Aunt Mary Lou pushed her out of the way and bent to hug Jennie Sue. “But, honey, you have to be more discreet with the boyfriend. He may be delicious in bed, but after today, you’ve got to keep it on the down low. We’re all disappointed in Percy, but don’t worry, we’ve already got feelers out for the next Mr. Wilshire.” She headed toward the bar. “It’s still mornin’, so a mimosa is in order. How many shall I make? Did y’all hear that Belinda has gotten religion? If she’s atoning for her sins, it’s more than twenty years too late. And I don’t mean she’s just goin’ to church—hell, we all do that—but she’s all up in the food bank and the free clothing for the poor. We might have to have an intervention if she doesn’t straighten up. It’ll give the Belles a bad name.”
Oh, no! Jennie Sue wanted to slap her hands over her cheeks and make a perfect little O with her mouth. The first thing Nadine’s aliens would have to learn if they ever came to earth was that they couldn’t do anything that would give the Sweetwater Belles a bad name.
“No mimosa for me,” Aunt Sugar said. “I’m driving today.”
“None for me. Too many carbs,” Charlotte answered.
“Jennie Sue?” Mary Lou asked.
“No, thank you. And just to be clear, I’m only here to see Mama. I’m not moving back into the house,” Jennie Sue said.
The bottle of champagne hit the ground and splattered everywhere. “Sweet God in heaven. Girl, are you insane?” Aunt Mary Lou gasped. “Do the Belles need to have an intervention for you? You are, after all, a future member.”
“Charlotte, do we need to commit her to a rehab?” Aunt Sugar gasped.
Mabel must’ve heard the glass breaking, because she was there in an instant. She caught Jennie Sue’s eye as she entered the room and raised an eyebrow.
“Aunt Mary Lou dropped a bottle of champagne,” Jennie Sue said. “She’ll probably need to go home and change her shoes before y’all go shopping.”
“I’ll clean it up,” Mabel said.
Jennie Sue pushed up off the lounge, popped the last piece of bacon in her mouth, and said, “I’ll help you.”
Aunt Sugar gasped. “Oh, Charlotte, we were so wrong. We’ll definitely take care of this child after your birthday is over.”
“She’s like her grandmother Baker. That woman was a force. She’ll have to learn her lessons the hard way.” Charlotte stood up and patted Jennie Sue on the cheek. “Call me when you come to your senses, and we’ll do lunch. Even if you are bein’ a brat, we need to discuss your daddy’s birthday.”
“I rather enjoy bein’ like Grandma Vera. I’ll call you about Daddy’s birthday in the next few days, Mama.” She stood up and blew a kiss toward her mother as she left.
Jennie Sue did a dive from the side of the pool, swam a dozen laps, and then stretched out on the lounge. The whole conversation with her mother was surreal in too many ways to count. Were all the Wilshire women so devious? Did they all have lovers outside their marriages?
“And why weren’t there ever any sons born to carry on the name? Mama wasn’t a Wilshire. She was an Alexander by last name before she married Daddy. How did it make Grandpa or any of the men in the family feel for their wives and daughters to still be referred to as Wilshires?” she said aloud.
“Don’t know.” Frank startled her when he spoke. “It’s always seemed a little bit odd to me and Mabel, too.”
Jennie Sue pointed to the chair beside her. “Sit down and talk to me. Can I get you something to drink?”
He shook his head. “Thanks, but I just had a glass of tea a little bit ago, and I don’t have time to talk. Mabel sent me out here to ask if you’ll have lunch with us in the kitchen in about fifteen minutes.” Frank patted her on the head like he had when she was a child. “Honey, don’t fret over the past. Just look to the future and forget all those old stories. Only person we’re responsible to make happy is ourselves, and you’re doin’ a fine job of it.”
“Thank you. Did you know my grandparents well?” She hoped to get him talking so he’d stay with her for a while.
“Worked for them until your mama married, and then they transferred us over here to work for her after she’d fired at least half a dozen housekeepers. We been here ever since. It’s time that this thing with the Wilshire women stopped.” He turned around. “See you in the house in a few minutes. Mabel made broccoli-cheese soup and chicken-salad sandwiches because that’s your favorites.”
“I love y’all,” Jennie Sue said.
Frank’s crooked grin lit up his eyes. “We love you.”
When he’d left, she dived into the water from the side of the pool and did two laps, then hopped out, hurried to the bathhouse, and changed into her clothing. That done, she braided her wet hair into one long rope that hung over her shoulder and padded barefoot into the house.
When she reached the kitchen, Mabel motioned toward the table. A steaming tureen of soup sat in the middle with a plate of sandwiches to one side—crust left on because that’s the way Jennie Sue liked it. A plate of fresh fruit and a big loaf of fresh bread were right beside it.
“Where’s Frank?” Jennie Sue asked.
“Right here.” He rushed in from the hall. “Mabel has a rule about me washin’ my greasy hands in her kitchen sink. Man, don’t this look good today?”
“It don’t get no better than this—food and company,” Jennie Sue agreed.
Mabel sat down across from Jennie Sue, leaving the place at the head of the table for Frank. She laid a hand on his and said, “You say grace, but don’t make it too long. The bread needs to be hot enough to melt butter.”
When he finished, Jennie Sue and Mabel said amen at the same time. Mabel dipped out bowls of soup while Jennie Sue passed the sandwiches and thick slices of bread to Frank.
“I’ll miss y’all when you ever retire,” she said.
“Honey, retirement is when we die,” Frank said with a bit of wistfulness in his tone. “We’ve saved through the years, but it wouldn’t be enough to keep us if things ever got bad and we had to go to a nursing home, so we’ll be working until we drop.”
“But don’t you go worryin’ about that,” Mabel said quickly. “We’re happy doin’ what we do, and we’ve been lucky that we get to work together all these years. Plus, what would we do if we did retire?”
They’d done so much and been such an integral part of her raising that Jennie Sue wished that she could do something to help them. They should have a few years to travel or just sit on the porch or even garden again if they wanted to. Truth was, after putting up with what went on in the Baker house, they should be given a million-dollar retirement package with benefits. She pretended to wipe butter from her lip with her napkin and brushed a tear from her eye.
She popped a piece of bread into her mouth. “Mmm, this is so good. Maybe if you retired, you could enjoy not having to get up in the morning if you didn’t want to, and never have to worry about anyone but yourselves.”
Frank slowly shook his head in disagreement. “If we retired, we’d never get to see you again. We don’t get to spend nearly enough time with you as it is. Thank goodness for unlimited long-distance phone calls in between your visits home.”
“I’d still come to see you, maybe for supper on Sunday evenings, and you could come see me. I’m sorry I didn’t call more often. School and studies took up so much time, and Mama didn’t want anyone to know about the divorce, or later that Percy was on the run. It was hard not to blurt it all out,” she said.
“No worries.” Mabel reached across the table and patted her arm. “You’re home where you belong now. I hear you are doing fingernails and toenails tonight at Lettie’s place. I thought after we get off work, I might join y’all.”
“That would be great.” Jennie Sue beamed.
“I can’t remember the last time I had an evenin’ out just for fun, and”—she lowered her voice—“Lettie says there will be wine.”