Club moving forward,” Cass said, just as Bea had hoped she would. “We’re taking December off, and Bessie, you’re up in September.”
“Yes,” she said. “I don’t mind if we do a half-video call and half-in-person call. I can order dinner and send it to someone’s house. Lauren’s?”
That sounded good to Bea, and she agreed. She’d just done Supper Club in June, and Cass had done it in July. Joy was doing August, which meant Lauren was in October and Sage in November.
“So we’ll just do video calls for now,” Cass said. “If one of us is in Texas, we can join in there. If you’re here, you can join in here.”
“Good plan,” Bea said.
“What about next summer?” Lauren asked. “Joy? Are you coming back?”
Joy’s jaw hardened and she shrugged. No vocalization meant she’d more than likely be back, and Bea kept her smile to herself. If Sage moved here, and Bessie was already talking to her daughter about the bakery franchise…it was only a matter of time before the six of them would resume their regular in-person Supper Club—in Hilton Head instead of Sweet Water Falls.
The thought brought Bea so much happiness that she almost started weeping again. She contained herself and let Lauren start reading job descriptions from the want ads, as she hated her job and needed a new one already.
18
Joy put the perfectly spiced pork loin on the table, enjoying the way the skin still sizzled and the juices ran clear. She’d slice it moments before they ate, and she turned back to the grill. Harrison had taught her how to use this appliance, and she could see why he enjoyed cooking outside so much.
The corn on the cob had a certain char that made her mouth water, and she pulled it from the rack and put it in the pan she’d prepared with melted butter, garlic, salt, and pepper. She rolled it around in there, making room for all the pieces, and then she put it back on the upper rack and closed the lid.
She’d wrapped potatoes in foil and put them on the grill almost an hour ago, and she had toppings on the table already. Shredded cheese, homemade bacon bits, sour cream, butter, ranch dressing, broccoli, and salsa. That last one was for Sage only, as she was the only person Joy had ever met who put salsa on her baked potato.
“We’re here,” Bessie called, and she, Sage, and Cass came outside from the kitchen. “Wow, this is what we can smell from Cass’s house.” She smiled at Joy and stepped into her to hug her. “I’m so glad we’re going home together.” She pressed her forehead to Joy’s, and Joy smiled too.
“Me too.” She’d had time to think since Beach Day, and while she hated the questions that had been posed to her, she suspected her friends were right. She wouldn’t stay in Sweet Water Falls if they were all coming here. They were her support system. They were all she had, and it was just an address.
Her two sons were out of the house, grown, and on their own. She didn’t have a tether to Sweet Water Falls anymore, even if Cherry Forrester lived there and Joy liked her a whole lot. She worked in a fourth-grade classroom, and Hilton Head had three elementary schools. There were plenty of jobs here she could get, and if she went back to school and got her teaching certificate, she could teach here instead of helping kids with their undone math homework or working on reading skills two grade levels below them.
She hated this fissure inside her, as well as the love she had for Texas. She’d been right when she’d said she’d never lived anywhere else. She hadn’t, and she’d never wanted to.
Bea entered, and she carried a cake pan. “Here’s the custard cake,” she said proudly.
“I love you,” Joy said. “Can we have dessert first?”
Bea laughed and shook her head. “I’m just putting it in the fridge.” She backtracked into the house to do that, and Lauren stepped outside in a pair of cutoffs and a tank top that barely covered her small chest. She looked like she’d just woken up from a nap, and Joy happened to know she had.
She didn’t wear shoes, and Hilton Head had relaxed her in a way Joy was extremely happy about. Lauren had always worked too hard, and she’d told Joy that part of her strategy this summer was to find new ways to relax.
“I fell asleep,” she said. “You were going to wake me at five-thirty.”
“You looked too peaceful,” Joy said. “Did the doorbell get you?”
“All the alerts that someone had entered the house.” She smiled and looked around. “What do we still need?”
“Nothing,” Joy said. Just because Lauren lived here with her didn’t mean she had to help with Supper Club. When it was Joy’s month back home, no one helped her get the food on the table. “We’re ready,” she said louder. “Find a seat, and let’s get started.”
