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ChapterFourteen
“You did not do that.”
“I have the scar to prove I did.”
Andrea laughed at the two women bickering back and forth in the booth they had reserved for their get-together at The Anchor.
“Kerry, if you went, I would have known,” Tessa, Kerry’s older sister, resolved.
Without warning, Kerry raised herself up while lifting her blouse to her midriff before pointing to a small, barely noticeable mark at the side of her ribcage.
The other women who sat at the booth leaned forward to get a closer look at the mark.
“That is ink,” Kirsten, Brian’s wife, confirmed. The other women shook their heads in agreement while Tessa’s mouth remained agape out of sheer disbelief.
“Oh my God, you did it,” she finally managed to say, still looking at her sister with a shocked expression.
“I did, but it’s more like a large beauty mark. As soon as the needle touched my skin, I couldn’t manage the pain, and I hightailed it out of there.” Kerry shivered as if still remembering the pain of the needle.
“But you were only fifteen.”
Kerry gave her sister an apologetic look. “There’re a lot of things I did that I’m not proud of,” she replied simply, bringing the glass of beer to her lips.
Andrea brought her own glass to her lips as she thought about all the reckless things she herself did after leaving Oak Harbor. She could definitely concur with her cousin’s statement.
“We’ve all done things we’re not proud of or too keen to talk about.” Andrea turned her head to her cousin’s wife, who had spoken. Sharon looked wistfully into her own glass of beer.
“Some things you wish you could do over, but then you realize if you actually did get the chance to do it over, you probably wouldn’t; not with how much would be at stake.” Andrea was surprised that those words had left her lips, but then Kerry responded.
“I know what you mean. For example, take my marriage to Darren. I knew it was a mistake to marry him just because I had Tracy, but I did it anyway because I wanted my child to have a normal childhood. But then Emma came, and I felt trapped because I couldn’t get to pursue my passion. There were happy times, don’t get me wrong, but when the passion died, and the children were almost grown, we realized that we weren’t even friends— just two people coexisting under the same roof for the sake of our kids.”
Kerry sighed with her hand on her cheek. “There are so many things I wish I could change, but then if I was able to, I couldn’t because that would mean giving up on the opportunity of being a mother to my two wonderful girls, and I can’t envision a life without them in it.”
The women around the table nodded in understanding, and Andrea caught Cora’s own look of understanding.
Just then, their bartender came by to refill their mugs with beer. Cora got a root beer because she’d driven herself and Andrea to the establishment. The others had come by Uber. Andrea raised the frothy brown liquid to her lips before taking a sip and placing it back on the table.
Fixing her eyes on her cousin, Brian’s wife, she asked, “So, Kirsten, you’re a teacher?” She was deliberate in trying to get the rather quiet woman to participate in the conversation rather than the one-line sentences she’d been offering up in the one hour they’d been at the bar. She figured the woman was probably shy around her, Cora, and their friends because she wasn’t used to them, but she was also hoping that the more she got involved in the conversation, the more comfortable she’d get being around them. From the smiles of approval that flitted across Tessa’s and Kerry’s faces, she could tell they were happy about her efforts.
“Oh yeah… Yes, I teach at Oak Harbor Elementary, fourth grade,” she responded softly.
“She taught my son, Ricky.”
Andrea raised her brows in surprise at Shelby. “Really? I didn’t know you knew Kirsten.”
Shelby gave a slight shrug as she replied. “Not really. Ricky was in Kirsten’s class five years ago. Randy attended most of the PTA meetings for Ricky. I was responsible for Angela and Isaac,” she explained.
“Now I remember. Richard Barrett,” Kirsten spoke as it dawned on her that she knew Shelby or was at least acquainted with her.
The conversation continued to flow, as did the drinks, and within the second hour, everyone had loosened up and were laughing and sharing stories.
Andrea looked over at Marg to see that she, too, sported a huge smile on her lips and was getting along well with her family and friends. She was happy she’d chosen to come to the event and had invited her and Shelby.
“What do you think about this color?”
“Hmm…I don’t hate it, but I don’t particularly like it,” Andrea replied with a shrug.
“Okay… what about this one?” Marg asked, pointing to another wallpaper pattern in the home décor book they were perusing.
