Words Unspoken by Elizabeth Musser

shrink, whatever his name was, the next day. And the lawyer. And the private investigator. Hamilton thought he’d get away with this. Well, he was about to find out how wrong he was!
    She picked up her purse and headed downstairs, inspecting herself in the mirror by the front door. She licked her finger and wiped it across her left eyebrow to remove a tiny smudge. You are a mess, she admitted. But no one else has to know it. Not yet at least. Not yet.
    “Good evening, Miz Pendleton. You look mighty nice tonight.”
    Katy Lynn handed Tom the keys to the Cadillac at the valet parking lot of the country club.
    “Thanks, Tom. You doing okay? How’s Charlean?”
    “She’s getting better after the hip surgery. Shuffling around, pleased as punch to have her man giving her some attention.” He chuckled.
    “You tell her I asked about her.”
    “Sho nuf, Miz Pendleton, I will. Thank ya. And you?”
    “Making do, Tom.” A car drove up behind her. “I’ll see you later.”
    She walked into the carpeted hallway of the club, greeted by the faint sound of music. The party had already started in the downstairs lounge. She hurried across the foyer and down the winding staircase.
    “Katy Lynn! You look smashing! That blue is so you!” Lanie rushed up to her.
    Katy Lynn managed a smile. “Thanks, Lanie. You’re the one who’s gorgeous. You look about twenty-two in that dress.”
    Thank heavens for petite, brunette Lanie with the sweetest smile and kindest voice on planet earth. A true friend.
    Lanie grabbed Katy Lynn’s arm and pulled her into the women’s restroom. “Is it true? Hamilton’s asking for a divorce?”
    “How did you hear?”
    “Chad told me last night. Hamilton called him at work. Wanted Chad to represent him, but Chad said no. What’s gotten into him? That’s insane!”
    “I’m afraid some cute little thing at his office has gotten into him,” Katy Lynn replied bitterly.
    “He’s seeing someone?”
    “I’m pretty sure.”
    “What are you going to do about it?”
    “Well, after I get Gina to the shrink and pay the mortgage on the house and finish planning the Christmas gala, I’m gonna make his life, and the other woman’s , absolutely miserable. Just you watch.”
    Arms looped together, Lanie and Katy Lynn walked back into the downstairs lounge, where men and women dressed in semiformal attire were sipping martinis and biting little pieces of bacon-wrapped shrimp off colorful toothpicks, laughing and talking about trips and cars and money and the Atlanta Symphony.
    Katy Lynn joined a group of friends by the mahogany balustrade. She made polite conversation and ate her share of spiced meatballs and jumbo shrimp. But she longed to run up the steps and out into the parking lot where Tom stood sentinel in his blue jacket and cap and let him hug her tight as he’d done when she had come running to him thirty years ago, a lost little girl looking for her mother, who was happily lobbing tennis balls over the net on the court down the hill.
    ________
    Lissa knew exactly why she’d accepted the dinner invitation that Sunday night—one less excruciatingly painful dinner with her father. She slipped on her black sandals and ran a brush through her hair, not bothering to fasten it into a ponytail.
    “You look nice, Liss,” her father commented as she came down the carpeted stairs. “Where’d you say this couple lives?”
    “Off Highway 2 in Fort Oglethorpe. Near the Military Park.”
    “Seems a bit strange that your driving instructor would invite you to dinner.”
    “He’s nice. He said that he and his wife like having young people around. I don’t think they get to see their kids and grandkids very often.”
    “Yes, well … And you’re sure it’s not a problem for him to bring you home?”
    “That’s what he said.”
    “Maybe he’ll give you a little free lesson in night driving! Before you know it, Liss, you’ll be zipping up and down Lookout Mountain after dusk.”
    Lissa