Orange Blossom Special by Sally Kilpatrick

Author:Sally Kilpatrick [Kilpatrick, Sally]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2017-06-21T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

Janice told herself she wasn’t going to feel guilty about what she’d said. She also told herself not to covet the eggs, hash browns, and waffles her companions were eating. So what if she had to eat oatmeal because it was the only healthy thing on the menu? At least she was finally getting some decent coffee. Come to think of it, she probably wouldn’t have said the things she did if she’d had a half-decent cup of coffee. By the time Gigi and her Father of the Two-Word Phrases had pulled up, she’d had a caffeine withdrawal headache threatening to bloom into a migraine.

They finished their meal in silence, and Edie took the check. She turned to Janice with a smug smile and opened her mouth to speak, but Janice cut her off. “I’m going to the restroom right now, all right?”

She really hated it when Edie was so crass, always asking everyone whether or not they had to pee. Who did that? She’d had to cut Walter off in the middle of breakfast, too, because he’d wanted to talk about some football injury he’d witnessed. No one wanted to hear such things while they were eating.

Janice did her business and washed her hands, turning her face left and right as she looked into the mirror. Harvey had told her constantly that she was still beautiful, but all of those wrinkles had snuck up on her and no amount of makeup in the world could cover them up. Edie was one to talk about not being dressed up, since her clothes always hung so nicely. Even if Edie hadn’t been rail-thin, she would’ve had her education to recommend her. If Janice wasn’t dressed up, then what exactly did she have going for her? She didn’t have an education. She didn’t have a size-six body. She’d dutifully raised her children and sent them out into the world. She’d kept her house pristine—but now what was she supposed to do? She couldn’t even “look good,” now that she was old and saggy with the potbelly that had doggedly pursued her for her entire life.

Easy for Edie to think she was overdressed.

But Edie was right about one thing: Panty hose were so uncomfortable while sitting in a car for hours on end.

“Janice, you try too hard,” Jerome had once said.

Coming from him, it had always seemed more concern than criticism.

He’d then added, “You need to lighten up, take care of yourself more. I don’t know why you women insist on shoving your legs into nylons like sausage into a casing. It’s about as stupid as that line you used to draw down the back of your legs when you couldn’t get any nylons back during the war.”

Well, Jerome, you never had a potbelly to worry about, now, did you?

And he would’ve said, “Who’re you trying to impress? It’s my funeral. Let it all hang out!”

So, Janice lifted her skirt and started to peel down the control-top hose. Once the waistband wasn’t

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