Sherryl Woods - A Slice Of Heaven

“Getting you out of my kitchen so I can get ready to go to work,” she countered. “As you noted when you called here, I’m running late. I can’t send all my customers to McDonald’s just because you’ve set some deadline for getting this challenge of ours under way. Why are you in such a rush, anyway? It’s not as if we haven’t needed health goals for ourselves for months now.”

Helen flushed guiltily. “I promised Doc Marshall I would give him a concrete plan by next week with proof I’m sticking to it, so he wouldn’t insist on starting me on medication to bring down my blood pressure. I figured sworn affidavits from the two of you would do the trick. He’s a little jaded where I’m concerned these days, but he trusts you two.” She grinned at Dana Sue. “Well, Maddie, anyway.”

“It might be more effective if you actually got your blood pressure down a little bit,” Maddie commented wryly. “Have you considered, oh, taking a day off, perhaps? Having a relaxing massage at the spa? Trying a little meditation?”

“How can I do any of that?” Helen demanded. “I have two trials scheduled this month. Should I just hand my clients a note from my doctor, then tell them I’m not prepared because I needed a day off?”

“You know, I was reading about exactly that kind of thing the other day,” Maddie said. “It was about the whole concept of the Sabbath, not necessarily in a religious context, but just in terms of people needing more than ever to take time for themselves to reflect and relax. Remember when we were kids and no one did anything on Sunday except go to church and hang out with family and friends? Now it’s just another day to be crammed with things to do from morning to night. No wonder we never feel refreshed.”

“Maddie’s exactly right,” Dana Sue said. “Your mind would probably be a lot clearer and sharper, Helen, if you gave it a break once in a while.” She pointed at the legal pad. “Write that down. It needs to be one of your goals.”

“We were not discussing my goals,” Helen said.

“Actually, we were,” Maddie stated. “And your need to have them so Doc Marshall will let you off the hook. You want testimony from the two of us, you better write down ‘one day a week of actual relaxation’ and stick to it.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” she grumbled, but jotted it down.

“Very good,” Dana Sue said. “Now I really do have to get ready for work, you guys. I promise I’ll work on my goals today and we can compare notes tomorrow, okay?”

“I suppose it will have to do,” Helen said reluctantly. “I’m due at the office in a few minutes myself. I have a new client coming in for a consultation.”

Dana Sue walked the two of them to the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” she promised.

They’d already stepped outside when Maddie turned back. “I don’t suppose you had time to talk to Annie about a sleepover, did you?”

“No, but last night we did have one of the best conversations we’ve had in a long time. I’ll bring up the sleepover thing when I see her tonight.”

“Don’t put it off,” Maddie stressed.

“I won’t.” Not only was it important, but as Dana Sue already knew, her two best friends would hound her until she did it. It would be easier just to get it over with.

“Mom, that is so lame,” Annie declared when her mother came up with this crazy sleepover idea. “I mean, how old do you think I am—six?”

“When I was your age, girls got together all the time. We ate pizza and popcorn, experimented with makeup and talked about boys.”

“You and Maddie and Helen?” Annie guessed.

“And a few others,” her mom said. “It was fun.”

“What about boys?” Annie asked.

“We talked about them,” her mother said, looking faintly puzzled.

“I mean, could I have boys over, too?”

“You mean for a couple of hours?” her mother asked.

“No, for the whole sleepover. We’d play music, dance, whatever. It would be really cool.”

“Not a chance! Not under my roof, anyway,” her mom said, as if Annie had suggested some kind of orgy or something. “Are you crazy? That’s just asking for trouble.”

“Mom, it’s not like we’d do anything. You’d be right here.”

“I don’t care. It’s a terrible idea. I can’t imagine the other parents would go along with it.”

Annie studied her mother speculatively. Ever since her dad had left, her mom could be talked into a lot of things if Annie played her cards right. “What if the other parents said okay?” she coaxed. “Would you let us do it then?”

“Absolutely not,” her mother said, holding firm.

“Then forget it! I don’t want to spend the night with a bunch of girls. Like I said, it’s totally lame.”

Now it was her mother’s turn to give her an odd, curious look. “When you went to Sarah’s a couple of weeks ago, were there boys there that night?”

Oops! Annie thought. No one was supposed to find out about that. No parents, anyway. “Of course not,” she lied.

“I will find out if you’re not telling me the truth,” her mother warned.

Annie just rolled her eyes. Her mom was clueless. There were at least a dozen things she’d done that her mom would flip out about if she ever found out about them.

“Don’t give me that look,” her mother said. “I can make a few calls and your goose will be cooked.”

“Not likely,” Annie said. She couldn’t think of a single soul who’d blab. Just in case, though, she probably ought to get her mother off on another track. “Maybe having Sarah over would be okay. And Raylene,” she added. “But that’s it.”

“Friday night,” her mom suggested, looking pleased. “And if you decide to ask a few more girls, it would be okay.”

Perfect, Annie thought. Her mom never got home from the restaurant before midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. If the guys stopped by, she just had to get them out the door by eleven forty-five. And if she could convince Ty to be one of those guys, even if she got caught, maybe her mom would think of Ty as a chaperone or something. Even though Annie didn’t think of him that way, her mom always said she was lucky to have him as kind of a surrogate big brother. As if, Annie thought.

She gave her mother an impulsive hug, noting once again that she’d probably gained another five pounds just since she’d opened the spa with Maddie and Helen. It wasn’t a very good recommendation for the place, in Annie’s opinion.

“Mom, I thought you were going on a diet,” she said accusingly.

“I am on a diet, but at my age it’s harder to lose weight,” her mom said, immediately on the defensive, which was where Annie liked her to be.

“I thought that’s why you guys opened that gym, so you could exercise and kick your metabolism back into gear. I’ll bet you don’t even spend ten minutes a day on the treadmill there, do you?”

“I do when I can,” she responded, her expression tense.

“Well, if you don’t lose it, you’re going to get sick and die like Grandma,” Annie said. “And I will not go and live with Dad.” She said it matter-of-factly, but the truth was the possibility terrified her—not of getting to be with her dad, but of her mom dying.

“I don’t think you need to worry about that,” she answered. “I have no intention of dying anytime soon, and we don’t even know where your father is.”

“I know,” Annie blurted without thinking. “He’s working down in Beaufort and living in some dump.”

Her mom looked stunned. “How do you know that? He sends his support checks through his attorney.”

Seeing the dismay on her mother’s face, Annie immediately felt guilty for keeping her dad’s calls a secret. “He’s phoned once or twice,” she admitted, unwilling to say it had been that many times just in the past couple of weeks. It wasn’t like her mom had ever said she couldn’t talk to him, or even see him if she wanted to. But initially Annie had made such a big deal about not taking his calls or visiting him that she hadn’t wanted to admit it when she’d finally started talking to him. It would have felt as if she were betraying her mom.