The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady - Elizabeth Stuckey-French [74]
“I’ll be by to get Suzi for church in the morning,” Nance said. “And there’s a dinner at church tomorrow night and a special program on mission trips. One’s to Mexico! At the end of the summer. Would you mind if Suzi went on a mission trip with the church?”
After the Dunkin’ Donuts incident—even though Nance had proved to be reliable since then—there was no way Caroline would let Suzi go on any kind of trip with Nance. “Her knee won’t be healed enough,” Caroline said.
Nance sighed and raised her hand to her neck in a dramatic gesture. “She’s such a precious girl, your Suzi. You’re so lucky to have her. You have no idea how lucky you are.”
“I’m fully aware of that.”
“You know, dear,” Nance said. “If you don’t mind my saying so. You spend too much time fussing over Ava, and she’s going to be fine.”
“What I need is for people to stop telling me I’m a bad mother.”
“Oh, dear, I’m sorry,” Nance said. “I didn’t mean that! I meant to compliment you. I know it must be hard, taking care of that bunch. If you and Vic ever want to get away together for a long weekend, just let me know. I’d be glad to step in and help out.”
Although Caroline would never let Nance look after her home and kids, she did, for a few seconds, entertain the idea of herself and Vic going off on their own somewhere. He used to be such a good traveling companion. But she’d never talk him into taking a trip with her now. He was always working. Besides, it would be like going away with an old boyfriend she hadn’t seen in twenty years. Too much awkward catching up. Together, they wouldn’t be able to forget about their life at home the way she could if she were by herself. She thanked Nance for the offer, and then found herself telling Nance about getting Ava into Rhodes and moving up with her to Memphis.
“If that’s what you want, you could stay in my house,” she said. “I’ll get rid of that little couple who’re housesitting for me. The boy, Trevor, is so ugly his mother must’ve had to borrow a baby to take to church.”
“I might take you up on that,” Caroline said, but knew she wouldn’t. She wanted a perfectly anonymous place to live in, like an apartment above a store downtown, a place with huge windows looking out over Main Street, a place completely free of clutter where she could just sit and contemplate the strangers walking past. She might even get a job in a clothing store, like Barbara’s, the one she used to manage in Iowa City, when she actually had time to care about clothes and the people who wanted her advice about what to buy. It was all a fantasy, she knew that, but if Ava got into Rhodes, she’d do her best to make it happen.
“I know you must’ve missed your mama something awful, growing up without her.”
Strange shift in subject, but Caroline nodded, deciding to go with it. “Wish I had a memory of her. Even one.” She thought about mentioning the fact that she’d suspected Nance of being her long-lost mother but decided against it. It would make her seem too pathetic. This conversation was supposed to be about Nance, not her. “I’m so sorry that your daughter died,” Caroline blurted out. She had to say what she’d come to say. “If you ever want to talk about it.”
Nance flipped her hand in a dismissive wave, as if they were discussing who’d burned the breakfast toast.
“She died of bone cancer?”
“She died of medical negligence. I’d prefer not to go into it right now.”
Bingo.
As Caroline was leaving, she walked over to the table with the photographs. She asked Nance which ones were of Helen.
“All of them,” said Nance.
There was Helen at various ages: the wide-eyed downy-headed infant wrapped in a blanket; the six-month-old wispy-haired charmer clutching a cloth