June smiled at the memory. “Keith and I did once,” she admitted. “Only once, mind you. I don’t even remember why we skipped, but we got caughtimmediately. Luckily, it was a first offense, so we got off with a stern warning,” she said with a laugh.
“You daredevil,” Cadence teased.
Cadence took a bite of her scone, hummed happily at the taste, then spoke again.
“I didn’t get a chance to ask you last night,” she said, “but I’ve been meaning to ask. How are you feeling with this new health stuff with Benjamin? I can’t believe it was diabetes! Logically,I know it’s something that kids can get, but I tend to mentally associate it with older people…”
June nodded. “Yeah, his doctor said that’s a common perception. It’s also part of why we’re going to a specialist. His general doctor didn’t see enough cases to feel confident, but we really like the pediatric endocrinologist we’re with now.”
“Good,” Cadence said, nodding in relief. “Having a doctor you can trust is huge.”
“Absolutely,” June agreed. “I mean, the whole thing is already hard enough, you know? I’m so, so grateful that it’s something manageable, obviously, but it’s a huge adjustment. And Benjamin is still getting his groove back.”
“Which is stress on you,” Cadence said. “Kid feels sick, Mom worries.”
“Exactly. And I think I’m driving him a little crazy with the hovering,” June confessed. “He’s such a sweetheart, so I know he knows I was worried, but I can practically see him thinking ‘Mom, I’m not a baby anymore!’ ten times a day.” She pulled a face. “When I stayed home from book club last week, he was a little huffy about how he could do things himself.”
For a few minutes, the two women caught up on the events of the previous book club meeting.
“Just in time to get me ready for this week,” June said with a laugh. “Although…”
She pulled her book from her purse, which was the title they were meant to read for this week’s book club meeting. Her bookmark revealed that she was less than one quarter of the way through the book.
With a sheepish expression, Cadence pulled her own copy from her tote bag. Her bookmark was even less far into the text than June’s was.
“Oh, yeah, well guess how far Miriam is… or how far she was, when she was done babysitting for me last night?”
“Ten pages from the end?” Cadence joked.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Cadence,” June said, pausing for effect. “She was completely done.”
They both laughed. In the six months or so since they’d started their book club, Miriam had revealed herself to be far and away the fastest reader, week after week. Miriam always brushed off the observation, saying it was because she was retired, but since she was involved in seemingly every aspect of Magnolia Shore life, June wasn’t sure that retirement actually translated into more free time in Miriam’s case.
For a while, Eleanor had been firmly in the second-place position, but ever since she’d opened her bookstore at the end of the summer, she’d been kept hopping by the success of the new business. The rest of the group, busy professionals and some of them parents, all tended to have to cram a little bit toward the end of each week.
“Every time I try to sit down and read this week, Izzy has something sheneedsme to see,” Cadence said. “Honestly, I don’t know how you manage to get any reading done. I remember how impossible it was to do things when Tyler and I were separated and Izzy was with me. It was like I never had a moment to sit, let alone read.”
Cadence frowned briefly at the memory of her separation from her husband. The two had struggled with infertility for years, and their pain over their inability to conceive a second child had driven a wedge between them. The separation had been painful, but it had proven positive for the couple, as it had helped them clarify what really mattered as well as given them a sort of fresh start.
In any case, the two were as giddy as newlyweds since their reconciliation. Every single member of the book club had, at one point or another, caught Cadence and Tyler sneaking off for a quick smooch. It was absolutely adorable.
“Audiobooks,” June said, winking as though she was confiding a secret. “I listen to them while I’m cleaning houses.”
“Genius,” Cadence said with a laugh.
“I went with the paper version this week, which is why I’m behind,” June said.
There was a mystery component to this week’s book, so the two women took a few moments to debate who they thought was going to turn out to be the culprit. It was particularly fun, since neither of them knew the answer yet, which was a different point of view than what they normally experienced at book club meetings. It was so much harder to remember theories after you had learned if they were correct or not.
They hadn’t gotten far with their actual reading when June’s phone rang in her hand. She grimaced when she saw that it was her insurance company calling, then spared a little bit more grimacing for the fact that she was the kind of person who had her insurance company’s phone number saved in her contacts. It made sense, given how much she had been calling them recently, but it was still an unfortunate reminder of how chaotic her life had become.
She gestured to Cadence that she was going to duck outside to take the call; her friend nodded and shooed her away.
June stepped out, holding her coat closed with one hand while she answered.
“Hello?”
“Good afternoon, Ms. Caldwell, this is Donna from the billing department at Northeast Health Insurance Limited. Is this a good time?”
