resolutely up the walkway. Today the rag dolls were dressed like Morris dancers, with brightly colored ribbons, hats, and vests. I was surprised Maura hadn’t set up a maypole on the lawn to add to the ambience.
I saw Maura right after Hazel’s collapse. Like everyone else she was shocked. Maura had experienced too many upsets this weekend, but judging by the dolls, she was soldiering on.
Maura answered before I could knock. Today she wore the lilac equivalent of yesterday’s outfit, although to give her credit, this sweater did have tiny cables running up the front.
“Oh, Aggie, I didn’t expect you.” Her smile was PTA chairman perfect.
“I thought I’d stop by and see how you’re doing.”
She seemed almost puzzled, as if she couldn’t imagine why that might be an issue. “I just got Tyler off to school. Would you like to come in for some coffee?”
“That would be nice. How’s Tyler doing?” I now had a bigger stake in knowing, since he and my daughter seemed to be keeping company.
She let me in. We got all the way to the kitchen before she answered. She motioned me to a seat at the table while she bustled around the way she had yesterday. Today it looked as if our calories would be delivered in the form of freshly baked muffins.
“Tyler’s okay.” Maura stacked plates on a tray and poured two cups of coffee from a full pot. I wondered if she set it to brew automatically whenever the doorbell chimed.
She turned with the tray in her hands. “I made sure he did his testing and shots. I’m not as much help as I should be, I guess. I hate needles. They scare me to death. I did natural childbirth just to avoid them.”
We were trading confidences. Now it was my turn. “I did hypnosis when I had Deena. A woman in the church was taking classes and wanted to practice on me. Ed claims I clucked and flapped my arms like a chicken whenever she told me to.”
“Ed was there ?”
“For both girls. Joe wasn’t?”
“Oh, I didn’t want him there. I wasn’t at my best.”
I’ve yet to meet the woman who is at her best when she’s ten centimeters dilated. Hypnosis or not, had I felt strong enough during either delivery, I would have gotten off the table and wrung Ed’s neck. Still, for most of it, having him there meant everything. To both of us.
“What did Joe do while he waited?” I asked, sliding into one of the reasons I’d come. “Without family to hold his hand? Or maybe there was somebody ? A cousin, a great aunt?”
“Nobody.”
“That’s going to make it harder…”
“What?”
I hadn’t meant to say that out loud. I shrugged, but Maura was on to me.
She passed me a cup, then set the tray with sugar cubes and cream in front of me. “You’re going to look for him, aren’t you? You’re going to try to find Joseph.”
How could I hide the truth? Maura was my best source of information. Even if she thought she knew very little, she must know something that would help.
“I’m going to do what I can. But I don’t know how much help I can be.”
She lowered herself to the seat across from me. “He needs to come back. This is where Joseph belongs. He’s made a good life for us here.”
Okay, I thought I’d settled this with myself yesterday. Nobody knows how they’ll react in a brand-new crisis. Still, I’m pretty sure that if Ed just up and disappeared, I would be worried sick. I would be bugging the police and calling every hospital in the state, sure something awful had happened to him.
Because why else would Ed be gone?
Maura was worried, too, but I wasn’t sure she was worried about Joe. She seemed more worried that he might be choosing to stay away.
I reached across the table and stopped her in the middle of cutting muffins into quarters and fanning them out like the petals of a daisy. I slid my hand over hers and squeezed.
“Were you and Joe having problems, Maura? Because I get the feeling you think he might just be holed up somewhere, refusing to come
I saw Maura right after Hazel’s collapse. Like everyone else she was shocked. Maura had experienced too many upsets this weekend, but judging by the dolls, she was soldiering on.
Maura answered before I could knock. Today she wore the lilac equivalent of yesterday’s outfit, although to give her credit, this sweater did have tiny cables running up the front.
“Oh, Aggie, I didn’t expect you.” Her smile was PTA chairman perfect.
“I thought I’d stop by and see how you’re doing.”
She seemed almost puzzled, as if she couldn’t imagine why that might be an issue. “I just got Tyler off to school. Would you like to come in for some coffee?”
“That would be nice. How’s Tyler doing?” I now had a bigger stake in knowing, since he and my daughter seemed to be keeping company.
She let me in. We got all the way to the kitchen before she answered. She motioned me to a seat at the table while she bustled around the way she had yesterday. Today it looked as if our calories would be delivered in the form of freshly baked muffins.
“Tyler’s okay.” Maura stacked plates on a tray and poured two cups of coffee from a full pot. I wondered if she set it to brew automatically whenever the doorbell chimed.
She turned with the tray in her hands. “I made sure he did his testing and shots. I’m not as much help as I should be, I guess. I hate needles. They scare me to death. I did natural childbirth just to avoid them.”
We were trading confidences. Now it was my turn. “I did hypnosis when I had Deena. A woman in the church was taking classes and wanted to practice on me. Ed claims I clucked and flapped my arms like a chicken whenever she told me to.”
“Ed was there ?”
“For both girls. Joe wasn’t?”
“Oh, I didn’t want him there. I wasn’t at my best.”
I’ve yet to meet the woman who is at her best when she’s ten centimeters dilated. Hypnosis or not, had I felt strong enough during either delivery, I would have gotten off the table and wrung Ed’s neck. Still, for most of it, having him there meant everything. To both of us.
“What did Joe do while he waited?” I asked, sliding into one of the reasons I’d come. “Without family to hold his hand? Or maybe there was somebody ? A cousin, a great aunt?”
“Nobody.”
“That’s going to make it harder…”
“What?”
I hadn’t meant to say that out loud. I shrugged, but Maura was on to me.
She passed me a cup, then set the tray with sugar cubes and cream in front of me. “You’re going to look for him, aren’t you? You’re going to try to find Joseph.”
How could I hide the truth? Maura was my best source of information. Even if she thought she knew very little, she must know something that would help.
“I’m going to do what I can. But I don’t know how much help I can be.”
She lowered herself to the seat across from me. “He needs to come back. This is where Joseph belongs. He’s made a good life for us here.”
Okay, I thought I’d settled this with myself yesterday. Nobody knows how they’ll react in a brand-new crisis. Still, I’m pretty sure that if Ed just up and disappeared, I would be worried sick. I would be bugging the police and calling every hospital in the state, sure something awful had happened to him.
Because why else would Ed be gone?
Maura was worried, too, but I wasn’t sure she was worried about Joe. She seemed more worried that he might be choosing to stay away.
I reached across the table and stopped her in the middle of cutting muffins into quarters and fanning them out like the petals of a daisy. I slid my hand over hers and squeezed.
“Were you and Joe having problems, Maura? Because I get the feeling you think he might just be holed up somewhere, refusing to come
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