Page 58 of The Wedding Favor

“Why?”

“Because she knows you could beat her. That’s exactly what it is. She’s scared of you. That’s what mean people are—scared. They’re mean because they need to make someone else feel worse than they do.”

Her nose scrunched. “You think so? She didn’t seem scared of me.”

“Some people have a funny way of showing they’re afraid.” I knew that because I was one of those people.

“Do you think I could enter the pageant?”

“Pffsht. Of course you could. We could both enter it. But we don’t have to prove anything to anyone. We’re awesome already.”

“Yeah. We don’t need to prove anything.”

“Exactly.” I pulled away and headed home, proud of myself for handling that situation perfectly. Look at me being naturally maternal. Maybe my future kids would turn out better than I thought.

“Iris,” Hallie said two minutes later. “Thanks for being my friend.”

TWENTY-TWO

“I hardly had time for dating. If I wasn’t working,

I was sleeping so I had enough energy to work.”

—excerpt from the unpublished memoir,

Darling, I Must Say by Gloria Hayes

MISSY: How do you feel about dancing?

ME: Not great.

MISSY: Because the bridesmaids decided they want to put together a dance number with the groomsmen for the reception and, of course, that includes you.

ME: I’m not really a dancer.

MISSY: I’ll let them know you’re in.

“What is this place?” Hallie asked as she gazed around the community room at Shady Cove.

It was Thursday BINGO night. I hadn’t planned to bring her along, but Abe had called earlier to ask if I’d stay late—some emergency with the shop that involved a huge wasp nest and a visit to the ER for one of the guys—and tonight was the night I’d promised Karen I’d run BINGO night. Thus, Hallie came with me.

“This is Shady Cove.”

The room had been transformed into a BINGO hall with three rows of long tables and chairs. I waved at a cluster of residents already seated. Some people came to have fun; some came to draw blood. Those players had a system—daubers in an array of colors, good luck charms (one of them had no less than ten Troll dolls lined up in front of her, their neon hair waving in the breeze from the air conditioning), and snacks.

“Everyone’s so old,” she whispered in awe.

“It’s not cold in here at all,” said a voice from behind us. We turned to find Jonathan giving us a perplexed look. Apparently, his hearing was almost as bad as his sight.

“I didn’t say cold. I said everyone’s so ol⁠—”

I cut her off. “Hallie, this is Mr. Clark, he lives here.” I put a hand on her back and gently pushed her forward. “And this is Hallie. Her dad had to work late, so she came along with me.”

Jonathan crossed his arms. “Are you one of those kids who spends all day playing games on those contraptions?”

Hallie shook her head. “No, sir.”

“What about making those stupid videos all the people look at on their phones?”