There was a lull in the sobs and wails and words of comfort.
“That means now,” Wendy clarified, still using her military tone.
The class mobilized, including the parents. Everybody went up the short flight of stairs to the stage. Around stage left and the thick black curtains hanging in the wings. Down the back stairs into the dressing room beneath the main stage.
Mary Margaret stood at the door, ushering in her students and parents, righting halos, wiping tears, doling out reassuring smiles. She counted heads. Three students were missing. Leaving Barbara in charge, she left to find Louise, Mari, and Tad.
Back in the auditorium, Mary Margaret plotted a course for a family sitting on a blanket in the back. Mari was the oldest of four children. She held her baby sister, rocking her from side to side.
Mr. Hardy blocked Mary Margaret as she tried to pass him. “I had no idea kindergarten teachers led such exciting lives.”
“Me either. That’s the beauty of our job, isn’t it?” Mr. Laurel made googly eyes at Grandma Edith as he chewed on a red stir stick. “You get to meet a variety of interesting people.”
Mary Margaret forgot about Mari and the alphabet recitations. “You are not to date my grandmother.”
“Why can’t I date her?” Mr. Laurel demanded. “She reminds me of my first wife.”
“You see what I have to put up with?” Mr. Hardy might have been making a joke. Since he never smiled, it was hard to tell.
Mr. Laurel gave Grandma Edith a jaunty wave that sent the entire Widows Club board into a tizzy. “Your grandmother is unpredictable, speaks her mind, and yet—”
“She has a kind heart,” both Mary Margaret and Mr. Hardy said together.
There was an uncomfortable silence, during which Mary Margaret remembered her mission.
“You are not dating my grandmother.” Mary Margaret repeated, then continued on her way. Upon reaching Mari and her family, she plucked Mari’s halo from her younger brother’s hands. “It’s time to go backstage, sweetheart.” She placed the halo on Mari’s head, transferred the adorable little baby into her mother’s arms, and sent Mari skipping toward the stage.
Louise and her mother emerged from the bathroom. Louise had removed her skirt and changed into a pair of red leggings decorated with Christmas trees. Mary Margaret caught Kathy’s eye and pointed toward the stage. The pair headed in the right direction.
Mims tapped Mary Margaret’s shoulder. “Do you know those gentlemen?” She pointed to Laurel and Hardy, who were talking to Grandma Edith. Well, Mr. Laurel was talking. Mr. Hardy rolled his eyes.
“I’ve seen that pair around town.” Clarice leaned on her walking stick. “They must be visiting someone for the holidays.”
Bitsy looked just as concerned as the rest of the board. “We’re worried about your grandmother dating Paco.”
“Who?” Mary Margaret was scowling at Mr. Laurel.
“The taller man,” Bitsy clarified. “Paco asked her on a date.”
Annoyance and fear melded into a fast dance step with dizzying spins. “Is that so?” Was that what Grandma Edith had wanted to talk to her about? Had she given up on dating David and moved on to Paco/Laurel?
“We’ll take care of her,” Mims promised, and then hesitated, touching Mary Margaret’s arm. “Are you all right? There are rumors that you’re dating Kevin, and we…Well, frankly, we’re worried about how Barbara will take it.”
Mary Margaret went with her standard rebuttal. “I’m not dating Kevin. He asked me for some help on the development committee. And since I had time…” She could tell by the looks on their faces that they didn’t believe her. “Look, the truth is we’ve hung out once or twice but I’m not at a place in my life where I can date.”
And there was that look in his eyes before Tad had fallen and cried. That was a break-up face if she ever saw one.
“I’m so proud of you.” Clarice gave Mary Margaret a hug. “It’s important to know your limits.”
“Yeah, well.” Mary Margaret nodded toward her grandmother. “I don’t think Grandma Edith knows hers. Could you take care of her?”
“We’re on it,” Bitsy reassured her.
Mary Margaret noticed that Kevin and Tad were going up the stairs on stage right. The third graders were still blocking their scene, with their parents congregating just beneath the front of the stage, phones at the ready for photo ops. She hurried after Kevin and Tad, who lingered in the wings on the wrong side of the stage.
“It’s dark, Daddy, like a ninja cave.”
“Tad,” Mary Margaret said, “you need to hurry around the back and down the stairs on the other side, like we practiced. The rest of the class is waiting underneath the stage.”
Tad raced off.
“Hey.” Kevin caught Mary Margaret’s arm, still wearing break-up face. He drew her deeper into the shadows of the wings where no one else could see them. “I need to talk to you.”
The trouble with being a realist was that reality sucked. She’d known getting involved with Kevin was a risk while she was dancing and dealing with Paco and Hardy. And yet, she wasn’t ready for a break-up.
“Mary Margaret…” His touch on her arm was gentle, respectful.
He touched her the way a mayor touched the kindergarten teacher when the whole town was watching. Worse, he’d called her Mary Margaret. Not Maggie. She wanted him to touch her the way he’d touched Roxy. She inched away from him, drawing him deeper into the shadows where Roxy lived.
Instead of following, his grip loosened. “I can’t…Roxy.”
Her stage name disappeared on her gasp. She wished the black curtain could swallow her up. “How…”
“It doesn’t matter.” His voice. So low. So intimate. “You know why.”
She did.
Sinner.
The snide criticism of her father echoed in her head, but this time in Kevin’s voice. The words cut her breath to ribbons, made her hands numb and her scar ache. Her father had been right.
“I thought you were different,” Kevin said in a quiet voice that still managed to ring in her ears.
Wendy released the third graders. They cheered and rushed to the edge of the stage and their parents.
The commotion didn’t stop Mary Margaret’s heart from breaking, her hopes from being crushed. Not now, she told her crumpling self. There was still the rehearsal to get through. She forced herself to draw breath, to hold her head high, to count her blessings—few though they might be.
And then—because she was the black sheep in her family—she reached for what she couldn’t have. Kevin.
She surged into his arms the way Roxy had that one fateful night, kissing him like he was the balm to her lonely, rejected soul.
Kevin didn’t hold back or hold her gently. He dragged her against his body and returned her kiss with the heat and passion she’d come to expect from him. He didn’t kiss her like they had all the time in the world. He kissed her as if they stood on the gangplank leading to the Titanic and one of them was leaving. He took what he wanted.
As good-bye kisses went…She thanked her lucky, tree-topping stars.
Sinners burn in hell, Mary Margaret.
Someone ran across the stage, footsteps echoing on the wood.
“Ninja Angel wishes you a Merry Christmas!” Tad’s shout had Mary Margaret and Kevin breaking apart but moving as one toward center stage.
“Tad.” Kevin reached him first. “What are you doing?”
“I’m photo-bombing.” The pipe cleaner halo tilted jauntily over one of his eyes.
The parents of the third graders chuckled, lifting their noses from their cell phone screens.
“Mrs. Sneed.” Wendy pointed toward stage left and the staircase to the dressing room. “Take your ninja photo bomber downstairs.”
Mary Margaret led the way.
“We need to talk,” Kevin said. “Now more than ever.”
“Why? You’re breaking up with me.”
Chapter Ninetee
n
Edith stewed the entire day after the Christmas pageant dress rehearsal about her impeded love life.
The Widows Club board had run a blockade around Edith at the school rehearsal, chasing Paco off. And then they’d whisked Edith out the door because they’d carpooled. The reason? Bitsy claimed she’d forgotten to take her evening medicine.
Edith didn’t buy that for a minute. The board clearly didn’t approve of Paco. Did Edith care? After stewing all day long, she decided she did. The fate of her position on the board might depend on it. Which meant David was back to being her number one option for romance.
She hadn’t had a chance to talk to Mary Margaret to see if everything was all right. And her granddaughter hadn’t returned her calls. Neither had Mims or David. At five o’clock, Edith got in her car and drove around town.
Mary Margaret wasn’t home nor was she downtown with the mayor. Edith spotted him walking Main Street alone. David and Mims weren’t home either. Edith drove the now-familiar circuit around town. The last place she stopped was Shaw’s. Bingo. A dinged-up Subaru and a pristine Mercedes SUV sat in the parking lot. Mims and David.
Edith parked near the door and stared at herself in the rearview mirror. Her face was lined like rings in an exposed tree trunk. She wasn’t a spring chicken, and no amount of makeup or slimwear could disguise that fact. She didn’t have the hourglass curves of Mary Margaret. She didn’t have the brass of Mims. It was time to face facts. She wasn’t a serious contender as the next Mrs. David Jessup.
The thought gave her an unexpected measure of relief.
Someone knocked on her passenger window. Edith jumped.
It was Mims, wrapped in her camouflage jacket, her short, spiked hair flattened by the wind. She rapped on the window again. “Unlock the door.”
“Is your date over so soon?” Edith asked when Mims was settled beside her. She tried not to sound bitter but the sting of loss was still fresh.
“David told me he had another engagement.” Mims sighed. “I’d barely finished my beer and peanuts.” She turned to Edith. “Do you love him?” That was the thing about Mims. She wasn’t put off by Edith’s direct nature. She had one of her own.
But the question took Edith by surprise. She didn’t know what to say other than, “I barely know him.”
“Me too,” Mims admitted on a sigh.
And as they sat there, Patti pulled up in her shiny red car. She applied a coat of lipstick with the aid of a lighted visor. Then she headed toward Shaw’s, oblivious of her audience.
“You don’t think…” Mims leaned forward.
“He wouldn’t dare…” But Edith remembered Patti singing about those five golden rings and realized the truth: David was a player.
David opened the door to Shaw’s before Patti reached it. He said something to her and then swept her into his arms for a hot kiss.
Slack-jawed, Edith turned to look at Mims.
Slack-jawed, Mims turned to look at Edith.
And then they both began to laugh.
“I’ve never thanked you for being my friend,” Edith said when she caught her breath. “My only friend, especially in school.”
“You’ve always been a bit much but my kind of much.” Mims touched the top of her spiky hair. “I got a new hairdo for him.”
“I glued on false eyelashes.” Edith looked down at her blouse. “And got a new bra.”
“I bet Paco likes that look,” Mims said slyly.
Edith huffed. “Haven’t you been trying to discourage me from dating him?”
“When have you ever followed my advice?” Mims countered.
“Doesn’t mean I don’t like to hear it.” Edith smiled softly. “Paco has more important things to do than woo me. He and Mary Margaret are undercover somewhere.”
“When you say ‘undercover,’” Mims said slowly, “do you mean law enforcement undercover? Or under-the-sheets undercover?”
“Paco isn’t interested in Mary Margaret like that.” Edith explained about her granddaughter’s cover as a dancer. “Which reminds me. I need to borrow a gun from you. I shouldn’t have been so selfish. Mary Margaret needs me to watch her back.”
“And who’s going to watch yours?” Mims sniffed. “I’ll pack the heat. You’ve suffered enough with those false eyelashes. I don’t want you to accidentally shoot yourself.”
* * *
Two days after the fateful good-bye kiss, Mary Margaret was getting ready to leave for work in Greeley when there was a knock on her door.
“Hello, hello.” Edith entered using her key. She was wearing a flirty red dress and a black demi-mask. “I’ve thought a lot about it, and I’ve decided it’s too dangerous for you to go undercover without me.”
“No.” Mary Margaret gently removed her grandmother’s mask. “You can’t come as my sidekick.”
“I thought you might say that.” Grandma Edith put her fingers in her mouth and whistled. “Therefore, I brought my own sidekick.”
The front door opened. “I feel silly.” Mims entered the living room. She wore white leggings beneath a red flowery tunic and a black plastic demi-mask. “Your security detail is here, reporting for duty.” She patted her bulky pleather purse.
“No.” Mary Margaret scowled. “That’s a hard no. Mims, I’m disappointed you’d let my grandmother talk you into this. Don’t one of you have a date with David?”
“David is a player, and we’ve decided not to play along.” Grandma Edith fluttered her false eyelashes.
“Let him make a fool of every other woman in Sunshine.” Mims held out the hem of her tunic and frowned. “We’ve decided to be fools where no one knows us.”
“I forbid this.”
Mims and Edith exchanged glances and then started to laugh.
“You can’t stop us. We have our own vehicle. Our own masks.” Grandma Edith snatched hers from the counter. “What good is being a widow if you can’t kick up your heels every once in a while? And who knows? We might meet a man in Greeley.”
“Adventure and potential love connection aside”—Mims patted her purse again—“you need protection. I can’t believe you were called to serve. Are we after a crime syndicate? Drug dealers?” She gasped. “Human traffickers?”
“Get me backstage.” Grandma Edith had her mask back in place. “This will end tonight. And just in time for Christmas. There aren’t very many shopping days left, and I don’t see any wrapped gifts under your tree.”
“You’re not coming backstage.” Because if Mary Margaret admitted she’d bamboozled her grandmother about the undercover story, Grandma Edith would be hurt. So she improvised. “If anyone sees us together, they’ll know who I am. You’ll ruin everything.” There was still a possibility Barbara would show up at the Hanky Panky, although now that Kevin had decided she wasn’t good enough for him, that was highly unlikely.
“But…” Grandma Edith’s expression crumpled. “You need me.”
“I’m sorry.” It hurt to burst her grandmother’s bubble. “You can’t help me with this.”
“Honey.” Her grandmother was hurt. “You’re all I have left.”
“Family, you mean,” Mims murmured. “My condolences, Mary Margaret. I heard you and Kevin broke up.”
The town grapevine…She much preferred listening to the gossip, rather than being part of the gossip itself.
“We were never really together. It was more of a test-the-waters kind of thing.” Mary Margaret tried to shrug but Kevin’s rejection made her heart heavy. He’d texted her, asking to talk, but why would she submit herself to his judgment? She couldn’t live up to the high standards he needed to help him achieve his dreams. “Excuse me. I have to get ready.” She stepped into her bedroom.
“Is this what you’re wearing tonight?” Grandma Edith pushed past her. “A purple and black corset with a matching tutu?”
“It’s a flounce skirt, not a tutu.” Mary Margaret fingered the stiff lace.
“Surely you’re not wearing this to dance.�
�� Mims picked up the holiday sweater laid out next to the corset costume. “The Grinch?”
“I dug out a tacky holiday sweater for school tomorrow.” She’d promised little Elizabeth, and the kids would enjoy it. “I’m wearing the polka dot raincoat for my second dance.” She gestured toward the jacket hanging from the back of her bedroom door. She’d already packed her group dance costumes in a small travel bag.
“Do you need to take your grandfather’s truck?” Grandma Edith asked, still staring at the corset dress.
“No. I was more concerned with keeping my dancing a secret from Kevin.” Mary Margaret tried to smile. “But he found out, which is why we’re not seeing each other anymore.”
“Oh, honey.” Grandma Edith moved to her side and wrapped an arm around her.
“I can understand why he did it,” Mims said, moving to Mary Margaret’s other side and curling her arm around her. “But it’s disappointing nonetheless.”
Mary Margaret hugged Edith and Mims. Three widows. Two grandmothers. And one much needed dose of the feels.
Mary Margaret sighed and released the pair. “If you want to protect me, protect what’s left of my anonymity. I don’t need your gun for that. Can you do that for me?”
“Can we at least go to the show?” Mims removed her mask. “I’ve never seen a dance act like yours. I promise to pretend you’re a stranger to me. Oh, and I promise to chaperone Edith if Paco shows up for drinks like he promised.”
“Can I ask the manager if he’ll consider an amateur night?” Grandma Edith shimmied. “I want to shake my booty but I don’t want a job.”
Mary Margaret sighed. “I can’t stop you two from coming, can I?”
“Nope.” Grandma Edith pointed her bullet bra toward the door.
Chapter Twenty
I don’t understand why you broke up with Maggie.” Kevin’s mother put a huge helping of au gratin potatoes on Kevin’s plate. “You bought that beautiful ring and then you didn’t even propose.”
A Very Merry Match--Includes a Bonus Novella Page 24
