“The hell I will. You made a deal and you’re going to keep it.”
He grabbed her by the shoulders and hauled her hard against him and kissed her.
Elsie barged through the swinging kitchen door. “What the devil’s going on in here? You can hear the two of you shouting all the way to the living room.”
She pulled up short and shook her head. “First you’re yelling at each other like it’s the end of the world, and now you’re steaming up the kitchen. This arrangement isn’t going to get weird, is it? I’m an old lady. I’ve got standards.”
She went to the stove and lifted the lid on the cast-iron kettle. “This pot roast is going to be on the table in fifteen minutes, so you better hurry up and eat your fill of cheeseballs. And if you ask me, it wouldn’t hurt to give those people in there something to drink. They look like they’ve been left in the starch too long.”
Elsie was true to her word. In fifteen minutes the pot roast was on the table, along with homemade buttermilk biscuits, mashed potatoes, cooked carrots, homemade applesauce, and steamed broccoli. She set a bowl of gravy on the table and took her apron off.
“There’s a TV show coming on that I’ve got to watch,” she said. “There’s more potatoes in the kitchen and there’s apple pie for dessert.”
“Thanks, Elsie,” Maggie said, “I can handle it from here.”
Elsie looked the table over one last time, obviously reluctant to leave her food in Maggie’s hands. “There’s vanilla ice cream to go with the pie, and don’t forget the coffee. It’s all made.”
“You sure you don’t want to eat with us. There’s room…”
“Nope. Thanks anyway. I’m not much for socializing. I got things to do. Just make sure everybody gets enough to eat, and watch the piece of pie you give to Harry. He’s starting to spread.”
There was a knock at the door and Elsie went to answer it. “It’s Linda Sue Newcombe,” she called from the foyer. “She says she got stood up for a date last night, and wants to know why.”
Hank looked surprised. “I don’t remember making a date.”
Linda Sue stomped into the dining room. She was short and blond and steaming mad.
“You promised to take me to the dance at the grange. We made that date two months ago.” She smiled a polite hello to Hank’s parents. “Excuse me,” she said to them, “but I bought a new dress for that dance.”
Hank hated dances and doubted he’d agreed to go to this one. Linda Sue had a tendency to ramble, and he had a tendency to tune her out. He suspected he’d missed an important part of a conversation with her. It was a good thing he was married, he thought. His social life had become too complicated.
Linda Sue pouted a little and looked at Hank under lowered eyelashes. “Maybe you can make it up to me.”
“I don’t think so,” Hank told her. “I got married last week.”
Linda Sue’s eyes snapped wide open. “Married?”
He gestured with a half-eaten biscuit. “This is my wife, Maggie…”
Linda Sue had her hands on her hips. “You were going to marry me!”
Hank pressed his lips together. “I never said I was going to marry you. You said I was going to marry you.”
“Would you like to join us for dinner?” Maggie asked. “We have lots of food.”
Linda Sue looked at the pot roast. “It smells good. What are you having for dessert?”
“Apple pie and vanilla ice cream.”
“Sure, I’ll stay.” She took a side chair and dragged it over to the table. “When Hank’s granny lived here, I used to stay for dinner all the time. Hank’s granny always had an extra potato in the pot for company.”
Maggie set a place for Linda Sue. “Do you live near here?”
“I used to live just over the rise, down the road. My parents still live there.” She helped herself to some pot roast.
Maggie waited for Linda Sue to continue, or someone else to make conversation, but Linda Sue’s attention had been caught by the mashed potatoes and Hank’s parents were staring out the window. Finally Maggie couldn’t wait any longer. “Where do you live now?” she asked.
“I live in the Glenview apartments now. They’re outside of town, just off the interstate to Burlington.”
The doorbell rang again and Maggie excused herself to answer it.
“I’m Holly Brown,” the woman said when Maggie opened the door. “Is Hank here?”
“He’s in the dining room.”
Holly Brown walked into the dining room, gave a slanty-eyed look to Linda Sue Newcombe and a large, wet kiss to Hank. She smiled at his parents and said hello.
“I heard you’d gotten back in town,” Holly said to Hank. “Just thought I’d stop by to welcome you home.”
“Save it,” Linda Sue said. “He’s married.”
Holly gave a disbelieving snort. “Hank? Married?”
Maggie dragged out another set of dishes and silverware, making a place for Holly. “I’m Maggie,” she said. “We were married last week. You’ll stay for supper, won’t you?”
“Sure you have enough?”
“Plenty,” Maggie said. She knew it was ridiculous, but darned if she didn’t feel like a real wife. She was feeling possessive, and jealous, and cranky. She glared at Hank.
“Is there anyone else we should be expecting? Maybe I should cook up more potatoes.”
Holly Brown slung her purse over the back of her chair and sat down. “This marriage is awful sudden.”
Hank sliced his pot roast. “Maggie and I met last summer when I was at Rutgers.”
Holly and Linda Sue exchanged glances. They looked skeptical.
“Still seems sudden to me,” Holly repeated. “The entire female population of Skogen’s been after Hank for years,” she told Maggie. “He’s as slippery as they come. Nothing personal, but it seems a little odd that he’d go to New Jersey and come back married.”
“It was one of those things,” Maggie said. “Love at first sight.”
Holly poked around at the pot roast, looking for the end piece. “Honey, it’s always love at first sight with Hank. It’s never caused him to get married before.”
Linda Sue poured more gravy over her potatoes.
“This house sure holds memories,” Holly said. “When I was a little girl, my daddy worked for the coop and he’d come collect the milk from all the local dairy farms. Sometimes, in the summer, he’d let me ride with him. Hank’s granny always invited me in for cookies and lemonade. If Hank was here I’d stay and play Monopoly with him on the front porch. Then when he got older-” She stopped in midsentence, cleared her throat, and concentrated on slicing her meat.
Linda Sue, Hank’s mother, and Hank’s father also cleared their throats and became totally absorbed in the process of eating.
Maggie looked sideways at Hank.
“Vern’s dog ate my Monoploly set,” Hank explained.
Linda Sue tilted her head toward Hank. “Does Bubba know you’re married?”
“Not yet.” Hank reached for another biscuit. “I haven’t seen him since we got back.”
“Bubba’s not going to like this,” Linda Sue said. “You should have told him.”
“Who’s Bubba?” Maggie asked.
Everyone but Hank looked shocked.
His mother was the first to find her voice. “Bubba has always been Hank’s best friend. I’m surprised Hank didn’t tell you about him.”
There was the squeal of brakes on the driveway, and Horatio began barking.
“I guess it’s my turn,” Hank said. A moment later he returned with two middle-aged women.
Maggie grabbed the table for support. “Mom! Aunt Marvina!”
Maggie’s mother gave Maggie a kiss. “We were in the neighborhood, so we thought we’d stop by and see how things were going.”
In the neighborhood? It was a six-hour drive. Calm yourself, Maggie thought. This couldn’t be as bad as it seemed. “Things are just fine. Aren’t they fine, Hank?”