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A
“Next week,” Pokey said. She ate a forkful of potpie and frowned. “Mama called right before I left to come over here. She told me about Celia’s baby. I kinda threw up a little in my mouth.”
“Bad news travels fast,” A
“No!” Pokey threw her fork against the side of her plate. “You really are doing your damnedest to ruin my appetite, aren’t you?”
“At least you didn’t have to hear about it the way I did,” A
Pokey gaped. “She didn’t.”
“She certainly did,” A
“Tell me you slapped the sass out of her,” Pokey said.
“I should have, but I didn’t,” A
Pokey took another bite of her lunch and chewed thoughtfully. “We’re not go
“What can we do?” A
“I’ve been thinking about that ever since mama shared the happy news,” Pokey said. “Sallie is deliriously happy, by the way, at the thought of a Bayless grandbaby with a capital B.”
“She already has four grandbabies, your three boys and Sophie,” A
“Nuh-uh,” Pokey said. “I’m just a girl. My babies are Riggs babies. So they don’t really count as far as my mother is concerned. Even though De
“A ‘yard baby’?” A
“You know. Yard baby. Do you remember that housekeeper we had when I was little? Cora? I overheard her telling Sallie one day that she had six children at home, but two of them were actually her oldest daughter’s ‘yard babies.’ Later on, I asked Mama about that and she told me a yard baby was a child born to a woman who wasn’t married to the baby’s father.”
Pokey gri
“I’ll just bet,” A
“Back to Mason, though,” Pokey said. “If he didn’t feel obligated to marry Sophie’s mama, why is he going ahead and marrying that bitch Celia? You know she deliberately got herself knocked up so she could trap Mason into marrying her.”
“I don’t know,” A
“We just can’t let him marry her,” Pokey repeated. “We have to do something.”
A
“I think it’s a lost cause, Pokey,” she said sadly. “Unless we find out Celia is a convicted sex offender or bank robber or something by tomorrow, she’s going to be your new sister-in-law.”
“We can’t give up now,” Pokey said. “Did you find out anything else about her dress company?”
“I did talk to that woman, Katie Derscheid, who knows your friend Angela,” A
“Hmm,” Pokey said. She finished off her potpie and pointed her fork at A
A
“A lawsuit? That’s pretty interesting. Wonder if we could get a copy of it?”
“I doubt if it would make much of a difference to Mason,” A
“And this is the woman who’s going to raise his child,” Pokey said, making a gagging motion. “And Sophie. Perfect.”
A pained expression crossed A
“If she’ll let me,” Pokey said. “Remember, Celia hates me even worse than she hates you.”
“You gotta give Celia credit for smarts,” A
“Isn’t that how she met Davis in the first place? In a lobby bar?”
“Sort of. According to Davis, Sallie actually tracked Celia down after buying a couple of dresses for Sophie. And then they just happened to be at the same conference in the same hotel at the same time.” A
“Yeah, I don’t think there are a lot of coincidences where Celia is concerned,” Pokey said.
The waitress came by and dropped off their chocolate silk pie, but A
“Could you bring me a glass of Chablis instead?” A
“Hey, what goes?” Pokey asked. “You never drink on a workday.”
“Extreme duress calls for extreme measures,” A
A moment later the waitress was back with her wine. Pokey took the glass from her, waved the glass under her nose and sniffed appreciatively. “This is the thing I miss most when I’m pregnant. A nice little midday buzz. That, and seeing my own ankles.”
“A midday buzz is just what the doctor ordered for me,” A
Pokey started to protest, then changed her mind. “Where will you go?”
“Not sure yet,” A
“You better come back here in time for my little girl to be born,” Pokey threatened, blinking back tears. “Or I’ll send the boys to live with you, wherever you are.”
A
37
Sallie Bayless beamed at her future daughter-in-law as Celia walked into the den on Friday night. They’d had an early di
On their return to Cherry Hill, Celia had excused herself, saying that she needed to make a few quick phone calls. Now she had changed into form-fitting black slacks and a low-necked silver-gray halter top that showed off her ta
“You look lovely, dear,” Sallie said. “But won’t you be chilly in that top?”
“Not at all,” Celia said. “It’s eighty degrees out.”
“It’s a shame Mason isn’t here tonight to see you all dressed up. Have you talked to him this evening?” Sallie asked.