She still had a few secrets left but she had a very strong suspicion Claire had to guess some of the things she wasn’t about to say.
“I really thought you were hitting it off with Sam. He seems like a great guy.”
Yep. Claire knew her entirely too well. “He is. Terrific. Hey, is that a new line of crystal beads I haven’t seen yet?”
“Yes. And why are you trying to change the subject?”
She made a face that she was pretty sure didn’t fool anyone. “I want to finish these earrings today for Caroline before I have to go meet a supplier at the restaurant. I have very limited time with my best friend here. Why would I want to waste some of that precious time talking about my boring dating life?”
One of the things she loved best about Claire was that she respected Alex’s wish to keep some things to herself without being hurt that she sometimes needed space and privacy.
Claire had guessed something was seriously wrong when Alex came home from Europe. For long months, she had looked at her with concern but after several bouts of her gentle prodding, she had accepted that some things Alex needed to keep private, for her own reasons.
To her relief, Claire seemed to know this was one of those times.
“How is Caroline?” she asked after a pause, though that familiar concern was a shadow in her eyes. “I heard she’s not doing well.”
This wasn’t exactly a restful topic for Alex, either, but she didn’t avoid it. “She’s going to be fine,” she said firmly. “I stopped yesterday morning and visited with her. I think she’s just a little down, that’s all. I thought a few new pairs of earrings might help.”
“Help you or her?”
Claire really did know her too well. “Okay, both. It’s a helpless feeling, you know? Cancer sucks.”
Claire reached across the table and squeezed Alex’s hand around the pliers. “Yes, it does. You’re a good friend, Alexandra McKnight.”
Was she? She had to disagree. Claire put up with her moods and her silences but not many people would.
She managed not to show that part of herself to Caroline. Right now, she needed to be her best self for the elderly woman. Caroline didn’t have that many others in her life, only one son who lived on the other side of the world with his Japanese wife and rarely made it back.
“I wish I could do more. I’ve been taking her food as often as I can but right now she’s not eating much. I’m taking some of her favorites today and I thought the earrings would be appreciated, as well. You know how fussy she is about how she looks.”
“What can Riley and I do for her? I’ve got her on the cleanup list for the Giving Hope Day this coming Saturday, but please let me know if you think of anything else she might need.”
“I will. I’d like to be on her yard crew.”
This year she had already asked for some other assignment than food. While she was on the committee that organized the lunch provided to the volunteers and the dinner that was part of the gala, both events were being catered this year by one of Brodie’s other restaurants.
She didn’t mind. Between the restaurant and the other meals she cooked for her elderly friends, she needed a bit of a rest from the kitchen.
“I’ll put you down. I’ve still got you on Evie’s decorating committee for the ballroom, right?”
“Oh. Right. I forgot that part. What other projects are you doing this year?”
As she had hoped, Claire launched into a recitation of the various activities planned. The big one this year was the construction of a badly needed concession stand at the Little League ballpark.
Through carefully inserted questions, she was able to keep Claire talking about the Giving Hope Day—instead of Alex’s tangled love life—until she finished seven pairs of earrings for Caroline, one for each day of the week made of beads the same bright colors as the flowers in her tangled garden.
She didn’t mind. Even talking about Claire’s pregnancy and impending birth and the old pain that inevitably dredged up would have been preferable to talking about why she was dating all these other men who weren’t Sam.
* * *
“YOU NEED TO...stop bringing me so much food, my dear. I’ll never...be able to eat it all.”
She had to strain to both hear and understand Caroline’s words. Every day, her voice seemed to become more garbled and quavery. It broke her heart—and so did Caroline’s implication that the food would go to waste because she didn’t expect to be around long enough to finish it.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Of course you will. When you’re feeling better and ready to work in that garden again, you’re going to have a ferocious appetite. I want to make sure you’ve got plenty of good stuff in your freezer to help you keep up your energy.”