“Not impressed, huh?”
“Tania, she’s a lot like the other old ladies I saw while I was with Catch and the Flames of Hell for three years. Same dark roots, same boobs springing out of her too-tight shirt, same resting bitch face, same way of strutting. Only, this one has a different accent. Big whoop.”
Tania sucked on the smoothie and made a face. “Must I drink this?”
“Yes, you must. Come on, it’s not bad. The lemon and carrot make it tasty.”
She swept back her dark hair. “Tasty being a very relative term.”
We both drew on our straws, our eyes still on Nina going to her car with her bodyguard buddy, Led at her side.
“Grace said Butler’s first wife was a tall blonde, too,” said Tania.
“Men have their types.” I sipped the last of my drink. “I wouldn’t call Nina pretty, really, but there’s something sexy about her. It’s a crass kind of sexy, right? Like, she’s up for getting it on any time of day or night.”
Tania sucked harder on her straw. “Aren’t we up for getting it on any time of day or night?”
“I know I am.” I giggled. “You don’t like her?”
Tania shrugged. “I don’t know her.”
“You don’t like her.”
“I don’t have to like her.”
I glanced at her. “You don’t like her for Butler.”
“I first met him a long, long time ago, when he was a prospect for the Jacks. He’s a little crazy, but who isn’t? After losing his wife and all the crap he’s been through, he deserves to be happy again.” Tania swished at the remains of her drink with her straw. “Just like the rest of us do.”
“Did you hear from your lawyer?” I asked.
“It’s all a go. It’s just a matter of months until the divorce is final.” She raised her smoothie cup and clinked it to mine. “Let’s hear it for Wisconsin, the no-fault divorce state.”
“I’m glad you’re back to stay, Tania. ”
“Thanks. I’m all kinds of glad, too.”
“Well, if you decide on opening your own store here in town, I think you’ll be really happy.”
“I was serious about that idea, you know. Meager has really perked up the past few years.”
“I think you took Rae by surprise.”
Tania let out a laugh. “I always catch my mother by surprise. It’s a special talent I have.”
I sat down in one of the chairs by the doorway to catch the breeze.
Tania put a hand on my shoulder. “Are you feeling okay?”
“Better, that the nausea has eased up. But now, I have that full, tight feeling everywhere. I can’t wait to get a couple of new bras and maternity jeans and shorts today. I should’ve saved the stuff I had worn when I was pregnant with Becca.”
“I wish I could go with you, but I really need to make a dent in this today. It’s turned into a much bigger project than I expected.”
“No problem, Tan.”
As Rae had a couple of friends over for coffee and Penny, Tania’s sister, had taken Becca for the day, I’d stopped by the club to see Tania and ask her if she wanted to come to the shopping mall with me in Rapid. I’d gone into the Eagle Wings office to say hello to Grace, but Boner had been there instead. He’d mumbled something about having to pick up a few things in Rapid and offered to take me to the mall.
Tania wiped her hands on a wad of paper towels. “You sure about going with Boner?”
“Yeah, why?” I asked.
“Last thing I remember, you two barely spoke to each other.”
“That was in the beginning, when I first came to Meager. Everything’s good now. We talk, hang out.”
“You do?”
“I mean, if and when I’m around here. We’ve bumped into each other in town on occasion. He hangs out with Grace a lot so…”
“Right.”
“Becca likes him. He’s good with her.”
“Oh, that’s sweet.”
“Yeah, it is.”
The week before Grace had brought me pink-frosted cupcakes and huge iced cookies that Boner had bought for Becca from the cafe, all of them decorated with a huge B. Becca had flipped out with excitement and again later, from the sugar overload.
And just like he’d promised me, he’d sent a prospect over to mow the lawn and deal with the weeds in Rae’s backyard. Sy would come over once a week to trim, weed, and check on the watering system. Yesterday, he’d even brought over some fertilizer that Rae had recommended he pick up, and refused to take any money for it.
The first time he’d come over, I’d fed Sy pork chops and scalloped potatoes. Yesterday, I’d sent him back to the club with a chocolate sheet cake with a big fat B on it and lots of flowers in yellow frosting that had been designed by Becca.
I’d gotten a phone call and a growly, “That was good cake, Jill. Really dark chocolate. That’s the way I like it.”
“I’m glad you liked it,” I’d replied. “Becca and I made it from scratch.”
“You make good scratch, sweetheart.”