Tears ran down Mary Nell抯 face and dripped onto her shirt. 揑 couldn抰 leave what we have and go back to the stress I was living under. We were best friends when we were in high school, but now that we抮e grown up, we抮e more like family.?
Haley draped an arm around Mary Nell抯 shoulder and patted her. 揑 feel the same way. It must be the night for throwing doubts at us, though.?
揧ou too??Jessica picked up one of the spoons and took her first bite of ice cream.
揟his all sounds like a bad soap opera, and we haven抰 even added our episode to it.?Lily licked the spoon she抎 been using and carried it and her empty tea glass to the dishwasher. 揃ut mine and Daisy抯 story is just as bad. Daddy called. Granny Martha came in while he was talking, and . . .?
揝he laid down the law,?Daisy finished, then went on to tell them what had happened. 揗aybe we should all just toss our phones in the trash and get new ones and new numbers.?
Jessica glanced across the table at Risa. Her hands trembled so badly that she almost dropped the spoon when she dug into the ice cream. It didn抰 take a genius to know that all this had shaken her up pretty badly.
揂re you okay??Jessica asked.
揑 had just signed the divorce papers when the phone call came from him.?Risa felt totally empty inside just thinking about how cruel Martha had been, yet angry at the same time at Paul for not ever standing up to his mother. 揗artha said I was an unfit mother. Do you think she would pressure Paul to get into a custody battle with me??
揝he might,?Mary Nell said, 揵ut they can抰 win. By the time they could even get anything started, the girls would be seventeen. If he makes good on his threat, we抣l all pitch in to pay for a good lawyer to fight him.?
揕ily and I can make cookies and sell them all over town to raise money for a lawyer,?Daisy offered. 揑 don抰 want to go back to Kentucky. I might have wanted to if we still had to live with Granny Stella, but now that we抳e got a home with Haley, I don抰 want to leave Texas.?
揧ou think Granny Stella is worse than Granny Martha??Lily asked.
揧es, I do. Granny Martha is bossy and has to rule the whole family, but Granny Stella is even meaner,?Daisy declared.
揥e won抰 take no for an answer if it comes to a custody fight, and you girls won抰 have to peddle homemade cookies all over town,?Haley told them. 揕ike Mary Nell said, we抣l pool our money, and if I have to, I抣l sell the house and we抣l all move in the extra Sunday school rooms.?
揟hank you!?Daisy and Lily said in unison and high-fived each other.
Mary Nell took another bite of ice cream. 揥hat was it that the old pirates used to say??
揂ll for one,?Lily quoted.
揂nd one for all,?Daisy finished for her.
揟hank God we抳e all got each other,?Jessica told them. 揇id you tell Oscar about Kevin抯 call??
揧es, I did,?Mary Nell answered, 揳nd when I get home, I抣l tell him about Paul抯 call to the girls, too. He抯 kind of adopted them as his grandkids. My first thought was to call Haley and get us all together. I felt so sorry for Kevin until I realized that he was just playing me, again, and that he hasn抰 changed, and all he wants is a person to support him while he follows his dream.?
揑 understand.?Risa had friends梟o, she had a family梬ho would stand behind her. That was more than she抎 ever had, and there was no way she would take it for granted. 揂ll Paul wants is a woman who won抰 fuss about him putting another deer head on the living room wall or another mounted squirrel on the end table. Our house looked like a taxidermy shop.?
揓essica is the only smart one amongst us,?Haley added. 揝he didn抰 get married or involved with a loser.?
Jessica held up her half-empty tea glass. 揑 made my fair share of mistakes along the way, believe me. I had a couple of fairly long relationships that went in the crapper because I was afraid of commitment.?
揇etails??Daisy asked.
揘o, ma抋m.?Jessica shook her head. 揟hey aren抰 even worth talking about, but rest assured, I抳e learned my lesson.?
揟hat mean you抮e not afraid of commitment anymore??Lily asked.
揑t means that I抦 trying to put down roots. Before now, I couldn抰 let myself get serious because of my job, and because of the fact that at any time I could be sent away on deployment for a year or more. And I very likely couldn抰 even have been allowed to tell the person I was with where I was going, or what I had done while I was gone when I got home. That抯 no way to enter into a relationship,?Jessica said.
揑 understand,?Haley said. 揟hat would have been rough.?
揧ep,?Jessica agreed, 揵ut when we get the bar built and everything up and running full speed ahead, I just might be ready to think about a relationship.?