“Then you’ll let me help,” Frances said at once, her expression eager. “Since you married and moved to a new home with Elliott, I don’t see Daisy and Mack nearly as much as I’d like. They’re growing like weeds. Soon I won’t even recognize them.”
Karen immediately regarded her with guilt. Though she’d taken the kids by often right after she and Elliott had married, the visits to Frances had dwindled as their schedules had grown more complicated. How could she have been so selfish, when she knew how much the older woman enjoyed spending time with Daisy and Mack?
“Oh, Frances, I’m so sorry,” she apologized. “I should have brought them by more often.”
“Hush now,” Frances said, giving her hand a squeeze. “That was not my point. I was about to suggest we work out one evening a week when I’ll come over and stay with them, while you and Elliott have a night out. I imagine I can still oversee a little homework and read a bedtime story or two. In fact, I’d love it.” She grinned, an impish light in her eyes. “Or you can bring them to my place, if you’d rather have a romantic evening at home. I’m sure I could handle a sleepover now that they’re older.”
Karen resisted, despite the obvious sincerity of the suggestion. “You are so sweet to offer, but I couldn’t possibly impose on you like that. You’ve already done way more for me than I had any right to expect. When times were tough, you were always there for me.”
Frances gave her a chiding look. “I consider you family, and if I can do this for you, it would be my pleasure, so I don’t want to hear any of this nonsense that it’s too much. If I thought it were, I wouldn’t have offered. And if you turn me down, it will only hurt my feelings. You’ll be making me feel old and useless.”
Karen smiled, thinking that Frances was definitely neither of those things. Chronologically her years had added up, but her spirit was young, she had dozens of friends, and she was still active in the community. She spent a few hours every day making calls to housebound seniors just to chat with them and make sure there was nothing they needed.
She nodded at last. “Okay, if you’re sure, then I’ll talk it over with Elliott and we’ll check with you about setting an evening. We’ll give it a test run and see how it goes. I don’t want Mack and Daisy to wear you out.”
Frances’s expression radiated delight. “That’s good, then. Now, I should be running along. I’m playing cards tonight at the senior center with Flo Decatur and Liz Johnson and I’ll need a nap if I’m to be alert enough to make sure they’re not cheating. For otherwise honorable women, they’re sneaky when it comes to cards.”
Karen laughed as she slid out of the booth and hugged her friend. “Thank you. I really needed this talk even more than I needed to confront my husband.”
“Confrontation is all well and good,” Frances told her. “But it’s best not done in anger.” She gave Karen’s hand another squeeze. “I’ll expect to hear from you in the next few days.”
“I’ll call. I promise.”
“And when you get home tonight, sit down with your husband and talk to him, no matter the hour.”
Karen smiled at her. “Yes, ma’am,” she replied dutifully.
Frances frowned. “Don’t say that just to pacify me, young lady. I expect to hear that the two of you have worked this out.”
Clearly satisfied at having the last word, she left.
Karen watched her go, noting that there wasn’t a person in Wharton’s she didn’t speak to or offer a smile on the way.
“She’s remarkable,” Karen murmured aloud, then sighed. “And wise.”
Tonight would be soon enough for that talk she intended to have with Elliott. She would use the extra time to think through the situation, figure out exactly why she was so upset and find a way to discuss it all calmly and rationally over dinner. Frances had been exactly right. Yelling wasn’t the mature way to resolve anything.
And unlike the passive woman she’d once been, Karen also knew that the strong, confident woman she’d become wouldn’t allow resentment to simmer too long or let the whole incident slide in the interest of keeping peace. She’d deal with this head-on before it destroyed her marriage. At least she’d learned something from her marriage to Ray: what not to do.
Pleased with her plan, she paid for their drinks and headed back to Sullivan’s, where Dana Sue and Erik greeted her warily.
“Oh, don’t look at me like that,” she said. “There are no divorce papers being filed. In fact, I never even saw Elliott.”
Erik breathed a visible sigh of relief.
“Where were you, then?” Dana Sue inquired.
“At Wharton’s with Frances, the voice of reason,” Karen told them.
Dana Sue grinned. “Did she give you one of those sage lectures that makes you feel about two-inches tall? When she was my teacher, she could just look at me with one of those disappointed expressions and practically reduce me to tears. She was the only teacher I ever had who could pull that off. It even worked on Helen.”
“No way,” Erik said, looking impressed. “I didn’t think anyone intimidated my wife.”
“Frances Wingate did,” Dana Sue said. “She had the best-behaved students in the entire school. We didn’t turn into full-fledged Sweet Magnolia hellions until later.” Her expression suddenly sobered as she turned back to Karen. “So, have you stopped being mad at me and Erik?”
“I was never mad at either of you,” she told them. “I knew you were just the messengers.”
“And Elliott?” Dana Sue prodded.
“I still have plenty to discuss with my husband,” Karen said. “But at least now I think I can do it without throwing pots and pans or those nifty little dumbbells at the spa at him.”
“Word has it that Dana Sue was pretty good at turning pots and pans into weapons back in the day,” Erik commented, giving Dana Sue a taunting look.
“Only because Ronnie deserved it,” Dana Sue retorted, her tone unapologetic. “The man cheated on me. Fortunately he learned his lesson and I haven’t needed a cast-iron skillet for anything other than cooking since then.”
After a very tense afternoon, Karen suddenly chuckled. Impulsively, she
