Midnight Promises (39 page)

It was, he thought, the perfect compromise between his willful pride and his love of his wife. Perhaps he’d taken that lesson about being less like his father to heart, after all, and was already putting it to good use.

22

F
rances spread her cards out on the table at the senior center on Wednesday night. “Gin!” she announced triumphantly.

“You’re kidding me,” Liz said, sounding thoroughly disgusted. “Again?”

Frances grinned. “What can I say? I’m on a roll. Maybe we should plan a trip to Vegas, while I’m on this hot streak.”

Flo’s eyes immediately lit up. “Seriously? You’d like to go to Las Vegas?”

“No, she wouldn’t,” Liz said. “She keeps tossing out these outlandish ideas like some sort of bucket list she wants to accomplish before she dies. It’s morbid. I think she just wants to test the waters to see if either of us is crazy enough to join her.”

“Actually going to Vegas is a perfectly rational idea,” Frances said, suddenly determined to pursue the vacation. “We all love to gamble. There are lots of shows we can see. Why shouldn’t we go and have some fun?”

“You have my attention,” Flo said eagerly. “Come on, Liz. Don’t be a stick-in-the-mud. Senior Magnolias do daring things.”

“It’s the
Sweet
Magnolias who are daring,” Liz corrected. “Seniors behave respectably.”

“This from a woman who once staged sit-ins right here in Serenity,” Frances scoffed. “When did you get old and stuffy?”

“Around the time I turned eighty and my kids started looking for any excuse to send me to a retirement home,” Liz retorted.

“Well, Travis made sure that’s not going to happen when he invited you to stay on in the guest house after he bought your property,” Frances said. “He and Sarah will protect you. No one in your family is going to go up against those two. They’ll use that radio station of theirs to stir up a
Free Liz
protest or something.”

Frances watched as Liz struggled between her sense of decorum and her well-proven record as a risk taker. The twinkle in her eyes suggested she was close to making the more outrageous choice.

“Oh, come on,” Flo prodded when she apparently couldn’t tolerate the silence another second. “You know you want to. If anyone’s going to jump all over this and rain on our parade, it’ll be my Helen. We might not want to let her in on our plans.”

“Stop that nonsense,” Frances said. “We’re old and we’re bold. I think that needs to be our motto for whatever time we have left.”

Liz stared at her incredulously, then chuckled. “I have to admit, I like that. Okay, ladies, let’s get online and order those tickets. I’m thinking we should reserve a suite. How about you?”

“How wonderfully indulgent!” Flo said eagerly. “Let’s do it.”

Frances sat back, listening to them as they seized on the plan and ran with it. Who would have thought at this late stage of her life and especially after all she’d been through recently that she’d be looking ahead, instead of settling for old memories? Just thinking about it made her smile…and gave her hope. If she was going down for the final count, it wouldn’t be quietly.

* * *

It was Helen who called an emergency meeting of the Sweet Magnolias.

“Do you have any idea what my mother, Frances and Liz want to do?” she demanded when everyone was settled in her living room. She hadn’t even made the usual batch of margaritas. She’d served sweet tea. Failing to stock a supply of tequila and frozen limeade was a sure sign that she was genuinely upset.

“They’re going to Las Vegas,” Karen ventured carefully, not entirely sure if that’s what had Helen in such a state.

“Exactly!” Helen said, regarding her accusingly. “Why aren’t you more upset about this?”

“When Frances told me, I thought it sounded like fun,” Karen admitted.

“Three old women on the loose by themselves halfway across the country struck you as a great idea?” Helen said incredulously. “Are you nuts? Who knows what could happen?”

“They’ll gamble, maybe lose a little money, see a couple of shows and come home,” Maddie soothed. “I don’t see why you’re getting so worked up about it.”

“Oh, let’s see,” Helen said, her expression still dire. “Frances is ninety and has some sort of memory issues, Liz is just as old, and my mother is recovering from a broken hip she got trying to learn line dancing. Am I the only one who sees the potential for disaster?”

She turned a fierce scowl on Dana Sue who’d dared to chuckle. “Not a laughing matter,” Helen declared.

Dana Sue’s eyes continued to sparkle with mirth. “You have to admit the image of them taking on Vegas is pretty funny. I’m not sure the Vegas strip is ready for those three. Come on, Helen. Lighten up. I doubt they’re going to play high-stakes poker. I imagine they’ll lose a few dollars in the slots and be happy.”

Helen sighed heavily. “I should have taken the time to shop for tequila so I could make the margaritas. I could use one. You all are not being supportive.”

“No, we’re being rational,” Maddie said, unmistakably amused by Helen’s rant. “Something you rarely are when it comes to your mother.”

“Because she’s impulsive and reckless,” Helen said.

“No, she wants to actually live her life,” Maddie corrected gently. “You need to let her. When you brought her back here, you were terrified she was going to be dependent on you. Now that she’s behaving independently, that’s driving you nuts, too. You can’t have it both ways. Let her do what makes her happy.”

“I agree,” Karen said, risking another sour look from Helen. “I know Frances isn’t really my family, but I think of her as if she were. I want her to have every single minute of joy she can grab. I suspect there comes a time when everyone wants to put their parents or grandparents into a nice, safe environment to protect them from harm, but isn’t it better to let them live while they can? The time will come soon enough when they’ll have no options. If Frances, Liz and Flo want to make this trip and think they can, I think we should be supporting them, not looking for ways to hold them back.” She wavered under Helen’s dark look, but then added, “Just my opinion.”

“And mine,” Dana Sue added supportively.

Maddie offered Helen a consoling look, then suggested with a sly twinkle in her eyes. “If you’re that worried, you could go along. Chaperone them.”

“Great idea,” Dana Sue enthused before Helen could recover from her obvious shock. “I’ll go, too.”

Helen groaned. “Oh, sweet heaven,” she murmured, looking from one to the other. “You’re serious?”

“I am,” Dana Sue confirmed.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t had a girls-gone-wild weekend in a very long time,” Maddie said. “Count me in, too.” She glanced around at the rest of them. “Anyone else?”

Sarah, Raylene, Jeanette and Karen shook their heads.

“As much as I would love it, there’s no way I can get away,” Sarah said. “Though I’m thinking we should do live daily updates on my morning radio show. Travis will love the idea. It’s bound to be a ratings bonanza. Grace can tune them in on the radio at Wharton’s.”

“What a fantastic idea!” Raylene added. “Oh, I wish I could come along.”

Helen stared at them. “You want to take my humiliation public?”

Maddie patted her hand. “What your mother does is no reflection on you,” she consoled her.

Helen rolled her eyes. “In Serenity? Who are you trying to kid? This trip will be the talk of the courthouse for weeks. I won’t be able to look a single judge or opposing attorney in the eye without blushing.”

“Oh, please,” Dana Sue said. “You’re tougher than that. At least that’s what you’re always telling us. A little gossip isn’t going to be your undoing. Isn’t that what you told Maddie when the whole town was up in arms over her dating Cal?”

Helen merely buried her head in her hands.

“So, you all just have to take lots and lots of video on your cell phones, too, and send back daily reports to the rest of us,” Karen said innocently. “I’d suggest keeping that just between us, but if our seniors really do go wild…” She cast a wicked grin in Helen’s direction. “We can put the video up on YouTube and make them famous.”

Helen glanced up, a look of horror on her face. “This was not at all how I planned for tonight to end,” she lamented.

“Oh, buck up,” Maddie said. “It’s going to be fun.”

“Or the death of me,” Helen murmured.

Despite all Helen’s grumbling protests, Karen envied her. It was a trip she definitely wouldn’t mind sharing with Frances.

“You’re so lucky,” she told Helen.

Helen continued to look skeptical. “Lucky?”

“There will come a time when these memories will mean the world to you,” she told her.

Helen shook her head, but her lips were finally twitching ever so slightly into a smile. “You are such a little optimist.”

Karen nodded. “Kind of a miracle, don’t you think?”

Certainly to her way of thinking, it was.

* * *

Elliott heard about the trip to Las Vegas from Cal and Ronnie, who claimed they were tempted to go along just to keep the women out of trouble.

“Don’t you think Helen will do that?” Elliott asked. “She’s a lawyer and she has a good head on her shoulders.”

“Not when she’s under the influence of our wives and margaritas,” Ronnie said, a twinkle in his eyes. “It’s actually a joy to behold when she cuts loose and lets herself have fun.”

“Which is why Erik has begged Dana Sue to close Sullivan’s for a couple of days so he can tag along and keep an eye on his wife,” Cal said, chuckling. “The way this is going, the entire town might have to shut down so we can all trail out there to watch the fireworks.”

“I wonder why Karen didn’t mention any of this to me,” Elliott said. “If the trip was Frances’s idea, I’m sure she’d love to be there.”

Of course, even as he spoke, he knew the answer. She would never spend that kind of money on something as frivolous as a trip to Las Vegas. She wouldn’t even spend it on a dress she’d fallen in love with for herself. It gave him an idea of just what he could give her for her upcoming birthday.

“Do you think the women would mind one more?” he asked. “I’m thinking this trip would be the perfect birthday present for Karen, especially if Erik convinces Dana Sue to shut down Sullivan’s for a few days.”

“Let me have a talk with my wife,” Ronnie said. “I think she can be persuaded to close down for a good cause. We’re talking a couple of days. It’ll be good for her, Erik and Karen to get away from that pressure cooker. Once the glowing reviews for Sullivan’s started appearing all over the state, she’s been working nonstop for the past few years. So have they.”

Cal gave him a wry look. “I suppose that means you’ll shut down the hardware store, too.”

Ronnie shrugged. “We’re talking about a weekend. No big deal.”

Cal turned back to Elliott. “I’m thinking you and I are going to be stuck here holding down the fort. I am not hauling the kids to Las Vegas, especially not with Katie still grounded. And I can’t ask Maddie’s mom to babysit them for an entire weekend. Paula’s okay with the kids once they’re teenagers, but I think our two preschoolers scare the daylights out of her. They move too fast and are still a little short on conversational skills.”