Hope Springs - 05 - Wedding Cake (16 page)

“Beatrice, it’s been almost two months. She’s probably waiting to hear from you,” Louise noted. “Have you at least decided to go to the wedding?” she asked.

Beatrice drank down the rest of her water. “I don’t know,” she said when she finished drinking. She wiped her mouth. “It’s a lot of money to travel there. Dick and I aren’t rich,” she said. “Besides, if she had really wanted me to be there, she would have asked for my help in planning the wedding.”

Louise and Jessie looked at each other. They had been so hopeful that their friend had made things right with her daughter.

It was clear that Beatrice didn’t want to discuss her issues any longer, and so she turned to Louise. “What is your big news?” she asked, remembering what Louise had said when she walked into the house. “Did you finally tell George to take a flying leap?”

Louise looked first at Beatrice and then at Jessie. She took in a big breath. “No, I told him yes, I will marry him, and I’m moving to Maryland this weekend.”

M
aria, just tell her it’s an emergency.” Beatrice had called Charlotte to ask for her help to stop Louise from marrying George.

“Mrs. Witherspoon, I have explained to you that Charlotte is in an important meeting. She’s trying to get placement for a resident.” Maria was answering the phones while Charlotte was taking a meeting with a county social worker. They were in the dining room of the shelter, which also served as the conference room.

“What is this
Mrs. Witherspoon
stuff? Maria, this is Beatrice. Knock that professional mess off.”

“Bea, I can’t interrupt the meetings,” she said.

“Wait! Is it her boyfriend’s ex-wife?” Beatrice wanted to know. “It’s about time!” she added. “That woman needs to go on with her life somewhere other than with Charlotte.”

Maria cringed when she heard the question and remarks. Beatrice had found out about Carla and her relationship with Charlotte’s boyfriend
even though Maria had never intended to tell anybody who was staying at the shelter. Carla had answered the phone one of her first days as a resident, and the call had been from Beatrice. Some-how in that conversation, Beatrice had pushed Carla for information about Charlotte and Charlotte’s new boyfriend. In her next call to the shelter, Beatrice had talked to Maria, and somehow, information about the woman Beatrice had been talking to earlier had just slipped from Maria.

Maria had confessed what happened to Charlotte, understanding that she had overstepped professional boundaries. Without giving out names, she had identified one of the residents to an outsider. She was mortified with her behavior and had even tendered her resignation as a volunteer. Charlotte had convinced her to withdraw that resignation and not to worry about it. “Beatrice,” she had said to the volunteer, “is a big mouth, but she’s two thousand miles away and she would never do anything to harm Carla or anyone else.”

Maria, though persuaded to stay and to forgive herself, was still upset about what had happened, and when Beatrice reminded her that she knew about Carla, Maria just wanted the phone conversation to end.
“Señor, perdóname,”
she said.

“Oh, for heaven sakes, Maria,” Beatrice responded. “The Lord doesn’t need to forgive you anymore. I’m not going to say anything to anybody about who is staying at the shelter. I’ve already promised you that! Besides, the girl was the one who told me her name, not you.”

Maria sighed. She knew that Charlotte had to tell Carla not to answer the office phones and not to reveal her identity to anyone. “I will tell Charlotte that you called but I cannot interrupt the meeting,” she repeated.

Charlotte had been very clear that she was never to be pulled out
of a meeting or conference or even conversation to take a call from Beatrice. The “emergency” Beatrice always used as an excuse never turned out to be one.

“Thank you, Beth.” Charlotte was coming down the hall. As she escorted the social worker out the back door, she passed the office.

“Okay, Beatrice, it’s your lucky day. She’s finished with the meeting. Hold, please.” Maria hit the hold button on the phone, glad not to have to argue with Charlotte’s friend any longer.

“Phone call, Charlotte,” Maria called out.

“Thanks,” Charlotte responded, and said good-bye to the visitor and headed back to the office. “It’s Beatrice,” Maria noted. Charlotte rolled her eyes and smiled.

“Hey Bea, what’s up?” She sat down at her desk, looking over her calendar and realizing that she had three other meetings scheduled for the day. She also noticed a red heart, which meant Donovan was going to stop by her house on his way home from work.

It was Thursday and they usually ate dinner together in front of the television on that particular weeknight. They liked to watch old movies.

“Are you finding her another place to live?” Beatrice asked.

Charlotte was confused. “What are you talking about?” she replied.

“The ex. Have you found her a new place to live?”

Charlotte relaxed in her chair. “We don’t discuss our clients, Beatrice, you know that.”

“She needs to find another place to live is all I’m saying,” Beatrice responded. She had already given Charlotte an earful for dating a policeman who had an ex-wife who was an abuse victim. Beatrice had asked a lot of questions about Carla and Donovan, and even though
Charlotte never answered any of them, Beatrice had made up her mind about the situation. She thought it was very troublesome for an ex-wife of a current beau to be a client of Charlotte’s.

Of course, Charlotte was all too well aware of the trouble and the complications with the arrangement of clients and boyfriends. She had talked to Carla more than she wanted to talk about her personal life, and she had heard Donovan talk more about his former marriage than she really wanted to hear. In the end, there was nothing she could do about the way things were, and even if she could change the situation, she knew that Beatrice was not the one from whom she should be receiving counsel.

“Why did you call, Bea?” Charlotte asked, hoping to change the subject.

Beatrice sighed, knowing that as hard as she might push, she wasn’t going to get Charlotte to talk about her boyfriend or his ex-wife. “It’s Louise,” she answered. “She’s going to marry Roxie’s crazy sick husband.”

Charlotte paused, taking in the information. She knew a little about the marriage proposal because Louise had called her weeks prior when it was first given. She also knew that Beatrice had actually supported it when George had first asked Louise. “I thought you didn’t see this as a problem,” she commented.

“I was stupid,” she responded. “Of course it’s a problem.”

“Why?” Charlotte asked, glad to be on another subject.

“Because she’s going to move to Maryland,” Beatrice replied. “I never agreed to that part of this proposal. I thought they would live together in Hope Springs, that she’d hold his hand while he died here, in her home.”

Charlotte could hear the disappointment in Beatrice’s voice, and
she too was surprised to hear first of all that Louise had agreed to marry the man, and now that she would leave her home for him. “Why can’t he go to North Carolina?” Charlotte asked.

“Because of all of his stuff: his doctors, his house, his furniture, it’s all there with him,” Beatrice answered. She paused. “I think he expects Louise to help him clean everything out, sell his house, and take care of him while he dies.”

“Does she say how long he has left?” Charlotte asked.

“Nobody can predict that,” Beatrice replied. “But yes, she says only a few months.”

“Then, Bea, she’ll be back to Hope Springs before the end of the summer,” Charlotte noted, thinking that since it was April then, a few months meant she would probably only be gone until August and then their friend would be back in North Carolina. It was clear to her then why Louise would agree to leave her home. “It’s not permanent.”

“Not permanent?” Bea responded. “That’s no reason to agree to his demands.”

Charlotte heard the disappointment suddenly change to anger. She could see that there was more to this conversation than just Louise going to live with George. “I don’t think he made demands,” Charlotte said. “Louise wants to do this,” she added. “You’ve heard her.”

“Louise is crazy,” Beatrice said.

“Beatrice, Louise is not crazy. She just wants to be close to Roxie, and in her unique way of looking at things, it does bring her closer to her friend. And it sounds like she’s really helping George out, so tell me, why has this got you so upset?” Charlotte asked. “Do you think she’s wrong to get married for the reasons she’s giving?”

There was a pause.

“No, I don’t think that. I always said that marriage is about a lot of things and love is only a part of that. She deserves his money and she loves to take care of people, we all know that. I don’t judge her for marrying George even though she doesn’t love him. I think her reasons are sound. And I think Roxie would be completely grateful to both of them for what they are doing for each other, in her honor.” She hesitated. “I’m not mad about that. The truth is …” She hesitated and then continued, “The truth is I just feel like my world is slipping away from me.”

Charlotte didn’t respond.

“Jessie and James have postponed the wedding renewal service.”

Charlotte knew about that too. Jessie had called to explain, and Charlotte had completely understood. She had canceled her airline ticket until they set a new date. She had been sorry to hear the news about James and his affair, but she thought the two of them were on their way to figuring things out. She had agreed that postponing the renewal ceremony was the best idea. Jessie still harbored anger and bitter feelings about James, and it was obvious that she needed a little time. But in spite of how things were, Charlotte was confident that they would work things out.

“I know, Bea. And I know you had made a lot of plans for that event.” Charlotte sounded sympathetic. She knew about the photographer and the florist and the musicians. She knew that Beatrice had given a lot of energy toward organizing details.

“I was making a cookbook,” Bea said.

Charlotte smiled. Beatrice had mentioned that she was creating a special gift for the couple but she hadn’t explained what it was. “A cookbook,” Charlotte repeated.

“Nothing fancy. I was just gathering a few finger food recipes,
wedding reception hors d’oeuvres, putting them in a little special wedding cookbook. I was adding a few cake recipes at the end, some of those that didn’t get in the contest at Christmas last year. I already took it to the copy shop and they designed a real nice cover, using a picture of a big wedding cake with Jessie and James’s names at the top.”

Charlotte remembered the recipe contest Beatrice had organized the previous Christmas. Even she had submitted a cake recipe. “That’s really special, Bea, and when they decide to have their ceremony it will still be an appropriate gift.”

“But maybe they won’t decide to have it. Maybe they think it’s a stupid idea and they’ll not do it,” Bea responded.

“Then you can give it to them for Christmas next year.”

There was no reply, and Charlotte realized that it sounded as if she was minimizing Bea’s disappointment. “Bea, I’m sure they will have their event. They just need a little time.”

“But then Louise will be gone,” Bea noted. “If they have it in the summer, she probably won’t come back. She’s going off to Maryland to marry her best friend’s husband. The world’s just gone nuts. Television shows make more sense than my life.”

Charlotte let her friend vent.

“Jessie’s despondent. You’re far away. Margaret’s dead. And Robin …” She didn’t finish the sentence.

“Robin is getting married and she invited you to the wedding.” Charlotte had been included in this Hope Springs drama just like all the others. She waited and then continued. “I agree with you that it was hurtful how she did it, but she did invite you, Bea, and you need to respond to her. You need to call your daughter and talk to her.”

“Yes, I know. Everybody tells me the same thing. But the truth
is she should come to me. She and her Farrell Monk ought to drive themselves to my house and tell me to my face that they are getting married. It’s obscene that a mother finds out that her daughter is getting married from an invitation in the mail.”

Charlotte didn’t respond at first. She considered how she would tell her mother if she and Donovan ever got to the place that they wanted to get married. She would never confess such a thing to anyone, but she sort of understood why Robin had handled the arrangements the way that she had. Mothers and weddings could be trouble.

She cleared her throat and pushed those thoughts aside. “I agree with you, Beatrice. What Robin did was wrong. But you can stop this pattern of noncommunication before it goes on any longer. You can let her know that you are hurt by how she handled this, but you can still love her and support her as she begins her marriage.”

There was no response from Beatrice, but Charlotte knew she was still on the line because she could hear her breathing.

“Beatrice, she may not say it, but she still needs her mother.”

“You’re right, I know you’re right,” she finally said. “I’m just hurt is all,” she added. “You won’t get married and not tell me, will you, Charlotte?” she asked.

Charlotte heard the pleading tone. “Of course I won’t,” she promised.

“You wouldn’t invite an ex-wife to your wedding, would you?” she asked.