acknowledge the truth, which was less flattering. “But I really wanted to come home. I wanted to lick my wounds. I thought of myself.”
“Aw, honey, that’s okay.” Sharon made a sad face. “You’re allowed to take care of yourself. Brian was your husband. It was your marriage.”
“Still.” Barb felt a wave of guilt, then tried to shake it off. “Let’s get this mattress where it belongs.”
“Okay.” Sharon pushed, Barb pulled, and they reached the spare room at the end of the hallway, a small rectangle with a window. They dragged the mattress inside and let it flop on the floor, next to the metal frame. Sharon grinned. “We did it!”
“Thanks for the help.”
“Anytime.” Sharon gave her a big hug. “I’m proud of you.”
Suddenly Barb heard the door opening and closing downstairs. “Now he’s home?”
“Perfect timing.” Sharon laughed, and Barb led her into the hall and downstairs, where Kyle was dropping his keys into the basket on the hall table.
“Hi, Mom. Hi, Sharon!” Kyle smiled, looking up, with the dog dancing around his sneakers. He looked oddly happy, dressed in his oversized T-shirt and gym shorts, with his slides. Barb didn’t know why he was smiling so mysteriously.
“Good to see you, honey!” Sharon gave him a big hug, which he returned.
“Where were you?” Barb asked, intrigued.
“It’s a long story.” Kyle tried to avert his eyes, still smiling.
“I got time.” Barb folded her arms.
“So do I,” Sharon added slyly.
Kyle rolled his eyes, still smiling. “I put out the recycling and I saw a calico cat stuck in a tree, in front of the neighbor’s house. So I got it down and brought it to the owner.”
“You rescued a cat?” Barb asked, surprised. “That was a nice thing to do. How did you know who it belonged to?”
“It had a tag.”
“So where’s the owner live?”
“On Pinto Road.”
“The million-dollar houses.” Barb shot Sharon a meaningful glance.
Sharon winked. “Movin’ on up.”
Barb smiled. “Kyle, how did you get there with a cat?”
“I walked. How do you think I got there?”
Barb ignored his back talk. Kyle was hiding something, but it seemed good, not bad. “You walked all the way to Pinto Road? With a cat?”
Sharon looked incredulous. “A cat let you carry it around, just like that? A stranger? Hell, Felicia won’t even let me carry her. She bites me.”
Kyle rolled his eyes again, good-naturedly. “It was a friendly cat. I think it was scared from being in the tree. Why are you guys asking so many questions?”
Barb answered, “Why are you making us? Why don’t you just tell us what happened?”
“Agree, something else definitely happened.” Sharon turned to Kyle. “Honey, I’ve known you since you were born. I can tell by the look on your face. You can run, but you can’t hide.”
“Sheesh, all that happened was I returned a cat!” Kyle headed into the kitchen, but Sharon and Barb followed him.
Sharon asked, “Who did you return it to?”
“The owner.” Kyle went into the refrigerator, hiding his face.
“Who’s the owner?” Barb and Sharon asked in unison.
“A girl,” Kyle answered, but when he closed the refrigerator, his face was flushing.
“A girl!” Barb sensed they had struck pay dirt. “Your age?”
Sharon snorted. “Obviously! Is she pretty, Kyle? What’s her name?”
“Argh.” Kyle tried to get out of the kitchen, but Barb and Sharon blocked his path, like a Wall of Moms.
Sharon snorted. “Kyle, who is she?”
Kyle shook his head, exasperated. “Sasha Barrow.”
“Oh, yes!” Sharon burst into laughter. “She sounds foxy!”
“Kyle, that’s great!” Barb felt happy for him. She couldn’t remember the last time something good happened. “You met a pretty girl! Does she go to the high school? What grade?”
Sharon started clapping. “Did she thank you? Kyle and Sasha sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”
“Good night, Sharon! Good night, Mom!” Kyle laughed, scooted between Barb and Sharon, and headed for the staircase with Buddy trotting behind him, tail awag.
Sharon kept singing, “Then comes Kyle Junior in the baby carriage!”
“Sleep tight!” Barb called to Kyle as he went upstairs, her heart light. If Kyle got a girlfriend, things were looking up. She couldn’t be happy unless he was, and now she had hope.
Sharon chuckled. “I think we handled that well, don’t you?”
CHAPTER 17
Linda Garvey
Linda Garvey gazed at her reflection in the bathroom mirror without recognizing herself. Her own eyes stared back at her, less blue than they used to be. She felt diluted, washed out. She’d cried herself away and now she was gone. She raked her fingers through her short hair, but her natural dark roots had taken over.