on hanging around for a couple of days. My girlfriend just rented one of those luxury apartments in town, and she’s having a fit for me to move in with her. Soon as she gets an extra bed, I’m outta here.” She headed for the house without another word.
“She’s not going anywhere,” Marilee told her friends as they shot her a questioning look.
“How’s the job hunting?” Ruby asked, changing the subject.
“I have an appointment with Irby Denton at the funeral home tomorrow.”
“Oh my,” Clara said. “You’re going to work at a funeral home?”
“Irby has to hire me first,” Marilee pointed out.
Both women stared back at her. Finally, Ruby smiled. “Hey, I think that’s great! What exactly would you be doing there? If he hires you, I mean?”
“He needs a receptionist. It’s an entry-level position, but I have to start somewhere.”
“Oh my,” Clara repeated.
Ruby looked at the woman. “Clara, why do you keep saying that?”
Clara stared at Marilee. “Ruby doesn’t know your secret, does she?” Clara whispered.
“What secret?” Ruby asked, glancing from one to the other.
Marilee shrugged. “It’s no big deal. Besides, I need this job. I just discovered Grady took a chunk of money out of our savings account.”
“You need a good lawyer,” Clara said.
“I’ve already made an appointment. Tate Radford says he can have me divorced in ninety days on grounds of adultery.”
“Well, they don’t come any better than Tate,” Clara said, “but he’s not cheap.”
“I want somebody good, in case I end up with a custody battle on my hands,” Marilee replied.
Clara reached for her hand and squeezed it. “Are you okay?”
Marilee offered what she hoped was a brave smile. “Better than I was. I’m not going to recover overnight and I still think of Josh constantly, but I’m definitely better.”
Ruby stamped her foot on the ground. “Somebody better tell me about this secret or I’m going to throw a fit right here in Marilee’s front yard.”
“Oh, good grief!” Clara said. She stepped closer to Ruby. “Marilee is terrified of dead people. She has a phobia.”
Ruby’s eyes grew wide as saucers as she regarded Marilee. “No kidding?”
Marilee shot Clara a disgruntled look. “I’m not terrified of anything.” Other than the future, she reminded herself.
“Marilee Abernathy, I watched you almost pass out when Sara Banks asked you to remove her husband’s wedding ring from his finger at his funeral,” Clara said. She looked at Ruby. “Marilee had a full-blown panic attack out in the parking lot. I almost had to bring out my smelling salts.”
“I just don’t like touching dead people,” Marilee said. “I hardly think that’s going to be a problem if I’m working at the front desk.”
“I’ve touched plenty of dead people,” Ruby told her proudly. “Irby sometimes calls me to do hair and makeup when his wife can’t do it. Dead people can’t hurt you, Marilee.”
Clara looked doubtful. “Irby is never going to hire you if he finds out.”
“He’s not going to find out,” Marilee replied. She looked long and hard at her friends. “Is he?”
Both women pretended to zip their lips, lock them shut and throw away the keys. Marilee smiled prettily. “Thank you.”
“What if you have to help him embalm somebody?” Ruby whispered.
“I’m not going to go near the embalming room. You have to go to a special school for that.” Both women looked skeptical. “You have to admit I’m perfect for the job. I’ve been comforting the bereaved for years. It’s what I do best.”
“You are perfect for the job,” Clara said. “As long as you don’t go near any dead people.”
THE FOLLOWING MORNING, MARILEE watched Josh step from the bus at the high school. He was alone, his back bowed, head down. His posture said it all. He didn’t fit in, never had. He paid a heavy price for being a minister’s son with a weight problem. He’d never had a girlfriend, never attended a school dance or social gathering, but if he were invited, Marilee was certain he wouldn’t go because he felt like an outcast. Marilee suffered as much as he did over it, but she kept quiet because Josh would have been embarrassed for her to know. But she knew. Mothers always knew. The only friends Josh had attended Chickpea Baptist, and she doubted he was spending much time there these days.
“Josh,” she called out, waving at him in the crowd.
He took one look at her and turned in the opposite direction.
Her heart sank. “Josh, wait!” She pushed through the throng of students, never letting her eyes off his blond head. She caught up with him outside the gym. “Josh, please wait!”
He turned and glared at her as kids shuffled past, tossing curious looks in their direction. “What are you doing here?” he demanded.
His face was red. Marilee knew he didn’t like drawing attention to himself, preferring anonymity to being noticed and risking ridicule. She often wondered why kids were so cruel. And to think she’d considered ending her life, when Josh was so completely alone in the world. “I need to talk to you, honey.”
“I have class.”
“Just give me five minutes, Josh. I don’t think that’s asking too much.”
His eyes blazed. “Don’t you get it, Mom? I don’t want to talk to you. I want to be left alone.”
His look wrenched her heart. “I don’t deserve this, Josh.”
But he was already gone, lost among the crowd. Marilee stood there, frozen, feeling as though all the air had been sucked from her lungs. She couldn’t breathe, and for a moment she thought she’d be sick. Her eyes smarted as she staggered toward her car. She was only vaguely aware of the stares she received from some of the students. Don’t cry, she told herself. Don’t even think about it right now. The last thing she needed to do was arrive at her interview with swollen eyes.
She would cry later in the privacy of her room. In fact, she looked forward to it.
DENTON FUNERAL HOME was less than a mile from town, a massive, two-story colonial that housed the business in the basement and first floor, while the second floor served as an apartment for the family. When Irby Denton greeted Marilee on the wide porch, where ferns shuddered in the mid-September breeze, she saw that he’d changed very little since high school.
His hair was still fire-engine red, but his hairline had receded, and the laugh lines that bracketed his mouth were deeper. He wore the same mischievous
