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it?”
I gripped the edges of my chair, safe in the knowledge that the drape of the immaculate table cloth would hide my agitation.
I was determined, as Linda had advised, not to let Roz see me sweat. “Jim and I parted mutually, and we’ll always share the
children.” I forced out the words, but they tasted as bitter as they were false. “I wish him the best.”
Roz looked around at the others and snickered. “Well, then you’re a better woman than I am. I could never be in the same room
again with a man who’d betrayed me like that. And with a Hooters waitress, too.”
“So then you’re not planning to attend the wedding?” I sent her back the same icy smile masquerading as a pleasant expression
she’d been giving me since I’d arrived. “I’ll be sure to give Jim and Tiffany your regrets.”
Roz’s brow furrowed despite the quantity of Botox lodged there, and then she rallied for one last try at uprooting me.
“Yes, well, perhaps we should leave the small talk for now and discuss the plans for the ball. I’ve made the committee assignments.”
At this, even the ladies at the adjoining tables fell silent, as if they’d all been listening, one ear cocked, for just such
an announcement. My heart thrummed in my chest. I knew better than to hope for any mercy from Roz, and there was no way she
was going to name me chair-elect. I held out a faint hope that Linda might get the nod. At least then I could expect something
better from the next year’s committee assignment. Assuming I wasn’t working as a waitress at Waffle House by then.
Roz stood up and tapped her crystal with her sterling silver flatware. “Ladies, if I could have your attention please.”
I’d pulled trump with Roz as best I could, but she still held the highest card. I gritted my teeth and tried to look like
I was enjoying myself.
“I know you’re all eager to get your assignments, and so I won’t wait any longer.”
We held our collective breaths as Roz proceeded to announce who had been selected to chair which committee and what women
were assigned to help her. As Roz went down the list, I gripped the arm of my chair more and more tightly, but my name was
not mentioned. I had hoped at least for decorations. Or perhaps even the thankless task of rounding up donations for the silent
auction. But one by one, my hopes were whittled down until nothing remained but a nub.
“And our last committee. Transportation.”
It was the junk assignment, the one given as a clear indication of the chair’s lowly status. In this case, a woman would prefer
to simply be named to the committee ratherthan to chair it. Then she could fade into oblivion or perhaps move to another city to make a fresh start.
“Our transportation captain this year will be Ellie Johnston.” Roz stopped, pressed her fingers to her lips, and giggled.
“Excuse me, I mean Ellie
Hall
.”
I couldn’t count the number of pitying looks sent my way. I nodded graciously to Roz and then to the other ladies as if I’d
just been crowned Queen of the May. Linda might teach me all about pulling trump, but the truth was, if you weren’t holding
the ace, you could never take the last trick.
CHAPTER SIX
Opening Bids
“ I ’ve found your first client.” Later that afternoon, Jane’s bright voice penetrated the thick gloom that had settled over me
after the luncheon at Roz’s house. I hadn’t made the gloom any lighter when I came home and proceeded to drag out the photo
album from my wedding. The pictures of Jim and me, arm in arm, smiling and laughing, had pulled me even further into the Slough
of Despond. Sitting on your Goodwill-ready couch in scruffy sweats imagining the face of a Hooters waitress on your wedding
portrait was not conducive to a positive mental state.
So when Jane knocked I’d debated once again whether I should open the door, but the manners my mother had drilled into me
at an early age prevailed. Now Jane
I gripped the edges of my chair, safe in the knowledge that the drape of the immaculate table cloth would hide my agitation.
I was determined, as Linda had advised, not to let Roz see me sweat. “Jim and I parted mutually, and we’ll always share the
children.” I forced out the words, but they tasted as bitter as they were false. “I wish him the best.”
Roz looked around at the others and snickered. “Well, then you’re a better woman than I am. I could never be in the same room
again with a man who’d betrayed me like that. And with a Hooters waitress, too.”
“So then you’re not planning to attend the wedding?” I sent her back the same icy smile masquerading as a pleasant expression
she’d been giving me since I’d arrived. “I’ll be sure to give Jim and Tiffany your regrets.”
Roz’s brow furrowed despite the quantity of Botox lodged there, and then she rallied for one last try at uprooting me.
“Yes, well, perhaps we should leave the small talk for now and discuss the plans for the ball. I’ve made the committee assignments.”
At this, even the ladies at the adjoining tables fell silent, as if they’d all been listening, one ear cocked, for just such
an announcement. My heart thrummed in my chest. I knew better than to hope for any mercy from Roz, and there was no way she
was going to name me chair-elect. I held out a faint hope that Linda might get the nod. At least then I could expect something
better from the next year’s committee assignment. Assuming I wasn’t working as a waitress at Waffle House by then.
Roz stood up and tapped her crystal with her sterling silver flatware. “Ladies, if I could have your attention please.”
I’d pulled trump with Roz as best I could, but she still held the highest card. I gritted my teeth and tried to look like
I was enjoying myself.
“I know you’re all eager to get your assignments, and so I won’t wait any longer.”
We held our collective breaths as Roz proceeded to announce who had been selected to chair which committee and what women
were assigned to help her. As Roz went down the list, I gripped the arm of my chair more and more tightly, but my name was
not mentioned. I had hoped at least for decorations. Or perhaps even the thankless task of rounding up donations for the silent
auction. But one by one, my hopes were whittled down until nothing remained but a nub.
“And our last committee. Transportation.”
It was the junk assignment, the one given as a clear indication of the chair’s lowly status. In this case, a woman would prefer
to simply be named to the committee ratherthan to chair it. Then she could fade into oblivion or perhaps move to another city to make a fresh start.
“Our transportation captain this year will be Ellie Johnston.” Roz stopped, pressed her fingers to her lips, and giggled.
“Excuse me, I mean Ellie
Hall
.”
I couldn’t count the number of pitying looks sent my way. I nodded graciously to Roz and then to the other ladies as if I’d
just been crowned Queen of the May. Linda might teach me all about pulling trump, but the truth was, if you weren’t holding
the ace, you could never take the last trick.
CHAPTER SIX
Opening Bids
“ I ’ve found your first client.” Later that afternoon, Jane’s bright voice penetrated the thick gloom that had settled over me
after the luncheon at Roz’s house. I hadn’t made the gloom any lighter when I came home and proceeded to drag out the photo
album from my wedding. The pictures of Jim and me, arm in arm, smiling and laughing, had pulled me even further into the Slough
of Despond. Sitting on your Goodwill-ready couch in scruffy sweats imagining the face of a Hooters waitress on your wedding
portrait was not conducive to a positive mental state.
So when Jane knocked I’d debated once again whether I should open the door, but the manners my mother had drilled into me
at an early age prevailed. Now Jane
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