Page 77 of Maybe Some Other Time

“Yes, we used to watch all of the versions together. We even went to a convention a couple of times!” She looked up at her ex-husband. “You wouldn’t get this about him, but he likes science fiction as much as he likes those westerns.”

“Cowboys, aliens, what’s the difference?” he muttered.

Thelma turned her nose up at the tiny ceramic cups he presented them with. “We have an important guest. You should use the Fiestaware.”

“Are you kidding?”

“Mulberry and Paprika would go nicely with today, Robbie.”

Grinning, Becky leaned back in her plastic chair. “Yeah, Rob, get out the Mulberry and Paprika for ol’ Becks here.”

“She’s been hereseven monthsand she’s already an expert on damn ceramics!” Robbie put the cups back on the tray. “I remember when there were only five colors!”

“And two of them are radioactive now!” Becky called after him. “And they all had lead!” She nudged Thelma. “By the way, hope you don’t mind that I took some of the vintage dishes in the divorce. He never really appreciated your curated collection.”

“Most of that was my mother’s.”

“All the more reason to put them in a home that would appreciate them. I’ve got all the rad red locked up in a showcase. My current husband doesn’t get it. None of them do.”

“Why did you two get divorced?”

“Who? Me and Robbie?” Becky wrinkled her nose. “Have you met him?”

“Guess I should be asking why you two got married, then…”

“Ah, well, I once liked that gruff personality. Also, we met through a mutual friend who likes all the same books we do.Guess you could say I was looking for a fixer-upper without realizing it.”

Before Thelma could say anything about that, Robbie returned yet again, this time with the coffee neatly poured into autumn-appropriate colors as befitting their guest. Thelma thanked him for his hospitality and waited for him to sit down before saying, “So, you invited your ex-wife to mediate between us?”

“Becky’s the best. Works for me and Megan all the time.”

“There he goes again,” Becky said to Thelma. “Always needing a woman to handle his problems.”

“How long were you two married?” Thelma asked.

“A little over fifteen years,” Becky answered in her ex’s stead. “Around year five was when Megan was born.”

“She’s a trooper,” was all Robbie said.

“And you live in the Valley?”

“Yup,” Becky said. “Megan split her time between us, but mostly lived with me through high school. We agreed the schools were better.”

Robbie nodded.

“Then she got into her college, and it was a lot easier for her to live with her dad than to commute from deeper in the Valley and much cheaper than to live in a dorm.”

“I tell her she can stay for free as long as she’s doing something with her life.”

“Isn’t that magnanimous of her own father?” Becky sarcastically asked.

Thelma sipped from her Mulberry cup.One of the first things I bought here was this place setting.She saw it for sale in Macy’s in July and decided it was time to sort and add to Robbie’s maintained Fiestaware collection.Guess I was inspired by the Very Vintage place.Thelma had gone back with Pauline, where they both gushed over everything—including Charity. Her finger played with the ring handle on the cup before she said, “I thinkit’s amazing how many opportunities young women like Megan have these days.” She sipped her coffee again. “Naturally, I was able to go to college, but it wasn’t expected. And I dropped out as soon as I married Bill.”

“Have you thought about going back?” Becky asked.

“Oh, I don’t know. I’d have to start all over. But my friend Pauline, who came from the ‘30s, has a degree in American History. Maybe I could do something like that.”

“American History….?” Robbie scoffed. “Name one thing that happened in the ‘80s.”