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She dressed carefully for the occasion, but not in the clothes she might formerly have worn for an audience with her mother-in-law. This time, she wore what she’d wear any other Saturday morning around town: a pair of red cotton capris, a red and white striped oxford-cloth shirt, an off-white cable-knit sweater, and a pair of navy-blue skimmers.
After she rang the doorbell at Cherry Hill, she repeated her mantra under her breath, as she’d done countless times on the drive over. “She is not the boss of me.”
A
Sallie was dressed in what passed for casual wear for her: black slacks, a peach silk blouse, and a black cashmere sweater that was looped across her shoulders. “It’s such a beautiful morning; I thought we’d sit out in the sunroom.”
A
Sallie seated herself on a high-backed wicker armchair and gestured for A
“Tea?” Sallie asked, pouring a glass. “Or I could open a bottle of Quixie. Gle
“Nothing for me, thanks,” A
“Oh,” Sallie said, looking faintly nauseated at the idea. “How sweet.”
A
“The garden looks beautiful,” she said, looking out at the sweep of emerald lawn and the blooming flowerbeds. The turquoise of the swimming pool dazzled in the sunshine. It was a storybook setting, A
Sallie waved away the compliment. “This is not our best spring. My tulips were anemic-looking, and, I swear, Nate’s gotten so old and blind I believe he mistook most of my pere
A
“Family,” Sallie said, without hesitation. “I want to talk about my family. You know I love my children, unconditionally.”
“Of course,” A
“I never thought you were the right kind of girl for Mason,” Sallie said flatly.
Wow, A
“You’ve made that pretty clear over the years,” A
“Gle
“Gle
“And I … wasn’t.” Sallie reached under the cushion of her chair and brought out a pack of cigarettes and lit one. “Someday, if you ever have children of your own, A
A
“Maybe,” Sallie said, conceding nothing. She inhaled and then exhaled a long plume of smoke through her nostrils, waving ineffectively at it. She got up and opened the glass door that led to the patio and pool area. A cool wind swept the room, sending the pale green fern fronds swaying. “Better,” she said to herself.
She gave A
For real? A
“I disagree,” A
Sallie exhaled another stream of smoke, and her eyes narrowed. “Your mother never told you she dated Gle
“No. She didn’t even want to admit it when I called her that night to ask about it.”
“I’m not surprised,” Sallie said. “It’s nothing to be proud of, stealing a friend’s man.”
That made A
“That is not how it happened,” Sallie said sharply. “Gle
“And you never forgave her, or me, by extension,” A
“I wouldn’t know either,” Sallie said airily. “Ruth was always full of spite. Your mother is not a happy person, A
“Mama was in her early twenties when my father died. Driving a Quixie truck,” A
“Oh, yes,” Sallie said, rolling her eyes. “Here we go again, poor, poor Ruth Hudgens. The twice-widowed martyr with a chip on her shoulder the size of a two-by-four.”
“Knock it off, Sallie,” A
Sallie shrugged, unrepentant. “The point is, I knew what kind of girl your mother was, and I figured you’d be the same sort. I didn’t want that for Mason. And besides, you two came from two very different worlds.”
A