Page 59 of The Night the Lights Went Out
Lindi held up her hand for a high five. “Amen, sister. And here I was thinking it was just me. And you didn’t tell me you were on Facebook. I’ll look for you.”
“Don’t expect to see much. I honestly don’t see the point of Facebook.”
“Well, one good thing is that friends from way back can find you and reconnect. At least that’s been the case with me.”
Merilee pretended to study the field.
“Don’t you think?” Lindi persisted. “I mean, my best friend from third grade found me and we now do a girls’ retreat at her beach house every spring. We actually have even more in common now than we did back then.”
“That’s nice.” Merilee forced a noncommittal shrug. “Although I can’t really think of anybody I’d like to be in touch with that I’m not already. Sometimes you just need to move on and meet new people. Besides, I don’t use my maiden name on Facebook, so they wouldn’t be able to track me down anyway.”
Merilee felt Lindi looking at her but didn’t turn her head. Changing the subject, she said, “How’s it going on the food and alcohol procurement for the gala? I’m not even going to pretend not to be curious how you snagged that gig. I have the enviable job of begging people to donate stuff for the auction. I even bullied my boss into donating a really nice diamond tennis bracelet.”
“Good for you. I’ll ask around to see if anybody I know might have a Rembrandt or something hanging on the wall they might want to donate for a good cause.” Lindi grinned. “As for how I landed my gig, one of the owners of a local distillery—Old Fourth Distillery—is a family friend and I happened to mention that in passing to Heather when I first met her. Remember that—the woman’s mind is a steel trap. She never forgets a thing. That’s why she thought I might be able to wrangle a good discount for their Southern Dry Gin. She especially liked it because it goes with theGone with the Windtheme she’s planning—the juniper berries in the gin are cultivated at Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta.”
“What’s that got to do with the gala’s theme?”
“Oakland is where Margaret Mitchell is buried. You really need to get out more, Merilee.”
Jackie Tyson, the cheerleading coach and biking enthusiast Merilee remembered meeting at Heather’s lake house, cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, “Okay, team—take a quick water and bathroom break and come right back so we can go over the halftime routine one last time before I let you go.”
She spotted Lindi and Merilee and waved before approaching and sitting down on the seat in front of them. “Hello, ladies. Your girls are doing great—they’re both real assets to the team.”
Merilee smiled, wondering if she said that to all the moms.
“That Jenna,” Jackie continued. “She’s a little powerhouse. She’s quiet, but she pays attention. Even the other girls know that when Jenna speaks, they should listen. It’s like she’s already weighed all the pros and cons in her head, studied the facts, and has prepared her case before she opens her mouth.”
Lindi nodded. “She’s been like that since birth, so I can’t take any credit.”
“And your Lily,” Jackie said. “She’s the peacemaker. I know she’s the oldest child, but she really acts more like a middle child, always wanting everyone to be happy. I actually wanted Lily and Jenna to be cocaptains, but they both told me they’d rather have Bailey as captain. Probably because Bailey’s been asking for it since the first day of practice and they didn’t want to deal with any flak if she didn’t make it. I think that says a lot about your girls and the way you’ve raised them. Good job.”
“Thanks,” Merilee said. “Although I think a lot of that is by accident.”
“Ditto,” agreed Lindi.
“True, environment is important,” continued Jackie. “But a mother’s influence is huge. For instance, I know Heather tries so hard to get Bailey interested in the shyer and quieter girls—and to invite them to sit with Bailey and her friends in the lunchroom. And I commend her for trying. But on that class trip to spend the night at the aquarium last week, I actually heard Heather tell Bailey to be nice to the ugly girls. I appreciate the sentiment, but...” She shrugged. “I’m sorry. We’re all Heather’s friends and I shouldn’t have said that. It’s just after a day of dealing with schoolgirls and all their drama, I needed to let off some steam.”
Lindi leaned forward and patted her shoulder. “No apologies needed. I only spend a fraction of the amount of time you do with my girl, and you have all my sympathies.”
Jackie turned to Merilee. “How’s the carpooling situation going?”
Merilee gritted her teeth. “It’s been... interesting. I can only carpool in the mornings because afternoon sports have sort of blown carpooling out of the water. And when it works, it’s fabulous. But when it doesn’t—like when Sharlene takes her kids to the dentist first thing and forgets to tell me so that I’m sitting in her driveway for fifteen minutes wondering what’s going on... My kids think she’s funny—probably because she brushes her teeth in the car and uses a cup to spit in—but they’re not crazy about rainy mornings when she’s driving, because she makes them walk all the way to the end of the driveway instead of picking them up at my front door.”
“Seriously?” Lindi asked. “Why?”
“Because I think she might be afraid of Sugar. She said Sugar just sits on her porch and gives her the stink eye every time she drives past.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Jackie said. “For your kids, anyway. But I know what she means about Sugar. She once tried to run me off the road when I was on my bike. She’s got that enormous car and she pretended not to see me on Birmingham Highway. I had to run off the shoulder of the road and ditch my bike. I swear she meant to run me over. Didn’t even look back to make sure I was okay.”
Lindi and Merilee shared a glance, knowing without a doubt that Sugar had been fully aware of what had happened.
Merilee’s phone rang. She’d left it faceup on the bench next to her, so all three of them looked at it when the generic tone sounded. Daniel Blackford’s name popped up on the screen, confusing her for a moment because she couldn’t remember programming his name and number into her phone. Nor could she imagine what he was calling her for, but then she remembered Heather’s ring and wondered if he’d changed his mind.
“Excuse me a second,” she said, ignoring Jackie’s raised eyebrows. Lindi, thankfully, had been diverted by the ringing of her own phone. When Merilee was out of hearing distance, she answered it and said, “Hello?”
“Hi, Merilee. It’s Heather. I’m so sorry to have confused you—Daniel and I accidentally switched phones again. I really need to get one of us a different case, don’t I? Although mine’s brand-new and Daniel loves his, so I guess we’ll have to draw straws and the loser gets a new case.” She laughed, something oddly familiar to Merilee. She’d had the thought before, but this was the first time she really paid attention to it. “But I wanted to call you to see if Lily wanted a ride to tennis practice. It’s silly for you and Claire both to be driving, especially when I know you have your son to collect, too.”
“That’s so kind of you, Heather, but I’m already here—”
