Every Girl Gets Confused (7 page)

I would crawl over the mountains of Beverly Hills on my hands and knees if I could do a movie with Doris Day!

John Wayne

I
headed south on I-45, breathing a sigh of relief as I came to the Fairfield exit. I couldn't help myself. I had to stop at Cooper Farms to buy some peach preserves and talk to the owner, who was providing vegetables for Queenie's wedding reception. Gratis, naturally. Was the whole town of Fairfield offering their services at no cost?

After this I pointed the car in the direction of Dairy Queen, where my cousin and the other ladies would be waiting. The strangest emotions took hold of me as I pulled into the park
ing spot. I felt glued to my seat. How many times had I come here with Casey over the years? Dozens? No, hundreds was more like it.

“Ooh, a Blizzard. I can't wait. It's been ages since I had a Blizzard.” Alva giggled. “I don't care how cold it is outside, I love ice cream.”

“Me too.” First, though, I had to shake the chill that gripped me as I got out of the car.

As soon as we walked inside, my gaze traveled to the booth where Casey and I had sat so many times, enjoying Blizzards. There in that spot sat my cousin Lori-Lou with her three children, the oldest two girls seated on the bench next to her and baby Joshie in a high chair at the end of the table.

“You made it!” She gestured for me to join them.

“Of course I made it, girl. We've got a lot of planning to do.”

I took a seat across from them, and the oldest two children immediately slithered under the table and popped up on my side. They jumped in my lap at the same time.

“I miss you, Aunt Katie!” Mariela's pigtails slapped me in the face as she snuggled up close.

“Me miss you too,” Gilly added as she flung her arms around my neck, nearly suffocating her older sister underneath.

“Get off me, Gilly,” Mariela scolded.

“No, you move!” Gilly shouted.

“No, you!”

The squabble escalated until Lori-Lou threatened to take away their electronics. That settled it. They calmed down, Gilly on my right, Mariela on my left.

Alva took a seat next to Lori-Lou and clucked her tongue at the children. “Are my babies being naughty?”

“Them? Naughty?” Lori-Lou snorted.

“I'm so happy this week is behind me.” I eased my way out
of my jacket, nearly hitting Gilly in the head with my elbow. “It's been crazy.”

“Girl, you haven't experienced crazy until you've tried to potty train one kid while pulling another one off the bottle. It's a nightmare, I tell you.”

“It'd be a toss-up. Things are nuts at the shop right now. Glad to be here instead of there.”

“Oh? Planning an ooh-la-la bridal shower for your grandmother is more appealing than dealing with angry customers?” Alva asked.

“Actually, the ooh-la-la shower is the one Bessie May's planning.” My cousin's eyes grew large. “You don't even want to know the particulars on that one, trust me. Just thank your lucky stars it's only for Queenie's bridesmaids.”

Alva raised her hand and smiled. “I'm the maid of honor, and I can't wait!”

“What's ooh-la-la, Mommy?” Mariela asked.

“It's something grown-ups say.” Aunt Alva gave her a knowing look. “Now, I'm going to get myself some chicken strips and French fries. You hungry, Katie?”

I nodded and she trotted off to the register to order.

“I hope you don't mind that the kids are here,” Lori-Lou said. “I tried to get Josh to watch them, but he couldn't take any more days off. We've got a house payment to cover now.”

“I understand. I've got a new car payment myself.”

“So happy for you.” She glanced through the window at my new SUV. “It's beautiful, Katie. And no one deserves it more than you. That old clunker of yours was something else.”

“It wasn't worth much as a trade-in, but I'm glad to be rid of it.”

“We're still driving the minivan. Guess we'll run it into the
ground. No fancy bells and whistles, but it'll do until we can afford something newer.”

“I understand. I drove my old car until it nearly gave up the ghost. Brady helped me pick out the SUV.”

“How is Brady?” Her smile morphed into a look of concern. “Scheduled for surgery?”

“Yeah. November 19th.”

“Ack. That's close.”

“Yes, and you'll never believe what I did. I scheduled a big event at the bridal shop on Black Friday. He won't be back up and running by then. I don't know what I was thinking, but I can't go back on my word now.” I filled her in on the details while we waited for the other ladies to show up.

“You'll manage, Katie,” she said when I finished. “You can do anything you put your mind to.”

“Obviously you can too.” I motioned to the children, who were coloring their paper menus. I gave Lori-Lou an admiring look. “How are you feeling, anyway?”

She rubbed her pregnant belly and groaned. “I think maybe I'm too old for this.”

“Don't be silly. You're only thirty-two.”

“Just feels a lot harder this time. Maybe because I have my hands so full with the others. No idea how I'm going to hold this one once she gets here.”

“
She?
It's a girl?”

“Oops!” She put her hand over her mouth. “I was supposed to be keeping that a secret until we do the big reveal on Facebook. We just had the ultrasound yesterday. Want to see the picture?”

Before I could say, “Of course!” she opened her purse.

“It's in here somewhere.” She pulled out a pacifier and a sippy cup, then a wrinkled piece of paper, which she unfolded.
“Mariela painted this for you, by the way.” She passed the artwork my way and continued to pull items out of her purse: tissues, diaper wipes, a random pink sock, and a headband. Finally, she gave up. “Sorry. I thought I had it.” She pulled out an electronic tablet and passed it to Mariela. Seconds later the girls were squabbling over who got to use it first.

“It's okay. You can show me next time.” I opened the painting from Mariela and a photo fell out. The ultrasound photo.

“Ooh, there it is!” Lori-Lou picked it up and groaned. “Wait, let me wipe it off. It's sticky. I think it has grape jelly on it. Joshie had jelly this morning.”

When she finally got the picture clean, she passed it my way and pointed. “See there? Those are her girl parts, plain as day.”

Hmm. What I was looking at certainly didn't look like a baby, and I'd be hard-pressed to label anything girl parts. I just nodded and smiled, which I often did.

On either side of me, Mariela and Gilly still fought over the tablet. This put me squarely in the middle of their argument. The tone of Lori-Lou's voice changed as the turned to the girls. “Gilly, stop fighting with your sister or you won't get your turn.” She turned back to me and sighed. “I just can't wait to have a sweet little baby girl. I'm sure she'll be adorable.”

Mariela reached across me to smack Gilly on the arm and the youngster started wailing. “She hit me!”

Lori-Lou was so distracted by the ultrasound photo that she didn't seem to notice any of this. She carried on and on about the baby, about how precious little girls were.

Mariela yanked the tablet from Gilly's hands, causing a screaming fit to ensue. At this point an elderly man in the booth behind us got up and left, glaring all the while. Not that Lori-Lou noticed. She just kept staring at that picture in my hands.

“So, did you want me to keep this?” I asked.

“Yep. We have one just like it on the fridge.”

Perfect place to put something that looked like a work of abstract art. I pressed it into my purse and glanced up at the register where Alva stood gabbing with the manager.

“Who else is coming to this meeting?” I asked.

“Bessie May and Ophelia. Prissy Moyer was going to come, but she's got grandchildren in town.” Lori-Lou reached out and grabbed the tablet from Mariela and threatened to put it away for good if they didn't stop fighting. That slowed things down—for a moment.

“That should be fun.” I did my best not to roll my eyes. “Are we the only young ones?”

“No. Joni Milford is the wedding coordinator at the Baptist church now. Did you know?”

“That's right. Queenie did tell me that. Am I the only one who's surprised that she's . . . well . . . planning weddings?”

“I was a little shocked, if you want my opinion, but stranger things have happened. And hey, it'll be good to have a friend who knows a little something about wedding planning. Won't be long before we're doing this for you and Brady.”

I cleared my throat.

Lori-Lou shoved her items back in her purse. “Oh, you know what I mean, Katie. You're dating someone, so you're well on your way to the altar.”

“Katie Sue's headed to the altar?” Aunt Alva appeared at the table. “Well, praise the Lord! I've prayed every day that Brady would pop the question. How did he do it, Katie? And why wasn't I the first to know? I'm your roommate, after all.”

I put my hand up. “No, no, no. Brady hasn't proposed.”

“Eh? What's that you say? Brady proposed?”

I turned to discover that Bessie May and Ophelia had entered.

“Who's Brady, anyway?” Bessie May added. “That football fella?”

“Basketball, Bessie May.” Lori-Lou closed her purse and shoved it onto the bench. “He plays basketball.”

“Brady is Katie's fiancé.” Alva scooted back into her spot across from me. “But I had no idea they were engaged. That calls for double Blizzards all the way around.”

“No. He has not proposed.”

I must've said it too loudly because Mariela piped up with, “Don't worry, Aunt Katie. You'll get married someday. I'll be your flower girl.” Her little nose wrinkled as she added, “If I'm not too old by then.”

I groaned.

“I thought you were marrying that Lawson boy.” Ophelia looked more than a little perplexed. “Did you break it off?”

“They broke it off ages ago, Ophelia.” Bessie May rolled her eyes. “Honestly. No one pays attention to anything around here.”

“Today is supposed to be about Queenie, not me,” I said.

“Speaking of Queenie, where is she?” Lori-Lou glanced toward the door.

“She's up at the church, talking to Joni about the ceremony,” Bessie May said. “But she'll be here shortly. I just talked to Joni a few minutes ago. She'll be driving Queenie over just as soon as they've gone over the to-do list.”

“Where's a person supposed to sit for this meeting anyway?” Ophelia looked down at our messy table.

“You kids scoot to the next table,” Lori-Lou said. “Take the tablet with you.” She reached into her purse and came out with a coloring book and crayons. “Here, take these too.”

The girls scooted into the booth the elderly man had vacated, and Mariela started eating the French fries he'd left
behind. Lovely. Bessie May and Ophelia squeezed in next to me.

“Now we're ready to roll,” Alva said.

“Hardly.” Bessie May grumbled about the sticky table, so Lori-Lou pulled out a wipe and went to town cleaning it.

I couldn't stop thinking about Joni, former star softball player on the Fairfield girls' team. We'd never been terribly close, but that had more to do with the fact that she'd been busy playing ball and I'd been a cheerleader. And Fairfield Peach Queen. And Casey's date to the prom. And I hated to state the obvious, but she hadn't really been the sort of girl to gravitate toward my group of friends. We were more the giddy sleepover types. She was the athletic type. Seemed strange that she would be coordinating my grandmother's wedding. The rumors that had followed her in school were, well, not terribly flattering.

Rumors.

“What about rumors, Katie?” Ophelia asked.

“Oh, sorry.” I startled to attention. “Didn't realize I'd said that out loud.”

“If you're asking for the latest on Joni, you've come to the right place.” Bessie May squeezed some hand sanitizer into her palms, then passed the bottle to Ophelia. “But I'll have to lower my voice. Norah Harrison is sitting just three booths behind us and the woman couldn't keep her lips shut if her life depended on it. Now, what was I going to tell you again?”

“Bessie May, you are the worship leader at the Baptist church now.” I clucked my tongue at her. “You can't go around spreading rumors. It's not godly.”

She leaned in close as she rubbed the sanitizer into her hands. “I'm not
spreading
anything. What I'm about to tell you is common knowledge.”

“Then why are we whispering?” Lori-Lou responded in hushed tones.

“Because it's a surprise.” Bessie May gave us a wink. “Top secret.”

“Just like Queenie's lingerie shower?” Alva quirked a brow.

Bessie May glared at her. “Anyway, most folks still don't know. Did you hear that Levi Nash and Joni are dating?”

This certainly got my attention. “Oh, wow. Levi and Joni?” Well, if that wasn't a strange match.

“Yep.” Bessie May nodded. “Well, I guess it's not verifiable. No one's caught 'em smooching or anything like that, so it wouldn't hold up in a court of law.”

“Yet,” Ophelia added.

“Yet.” Bessie May's face turned pink. “But they spend a lot of time together. Thick as thieves, those two. Just thought you'd want to know. But whatever you do, don't mention it. I don't think anyone is supposed to know.”

“You said it was common knowledge.”

“Common knowledge to me. And the other WOP-pers. You know how we are, Katie Sue.”

Yes, I knew all right.

“We're tight with the Lord and we have a spiritual sense about these things. So you can take what I've said to the bank. But don't try to cash the check just yet. Not until they make it public.”