Page 38

“Oh, for God’s sake,” Mandy says. “That girl has way too much going on to worry about baking rolls every damned morning.”
“We’re happy to do it,” Ada adds. “Having her keep track of them for us while we get work done is worth it, believe me.”
“You make cinnamon rolls too?” I ask Ada.
“Oh, no, Mandy does the cinnamon rolls and all the muffins. I do the caramel pecan rolls and the apple crumble bars.”
I look at Cecelia. She holds up her hands. “I’m widowed. None of them are mine, so I don’t have anyone in husband daycare.”
I snort before I can swallow it. “Husband daycare?”
“Basically.” She shrugs. “April makes sure they stay busy at Dick’s, that they eat, take their meds, and she watches for signs of low blood sugar and high blood pressure. And she keeps Charles from wandering. She’s definitely babysitting. But they love it.”
“And it lets Mandy get her painting and reading done,” Ada says. Her smile is fond as she looks at her friend. “She retired two years ago and finally has a chance to paint. She’s amazing. But when Will is there, he’s loud and in the way. He plays the piano and the violin.”
Mandy nods. “And Ada is still working. She’s busy from eight until three and Ben’s a huge distraction.”
“I can do whatever I want,” Cecelia says with a shrug. “But I still support the husband daycare with monetary donations toward coffee supplies and puzzles and shit because I like having my friends free for lunch and book club.”
I feel myself smiling. “I understand.”
Mandy narrows her eyes and points a finger at me. “You better. Because you cannotshut the bar down like you tried to today. It has to stay open. April needs the job and those guys need a place to go.”
“So do Holly and the girls,” Ada says.
“And the kids,” Cecelia adds.
I sigh. Shit. “I didn’t know about all of this,” I tell them. “I’ll…work something out. But, April needs…something else.”
Ada frowns. “Why?”
“Some things are going on.” I don’t know how much to tell these women. They seem to know April fairly well, but her personal life isn’t mine to discuss. Besides, the fewer people who know about my plans for April, the more secure she’ll be.
“That job is extremely good for her,” Cecelia says. “You need to leave her there.”
“You could raise her wage though,” Ada says.
“And she’ll need a health plan now that she’s getting rid of Chris.”
“You know about that?” I ask.
“Of course,” Mandy says. “And we know that you paid Dan a million bucks for the bar.”
“Which is outrageous,” Cecelia adds.
“So you obviously can afford to pay both April and Ruby morewith benefits,” Ada says.
“And add a couple more streaming channels,” Mandy says. “Will would love the channel with all the murder documentaries.”
I could definitely pay both women more and add benefits but neither of them will be working at Dick’s much longer. I’m smart enough not to get into that with these women right now, though. I simply nod. “Which channel is that?”
“You’ll have to ask him. But you should get them a bigger TV too,” she says.
“Maybe I’ll add surround sound and some heated recliners,” I say dryly.
Ada and Mandy’s faces both light up. “That would beamazing,” Mandy says.
I narrow my eyes. I think both of these women are bright enough to catch my sarcasm and are choosing to miss it on purpose.