what she was good at. But, right now, she just felt like the wind had been let out of her sails.
“Honey, are you okay?” Dixie asked, that deep southern twang of hers enveloping every word like a warm sweater.
“I’m fine. Why do you ask?” SuAnn said, staring down at her cookies and speaking in a monotone voice.
“Oh Lord, it must be man trouble. I hear you had an old flame come back and find you?”
“I swear, small towns are rumor mills,” SuAnn muttered.
“Well, it ain’t a rumor if it’s true,” Dixie said, smearing red icing on a candy cane cookie. Carrie had walked into the kitchen to help Julie package up some of the cookies for the firefighters.
“I wish everybody would just stay out of my business.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Excuse me?”
“If you wanted everybody to stay out of your business, then you’d put a smile on that scowling face of yours. But you’re not doing that because you’re upset about something, and you want people to know it.”
“Dixie, just decorate your cookies,” she said, exasperated.
“Look, the way I see it is we’re both in our golden years, so you should be able to confide in me about this sort of thing. None of these young women are going to understand.“
“Since when are we best friends?”
“Do you want me to call Hen?”
“No. Hen is busy with the Christmas festival. And besides, I’m not asking for counseling about anything. And you’re getting that red icing all over the tablecloth,” SuAnn said, pointing at the cookie that Dixie wasn’t paying close enough attention to.
“Well, excuse me. I do have Parkinson’s disease and shake a bit. Be happy I’m not flinging this icing all over the room. The marvels of modern medicine are keeping this hand pretty steady,” Dixie said with a laugh. “The other night, you should’ve seen me and Harry trying to put cinnamon on our sweet potatoes. Poor Carrie had to clean up our mess!”
“I’ve never seen anybody make fun of such a serious medical diagnosis.
“Honey, if I don’t make fun of things, I’d be sitting in the corner crying all the time. And I have a life to live! I don’t have time to be sitting around sulking and worrying about the future. All I have is today, and I’m going to make it the best day I can.“
SuAnn sat there for a minute, contemplating whether she should confide in Dixie. After all, if anybody was going to understand her predicament, it would be Dixie.
“Nick and I had a little argument earlier today.”
“What kind of argument?”
SuAnn pushed her cookies aside and leaned on her forearms. “The kind that could mean the end of our relationship before it even starts.”
“You two were high school sweethearts. What on earth could you be arguing about already?”
“He wants me to run away with him. Move to Hawaii or Montana or something. I tried to explain to him I just got my life going here. I have my business and my girls. I don’t want to take off and live somewhere else where I don’t know anybody.”
“And he does?”
“Very much so. He said it’s his big dream. And I just said that maybe we don’t have the same dreams. Honestly, I kind of wish he never came to town because he gave me a taste of what I’ve been missing in my life and now he might go somewhere else.”
“Well, that is a dilemma. My Harry was okay staying here but doing some traveling in the RV. Maybe you could suggest that to him?”
SuAnn shook her head. “I don’t think so. If he really cared about me, he would’ve listened to what I was saying. He would care about what I care about.”
“Well, pardon me for asking this, but do you care about what he cares about?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, it seems to me that you’re only thinking about yourself here, SuAnn.”
“What a horrible thing to say!”
“I didn’t mean to sound ugly. I just mean that you want him to care about your hopes and dreams. Have you thought about asking him about his?”
“He already told me! He wants to run away and act like a couple of teenagers in love.”
“It sounds to me like he wants some adventure in his life. Some excitement. And he’s been waiting for you all these years. Doesn’t that tell you something?”
“It tells me he’s immature and thinks he can just waltz around the world for the rest of his days.”
“You know, it’s not so bad to have a healthy,