Twenty-Nine and a Half Reasons
Page 81

I had no idea if her plan was to truly help me fit into high society or make me aware of the hole I was digging myself into with Joe, but either way, I wasn’t happy. Especially when I saw I’d missed a call from him. I rose from my chair, planning to leave the room to call him back, but Violet grabbed my wrist. “Don’t you dare. You sit in that seat until this is over.”
A blue-haired woman in front of us looked over her shoulder and glared.
Yep, I was fitting in just fine.
I sent Joe a text message. Stuck in this boring meeting with Violet and I can’t hear your message yet. I miss you.
A half-minute later, he texted back. The voice mail has a surprise. :)
Now I really wanted to hear his message.
Violet frowned at my phone.
I had two choices. I could make an excuse to go to the bathroom and irritate Violet more or I could wait. I wanted her as happy as possible when I told her I was moving.
I sent Joe a text. I have a surprise too.
Does it involve sexy lingerie?
No. I blushed and stuffed my phone into my purse.
An hour later, the speaker finally stopped chattering.
Violet stood and pulled me to my feet. “We need to introduce you to the Garden Club board.”
I had no interest in meeting the board. I wanted to hear my message from Joe. “Violet, I really have to pee.”
Puckering her mouth, she shook her head. “No, you don’t. You have the bladder of a whale. You’re just tryin’ to get out of meeting people. Come on.” She looped her arm around mine and dragged me to the front of the room.
“We already know Miss Mildred. Why are we doing this?”
“Stop your whining. You want to be a grownup, then it’s time to act like one.”
I had no idea what meeting the old regime of the Garden Club had to do with being a grownup. I was sure millions of United States citizens were considered grownups without the pleasure of glad-handing the Henryetta Garden Club. But escaping from Violet’s death grip would cause a scene, which definitely was not a good way to stay on Violet’s good side.
“Fine.” I huffed.
She spoke through gritted teeth as we stood in the reception line. “Can you at least try to look like you want to be here?”
I plastered on a fake smile. “Better?”
Violet beamed. “Yes.”
Miss Mildred looked like she sucked on a lemon when Violet and I approached her.
“What a wonderful presentation, Miss Mildred.” Violet shook her hand. “Having the meeting in the evening was a wonderful idea. Look at all the new faces!”
She wrinkled her nose. “Not all of them are desirable.”
I rolled my eyes.
We moved to the next woman, who looked like she was a hundred years old. She couldn’t have stood more than five feet. Her hair was pure white and I’d seen fewer wrinkles on a raisin.
“Miss Eloise?” Violet shouted, grabbing the woman’s gnarled hand. “I want you to meet my sister.”
“You have a blister?”
Violet shook her head. “No. My sister. My sister Rose.”
“Roses? Yes, the program was about roses.”
Violet smiled and moved to another woman.
I gave Miss Eloise a warm smile as I moved past, but a gold glint on her lapel caught my eye. A pin with a tree, a dog and a bird.
My stomach cartwheeled and I turned back to her. “Miss Eloise, what a lovely pin you have!”
She looked confused. “Eh?”
Violet moved closer to me. “Rose, she’s hard of hearing.”
I swung my head to face Violet. “I think I’ve deduced that already, Violet, thank you very much. I need to find out about her pin.”
“What on earth for?”
“I just do, you move on if you like.” I had no desire to be part of the Garden Club board gauntlet and most of the other members seemed to be steering clear of Miss Eloise.
Violet muttered under her breath and greeted another member.
I stood directly in front of Miss Eloise, pointing to her lapel. “Your pin,” I shouted. “What does it mean?”
Her eyebrows rose. “My pin?”
I nodded vigorously. “Yes!”
“It was my grandmother’s.”
If the pin was her grandmother’s, it was well over a hundred years old. “What does it mean?”
“Eh?”
“What does your pin mean?”
“I’m mean? Well, I never…” She started hobbling away.
Grabbing her arm, I shook my head. “No!” I dug in my purse, looking for a something to write with. A program lay on a chair by us and I snatched it up, scribbling in large block letters. I held it in front of her.
WHAT DOES YOUR PIN MEAN?
She leaned closer, then pulled a pair of reading glasses from her pocket, perching them on her nose.
Anxious for her answer, I fought to keep from fidgeting.
She read the note and her face lit up. “Oh!”
I breathed a sigh of relief.
“I don’t know.”
“What?” I screeched.
If looks could kill, Violet would have me stuffed and mounted to the wall.
Miss Eloise patted my arm. “But I can tell you that only four people had them. My grandmother and her three best friends.”
“Who were her best friends?”
“Eh?”
Frustrated, I took the paper back and wrote my question.
“Oh! Rosemary and Mary Beth Dickens, and Viola Stanford.”