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.Especially if it meant going somewhere she didn’t want to go.Every dinner there was like going for an annual checkup.You knew it was going to be miserable, but you had to go through it to get past it.But this time, her mother would be caught off-guard by Nina’s pre-emptive strike call, so she wouldn’t have as many prepared sighs and guilt trip vouchers as usual.“Nina, something must be wrong or else you wouldn’t be calling me.Right?”“Hello, mother.How are you?”“Are you really calling to find out how I am.because you usually don’t bother.”I don’t bother because of this exact conversation.“I won’t be there for dinner this Sunday.Manny, my dog, was hit by a car, and his leg’s fractured.It’s hard for him to get around, so he needs someone with him.”A long sigh.“So, you’re choosing a dog over your parents?”“No, mother.I’m choosing to stay home because Manny needs help right now.You and dad are welcome to come eat over here.” Nina cringed hearing the words that escaped from her mouth.What did I just say? Please don’t agree.Please don’t agree.Silence.“Mother? Did you hear me?”“Yes, but I am surprised that you invited us.You know your father is more comfortable watching his own television.”So, a father can choose a television over his daughter?“Well, unless he can bring the television here, I guess we won’t be seeing one another.”“You know, your brother’s birthday is next month.He would have been thirty-two.Your father would want you here, you know.”“Of course he would.” But not you? “It shouldn’t be a problem.By then, Manny should be back on his own four feet.” She felt her mother’s eye-roll through the phone.“We’ll be expecting you then.”Most times after a conversation with her mother, Nina had enough pent-up frustration to heave plates against the wall like Frisbees.Today she could have gone through a place setting for twelve.“You’re kidding? You rode in the car with that man, and you didn’t ask him about his daughter or that woman with her?” Aretha carried a bowl of still steaming popcorn to Luke on the sofa.She handed him the bowl and plopped next to him.“Baby, that’s job security right there.You won’t ever have to worry about Nina out-detective-ing you.”“ ‘Detective-ing’? Did you just invent that word?” Luke laughed and grabbed a handful of popcorn.“Between you looking at Aretha like she just invented a new language and the smell of that butter wafting from the kitchen, I might need Pepto-Bismol,” said Nina.“And, as for my sloppy detective work, I’ll have you know that there was no wedding ring on his left hand.There wasn’t even a tan mark where one would have been.But, nothing we discussed transitioned into asking about his daughter.”“I know this much.If he was attached to that woman with his daughter, I doubt if he would have agreed to the two of you having dinner.He doesn’t seem like the kind of man who would be unfaithful,” Luke shared between bites.“You’re the hotshot detective.Why don’t you and Nancy Drew come along?” Nina slipped her iPad into her portfolio, then reached in the refrigerator for a bottle of water.“If we go with you, how will we ever be alone?” Aretha elbowed Luke who rewarded her with a kiss on her forehead.“Exactly,” said Nina.“Which is why, while I go meet the quilt people, you two are going to the clinic for visiting time with Manny.Greg said he’ll release him Monday.”“We should get him a homecoming happy.A new squeaky rubber ball.He loves the ones that look like basketballs,” Aretha said as she carried the empty popcorn bowl back into the kitchen.“Let’s leave now, so we’ll have time to swing by a pet store after we visit.I have to get back for late shift.And if I don’t wash my hands first, they’ll be sliding all over the steering wheel from all that butter,” said Luke.“Isn’t he adorable?” Aretha said as she watched him amble into the kitchen.Nina smiled.“If I have to say so myself.”Probably because of her smarty-pants attitude about her GPS when she spoke to one of the quilters a few days ago, Nina drove right past her destination.Faith Church and the Fellowship Hall perched on a corner at the edge of a hodgepodge residential neighborhood.A stand of pine trees obscured the front of the white-bricked Fellowship Hall, so when she turned around, she had to trust that the GPS voice telling her she’d arrived at her destination was directionally smarter.It was.Nina didn’t see Brady’s car.She hoped he remembered.At the door, she didn’t know whether she should knock or just walk in, so she did a combination of the two.“Is this the Threads of Hope group?” she asked once inside.Had she surveyed the room for thirty seconds, the question would have been unnecessary.Bolts of fabric draped several of the long tables on one side of the room.On the other side, four tables surrounded by chairs had been pushed together and held pieces of fabric, scissors, and rulers of all shapes and sizes [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.Especially if it meant going somewhere she didn’t want to go.Every dinner there was like going for an annual checkup.You knew it was going to be miserable, but you had to go through it to get past it.But this time, her mother would be caught off-guard by Nina’s pre-emptive strike call, so she wouldn’t have as many prepared sighs and guilt trip vouchers as usual.“Nina, something must be wrong or else you wouldn’t be calling me.Right?”“Hello, mother.How are you?”“Are you really calling to find out how I am.because you usually don’t bother.”I don’t bother because of this exact conversation.“I won’t be there for dinner this Sunday.Manny, my dog, was hit by a car, and his leg’s fractured.It’s hard for him to get around, so he needs someone with him.”A long sigh.“So, you’re choosing a dog over your parents?”“No, mother.I’m choosing to stay home because Manny needs help right now.You and dad are welcome to come eat over here.” Nina cringed hearing the words that escaped from her mouth.What did I just say? Please don’t agree.Please don’t agree.Silence.“Mother? Did you hear me?”“Yes, but I am surprised that you invited us.You know your father is more comfortable watching his own television.”So, a father can choose a television over his daughter?“Well, unless he can bring the television here, I guess we won’t be seeing one another.”“You know, your brother’s birthday is next month.He would have been thirty-two.Your father would want you here, you know.”“Of course he would.” But not you? “It shouldn’t be a problem.By then, Manny should be back on his own four feet.” She felt her mother’s eye-roll through the phone.“We’ll be expecting you then.”Most times after a conversation with her mother, Nina had enough pent-up frustration to heave plates against the wall like Frisbees.Today she could have gone through a place setting for twelve.“You’re kidding? You rode in the car with that man, and you didn’t ask him about his daughter or that woman with her?” Aretha carried a bowl of still steaming popcorn to Luke on the sofa.She handed him the bowl and plopped next to him.“Baby, that’s job security right there.You won’t ever have to worry about Nina out-detective-ing you.”“ ‘Detective-ing’? Did you just invent that word?” Luke laughed and grabbed a handful of popcorn.“Between you looking at Aretha like she just invented a new language and the smell of that butter wafting from the kitchen, I might need Pepto-Bismol,” said Nina.“And, as for my sloppy detective work, I’ll have you know that there was no wedding ring on his left hand.There wasn’t even a tan mark where one would have been.But, nothing we discussed transitioned into asking about his daughter.”“I know this much.If he was attached to that woman with his daughter, I doubt if he would have agreed to the two of you having dinner.He doesn’t seem like the kind of man who would be unfaithful,” Luke shared between bites.“You’re the hotshot detective.Why don’t you and Nancy Drew come along?” Nina slipped her iPad into her portfolio, then reached in the refrigerator for a bottle of water.“If we go with you, how will we ever be alone?” Aretha elbowed Luke who rewarded her with a kiss on her forehead.“Exactly,” said Nina.“Which is why, while I go meet the quilt people, you two are going to the clinic for visiting time with Manny.Greg said he’ll release him Monday.”“We should get him a homecoming happy.A new squeaky rubber ball.He loves the ones that look like basketballs,” Aretha said as she carried the empty popcorn bowl back into the kitchen.“Let’s leave now, so we’ll have time to swing by a pet store after we visit.I have to get back for late shift.And if I don’t wash my hands first, they’ll be sliding all over the steering wheel from all that butter,” said Luke.“Isn’t he adorable?” Aretha said as she watched him amble into the kitchen.Nina smiled.“If I have to say so myself.”Probably because of her smarty-pants attitude about her GPS when she spoke to one of the quilters a few days ago, Nina drove right past her destination.Faith Church and the Fellowship Hall perched on a corner at the edge of a hodgepodge residential neighborhood.A stand of pine trees obscured the front of the white-bricked Fellowship Hall, so when she turned around, she had to trust that the GPS voice telling her she’d arrived at her destination was directionally smarter.It was.Nina didn’t see Brady’s car.She hoped he remembered.At the door, she didn’t know whether she should knock or just walk in, so she did a combination of the two.“Is this the Threads of Hope group?” she asked once inside.Had she surveyed the room for thirty seconds, the question would have been unnecessary.Bolts of fabric draped several of the long tables on one side of the room.On the other side, four tables surrounded by chairs had been pushed together and held pieces of fabric, scissors, and rulers of all shapes and sizes [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]