Small Change (25 page)

“I just hope we're done picking berries for the year,” Tiffany said from the backseat.

Picking? Who had been doing most of the picking? In fact, who was responsible for the fact that they'd lost their first harvest and had to start picking again? That was it. Berries be damned. Rachel was going to bean Tiff with her pot. She glared at Tiff's reflection in the rearview mirror.

“Don't do it,” said Jess, reading her mind. “We have no place to hide the body.”

Tiffany looked from one to the other, irritated and perplexed. “What?”

“Never mind. Just be glad we're letting you live another day,” said Rachel. But she'd be doing it without any of their precious huckleberries.

“
G
reat last set,” Amy told the band as she unhooked herself from her guitar.

The party was over for another weekend and the remaining hangers-on at the club where The Red Hots were playing were tipping down the last of their drinks and putting on their coats, ready to face the rainy fall night. Jess looked beyond the dance floor to the far end of the room where the bar was situated and saw the bartender busily scooping up glasses. She'd forgotten how much she loved this life—the way the band fed off the crowd and then one another, the fun of watching people dance, the high of making harmonies. Too bad a girl couldn't really make a living doing this.

“We rocked this place,” agreed Kit. “That piano lick you played on Amy's new song was dope,” she told Jess.

“Thanks,” Jess said with a smile.

“Are you coming to Denny's?” asked Amy.

“Not tonight. Some of us have a long commute to work, you know. Even going straight home it'll be another hour before I'm in bed.”

“You need to leave the burbs,” said Kit in disgust. “That's for old people.”

“Compared to you guys I am old,” said Jess.

“Tell that to the college bum who was hitting on you every time we went on break,” teased Amy. “You're only as old as you act, and that puts me at nineteen.”

Jess smiled and shook her head as she lowered her keyboard into its case. If she didn't get some sleep she'd be a zombie all day on Sunday.

Jess got some sleep, but she was still a zombie on Sunday. She'd read somewhere once that a person got her best sleep before mid-night. If that was the case she hadn't been getting any good sleep on the weekends for quite a while. She stumbled out of bed and made her drowsy way to the kitchen around ten, following the aroma of coffee like a bloodhound on the scent.

Michael was already up and parked at the kitchen table, checking out the newspaper want ads. “How'd it go last night?” he asked as she shuffled to the coffeepot.

“We rocked the house, of course,” she said and poured a mug of caffeine. Strong, black coffee—the weekend warrior's friend.

He laid the paper on the table and regarded her. “What would you think about moving?”

She almost choked on her coffee. “Ohio?”

He shook his head. “Nope. That ship already sailed.”

She heard the discouragement in his voice. Michael had been so sure he'd find something right away. So far, he'd been both stoical and positive, but she sometimes wondered how much longer he could keep up that front. “Then where?” She walked
over to the table to check out the paper. “Did you find a job someplace?”

He shook his head. “Not yet.”

“Then I don't understand. Where do you want to move?”

“My mom was hoping maybe we'd move in with her.”

Move to Seattle and live with her mother-in-law? Jess blinked. “When did this happen?” Not that she had anything against her mother-in-law. Myra was great. But to up and leave their house and move back in with a parent at their age felt a little extreme.

“We were talking last night,” Michael said. “The house and yard are getting to be too much for her.”

No surprise there. Michael's widowed mother suffered from arthritis, and wasn't in the best condition to maintain a two-story, three-bedroom house with a good-sized yard. She'd surrendered the yard to a yard service a year ago. Now she was ready to surrender her home to another woman?

It was hard to imagine, almost as hard as it was for Jess to imagine herself living in that house on Magnolia with its décor that was caught in a time warp and its seventy-something neighbors. She couldn't. Not that she had anything against pink bathrooms, powder blue carpet, and crystal chandeliers. They just weren't her. And her neighbors here were her best friends.

Of course, the idea of going bankrupt wasn't exactly appealing either. Could she be happy living with her mother-in-law? She tried picturing family holiday gatherings and stockings hanging in front of the brick fireplace.

“I know you don't want to move,” Michael said gently. “But I don't know what the future holds. I'm thinking it might not be a bad idea to see if we can sell this place.”

Or sell her mother-in-law's place and move her to Heart Lake. Of course there was one minor flaw in that plan. Myra wouldn't want to move. Jess couldn't blame her. She didn't want to move, either. “You could find a job tomorrow,” she protested. “And then we'd have moved for nothing.”

“Jess, I don't know how long it will be before I get another job,” he said. It was depressing to hear him talk this way, to see the sober expression on his face. “Remember, our COBRA runs out at the end of the year.”

Jess swallowed hard.

“I don't want to wait until we're completely broke to put a plan B in place.”

It was her fault they even had to worry about a plan B. She'd been the one who balked at moving to Ohio. If she'd been a sport and sucked it up they wouldn't be in this position now.

She took a swallow of coffee, willing her brain to think of the right thing to say. “I hate that house.” This had not been the right thing to say. How had she let it slip out?

Michael's face fell, but he nodded gamely. “Well, I wasn't sure how you'd feel.”

But he'd suspected. She laid a hand on his arm. “I love your mom. You know that. But that's her home. It would never be mine. I'd feel like the world's oldest teenager living there, camping out in the middle of all her things.”

“She said you could redecorate.”

“That wouldn't be fair to her. She loves the place just like it is.”

Michael nodded, tight-lipped and stoical, and returned his gaze to the newspaper.

Michael didn't want to move any more than she did, she was sure
of it. He loved this house and was happy here with his neighborhood buddies. To suggest such a drastic measure, he had to be desperate.

Jess spent the next two days weighing her options. Which was better, being a bankrupt woman with a house in foreclosure or a noble daughter-in-law? When she looked at it that way, noble daughter-in-law suddenly didn't look so bad. She loved her mother-in-law. And she liked brick fireplaces. The kids would love being at Grandma's for Christmas.

Once you say it you can't take it back,
she reminded herself. She thought of the fun times she'd had with Jess and Tiffany and swallowed hard.

Seattle wasn't all that far away. She could still come back to Heart Lake to visit. Maybe, once Michael's fortunes improved, they could buy a summer cabin on the lake.

“Let's put the house up for sale and see what happens,” she finally said.

That had been the right thing to say, obviously. Her husband not only looked relieved, he also smiled gratefully at her. “I know you don't want to leave your friends.”

“It's not like I won't ever see them again,” she said, both to Michael and herself. “We have to be responsible. We'll make it work,” she added, hoping she was right.

Monday night Laney Brown from Lakeside Realty came over to check out the house and assure them that she would, indeed, get it sold. Next thing Jess knew Laney had a six-month exclusive listing and was pounding a For Sale sign into their front lawn.

She'd barely left when both Rachel and Tiffany were at the front door, wanting to know what was going on. Jess burst into tears and they led her over to Rachel's house for a strong dose of chocolate.

Rachel was crying, too, before she even had the Hershey's Kisses out of hiding. “I can't believe this. Where are you going?”

“To live with my mother-in-law.”

“Eeew,” said Tiffany, grabbing for the candy bag.

“It's okay.” Jess sniffed. “I like my mother-in-law. But I hate her house, and I don't want to leave you guys.”

“At least you're only moving to Seattle,” said Tiffany. “We'll still get together.”

“It won't be the same as having her next door,” said Rachel, passing around a Kleenex box.

If there was one thing Jess had learned in her forty-four years on the planet, it was that things never stayed the same, no matter how much you wanted them to. “We'll just have to make sure we meet on a regular basis. I can still come up for our Saturday meetings.”

“And you haven't moved yet,” added Rachel.

“Maybe it won't sell,” said Tiffany hopefully. “Except you need it to, don't you?”

“Yes, unless Michael miraculously gets a job.”

“Then let's hope for a miracle,” said Rachel.

A miracle happened all right. The house sold in two weeks.

“I hate this,” said Tiffany when Jess returned for a complimentary farewell manicure.

So did Jess. She had missed coming to the salon, missed the sounds of Cara's favorite rock station, the camaraderie of the women, the crazy smells. Right now Cara had Maude Schuller in her chair and was in the process of giving her a perm, injecting the air with the strong smell of permanent wave solution. Iris was between customers and sampling one of the freshly baked oatmeal cookies Maude had brought in.

Ironic,
thought Jess,
now we're out from under mortgage payments and I can afford to come to Tiff again I won't be living here.
Well, she'd still come up to Heart Lake and have Tiff do her nails. She was still going to meet with her friends and do crafts anyway. She'd make a day of it.

“Well,” said Jess, “it won't be as much fun as us all living on the same block, but at least we still all live in the same state. Hope-fully, none of us will move far away.”

“Not me,” said Tiff, applying blood red polish to Jess's nails. “I'm going to stay in Heart Lake forever.”

“You never know,” said Jess. “I thought I was, too. But a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. And in my case that meant moving. We probably should have sucked it up and taken the job in Ohio, but oh, well. At least Michael's not so stressed now.”

“If you ask me,” said Cara as she squirted solution on Maude's roller-clad head, “a girl's gotta be crazy to move in with her mother-in-law.”

“For us this is a win-win,” said Jess. Myra was grateful for the help and they'd have money in the bank. Plus she would be closer to most of the clubs where the band played. Why, then, did she want to cry?

You don't have to live there forever,
she told herself. It would just feel like it.

SMALL CHANGE, BIG DIFFERENCE

Frugal Gifts from the Kitchen

The holidays are right around the corner, but I'll be ready. Remember that lavender I dried? I made sachets with it and they turned out fabulous. Every woman I know is getting one for Christmas this year. In fact, almost everyone on my holiday list this year is getting a present homemade with love. I'm proud of what my friends and I have done and I'm excited to share.

All this gift-making has gotten me thinking. Why do we tend to believe the best gifts are things we buy? What propaganda! Sometimes the nicest gifts are the ones that involve time and effort and lots of heart. (I'm predicting our Small Change Club goody baskets are going to be the most popular presents under the tree! Oh, and by the way, we picked up the baskets at garage sales.
)

Now, in keeping with the spirit of this blog, here is an early present for all of you: our recipes. I hope you enjoy them!

BLACKBERRY CORDIAL

Ingredients:

4 quarts crushed berries

4 cups granulated sugar

1 fifth Vodka

Directions:

Mix the above ingredients and place in a glass container. Stir daily. Strain after six weeks and bottle. Can fill six to eight bottles depending on what size bottles you use. (Hint: you can use old liquor bottles, but glass salad dressing bottles work great, too!)

BLACKBERRY SYRUP

Ingredients:

4 cups pureed blackberries

2 cups granulated sugar

Directions:

Put pureed berries through sieve to remove seeds. Put in large pan and bring to a boil. Add sugar. Boil and stir two minutes. Remove from heat and skim off foam. Pour into pint jars, seal, and process in a water bath for ten minutes. Makes approximately three pints.

NOTE: If you want to, you can make a double or triple batch. Rasp-berries, blueberries, and huckleberries also make great syrup.

FRIENDSHIP TEA

Ingredients:

1 cup instant tea

1 18 oz. jar orange juice mix such as Tang

½ teaspoon cloves

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ cup granulated sugar

Directions:

Mix together and store in a large plastic container. If giving as gifts, double the recipe and pour into quart-or pint-size canning jars, then top with a fancy fabric lid.

NOTE: When making tea, add 1 to 2 spoonfuls to each cup of boiling water.

CAFÉ VIENESE

Ingredients:

½ cup instant chocolate drink like Nestle's Quik

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup powdered cream

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:

Mix the above. Makes one eight-ounce can. (You can easily double or triple this recipe and give it as hostess gifts. Note: Use 2 to 3 spoonfuls of mix for a cup of coffee.)

Okay, that's about all I have time to post. The Small Change Club is about to start and we have a lot to do!