Midnight Promises (11 page)

6

F
rances was delighted to be spending the evening with Daisy and Mack. For one thing it was much less stressful than evading questions from Flo and Liz about whether or not she’d made an appointment with her doctor. They were getting tiresome.

Even though she was where she wanted to be—away from the prying eyes of her friends—she was grateful that Daisy and Mack had plenty of homework to keep them occupied. For some reason trying to keep up appearances these days was exhausting. She was relieved to be able to simply sit and glance through the magazines she’d brought along or to watch TV.

She was startled when she glanced up and found Mack standing in front of her, his expression a mix of dismay and embarrassment. She’d seen that look often enough in her classrooms over the years to have a pretty good idea this was about homework troubles.

“Is everything okay, Mack?”

He shrugged.

Frances had to hide a smile. Even at seven, kids had a lot of pride. “How’s your homework going?” she prodded. “All finished?”

He shook his head, his cheeks turning even pinker. “I don’t get my math problems.” He gave her a pleading look. “Could you help me? Subtracting’s hard.”

Though she was pleased to be asked, she wondered if she’d be any help. “I can certainly try,” she said. “And if I can’t, I imagine Jenny can.”

His expression turned puzzled. “Jenny? Who’s that?”

Frances blinked, then shook her head and gave an embarrassed chuckle. “Did I say Jenny? I meant Daisy. Jenny’s my granddaughter. She lives in Charleston.” Jenny had been named for her mother, Frances’s daughter, Jennifer.

Mack’s face lit up. “I remember her. She used to come to visit. Sometimes she even spent the weekend.”

“She did,” Frances confirmed. “What a wonderful memory you have!” At the moment, she envied him.

“She was bigger than Daisy, though,” he said, looking perplexed again. “How old is she?”

Frances felt as if she were slogging through mental mush as she tried to recall. “She must be fifteen now.” Or was she older? Had Jenny gone off to college? Or was that Marilou? And why couldn’t she keep them straight? There were three girls, she remembered that much. Jennifer had so hoped for a boy that last pregnancy, but there’d been another girl. On the teacher salaries she and her husband earned, they’d decided a fourth child simply wasn’t in the cards.

Darn! If she could remember all that, why couldn’t she keep the names and ages straight?

The answer, of course, was obvious. This was another of those troubling mental glitches. It was a good thing Flo and Liz weren’t around to witness it. Their pleas that she make that doctor appointment would become even more strident.

“Sit beside me and show me those math problems,” she said, rather than dwelling on her earlier slip.

Finally confident that he wasn’t going to be judged, Mack eagerly crawled up on the sofa beside her and showed her his paper. Thankfully, the problems were fairly basic subtraction, something she
hadn’t
forgotten.

Once he’d finished the math to her satisfaction and had shown her his other homework, he ran to get Daisy for the milk and cookies she’d promised them both before bed.

“Have you finished your assignments, Jenny?” she asked as she poured the milk.

“You mean Daisy,” Daisy said, regarding her curiously. “Jenny’s someone else.”

“Her granddaughter,” Mack supplied.

“Sorry,” Frances apologized. “I don’t know where my mind is tonight.”

Mack gave her a broad grin. “Maybe me and Daisy should look for it.”

“Daisy and I,” she corrected automatically, then added, “And I wish you would. Let me know if you find it.”

Because it was getting harder and harder to pretend that everything was just fine.

* * *

Karen gazed around Dana Sue’s living room at the group of women gathered there. She knew them all, but seeing them like this, relaxed and bantering about their lives, their husbands and their work surrounded her with a warmth she’d never experienced before. She had the feeling that these women shared the most intimate details of their lives without fear of judgment.

“Have we scared you off yet?” Maddie asked, slipping into the space beside her on the sofa. “No topic’s sacred when the Sweet Magnolias get together.”

Karen laughed. “I can see that. Is it the margaritas, or are you all just so comfortable with each other that anything goes?”

“A little of both, I suspect,” Maddie said. “You know Helen, Dana Sue and I have been friends since we were in grade school together about a million years ago. There are very few secrets left among us. Jeanette started joining us after she came to work for us at The Corner Spa. Annie, Sarah and Raylene were all high school friends, but a whole different generation. Helen and I practically helped to raise Annie because she was always underfoot, along with my kids. Now, of course, she’s married to my son.”

“I think that’s what I love the most,” Karen admitted, “seeing two generations, especially a mother and daughter, getting along like best friends. I wish I’d had a chance like that with my mother.”

“Has she passed on?” Maddie asked, her expression sympathetic.

“Passed out more than likely,” Karen said, unable to keep a note of bitterness from her voice. “I accepted a long time ago that we’d never have a good relationship.”

“Mother-daughter bonds can be tricky under the best of conditions. Helen and Flo certainly have their moments,” she revealed, eyes twinkling. “And my mother—”

“She’s the famous local artist—Paula Vreeland, right?” Karen asked, remembering.

“She is, and we’ve had our ups and downs over the years,” Maddie admitted. “But Raylene’s the one who had a really difficult relationship with her mother. You should talk to her sometime about how hard it’s been for her to make peace with that. The circumstances were different, but clearly both of you have been affected by what happened.”

“Maybe I will,” Karen said.

Maddie’s expression turned more serious. “Have you and Elliott worked out any issues over the new gym? I’m so sorry we inadvertently created tension between you.”

“Not your fault,” Karen said at once. Because she wasn’t quite ready to open up about how terrified she was about his financial commitment, she forced a smile. “We’ll figure things out.”

“I’m sure you will,” Maddie said. “He does adore you, you know.”

Karen smiled. “So I hear.”

Maddie frowned at her glib choice of words. “You don’t believe it?”

“Of course I do,” Karen said a little too quickly. “Every marriage has bumps, right? And the first years are the trickiest.”

“No question about it,” Maddie confirmed. “Just so you know, we’re all glad you’re here tonight. If you ever need to talk, we’re all good at listening. Sometimes we can even keep our advice to ourselves, if that’s what you’d prefer.”

Karen looked around, hearing the others all pitching in with opinions about whether it was time for Sarah and Travis to get serious about having a baby. She turned back to Maddie. “Really?” she inquired skeptically.

Maddie laughed. “I promise. It may kill us, but we can do it.”

Just then Karen’s cell phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID and saw it was coming from home. “I need to take this,” she told Maddie.

She slipped out of the room as she answered. “Daisy, is everything okay?”

“I’m not sure, Mom. Can you come home?”

“Of course I can, but what’s going on?”

“It’s Frances. She’s been acting a little weird all night. Confused, kinda.”

“Confused in what way?”

“I had to show her where the bathroom is, and she keeps calling me Jenny. That’s her granddaughter.”

Alarm bells went off, even though the mistaken name might have been an innocent slip of the tongue. Alone it might have meant nothing, but not remembering where the bathroom was in a home she’d visited quite recently was certainly worrisome. In addition, Karen had seen signs that something was off with Frances on her last visit. The combined incidents were definitely troubling.

Besides, if something didn’t feel right to Daisy, then Karen needed to get home now.

“I’ll be right there,” she promised. “I’m sure everything’s fine, but I’m glad you called.”

“Hurry, Mom. It’s kinda freaking Mack and me out.”

Karen was about to make her excuses when she suddenly realized that she had no way to get home. Elliott had dropped her off and planned to come back to pick her up after his evening with the guys. A glance at her watch indicated that wouldn’t be for another hour at least.

As she walked back into the living room, Dana Sue regarded her worriedly. “Everything okay?”

“There could be a problem at home. I need to try to reach Elliott and see if he can come get me.”

“Don’t bother him,” Raylene said at once, already on her feet. “I’m tonight’s stone-cold sober designated driver. I’ll run you home.”

“Are you sure? I’d really appreciate it.”

“Not a problem,” Raylene said, then turned to the others. “No one budges or says anything scandalous until I’m back, okay?”

“Not a word,” Sarah teased. “We’ll just talk about you.”

Raylene made a gesture indicating what she thought of the teasing.

Once in Raylene’s car, Karen could barely concentrate on anything other than the fear in Daisy’s voice.

“Want to talk about whatever’s going on?” Raylene asked gently.

Karen shook her head. “It’s probably nothing. You know how kids’ imaginations get the better of them. Daisy was just a little concerned that something might be going on with the babysitter.”

Raylene looked startled. “Frances?”

Karen had forgotten for a moment that everyone in Serenity knew everyone’s business, or at least a good chunk of it. She nodded.

“Is she ill?” Raylene asked.

“Daisy seems to think something’s just off with her tonight. I figured if my nine-year-old is worried, I should be, too.”

“I agree,” Raylene said as she turned into the cul-de-sac where Karen lived. “Want me to come in while you check on her, just in case it’s anything serious?”

Though Karen wanted to say yes just to have the moral support, she knew it would humiliate Frances if another person showed up and there was no crisis. She shook her head.

“I’ll be okay. If there’s a real problem, I’ll call Elliott. He can be here in a few minutes. Thanks for offering, though.”