righted the walker, and then tried to give Rhett Butler an apologetic head scratch. But the cat didn’t “give a damn” about anyone but his owner and hissed at Reba before jumping back in his basket. “Why you ornery thing.” She glared at the cat. “That’s the last time I give you tuna.”
“Now don’t be gettin’ mad at Butler. You were the one who was running around like a chicken with its head cut off.”
“Because you were hollering to beat the band and I was worried you’d fallen again.”
Aunt Gertie stroked Butler’s head. “I haven’t fallen for months and that was only because someone kicked the edge of that rug in the hallway and tripped me up.”
“If you’d had your walker, you wouldn’t have fallen.”
Aunt Gertie scowled. “You’re just like your mama. The woman loves to remind people of their mistakes. She still hasn’t shut up about your daddy investing in those lamps that turn on when you whistle. Or you not marrying that country boy who worked here that one summer.”
“Billy Bob and I only went out a few times. Neither one of us was interested in getting married.” It was a lie. Like her mama, she’d had big hopes for Billy Bob. He just hadn’t had any interest in her beyond sex. “Now I better check the chocolate chip cookies I’m baking for tonight’s book club.” And His-Royal-Pain-in-Her-Butt’s poached egg. Unfortunately, by the time she hurried back into the kitchen and pulled the egg out of the water with the slotted spoon, the yolk looked like a yellow Ping-Pong ball.
“Damn.” She glanced at the clock on the stove. She had exactly four minutes to make another egg and get the tray to his room. She quickly cracked an egg and carefully released it into the hot water.
“What in tarnation are you making?” Aunt Gertie asked.
Not realizing her aunt had followed her, she jumped and dropped the eggshell on the floor. “Geez, Aunt Gertie. I thought you had gone back to your room.”
“Why would I go back to my room when I didn’t talk to you about what I wanted to talk to you about? And answer the question. What are you doing?”
“I’m poaching an egg.” Reba picked up the eggshell and tossed it in the trash, then checked on the cookies in the oven. They were flatter than pancakes and she wondered which ingredient she’d forgotten to add this time. She was always leaving something out when baking. Baking soda. Baking powder. Eggs. Vanilla. She forgot to add ingredients while cooking too, but she could usually catch her mistake by a taste test and add them later. Baking wasn’t that forgiving. Hopefully, her friends at book club would be. She didn’t have time to make another batch. She pulled the cookies out of the oven and transferred them to a cooling rack.
“Why are you poaching eggs when breakfast was hours ago?” Aunt Gertie asked.
“I was hungry for a poached egg,” she lied.
Aunt Gertie knew nothing about the breakfast and dinner trays that Reba had been taking to the garden room. Nor did she know about Reba doing Mr. Sterling’s laundry, or taking his dress pants to be dry-cleaned, or ironing his shirts. If her aunt found out Reba had become Mr. Sterling’s own personal servant, all hell would break loose. Not because he was a demanding jerk, but because he had been one of the troubled teens who had spent a summer at the Double Diamond boy’s ranch. Aunt Gertie thought all the Double Diamond boys were nothing but trouble to the women of Simple and had warned Reba to keep her distance.
Reba only wished she could.
“I’ve never seen you eat a poached egg in your life,” Aunt Gertie said.
“Well, I love them.” To prove it, she popped the rubbery egg into her mouth. The texture was so disgusting that she gagged and hurried over to the sink to spit it out. When she turned, Aunt Gertie was giving her a squinty-eyed look. And so was Butler.
“I didn’t pay much attention to your mama when she called a few months back and told me she was worried about you working too much,” Aunt Gertie said. “But lately, I’ve started to wonder if maybe she ain’t right.”
“Please don’t tell me that mama is on her ‘Reba needs to find herself a husband’ kick again.”
“No. I think she and the rest of the family have accepted the fact that no man will have you.”