and whispered, “I’m just about as nervous as Joanie.”
“You’ll be fine,” Carmen said, hoping she was right. With bright sunshine on one side of them and black clouds on the other, she hoped that it wasn’t an omen that Diana would have a dark moment while she was at the hotel with Luke. Their relationship was fragile right now.
When they were gone, Tootsie looked around the motor home and sighed. “It’s kind of like an empty nest right now, isn’t it?”
“That’s one way of looking at it, but a brighter one is that we’ve got Dolly, three kittens, and each other,” Carmen answered. “I noticed that this park has a lovely little pond. Let’s put on our jackets and take a walk around it before those clouds bring down either rain or snow on us.”
Tootsie headed toward her room. “Just let me get my coat. And, honey, those are storm clouds. Snow clouds look altogether different. Besides, it’s forty degrees out there.”
Carmen changed into a sweatshirt and her new coat and the scarf and gloves she’d picked up at the mall the day before. At first she felt guilty about spending the money, but she had a job when she got home. That meant she didn’t have to squeeze her pennies until Lincoln squealed. She smiled at the memory of hearing Smokey say that so often.
She’d just sat down to wait on Tootsie when her phone rang. Expecting it to be Diana, she answered it without even looking at the caller ID. “Hello, are you in the hotel?”
“What are you talking about?” Eli’s mother’s high, squeaky voice was as cold as it had ever been.
“I’m sorry, Barbara, I thought you were someone else.” Carmen made herself a vow that she’d never answer the phone again without checking caller ID.
“Evidently,” Barbara said. “So are you making money by going to the hotel with men since my son divorced you?”
“No, I’m not. Why are you calling?” Carmen asked through clenched teeth.
“My granddaughter graduates on Saturday. I’ve sent a card to her father to give or send to her when she has an address. I want her to know that. Since Eli won’t be there to tell her, I want you to do so,” Barbara said. “I never particularly did like you, but I like this new woman even less. She’s mean to me.”
“Oh?” Carmen asked. “So you’ve met Kate?”
“Yes, and that unruly son of hers, too. My son is brilliant until it comes to his choice of women,” Barbara snapped.
“And she’s mean to you how?” Carmen pushed on even though she didn’t really care how the new daughter-in-law treated her own ex-mother-in-law.
“She took my precious Eli off to another state. At least when he was married to you, he was within a day’s drive. And when I told them they weren’t sharing a bed in my house until they were married, she laughed at me and said they’d just go to a hotel then. They did just that and left that brat of hers here with me,” she said. “They thought I should get to know my new grandson. He’s no kin of mine, and I don’t care if Eli adopts him or not, I’m not ever going to claim him.”
Tootsie came in from her bedroom and asked, “Everything all right?”
“Eli’s mother,” she mouthed.
“Tell her to go to hell,” Tootsie said.
“Who’s that talking? Are you at the hotel? Is that the man who’s going to pay for your favors?”
“I’ll tell Natalie that her father needs her new address. Goodbye, Barbara, and good luck with Kate. Maybe he’ll let you pick out his third wife and you’ll like her.”
“You’ve never been mean before. Why now?” Barbara snapped.
“Guess your son divorcing me for another woman and sleeping with me when she was already pregnant brought out my bad side. Have a great day.” Carmen ended the call and put her phone on the table. “I don’t want to talk to her if she calls back, so if my phone rings in the next few days, please don’t answer it for me. I really need that walk right now. I don’t suppose there’s any wood to split around here, is there?”
Tootsie chuckled. “Not that I know of. Let’s go. We’ll just have to walk off the anger.”
The air felt like rain when they stepped out of the motor home. Neither of the women even noticed the crunch under their feet as they circled halfway around the pond. Carmen told Tootsie about the phone call. She