LITMIR.BIZ

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came back here when I read about Maddie’s stroke in the newspaper,” Eliza said softly. “To reconnect.”

      April nodded. “I know how you feel. I came back the weekend after I graduated from high school. Maddie was less than welcoming. She said she didn’t know where you two were, so that was a dead end. I think I got on my high horse at her attitude and stormed away. I went straight back to Jackson and married Billy Bob Thompson.”

      Eliza looked startled. “Because Maddie was difficult?”

      “That was one of the reasons. He was also hot. And he asked me. Whatever, he and I were not soul mates. But I was scared of being alone. My foster parents couldn’t wait for me to leave when I turned eighteen. I was lucky they let me stay until the end of the school year. Nothing had prepared me for finding a place to live, trying to get a job without any skills. Billy Bob seemed like a good idea at the time.”

      “Only he wasn’t,” Eliza guessed.

      “You got it. His idea of a wife was someone to show off to his friends. And get him a beer while he watched football. His glory days were on the high school football team, and he’s never done anything else. At least I guess he hasn’t. He was still talking about all his touchdowns when I filed for divorce and headed for Manhattan. I haven’t heard from him since.”

      She pushed aside the remembered hurt of being wanted solely for her looks. There was more to April Jeffries than a beautiful face, corn-silk hair and blue eyes, though most people never bothered to search for it. The few who did had become true friends. April had grown used to the attention that came from being a model, but sometimes, deep inside, she wished she hadn’t been blessed with such beauty. She wanted people to like her for who she was, not what she looked like.

      “So you were in Manhattan when I was in Boston,” Eliza sighed. “I could have driven down to see you.”

      “How did you like Boston?”

      “Okay. It was as good a place as any other. How did you like New York?”

      “I loved it. I worked as a clerk in a deli near the garment district. There’s so much life in the city. I would still be there if I hadn’t moved to France, which turns out to have been a good thing. I don’t think I would have hit it as big modeling in the States.”

      April yawned and snuggled down onto the pillow a little more. “Tell me how you got into cooking,” she said, wanting to hear more about Eliza. There was no hurry, she realized. She’d arranged her schedule so she could stay through the end of June.

      “Later,” Eliza promised. “I can tell you’re half-asleep. I’m so glad to see you again, April. I’ve missed you so much.”

      “Me, too,” she said. “Blood sisters, remember?” She held up her finger.

      Eliza touched it with her own scarred fingertip.

      Smiling, April closed her eyes and was soon asleep.

      WHEN SHE AWOKE, it was late afternoon. The sun shone in her window, dust motes dancing in the beams. She lay there for a while, letting her eyes roam around the familiar bedroom. It looked the same as the day she left. There were old rock posters on the walls, jumbled books in the bookshelves. April loved to read. Books had taken her away from the small Mississippi town and swept her into adventure. Her grades in school had never been as high as Eliza’s, because if a subject didn’t interest her, she hadn’t bothered doing more than the minimum to get by. She had excelled in English literature, however. And French.

      Recognizing favorite books, she vowed she’d reread some of them while she was here.

      As she got out of bed to freshen up, April was touched to see that Eliza had unpacked for her. Her clothes were put away and her suitcase tucked into the closet.

      After she’d changed her clothes, April went downstairs. The phone sat on the table at the foot of the stairs. She remembered how she’d argued and argued for an extension, one located somewhere a little more private. Obviously, Maddie still felt that one phone was enough.

      Wandering into the kitchen, she stopped in the doorway. Eliza was cooking and the aroma made her mouth water.

      “That smells divine. What is it?”

      “Gumbo. We’re having it for dinner, but I want it to simmer all afternoon. Cade’s coming.”

      “Am I going to be in the way?” April asked.

      “Not at all. We’re mature adults,” Eliza teased. “We can behave around others.”

      “Hmm, like that kiss earlier?”

      Eliza beamed. “I love him so much I ache with it.”

      “He seems to feel the same. Tell me what happened to split up high school’s couple-most-likely-to-succeed.”

      “He blamed me for Chelsea’s death.”

      “Hey, wasn’t that the same day Jo got beaten so badly? And Maddie had a fit because I was caught smoking in school and was suspended? And you cut classes? The day we were separated.”

      “The day from hell,” Eliza agreed, stirring the gumbo. “Cade and I have cleared things up…finally.”

      “Yeah, I guess so, from that kiss.”

      “Want something to eat before we go to the hospital?” Eliza asked.

      “A sandwich will hold me. Maybe we should wait until tomorrow to go to the hospital.” She felt oddly nervous about seeing Maddie again.

      Eliza put down her spoon and shook her head. She went to the refrigerator and pulled out cold cuts and mayonnaise. “Maddie is so looking forward to your visit. I told her the minute I knew you were coming. She can hardly wait.”

      “How do you know that? I thought she couldn’t talk.” April sat at the table, in the place that had been hers so many years ago.

      “She has limited mobility in her right hand, so she squeezes once for yes and twice for no. It’s hard coming up with conversation that requires a yes or no response, but it’s the best I can do. The speech therapist is working with her. She says Maddie’s making progress, but I don’t hear it.” Eliza quickly made a couple of sandwiches, cut them and handed one to April.

      “Thanks. I’m still not sure about this.” It was silly of her to feel so scared of seeing Maddie again.

      “She wants to see you.”

      “I know. I want to see her, too, but I’m nervous.” There, she’d admitted what was bothering her. Their parting hadn’t been amicable. Her aborted visit to Maraville a year later had not gone well. Would their reunion be any better? April hoped so. Otherwise she wouldn’t have made the trip from Paris.

      “I’LL JUST POP in to say hi,” Eliza said as they walked down the hospital corridor a little while later. “Then you’re on your own.”

      April wasn’t sure what she would say, but her nervousness fled when they entered the room and she saw Maddie. The woman had aged as Eliza said. Her hair was gray and thin, her cheeks hollow, her skin wrinkled and parchmentlike. But Maddie’s eyes were bright and they seemed to light up when she saw April. One side of her mouth lifted up in a smile and garbled sounds came out.

      “Hi, Maddie,” April said softly. How could she have been worried about seeing her foster mother again?

      She leaned over and gathered the older woman into a hug, squeezing gently. “I’ve missed you so much,” she said, blinking back tears. It was true, April realized. She had missed Maddie. And Eliza and Jo. Only now that she was back could she admit to herself it was good to be home.

      Just for a visit.

      CHAPTER TWO

      “WHAT I CAN’T FIGURE is what you’re doing in this backwater town. If you had to leave New Orleans, why not choose a city that

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