“Yes, I did,” Diana said crisply. “And I haven’t connected with anyone yet, and I don’t wish to speak on it any further just now, so please, let’s move on. Eleanor, how are you settling in?”
Eleanor blew out a breath. “Well…”
“Uh oh,” Cadence murmured. “There’s a story there.”
Eleanor waved a hand to assuage the concerned looks her new friends were casting in her direction. “No, it’s not bad, or at least it’s not all bad. My divorce got finalized, which is more bittersweet than anything else, I suppose.”
Miriam reached out a hand to squeeze Eleanor’s, while Cadence’s eyebrows shot up.
“That’s so fast,” she said, sounding a bit alarmed by the idea. Eleanor assumed this had more to do with her own separation than Eleanor’s—now officially ended—marriage.
“Brian was pretty generous about the whole thing,” she admitted. She didn’t necessarilywantto compliment the man who had blindsided her on their wedding anniversary, but she supposed fair was fair. “He split everything down the middle without fighting me over it, even though he probably could have, since he was the primary earner for our entire marriage.”
It was, if Eleanor told the truth, an enormous relief. Not just the money, although she was, of course, grateful that she would have a cushion to support her while she figured out her next steps. The money wasn’t enough to sustain her for the rest of her life, but it would give her a couple of years to get settled, sinceBrian had “bought out” her half of their old house, which had gone up considerably in value in the last twenty years.
But the idea of just having itoverwith… that was an even bigger relief. She’d heard horror stories of divorces going bitter, of people terrorizing one another in the courts until all their money went to legal fees. She hadn’t wanted that for herself, and she certainly hadn’t wanted it for Jeremy. She didn’t even want it for Brian, not really. She might be angry with him for the way he’d ended their marriage, but even just a few months since that fateful night, especially surrounded as she was by new friends…
From here and now, she could see how their marriage had gone wrong, had fizzled. She still felt like she could blame Brian a little, since he’d found someone else before he’d even told her that he wanted to separate, but she didn’thatehim. He’d given her Jeremy, for one. And there was nothing,nothingin this world Eleanor wouldn’t give up for her son.
“Well, good,” Miriam said, slapping the table decisively. “Goodness knows there’s something wrong with that man for letting you go, but at least he got his head screwed on right for this one. So many men think a woman cleaning and cooking and raising the kids isn’t doing any work, and if you ask me, I think the lot of ‘em need a right kick in the pants! Housework is work! It’s right there in the name!”
The other women bit back their smiles. Eleanor could easily imagine Miriam taking to the streets when she was young, holding up a sign that demanded rights for women in the workplace and other movements of that era. The elderly woman was a firecracker, and Eleanor had no doubts that she had been just as vibrant in her younger years.
“Speaking of housework,” June said with a sidelong glance that said she suspected Miriam was gearing up for a sizeable lecture. “How’s your house coming, Eleanor?”
Miriam, fortunately, looked intrigued rather than annoyed by this conversational distraction.
“Ugh,” said Eleanor.
“That noise is less ambiguous,” Diana observed, and they all laughed, Eleanor included.
“I’m being dramatic,” she admitted with a sigh. “I’m just upset because I nearly maimed that poor handyman from the hardware store when he stopped by and offered to help me fix my sink.”
Eleanor took another bite of her lunch, then realized that her friends were all looking at her strangely.
She hastily chewed and swallowed.
“I didn’t actually maim him!” she hurriedly explained. “I was just being dramatic again! My wonky kitchen shelf just bonked him on the shoulder.”
“Oh, we didn’t think you actually hurt him, honey,” June assured her. “We’re just… you mean Garrett, right? Garrett Wilder?”
“Yeah,” Eleanor said. “Sorry, I didn’t realize multiple people worked there. Yeah, it was Garrett.”
“No, no, you’re right. It’s just Garrett over at Nut and Bolts,” Cadence clarified, although she looked no less baffled. None of them did. “But you said he… stopped by and offered to help you fix your sink?”
“Yeah,” Eleanor repeated. “I guess he heard me fighting with it from outside or something. He knocked on the door, said he could help. He was alittlegrouchy about it, I’ll admit, but he still didn’t deserve getting repaid with lumber falling on his head.” She frowned. “Even if he did get alotgrouchy after that, telling me I needed a professional handyman immediately.”
She had not yet managed to get over that particular jab to her pride.
The four other women exchanged glances. Then Miriam began snickering into her fist like a schoolgirl.
“What?” Eleanor demanded. Now it was her turn to be confounded.
“We’re not laughing at you, honey,” June reassured her. “We’re just… surprised. Garrett doesn’t… do things like that.”
“Fix things?”
“No, he does that part,” June admitted. “But only if you ask him first. And then usually only if he’s known you for a good five years. He doesn’t just approach strangers and offer to do things.”
