That’s it.She was burning her phone. She kicked her shoes off, flinging them across the room, then dug into her purse and looked at the screen.Mom.Dear Lord, no. She couldnotdeal with her mother right now.
But as soon as the phone went silent, it started singing again. Her mother would call at a minimum five timesbefore she would stop, and sometimes more than that. Anita swiped the screen. “Hello.”
“Hello, dear. Just calling to see how the meeting went.”
It was a horror show.Next month she was taking Erma’s cue. Quickel was insufferable, and that crack he’d made about her mother... She shuddered.
“Fine,” she managed to grind out.
“Lovely. I’m so proud of you, my business-owning daughter. I also want you to mark your calendar—you do have a calendar, right?”
“Yes, Mom,” she said, sliding down from the couch and onto the floor, her skirt hiking up her legs to midthigh. The air felt nice and cool on her still-hot skin. Too bad it did nothing for her hot temper.
“Terrific. Make a note for next weekend. We’re going to Dallas!”
“Why?” She was almost scared to ask.
“To shop for your wardrobe. You didn’t forget your promise, did you?”
Anita pinched the bridge of her nose. Her world was collapsing, and her mother wanted to talk about fashion. “Can’t we shop closer to home?” she said weakly. “Hot Springs and Little Rock have nice stores.”
“But not as many as Dallas. Your sister and I have been there three times so far.”
Poor Paisley. Anita didn’t know how her sister was able to handle law school with their mother bugging her all the time. “Mom, I can’t go next weekend. I have to work.”
“Where?”
“At Sunshine? You know, my job?”
“I thought you quit already.”
“I need the money to make the loan payments.”
Silence.
Anita cringed. Her mother was probably biting a hole in her tongue trying not to point out the loan had been unnecessary.
Finally Mom spoke. “When do you think you can leave Sunshine?”
That was a good question. “I’m not sure. Definitely not before next Saturday.” When she did decide to leave, she needed to give two weeks’ notice. She didn’t want to put George in a lurch by having to find a new waitress in a short time.
Not George. Tanner.She scowled.
“Don’t put it off too long. I don’t want you to exhaust yourself trying to both open a café and work at the diner. Speaking of health, I did notice on Sunday that your skin was a little dry. I forgot to tell you about this cream I’ve started using. It works wonders on wrinkles.”
“I don’t have wrinkles, Mom.”
“You will if you don’t do something with your skin while you’re young.”
Anita leaned her head against the couch cushions and squeezed her eyes shut. “I have to go, Mom. Talk to you later.”
“Ta-ta for—”
Click.
She tossed her phone onto the floor and yanked off her headband. She’d get an earful from her mother about hanging up on her, but Anita would tell her the phone was having technical difficulties. So was Anita, for that matter.
Exhaustion washed over her, and she slumped farther onto the floor. She hadn’t been this tired or overwhelmed in a long time. In fact, she couldn’t remember ever feeling this way. She was torn up about the café and Sunshine, upset with Tanner, annoyed with her mother, and now she had a headache from the too-tight headband she’d decided to wear tonight. Or maybe her head was pounding from stress. Didn’t matter. Her temples were throbbing. She should get up and get some aspirin, but all she wanted to do was sit on the living room floor. She couldn’t believe her mother had brought up wrinkles.
