The B Girls - By Cari Cole Page 0,10

me?"

Mae brought a plate of toasted bagels to the kitchen table where cream cheese, butter, peach marmalade and a carafe of coffee were already waiting. "Nope. I think it's time I figure out who I am other than soccer mom and wife."

"I wish I could go back to the time when I was passionate and excited about the future. When I still had visions of myself as a strong, independent, adventurous woman."

"You are a strong woman," Jane said from the kitchen doorway. "I have a tattoo of a bee on my ass to prove it."

"Do you remember feeling like the whole world was out there waiting for you?" Lucy said. "I do. How did we wind up suburban clichés?"

"Speak for yourself," Jane said.

"She's right," Mae said. "We lost our dreams when we weren't looking."

The ringing phone interrupted their maudlin self-analysis.

Lucy was surprised to hear her Aunt Belle's voice.

"Are you alright? You left me a mostly unintelligible message but if I understood the important point, Gary left you?"

Fresh tears sprang to Lucy's eyes. Like a child who feels safe enough to cry when Mom pulls her close, Belle gave her permission to let go. "Yes. He just walked out without any warning." She hiccupped on a sob.

"I always suspected he was a low down bastard," Belle said with a sniff.

Lucy figured she should have known better than to expect cooing and sympathy. That was why she'd called Belle in the first place--because her aunt didn't do platitudes.

Lucy's tattooed bravery faded in the face of the cold reality of her impending divorce. "What am I going to do? I want my life back!"

"Well I don't know if that's true."

"Of course it's true. I don't want to be divorced. I want to retire to the beach." Lucy wanted to smack herself for the whining tone in her voice.

"Retiring to the beach doesn't have to involve Gary. You're not thinking clearly. You need to get away from that house for a few days. So, you're going to pack a bag and come up here so I can give you a hug and you can have a good cry. The second thing you're going to do is help me solve a little family mystery. After that, we'll see."

"Oh, I don't know if I should leave right now," Lucy said. "What about the divorce? I have to find a good lawyer."

"Of course you should leave. Gary did. And as for the lawyer, I'll make a call. No more arguing. I'll expect you later today. I have something to do this afternoon but you know how to get in if I'm not back when you arrive."

Lucy sniffed, suddenly consumed with the thought of burrowing into one of Belle's big overstuffed chairs and getting a dose of practical advice. Even at her age a motherly shoulder to cry on was appealing. "Okay. I'm going to bring some friends with me."

"Good. Don't you worry about anything. We'll figure out what to do about Gary. And I think you'll be intrigued with my little mystery."

Lucy hung up the phone and turned to her friends.

"What was that about bringing friends somewhere?" Jane asked.

"You remember my Aunt Belle," Lucy said.

Mae and Jane nodded.

"She's going to rescue all of us from ourselves. It's time for all of us to break free from suburban oppression."

Jane rolled her eyes. "That's a little melodramatic isn't it?"

"I don't think so," Lucy said. "But it doesn't matter. Aunt Belle lives in this fabulous house outside Dahlonega. She calls it a cabin but it's more like a lodge. A luxury lodge complete with hot tub, gleaming glass walls with fabulous views, and a lap pool. We deserve a little vacation."

"It would serve my family right if I took off," Mae said then shook her head. "But I really shouldn't."

Jane smeared cream cheese on a bagel. "Do you mean to tell me your husband and your two nearly-grown children can't manage on their own for a couple of days?" She shook her head. "That's pathetic."

Mae frowned. "It is, isn't it?"

Jane tapped a fingernail on the kitchen table. "Although, I should probably stay in town and look for a new job . . ." She tapped her fingernail some more.

Mae just tightened and got quiet which was more her style than her recent emotional outbursts. Finally she said, "You really want our company on this trip?"

"I really do," Lucy said. "The B Girls have a mystery to solve."

"Your Aunt Belle must be something," Jane said.

"She is. She just got back from