Age Before Beauty (19 page)

“I take an aerobics class at the gym three days a week. When I started doing that, the pounds just melted off.”

Allie kept her gaze fixed on Darcy, but she was aware that Betty had turned from the stove to watch them. “What gym?”

“Danville Athletic Center. It’s over on the bypass by the movie theater.”

“I’m a member there. My husband gave me a membership for my birthday, but I haven’t actually gone yet.”

Darcy’s face lit. “Then you can go to the aerobics classes too. They’re included in the membership fee. Want to go with me tomorrow morning? They have daycare.”

Aerobics class? The idea of dressing up in leotards and prancing around with a bunch of other women in front of a mirror didn’t sound all that appealing. Leaving Joanie in the gym’s daycare for an hour sounded even less appealing. She didn’t know what kind of people worked there. She’d need to check references and all that.

Allie shook her head. “I don’t know.”

Betty stepped forward. “I’ll watch the baby for you.”

Allie protested. “Betty, you’re already watching her tonight while I go to the meeting at my director’s house. Eric will probably be gone a couple of hours.”

“I don’t mind. I’ll be here anyway. I might as well be useful.”

Darcy smiled. “There you go. The class starts at nine. Want to meet me there?”

No, Allie really didn’t want to. But another glance at Darcy’s trim figure made her hesitate. If aerobics had helped Darcy lose seventy pounds, maybe she should try it.

She heaved a resigned sigh. “I guess I might as well.”

By the time Darcy left, Joanie had drifted off to sleep. Allie laid her in the infant seat in the living room. She’d thought a lot about Eric’s comment last night, and sometime around three in the morning—after she got over being mad at him—she realized he was right. She was taking advantage of her mother-in-law.

She returned to the kitchen where Betty still sat at the table, sipping her tea. She had used the fancy coffee cups with matching saucers Allie got as a wedding gift, the first time they’d ever been used. She and Eric drank from coffee mugs, and if they entertained, they usually ordered pizza. It was actually kind of fun, having a friend over, drinking tea from fancy cups. Allie slipped into her chair and picked hers up. The scent of peaches from the herbal tea filled her nostrils as she finished off the last sip.

She set the cup in the saucer with a soft
clink
. “Thanks for fixing tea for us and for offering to watch Joanie tomorrow.” She fiddled with the paper tab on the end of her used tea bag. “In fact, I don’t think I’ve thanked you appropriately for all the things you’ve done around here lately—the cooking and dusting and running the vacuum and all.”

“You’re welcome. I don’t mind. It’s the least I can do to repay you for letting me stay with you.”

From the shrewd way Betty looked at her over the top of her cup, Allie suspected she hadn’t kept her reluctance hidden well enough. “Well, that’s what families are for, right?”

“But you know what they say about house guests and dead fish.”

Allie stared at her. “No, I can’t say I do.”

“They both start to stink after a few days.”

Allie laughed. “Don’t worry, you don’t stink.” She sobered. “I admit at first I wasn’t sure if you staying here was going to work out. But you have helped me so much with Joanie. I don’t think I could have managed to launch my business without you.”

Betty set her cup in its saucer and folded her hands in her lap. “I’m glad I could help. I was so worried when I first moved in that I’d become a burden to you and Eric.”

Allie almost choked. Who said anything about moving in? On the other hand, she’d been there two weeks. She was practically a fixture. “Uh, well, of course you’re not a burden. Still, I’m sure you miss being in your own home.”

A brief smile appeared on Betty’s lips as she glanced around the kitchen. “Not as much as I thought I would.”

Okay, so maybe letting Betty have free rein of the house had been a mistake. She’d dug herself right in and put down roots. Allie’s eyes must have betrayed her shock, because a brief smile appeared on her mother-in-law’s lips.

“I know we haven’t been close, Allie. I think that’s partly my fault.”

Partly?
Allie fought hard to keep a sudden stab of indignation from showing on her face. She avoided looking at Betty as she spoke with exquisite care. “We’ve only seen each other a few times since Eric and I married. And we didn’t get off to a very good start at the wedding.”

“Oh? How so?”

Startled, Allie looked up. “You called me a selfish child. You said our marriage wouldn’t last.”

“I did?” Confusion creased Betty’s forehead.

“In the bride room, in front of all my bridesmaids.” How could she not remember?

The creases cleared. “I asked if I could rearrange the name cards for the reception dinner.” Her lips pursed. “You said ‘no’ rather strongly.”

A touch of the anger Allie had felt at the time stiffened her spine. “I spent hours on those seating charts.”

“I’m sure you did, and you couldn’t have known that Aunt Edna and Cousin Gerty fight like barn cats. I was trying to avoid a scene.”

“Oh.” Allie sniffed. She had been something of a maniac the day of the wedding. “Well, you didn’t have to call me names.”

Betty’s bewildered gaze locked onto hers. “I merely said marriage requires that we leave childhood behind and think of others. It doesn’t have a chance if the wife is self-centered.” She paused, then conceded, “I suppose that wasn’t the most diplomatic thing to say to a bride on her wedding day, was it?”

“Probably not.” But looking back on the day from a safe distance of five years, the incident seemed almost silly. Stressed-out bride with a big mouth. Taciturn mother-in-law. A recipe for a verbal volcano. At least on the bride’s part.

The brief smile put in a second appearance on Betty’s lips. “I watch you with your family, and I realize how odd you must think us. You’re so open with one another, so friendly.” Her head dropped forward as she looked down at her hands. “I never realized how much Eric missed by being an only child.”

A stab of pity cut through Allie’s thoughts as she looked at Betty’s bowed head. “Why didn’t you have more kids?”

“I couldn’t. I had complications with Eric’s delivery and had to have a hysterectomy a few days later.”

“I didn’t realize. I thought you and Don chose to have only one child.”

“Oh no. We wanted more. We’d always talked about having three or four children.”

Allie got up from the table and walked to the stove. Why hadn’t Eric ever mentioned the reason he was an only child? On second thought, he probably didn’t know. His mother’s reserved ways weren’t new. She would have thought sharing information like that with her son inappropriate. And from what Eric said, his father’s conversation always centered around work or cars or sports.

So spending time with the Sanderson family must have given Betty a glimpse of the family she might have had. Allie could understand why she’d want to become a part of them. But to move in with her and Eric?

Allie picked up the kettle and tapped a cautious finger on the side to feel the temperature. The water was still hot enough. She put the used tea bag back in her cup and poured steaming water on it, then held it toward Betty with a wordless question. Betty nodded, and Allie filled her cup too.

“Well, for what it’s worth, I think Eric turned out just fine without siblings.” Allie returned to her seat and dunked the tea bag in the water as she poured sweetener in. “So have you made any decisions about Don?”

“No.”

Betty’s tone held a note of finality, but Allie wasn’t about to let the conversation stop there. She had finally managed to pry more than three words out of Betty in one sitting, and she intended to press her advantage. She had to understand more about what was going on between those two if she was going to figure out a way to shove her mother-in-law out of her nest and back into her own.

“Eric said he called the other day. Didn’t you two talk about whatever the problem is?”

Betty shook her head and remained silent, her gaze fixed on her cup.

“So what
is
the problem, anyway?”

At first Allie thought she wouldn’t answer. Her face remained expressionless, though a slight movement of her eyelids looked as though she was considering whether or not to confide in her daughter-in-law. When she looked up, she seemed to have reached a decision.

“Don has worked for his company for over thirty years. He can retire with full benefits in three months when he turns sixty-two.” She fell silent.

“Are you worried about having him underfoot all day when he does?” Allie prompted.

Betty shook her head. “He informed me the week before I left that he doesn’t intend to retire. Not ever.”

“What, he wants to keep working until he drops dead on the job?”

Betty lifted a shoulder in a delicate gesture. “I suppose so.”

Allie stared at her. Trying to read her mother-in-law’s expression was like trying to read an empty whiteboard. The woman obviously needed some practice in the art of communication. “And you want him to retire?”

Betty looked up, mild surprise apparent in her raised eyebrows. “Yes, of course.”

“Why? Aren’t you happy with things the way they are?”

“I’m happy enough.” Betty picked up her spoon and stirred slow circles in her tea. “No, I’m not. Since Eric left for college, the house has been so quiet.”

Allie looked down quickly to hide her grin. In a million years she never thought she’d hear Betty Harrod complain of a quiet house. When she was sure no hint of laughter would sound in her voice, she said, “So basically you’re bored. You want your husband to retire so you’ll have someone to talk to.”

“Not just to talk to. To be with. We used to plan all the things we would do after retirement. Don always wanted to travel, to see and do new things we don’t have time for now.”

“What about you? What did you always want to do?”

“Travel would be nice.” The edges of her lips lifted into one of the first genuine smiles Allie had ever seen. She went on in a conspiratorial tone. “I thought we could take ballroom dancing lessons, and then we could go on a cruise to Alaska and burn up the dance floor like Fred and Ginger.”

Though Allie could not begin to imagine Betty whirling around a dance floor in the arms of her stout husband, she grinned in return. “That would be fun.”

The smile faded and sadness deepened the sagging skin beneath Betty’s brown eyes. “Now I don’t think we will ever do any of the things we planned.”

“Why not?” Allie slapped a hand on the table. “You should make him retire. Just march right up to him and say, ‘Don, I’m not going to let you spoil my plans. You’re going to retire, and that’s that.’ ”

Betty’s gaze became wistful. “That’s one thing I’ve come to admire about you, Allie. You are the most determined woman I’ve ever seen. If you want something, you do whatever it takes to get it.”

Allie fought the urge to preen. Betty was certainly full of surprises this morning. Allie would have sworn that her mother-in-law didn’t admire a single thing about her. “Thank you,” she said simply.

“In fact, watching you has forced me to rethink the mistakes of my life. I always believed that staying at home when Eric was young was important.”

“You don’t now?”

“Oh, I still do. I admire you for wanting to stay home and keep Joanie out of daycare, but where I made my mistake was in not returning to work when he went to school. I foolishly kept on as before, thinking I could focus all my efforts on making a comfortable home for Don.” Her voice became wry. “I suppose I made it too comfortable. Now he apparently wants things to stay as they are forever.” She paused to sip from her cup, and Allie waited for her to continue. “I should have done what you’re doing and made sure I had something of my own outside of Don.”

“You mean a source of income?”

Betty shook her head. “Not necessarily. I’m talking about a career, a focus. Something that is my own away from Don. I mean, look at me now. I’m almost sixty years old and I don’t have anything of my own. No interests. No hobbies other than cooking. No activities except cleaning the house. Everything I am is associated with Don. I’m dependent on him far beyond the finances.” She took another sip and then patted her mouth with her napkin. “I can’t imagine you ever being dependent on Eric that way.”

No, Allie couldn’t imagine ever being so wrapped up in Eric that she had no interests of her own. Another reason her Varie Cose business needed to fly. But at the moment they weren’t talking about her. They had to solve Betty’s problem, and Allie needed to make sure the resolution didn’t include living with them. “So if you’re not going to call Don and demand that he retire like you guys planned, what are you going to do? Join a club in your community? A big city like Detroit probably has all kinds of things to do.” Allie snapped her fingers as an idea occurred. “I’ll bet they have cooking clubs. You seem to enjoy trying new recipes and stuff. You’ve cooked some amazing meals for us lately, all of them really healthy.”

Betty gave one of her nearly imperceptible smiles. “I know you want to lose weight, and I thought that was one way I could help you.”

Allie leaned against the back of her chair as her mother-in-law’s words sank in. So Betty’s comments and efforts hadn’t been designed to insult her after all. The woman was trying to be helpful. And she hadn’t intended to offend her at the wedding, either. Embarrassed, Allie realized she had been too quick to jump on the defensive. “Thank you, Betty. That was very sweet of you.”

Betty inclined her head and toyed with the handle on her teacup.

Allie continued. “I think you’ve enjoyed experimenting with new recipes. I’ll bet you’d really get into a cooking club. You could trade recipes and cook for each other and stuff like that. You’d be their star member by the second meeting.”

Betty shook her head. “I don’t think joining a club is the answer. I’ve begun to wonder if I need to do something more drastic. Your family has been so kind to include me as one of their own. Now that I’ve met my granddaughter, I’ve remembered that I do have family besides Don. Danville is a nice little town. I’ve been thinking maybe I’ll stay here. That way I can be part of Joanie’s life. I could help you and Eric, because you’re both so busy.”