Hope Springs - 05 - Wedding Cake by Lynne Hinton Page B

from the blender into the glass. She found a straw and then walked into the dining room and put the concoction in front of Carla. “I had my mouth wired together for six weeks after my jaw was broken. I can make any kind of milk shake you want.” She smiled and walked back into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee.
    “Thank you,” Carla mumbled.
    The women all nodded their approval.
    “So, who needs a ride this morning?” Charlotte asked, smiling. The tenderness she observed among the women at the shelter always touched her deeply. She knew the kindness, the easy way they had with one another, the knowing way they spoke to one another, was the very best medicine the women would ever receive. She walked around with the coffeepot and began refilling the women’s cups.
    “It’s all being handled,” Janice announced, waving away any more coffee and clearing away her dishes to take them into the kitchen to put into the dishwasher. “I’m taking Martha and Denise and the girls. Darlene is driving Iris to her doctor’s appointment. We’re all in good shape, Sister.”
    She finished her cleaning and walked over to Charlotte, who had placed the coffeepot back in the maker and was standing in the door-way. Janice pinched her on the cheek. “And so now you can call your cute police officer we all saw you drooling over last night and tell him the coast is clear for a private visit.” She winked. “I’m sure Carla here won’t mind staying in her room for a couple of hours.”
    Charlotte blushed and turned to Carla, who was sipping her milk shake and had been watching, but then had quickly looked away from the executive director. Charlotte wasn’t sure what Carla knew about the relationship Charlotte had with her ex-husband, but she was sure that the other women didn’t realize that Carla had once been married to the police officer they had seen at the shelter the previous night.
    “Oooh,” Martha started in then.
“Sister Charlotte has a boyfriend,”
she sang. Her little girls giggled and joined their mother in the chorus,
“Sister Charlotte has a boyfriend!”
    Charlotte felt her face start to flush. “I think it’s time for you all to get going,” she said loudly, but she was still unable to stop the women from teasing.
    “Give us the scoop and we’ll leave you alone,” Martha said, grinning.
    “There is no scoop,” Charlotte answered, trying to hurry the women away from the table and out of the dining room, trying to put a halt to the awkward conversation. “We are making a bad impression on our newest resident.” She pleaded for them to stop.
    “So, how did you meet Officer Tall, Dark, and Handsome?” Darlene wanted to know.
    “How many times have you gone out?” Martha chimed in.
    “Have you kissed him?” Hannah asked, laughing. She was the older of Martha’s two girls. Josie was six and Hannah was eight. The two girls became unglued with that question and fell out of their chairs laughing.
    At that moment Denise walked into the room to model her new suit. “What did I miss?” she asked, suddenly aware that something important had been going on while she was not in the kitchen.
    “Nothing, Denise, and you look wonderful. It fits you perfectly and you will make a fabulous court reporter.” Charlotte clapped her hands together like a teacher. “Now, Hannah and Josie, you both need to get ready for school,” she reported loudly, and quickly walked over to the two girls and helped them to the floor. “Let’s go get your teeth brushed while your mommy cleans up the dishes.” She shot a look over to Martha, and before any of the women could say anything else, she ushered the girls out of the room.
    “I didn’t know Sister Charlotte was kissing a man,” Iris, the oldest of the residents, said quietly. And the women burst out laughing sothat Charlotte could hear them even though she was down the hall.
    Disappointed that there was going to be no more gossip, the women finished