The Sweetgum Ladies Knit for Love - By Beth Pattillo Page 0,83
dinner together numerous times over the course of several weeks. They certainly weren’t dating, of that much she was sure. He was simply her friend.
Since Esther had left college to marry Frank and have her first child, she hadn’t made many friends. She had her bridge club, her garden club, and the social committee at the country club. Funny how all those things had the word club in the name, but none of them had the word friend.
Sometimes she and Brody ate at Tallulah’s Café after he finished at the veterinary clinic for the day. If anyone from her various clubs asked about him, she told them he was giving her advice on Ranger. Other times she cooked him dinner at her home. The house still languished on the market. The problem with owning one of the grandest homes in Sweetgum was that no one else could afford it.
During the second week in February, on a Friday evening, Brody appeared on her doorstep with a package wrapped in white paper. Steaks. Filets to be exact. Esther’s favorite.
“We can grill them,” he said, a twinkle in his eye that she was coming to recognize as a sign he was particularly pleased with himself. He must have had a good day at the clinic.
“I don’t know if there’s any gas in the tank for the grill,” she said in mild protest. Grilling in February? Funny how Brody could suggest something and get her to go along with it in a way Frank never could.
Of course, she and Frank had shared a vested interest in maintaining their facade of perfection. With Brody, she was finding, she could just be herself. He never asked about her money problems, never hinted that he knew, but he invariably turned up with some sort of treat. Tonight it was steaks. On New Year’s Eve it had been a bottle of French champagne. Even Ranger had shared in the bounty, as Brody brought several bags of the prescription dog food Ranger needed. It had turned out, of course, that the dog had an especially sensitive stomach. Esther was sure it came from eating so many of her hydrangeas.
“I can run to the hardware store for another tank of propane if we need it.” He handed her the package and rubbed his hands together. “Let’s see if we can fire that bad boy up.”
Just last week he’d been eyeing Frank’s massive outdoor grill. All Esther could do was laugh. That monstrosity was the dream of every man who’d ever gripped a barbecue fork. They might as well enjoy that ridiculous grill as long as they could. Surely the house would sell before spring.
After the proverbial dust had settled, Esther discovered that while her finances were bleak, she was not without hope. The sale of the house, when it finally happened, would provide her with a tidy nest egg. The hard part, of course, had been changing the financial habits of a lifetime.
She’d studiously avoided Maxine’s Dress Shop and could only hope Camille wasn’t offended. Esther knew she’d always been the store’s best customer. She hadn’t been to Nashville or Memphis in months—another way to save money. She wasn’t exactly searching under sofa cushions for spare change to buy bread and milk, but now she had to think through every expenditure. On one occasion, at Vanderpool’s Groceries, she’d even put an item back on the shelf rather than go over her self-imposed spending limit. Strangely enough, she’d found the whole episode empowering.
“Any word from your real estate agent?” Brody asked when they settled into their chairs in the breakfast room. Other than Christmas Eve dinner, they’d eaten more informally, just off the kitchen. The breakfast room’s bay window boasted an expansive view of Esther’s yard and garden.
Esther shook her head. “I feel as if I’m in a pit, and I have no idea how to climb out of it.” As difficult as it would be to leave her home, she was ready to make the transition. This long, slow parting was worse than a clean, quick break.
“Have you considered lowering the price?”
Esther shook her head. “Not yet. Maybe in the spring if this goes on that long.”
“It will sell soon,” he said with calm assurance. “Then what will you do? What’s next?”
Esther took a moment to slice off a bite of the delicious filet. She chewed thoughtfully and finally said, “I’ll move to my condo at the lake. Beyond that, I have no idea.”