“Why can’t you do it?” Tory had protested.
“Because I’m Olivia Turner now.”
There was no arguing with that.
Her head was swimming with how fast it was all going. Since she didn’t have work today, she’d spent the morning making calls to every town and regional paper, radio station and television news program around, then tackled the internet, getting information posted on all the local blogs and social media accounts. Olivia was the one who’d started the donation drive.
“I’m pretty busy,” she told her mother now. “Why don’t you go ahead?” She’d take her own truck after Enid was gone.
“Come on. I’m only here for another few days,” Enid said. “Humor me.”
What could she say? “Sure.” She supposed she could handle a few hours with her mother.
As it happened, Enid was the least of her worries. When they went to pick up Leslie, Mary was already there. She’d ensconced Leslie in the front seat of her truck and locked the doors when Enid tried to get Leslie to switch vehicles.
“You can ride with us,” Leslie said, rolling down her window. “Open up,” she ordered Mary.
Tory thought Mary was considering abducting Leslie, but in the end, she unlocked the doors, and Enid and Tory got into the back seat of her extended cab.
“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me,” Enid said to Leslie.
“You and Mary need to grow up,” Leslie said. “You had a good time at my dialysis the other day. Don’t pretend you didn’t.”
Enid and Mary both snorted, and Tory had to laugh. “Were you two really friends in school?” she asked her mother. She couldn’t imagine it.
“All three of us were,” Leslie said, “although I could barely keep up with these two. They drove the boys wild. Had the whole football team wound around their little fingers back then.”
“Oh, we did not,” Enid said.
“Maybe you didn’t,” Mary retorted as she pulled up and parked in front of a modest house.
Enid rolled her eyes.
“Paper plates, paper towels, drink cups and a tablecloth,” Leslie read from a list. They all climbed out and approached the front door, which was already open. A woman Tory didn’t know popped out, her arms laden with supplies. Five minutes later, all the donations stowed in the truck bed, they got back into their seats and drove on.
“What was Dad like back then?” Tory asked her mother.
“He was much too charming for his own good,” Mary said before Enid could answer. “He stole your mother’s heart and married way above his paygrade.”
“Mary!” Leslie exclaimed.
“Relax, Leslie. I’m not offended. It’s true,” Enid said. “Dale could be a charmer, but he wasn’t really husband material. Not unless you like life a lot more exciting than I do. Don’t marry a troublemaker, no matter how charming he is,” she advised Tory.
“Good thing Stella has a good head on her shoulders,” Mary said complacently. “She’d never go for the troublesome type. Maya on the other hand…”
“Watch it,” Enid said. “My son isn’t a troublemaker.”
“Lance has turned out quite different than I expected,” Mary admitted. “Sometimes men fool you.”
“That they do.” Enid sighed.
“Which is why it’s important for women to stick together,” Leslie said. “Has it ever occurred to you two that I lost my best friends when you went to war?”
Tory saw her mother and Mary exchange a look.
“You didn’t even think about that, did you?” Leslie went on. “Both of you dropped me like a hotcake when you got mad at each other!”
“I thought…” Enid began. “I knew you’d want to stay friends with Mary, so I backed off.”
Mary shook her head. “She was on your side. Right, Leslie?”
“I was on both your sides!” Leslie made an impatient sound. “But that didn’t matter, did it, because when the chips were down, neither of you cared.”
“I cared,” Enid protested. “It hurt me a lot to lose you and Mary at the same time.”
“I knew the two of you were judging me,” Mary said. “You thought I stole William.”
“You did steal William,” Enid said.
“See? You never consider my side at all,” Mary said. “You sure didn’t miss me, either.”
“I did miss you,” Enid said. “Horribly. We’d talked every day up until then. Mary, you were a huge part of my life. It was bad enough I lost you and William. When I moved on and fell for Dale—I knew you wouldn’t approve. I felt like I lost you all over again—for good.”
“I wouldn’t have said anything about Dale.” Mary made a face. “Okay, I would have, but only because I didn’t want to see you hurt—again. It felt so bad knowing I’d already hurt you once. You know, none of what I did was premeditated, no matter what you think. I just—wanted William. It didn’t go past that.”
All of them were silent for a moment. Tory thought it was sad that such a strong friendship had been destroyed over men.
“We were really just kids playing at being grown-ups back then, weren’t we?” Enid said finally.
Mary nodded slowly. “It makes me afraid for my own kids. Not that I have anything against Lance or Olivia, really. I just wish there was some way to guarantee they’d always be happy.” She smiled suddenly, surprising Tory. “Remember how we used to joke about our kids marrying each other, before we had husbands and children?”
Enid nodded. “You were going to have ten of them, if I remember correctly. You always got mad because I said I wanted three.”
“Now look what’s happened. Noah and Maya married Olivia and Lance. We’re… related, kind of.”
“You’re definitely related,” Leslie said. “You should be friends, too. Your children deserve a happy, united family.”
Neither woman answered that.
“Don’t even think about resisting,” Leslie went on. “I’ve decided I’m sick of waiting for you to come to your senses. I’m going to keep inviting you both to join me whenever I have something to do. You’ll have to be friends whether you want to or not.”
Mary laughed quietly. “I guess there’s no arguing with
