A New Kind of Bliss by Bettye Griffin

Author:Bettye Griffin
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2010-06-13T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

It didn’t take long for Teddy’s name to come up at our meeting Friday night. The four of us had been sitting around the table in Rosalind’s dining room for about ten minutes, eating pizza and planning the reunion menu, when Valerie asked Tanis, “How’s Uncle George?”

“Oh, he’s doing fine. He gave us a scare the other night. The doctor said it was probably just something he’d eaten.” Tanis’s gaze settled on me as she casually said, “I ran into Teddy Simms when I stopped at Hardy’s convenience store on my way home.”

“Does old Mr. Hardy still run that store?” Rosalind asked, incredulous, and with good reason. The grocer had been just a few years removed from social security back when we were in high school.

“No, some Spanish dude owns it now, but he kept the name.”

“Emily told me Teddy’s doing well,” Valerie offered.

The surprised look on Tanis’s face told me she didn’t expect to hear my name come up in conjunction with Teddy’s. She didn’t know I’d cued Valerie in on what had transpired and pleaded for her help. “Have you seen him lately, Emily?” Tanis asked innocently.

“All the time. We work in the same building, at least a few days a week. He’s a denture technician, and he has two clients in different locations. As a matter of fact, we got together just the other week for dinner to catch up.”

“Emily says that Teddy knows what just about everybody from our graduating class is up to these days,” Rosalind remarked.

God, was I glad I’d told her that. That was a completely unrehearsed statement, and considering Rosalind had no clue about what had transpired Wednesday night, one that came right on time.

Tanis looked at Rosalind blankly, then at me. “Well, he had some chick in the car with him Wednesday night,” she said slyly. “I didn’t see her face, but it was pretty obvious she was trying to hide it from me.”

Rosalind shrugged. “Is he married?”

“No,” Tanis replied.

“Then unless he was with someone who is, I don’t see the big deal.”

I was saying a silent prayer of thanks for Rosalind’s support when she added, “I’m just glad he’s getting some from somebody.”

My face froze. That remark gave just the image I wanted to avoid. Tanis looked at me with an expression similar to that of someone who’d just found a fifty lying on the sidewalk.

“Not necessarily,” Valerie said. “Why don’t you tell them, Emily?

Rosalind, sensing a secret about to be revealed, instantly perked up. “Tell us what?”

“That I was the one in the car with Teddy,” I said. “I was out with Valerie Wednesday night down at City Island, and I’d just gotten off the parkway in Euliss when my engine gave out. I didn’t have any of my nephews’ phone numbers with me, but Teddy’s number was still in my cell phone from when we met for dinner the other week, so I called and asked him to give me a jump. The car didn’t make it all the way to my mother’s, so we managed to park it and he drove me home.

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