Mrs. Miracle Page 0,12

such sermon.

Even at that she'd come to recognize a few people, Jayne being one of them. She'd hired the young mother because she was a familiar face, someone she knew and wanted to know better.

"I can't believe it," Jayne cried as she replaced the telephone receiver. She wrapped one arm around her middle as if protecting herself. "Aunt Harriett's done it again." She slapped her side with her free hand.

"What's she up to this time?"

"Without consulting me, without so much as asking, she volunteered me to take over the job of coordinator for the Christmas program. Milly Waters was doing it, but apparently Joe's gotten transferred to Oregon. With the move and everything, Milly had to resign."

"So good ol' Jayne's willing to step in?"

Jayne plopped herself down on her chair once again. "Not this time. I can't, Reba. Surely you realize that. Steve's working overtime every night, and no one realizes that when Steve works overtime so do I. The girls miss their father and don't understand why he's gone so much. I've been having discipline problems with them. And now my lovely, interfering aunt assumes that I'll take on the pressure of organizing and producing a Christmas pageant. I refuse to be emotionally blackmailed. Not this time!"

"You don't need to convince me."

"You don't know my aunt Harriett." Jayne wiped the hair off her forehead. "She's like a pit bull. I've never seen anything like it. She gets hold of an idea and won't let go. She's going to needle away at me, push all my buttons, and remind me of everything she's ever done for me, and before I know how it happened I'll give in."

"Will you really?" Reba was more sympathetic than she sounded. In a number of ways Jayne's aunt Harriett reminded her of her own mother. Ever since her falling-out with Vicki - although that was putting it mildly - Reba's mother had hounded her to mend fences with her sister. Like Jayne's aunt Harriett, Joan Maxwell didn't give up easily, either.

Jayne glanced anxiously toward Reba. "Come to church with me on Sunday, will you?"

"Me?" If Jayne couldn't dissuade good ol' Aunt Harriett, it was unlikely Reba would do a better job.

"Steve won't be able to come - he's worked every Sunday for the last month, and Aunt Harriett is sure to corner me, especially with Steve not there. She has a way of getting to me."

"And you want me there to ward her off?"

"No...well, yes. You don't know my aunt Harriett. Before I can help it, she'll have me backed up against a wall."

Reba hesitated. "Maybe deep down you're secretly dying to take over the Christmas pageant."

Jayne mocked her with an abrupt laugh. "Read my lips. I refuse to do this just because my aunt Harriett thinks I should." Her eyes softened and she looked imploringly at Reba. "You'll come, won't you?"

Reba didn't refuse. This could prove to be downright entertaining. Besides, she'd like to formally meet Harriett. "I'll be there."

"Don't let me down," Jayne pleaded.

"I wouldn't think of it." Smiling to herself, Reba returned to the task at hand.

The phone pealed again, and since her other two employees were on their lunch break, and Jayne remained shaken after the confrontation with her aunt, Reba answered it herself. "Way to Go Travel."

"Hello, sweetheart."

"Hi, Mom." So Reba was due to face her own nemesis. It must be the day for it, she reflected.

"I hate to pester you at the office. You're not busy, are you?"

She opened her mouth to say that she was in the middle of something important. Her mother didn't need to know it was merely alphabetizing her Rolodex cards. She wasn't given the chance.

"I promise to only keep you a moment."

"Mom..."

"It's about Christmas."

"Haven't we already been through this?"

"No," her mother denied. "Sweetheart, it's less than a month away."

Her mother held true to course: hurt, anger, guilt, in that precise order. It astonished Reba how the routine didn't waver. Year after year, battle after battle.

Reba replaced the telephone receiver and released a pent-up sigh.

"Your mother?" Jayne asked.

She nodded. A part of her wanted to explain what had happened, but she bit her tongue. Few people truly understood, and deep down she feared Jayne would be like all the rest. She didn't want advice, didn't want to hear that it would be far wiser to settle her differences with Vicki. Nor was she seeking pity. All she wanted was for someone to recognize that she'd been wronged.

"I need to run some errands," she announced suddenly.