A Place in the Country by Elizabeth Adler

that. Remember your child.”
    â€œOh, I never curse in front of Little Billy.” Sarah filled a couple of warm tacos with the pork mixture then set them on a plate with a dab of sour cream and a spoonful of the chopped tomato, cilantro, and onion mix with a hit of Tabasco, called pico de gallo that, depending on how fast Sarah was moving, might be mild or, in moments of pressure, so spicy hot it could take the roof off your mouth. Either way, the customers liked it. Or at least there were no complaints.
    Maggie sighed. She did not understand young people these days, having babies and no husbands, struggling with a life alone, trying to make ends meet. Though when she thought about it, Caroline’s situation wasn’t much different from Sarah’s; just that she was older, and Issy wasn’t a baby anymore.
    It was seven twenty-five and Maggie was waiting for Caroline to make her appearance. She thought Caroline was in for a surprise with Jim Thompson. Maggie didn’t know Jim personally, only from his visits to the pub, but she knew all about him. She guessed everyone did, except Caroline, and she’d decided not to fill her in because it was better if she made her own judgment. Woman-to-man judgment. The way it should be.
    â€œSo, here I am.” Caroline walked into the kitchen looking about a foot taller than she usually did in the four-inch heels and the short skirt. The pale green silk jersey dress narrowed her thighs and exposed the pretty upper curve of her breasts that, Maggie noticed, she had attempted to cover up with a rope or two of crystal beads, and the little fake silver bird-in-flight pinned in her cleavage. Issy’s present. “For luck,” Caroline told her now. She wore the plain diamond stud earrings Maggie knew the ex-husband had given her years ago, and the narrow diamond wedding band on her right hand instead of on the left. Her black hair hung smooth to her shoulders and she’d clipped back her shaggy bangs with a small diamanté arrow. Maggie thought it made her look younger.
    Caroline did a nervous pirouette. “You think I’m overdressed for an English country dinner party?”
    Sarah turned from the stove to take a look. “Who cares? You look fantastic,” she said, smiling for once, which Maggie thought made Sarah look all of seventeen, though she was still only nineteen anyway.
    Sarah gave Caroline a hug. It was the first time she had seen her looking like a real woman, and not the usual harried-mom-in-jeans-and-boots-and-sweater. She took another critical look. “Did you ever think of wearing contacts?”
    â€œI’ve tried, they kill me. It’s contacts and watery eyes or old-lady glasses, and since I can’t see a thing without them, I’ll go with the glasses. He can take it or leave it.”
    â€œTrust me,” Sarah said, looking Caroline up and down, “he’ll take it. He’d be crazy not to.”
    The three of them giggled just as Lily waltzed back through the kitchen door, dropped two plates, said, “Oh shit,” then looked up and saw Caroline.
    â€œJesus,” she said, awed. “I didn’t know you existed under that mom outfit you always wear.”
    â€œWell, she does, and don’t you be so rude, and anyway, get those plates swept up before somebody breaks their neck on them,” Maggie said sharply, but she was smiling.
    Caroline wrapped the turquoise pashmina around her shoulders, carefully covering all feminine body parts.
    â€œJust in case he should notice you are a woman!” Maggie adjusted the shawl so that it flowed around her and not over her. “Remember who you are, Caroline Evans,” she added, handing her the little black evening purse and walking her to the door, where she knew Jim was waiting, because Jesus had told her the moment he’d arrived.
    â€œHave a good time,” she said, as Caroline gave a nervous smile over her shoulder and