Read Online Heart of the Matter by KI Thompson - Free Book Online

spoke to the dead.
    She wondered why she even bothered to engage her at all. Picking up the pitcher of iced tea, she headed for the door.
    “I’ll be right there with the salad and the potatoes,” Joan trilled after her.
    Barbara Webster sat at the glass umbrella table, sipping a vodka gimlet as she watched her husband at the grill. The sound of sizzling steaks and the delicious aroma reached Ellen the moment she stepped outside, calling to mind various cookouts in their backyard since her childhood. She immediately relaxed. But it would take a stiff drink to help her forget Joan’s nasty remarks.
    “I hope you have more of those,” she said, pointing to her mother’s gimlet.
    “Help yourself.” Her mother pushed a pitcher toward her. “Are you and Joan at it again?”
    Ellen poured herself a glass. “She just won’t leave it alone.”
    “I’ll talk to her,” Barbara offered.
    “No, Mom, you know that won’t do any good. She’s always been this way. She won’t accept me for who I am, and she insists that her way of life is the be-all and end-all. I’ve had it with her.”
    “She just wants you to be happy,” her mother said.
    “She wants me to be like her, that’s all. Well, I can’t, and I’m not going to try and convince her of it any longer. I’m happy with my life the way it is, and she’s going to have to get used to it.”
    “Are you happy?”
    Ellen paused. She loved her work, and her mother knew that, but that wasn’t what her mother was asking about. Her parents had been very careful about inquiring into any relationships she might be involved in. She knew they didn’t want to add to any pressure she had already placed upon herself, but they were still concerned for her well-being.
    “I have a date tonight.” She hoped this announcement would placate them, at least for a while.
    “Really?” Barbara glanced to her husband. “Do we know her? Where did you two meet?”
    “Meet who?” Joan came out of the house carrying two bowls.
    Ellen ignored her. “She’s a friend of Linda’s and Janice’s. All I know is that she’s an attorney and works with Janice on Senator Teasdale’s staff. She asked me to the symphony tonight.”
    “How lovely.” Barbara squeezed her arm. “Have a good time.”
    “Oh, Ellen, no.” Joan put the two bowls on the table. Her children ran up beside her and grabbed a potato from the bowl, fighting over who got the biggest one.
    “Don’t start, Joan. I’m warning you.” Ellen got up, taking her drink with her, and escaped into the house. She was still unsure of her feelings about Kate, as well as Sandra, and she felt dangerously near the edge of her ability to control her emotions. Once inside, she strolled toward her old bedroom, which contained many of the mementos of her childhood—her record collection, the various plaques and awards demonstrating her academic successes, and several photo albums. It was familiar and safe, and she often retreated there when she was going through uncertainty in her life.
    She sat on the bed and flipped through her high-school yearbook.
    Images from the varsity tennis team screamed back at her.
    There she was, in her tennis whites and letter sweater, racket held casually across her chest. At five foot seven, she had weighed one hundred and ten pounds, and could fly across the court to reach any shot her opponent could smash her way. With her abilities, the team had gone to state, only to lose in the finals, but it was the first time her high school had ever been there. They were the dream team.
    A few pages further on, she paused at a photo from her junior prom. She looked so marvelously thin; it didn’t seem possible that her body would ever fit the clothes she now wore. Her hipbones were clearly prominent beneath her clinging dress and her face was angled and sharp. Ellen sighed. She had rarely eaten much of anything back then, knowing that the boys from the men’s team ogled the girls during practice. One